Motown Records

Motown Records is established in 1959 by Berry Goddy, Jr. with the hope to be accepted R&B music by not only black people, but also white people. At first, Motown was small and there are just two label, Motown and Tamla, but the “Shop Around” by Miracles scored at number two on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1960.s, and motown since produced a lot of star: Supremes, Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gaye, etc.
Motown overcome the bad image of past R&B music such as alcohol and drug by wearing elegant costume and behave delicately. As a whole label, they gained popularity as much as the Beatles at that time. The Their music style, soul music with a distinct pop influence is known as Motown Sound. This Motown Sound has significant impact on today’s pop music. Their hit songs are covered by many artists throughout the ages. It is not only attractive and skilled singer and call and response singing style descended from gospel music, but also their band sounds. The one of the essencial factor of Motown Sounds is Funk Brothers.


Red Hot Chili Peppers ver.

Funk Brothers

Funk Brothers is the nickname of the studio musicians who played most of Motown recording in the Motown Golden-age (From 1959 until the company move to LosAngels in 1972). The Funk Brothers played Motown hit songs such as “My Girl”, “I Heard It Through The Grapevine”, “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough”, etc. The notable member are Joe Hunter and Earl Van Dyke (piano), James Jamerson (bass guitar), Benny "Papa Zita" Benjamin and Richard "Pistol" Allen (drums), Paul Riser (trombone), Robert White, Eddie Willis, and Joe Messina (guitar), Jack Ashford (tambourine, percussion, vibraphone, marimba), Jack Brokensha (vibraphone, marimba), and Eddie "Bongo" Brown (percussion).
Their innovative sounds are characterized by the fact that use of timberline to accent the back beat, prominent and often melodic electric bass guitar lines, distinctive melodic and chord structures. Moreover, most Motown records feature two drummers, playing together or overdubbing one another. In “I Heard It Through The Grapevine” by Marvin Gaye, three drummers ಅರೆ used. Despite the contribution to Motown Sound, Studio musicians were not credited by Motown until Marvin Gaye's What's Going On in 1971. They were credited as "Earl Van Dyke & the Soul Brothers" because Berry Goddy hated the word “Funk”. At last, these members came to attention by the release of the “Standing In The Shadows Of Motown” documentary in the 2002. This documentary revealed the fact that these musicians "played on more number-one records than The Beatles, Elvis, The Rolling Stones, and The Beach Boys combined."
In the "Standing in the Shadows of Motown" documentary, Joe Hunter states that the "The Funk Brothers" is named by Benny Benjamin. Hunter states that Benjamin was leaving the