I think all us Northern Soul admirers should take out 2 minutes to thank the great Mickey Stevenson for assembling, handling and dealing with those legendary musicians, it gets no better than this.
I know they backed a lot of vocal groups back in the day, but something about Martha Reeves and the Vandellas songs these cats just took it to another level.
These backing track classics, are the very epitome of sound and production that became the basis, the bedrock, and way down deep foundations of one of the longest lasting underground music scenes. It's called Nothern Soul!
still one of my all time Funk Brothers tunes, Martha's voice just swung with them, they JUST ROCK THIS TUNE. love that honkeing sax in the back. sadly only two of the Brothers are now alive
That "honking" Baritone sax in the back you hear is actually my father, not a "brother" See the newest comment on here. I had some interesting things to say.
PLEASE can you give us a name, would really like to know who was responsible for that nice sax part. did he ever talk about his time recording with the Funk Brothers?
BTW...that's Jack Ashford on "The Thing," Motown's jury-rigged fabulous rhythm instrument that held tire chains (which you hear on this cut), stomp boards separated by auto springs, blocks of different types of wood for different sounds...anything to produce a different sound and beat! Sounds like it's been overdubbed in sweetening.
Actually, it's Ivy Jo Hunter, I know this from the song's Wikipedia article, Jack Ashford played the tambourine, and Benny Benjamin played the drums. Other musicians on the rhythm track included Earl Van Dyke on piano, Eddie Willis and Robert White on guitar, and the one- and-only James Jamerson on bass. The horn players included Herbert Williams and Russ Conway on trumpet, George Bohanon and Paul Riser on trombone, Henry Cosby on tenor saxophone, and Mike Terry on baritone saxophone. Again, I know this from the song's Wikipedia article, whose source for the aforementioned band lineup is in turn, the liner notes of "The Vol. 5: 1965" edition of "The Complete Motown". Singles" box set
Not according to the worldwide royalty statistics ... #01 The Beatles - 183 million copies #03 Elvis Presley - 139 million copies #16 The Rolling Stones - 66,5 million copies ... they're not even in the top 40 best selling groups.
@@edopeters1786 I beg to differ. The Funk Brothers were the backing band of Motown Records. They played on almost all the Motown Record as band for Marving Gaye, The Supremes, etc. Motown sold more records then The Beatles, Rolling Stones and Elvis Presley combined.
Not sure about the numbers on selling records if you combined the sales of the artists whose record they played on together but they definitely played on more hits than the Beatles, Elvis, Rolling Stones, etc.
Funk bros and motown need to be taught in public schools Lets be proud of these great americans They will go down in musical and american history as an integral part of what makes americans. God Bless
Easily one of the baddest jams they ever did along with "Heat Wave". Other instrumentals (but not necessarily by The Funk Brothers) on Motown that make my jaw drop: I Want You Back,; Girl, You Need a Change of Mind, and Norman Whitfield's production with The Temptations (check out "Plastic Man", it's wild)
You wouldn't be able to find one. The band laid down the music and the vocals were brought in later. It's my fathers deep baritone sax in this song. See newest comment above.
ok. and TRUST ME? the Funk Brothers received no royalty money for anything they did. in fact they were supposed to have gotten paid for the documentry about them but the guy who did it Didn't pay them a thing
go to a couple of videos , Band Tracks and Funk Brothers unrealeased and you will see a bunch of good pictures, maybe you you can find out where they came from
You are right, Chris...James Jamerson used a Fender Precision electric bass for the first pass (lined in directly to the mixer board input so Benny Benjamin's drums wouldn't overpower the bass and guitars in "The Snakepit" studio), and a King Mortone acoustic string bass for the sweetening sessions...or vice versa.
and sadly some really not nice people stole that Fender bass from his home while he was dying. no one has seen it since. keep hoping someone will return it
Ok. I'm going to be the one who stirs the pot here. The "Funk Brothers" are WAY more celebrated than they should be. 75 percent of the hits they are credited with are actually by other musicians. It would be a cold day in hell to have them all in the studio at the same time. For instance, it's MY father Norm Ray's baritone sax on this song.......as well as Can't Help Myself, It's the Same Old Song, Baby Love, Where Did Our Love Go, Dancing in the Streets, Heatwave, The Name Game, Mother in Law and plenty of others, and those are the big ones! My father worked for Mowtown from 1959-65, but he wasn't a contract player. He and a bunch of other guys would get to the studio in the morning and throw a baseball on the lawn and wait until they came out and called for a musician to fill in. My father was already a well established Detroit musician and usually got the call and was paid cash. So no royalties. That went to "The Funk Brothers" Those guys were rarely all together on the same song. So in a nutshell, the legend of "The Funk Brothers" is a load of crap. Standing in the Shadows of Mowtown didn't credit the guys like my father with anything, and it's those guys that are on the hits!
well have to disagree with some of what you claim, but to me that is one of the things I really disliked about the documentry was that it left out all the sax, bones and trumpet players. maybe it is because the guy who did it was a guitar player. maybe you would like to get into a discussion with a lady name Sweetpea Washington who has a Funk Brothers web page on Facebook. and i know, becaue I have talked to one of the Funks that they were paid no royalities. in face in many ways they were underpaid for what they did. the ones who really made big bucks after a while were the Wrecking Crew of LA
So in other words you can't back up your statement that the Funk Brothers as you said were crap. You have no proof to lend credibility to your statement so therefore it is dismissed.
@@jennifursun3303 According to the Wikipedia article on this song, the rhythm section features Earl Van Dyke on piano, Eddie Willis and Robert White on guitar, James Jamerson on bass and Benny Benjamin on drums, along with Jack Ashford playing a tambourine and Ivy Jo Hunter using snow chains as percussion. The horn players include Russ Conway and Herbert Williams on trumpet, George Bohanon and Paul Riser on trombone, Henry Cosby on tenor saxophone, and Mike Terry on baritone saxophone. The source for this info in the song's Wikipedia article is the liner notes of the "Vol. 5: 1965" edition of "The Complete Motown Singles" box set.
I think all us Northern Soul admirers should take out 2 minutes to thank the great Mickey Stevenson for assembling, handling and dealing with those legendary musicians, it gets no better than this.
2023 and I’m still amazed by the Funk Brothers!
these funk brothers backing tracks are gems in their own right...you just can't beat that 60s Motown groove.
You're listening to DJ Timmy T and WBLS 107. 5 in Stereo in NYC ) A WBLS tribute to the Funk Brothers the soul of Motown 🎧
It is so sad that many of these Brothers are dead and gone.
@@timmytene2706 It is too bad that I missed it. The Motown sounds were my favorites since I was a kid.
I know they backed a lot of vocal groups back in the day, but something about Martha Reeves and the Vandellas songs these cats just took it to another level.
The best house band ever
That driving beat with the sax - It has to be Motown!..Forever🙂
TOTALLY INCREDIBLE ......... THE MIGHTY , MIGHTY FUNK BROTHERS ......
I bet the day that this song was recorded the roof on Hitsville U.S.A was probably about to blow off!
The Bass is just Beautiful Man!!!!!!
The best cure for depression EVER.❤❤
These backing track classics, are the very epitome of sound and production that became the basis, the bedrock, and way down deep foundations of one of the longest lasting underground music scenes. It's called Nothern Soul!
The musicians behind Motown's success.
I really enjoyed watching the documentary- Standing in the Shadows of Motown
@@marshamays7657 I did too but it sure was sad....
The soundtrack of my life.
WOW!!! Just the music without the voices! That’s SO incredibly interesting!!!
Dang, what a great arrangement. Love the bass line.
Wish there was more of this now. Not the junk that comes out of "reality" TV
James Jamerson on bass!
GREAT RECORD SO AMAZING I LOVE THE FUNK BROTHERS, ALSO WITHOUT MARTHA, BUT ALSO MARTHA DID A GREAT JOB AT THE TIME!!!!
Heaven has one hell of a band with the Funk Brothers!
James Jamerson held that bottom down
The base is the foundation of the funk
GREATEST BAND EVER
🙏 Absolutely 👍🎷🎸🥁🎵🎼🎻🎶
still one of my all time Funk Brothers tunes, Martha's voice just swung with them, they JUST ROCK THIS TUNE. love that honkeing sax in the back. sadly only two of the Brothers are now alive
That "honking" Baritone sax in the back you hear is actually my father, not a "brother" See the newest comment on here. I had some interesting things to say.
would love to hear more. i always thought, until they moved to LA that they used primarly the Funks on all their recordings
PLEASE can you give us a name, would really like to know who was responsible for that nice sax part. did he ever talk about his time recording with the Funk Brothers?
Pure Class ❤
BTW...that's Jack Ashford on "The Thing," Motown's jury-rigged fabulous rhythm instrument that held tire chains (which you hear on this cut), stomp boards separated by auto springs, blocks of different types of wood for different sounds...anything to produce a different sound and beat! Sounds like it's been overdubbed in sweetening.
Actually, it's Ivy Jo Hunter, I know this from the song's Wikipedia article, Jack Ashford played the tambourine, and Benny Benjamin played the drums. Other musicians on the rhythm track included Earl Van Dyke on piano, Eddie Willis and Robert White on guitar, and the one- and-only James Jamerson on bass. The horn players included Herbert Williams and Russ Conway on trumpet, George Bohanon and Paul Riser on trombone, Henry Cosby on tenor saxophone, and Mike Terry on baritone saxophone. Again, I know this from the song's Wikipedia article, whose source for the aforementioned band lineup is in turn, the liner notes of "The Vol. 5: 1965" edition of "The Complete Motown". Singles" box set
great instrumental ,,,,,sweet and simple !!!!!!
Biggest band in history. They sold more records than The Beatles, Rolling Stones and Elvis Presley combined.
'cos they were only pop groups!!!!!!!!
Not according to the worldwide royalty statistics ...
#01 The Beatles - 183 million copies
#03 Elvis Presley - 139 million copies
#16 The Rolling Stones - 66,5 million copies
... they're not even in the top 40 best selling groups.
@@edopeters1786 I beg to differ. The Funk Brothers were the backing band of Motown Records. They played on almost all the Motown Record as band for Marving Gaye, The Supremes, etc. Motown sold more records then The Beatles, Rolling Stones and Elvis Presley combined.
@@pyrofoor Toto members were involved in 3.1 billion records to date. The Wrecking Crew are 2nd, with 900 million.
Not sure about the numbers on selling records if you combined the sales of the artists whose record they played on together but they definitely played on more hits than the Beatles, Elvis, Rolling Stones, etc.
In a word - perfect.
I love this instrumental version, its almost identical to the vocal version but i love it
Probably this is the instrumental tracks, minus all vocals; if so, it is the same version
It's the same track. They just muted the vocals.
Funk bros and motown need to be taught in public schools Lets be proud of these great americans They will go down in musical and american history as an integral part of what makes americans. God Bless
And Brits ,
Let's start with teaching reading, writing, math and history in public schools, before we waste time on trivia.
now only one Funk brother still left alive
Just fab. Love love love
Top track, love the Martha Reeves and the Vandellas one as well! ktf
The best. Ever.
Jamerson on the upright bass. Genius
Electric bass?
Easily one of the baddest jams they ever did along with "Heat Wave". Other instrumentals (but not necessarily by The Funk Brothers) on Motown that make my jaw drop: I Want You Back,; Girl, You Need a Change of Mind, and Norman Whitfield's production with The Temptations (check out "Plastic Man", it's wild)
Totally wicked. Love it !
brilliant tune
The Funk Brothers played this song as superior as Martha and the Vandellas sang it. It would be nice if the song could be extended.
ruclips.net/video/iVQEHT_5zfk/видео.htmlsi=e9v1QgwkVqQftzFG
wish there was a video of the Vandellas and the band in the studio with this song
You wouldn't be able to find one. The band laid down the music and the vocals were brought in later. It's my fathers deep baritone sax in this song. See newest comment above.
that is what i have heard as well. but I CAN DREAM. wish i could have told your dad THANKS for that Sax part.
+jennifur sun He was on so much stuff I don't even know anymore
ok. and TRUST ME? the Funk Brothers received no royalty money for anything they did. in fact they were supposed to have gotten paid for the documentry about them but the guy who did it Didn't pay them a thing
OMG,FUFFING BRILL
do you have Heatwave, I;ll Be Doggone and Going To A Go Go with just the Funks. thanks
go to a couple of videos , Band Tracks and Funk Brothers unrealeased and you will see a bunch of good pictures, maybe you you can find out where they came from
what is THE NAME OF THE DRUMMER ON THIS RECORDING ??
Benny "Papa Zita" Benjamin
Hear Junior Walker in that intro..damn.. we're rich...woohoo..better buy more blow ..then...yO
Henry Cosby on tenor sax, Mike Terry on baritone sax. Junior Walker wasn't part of the Motown house band (Funk Brothers).
I just wish they would give more info about who's who, and who's what.
Get it yall
to hear it without martha and the vandellas is pure gold !
Not to slight Martha of course!
Where'd you get this instrumental from?
I know a few of these got pressed up, anyone want to sell one..
Who made my dear heart???
Shawn Robinson.
@alanmartindale3139 I'm referring to the Instrumental , was it the Funk Brothers???
Strange music it sounds too good and there is no rapping to being it down
Shawn Robinson.
Imposibil dai spun lui ceausescu dami un pasaport pentru détroit
Oh dear .
Not bad for a backing band I suppose
Kinell
not bad??? surely you jest. they could make Mickey Mouse sound good
weird bass rumble, sounds double tracked, standup and jazz,
You are right, Chris...James Jamerson used a Fender Precision electric bass for the first pass (lined in directly to the mixer board input so Benny Benjamin's drums wouldn't overpower the bass and guitars in "The Snakepit" studio), and a King Mortone acoustic string bass for the sweetening sessions...or vice versa.
and sadly some really not nice people stole that Fender bass from his home while he was dying. no one has seen it since. keep hoping someone will return it
+King Bee You sound like you know a lot. That's my father on baritone on this song.
The piano man gets no respect.
Of course he did. Earl Van Dyke was the band leader that held the glue together. Management's right hand man
@@ronaldmillner6387 Then why do they mention the bass player James Jameson, more then anyone else?
Ok. I'm going to be the one who stirs the pot here. The "Funk Brothers" are WAY more celebrated than they should be. 75 percent of the hits they are credited with are actually by other musicians. It would be a cold day in hell to have them all in the studio at the same time. For instance, it's MY father Norm Ray's baritone sax on this song.......as well as Can't Help Myself, It's the Same Old Song, Baby Love, Where Did Our Love Go, Dancing in the Streets, Heatwave, The Name Game, Mother in Law and plenty of others, and those are the big ones! My father worked for Mowtown from 1959-65, but he wasn't a contract player. He and a bunch of other guys would get to the studio in the morning and throw a baseball on the lawn and wait until they came out and called for a musician to fill in. My father was already a well established Detroit musician and usually got the call and was paid cash. So no royalties. That went to "The Funk Brothers" Those guys were rarely all together on the same song. So in a nutshell, the legend of "The Funk Brothers" is a load of crap. Standing in the Shadows of Mowtown didn't credit the guys like my father with anything, and it's those guys that are on the hits!
well have to disagree with some of what you claim, but to me that is one of the things I really disliked about the documentry was that it left out all the sax, bones and trumpet players. maybe it is because the guy who did it was a guitar player. maybe you would like to get into a discussion with a lady name Sweetpea Washington who has a Funk Brothers web page on Facebook. and i know, becaue I have talked to one of the Funks that they were paid no royalities. in face in many ways they were underpaid for what they did. the ones who really made big bucks after a while were the Wrecking Crew of LA
So in other words you can't back up your statement that the Funk Brothers as you said were crap. You have no proof to lend credibility to your statement so therefore it is dismissed.
nothing like despairing people after they are all dead! F.O.!!!!
Funk Brothers - the rhythm section, the foundation-
@@jennifursun3303 According to the Wikipedia article on this song, the rhythm section features Earl Van Dyke on piano, Eddie Willis and Robert White on guitar, James Jamerson on bass and Benny Benjamin on drums, along with Jack Ashford playing a tambourine and Ivy Jo Hunter using snow chains as percussion. The horn players include Russ Conway and Herbert Williams on trumpet, George Bohanon and Paul Riser on trombone, Henry Cosby on tenor saxophone, and Mike Terry on baritone saxophone. The source for this info in the song's Wikipedia article is the liner notes of the "Vol. 5: 1965" edition of "The Complete Motown Singles" box set.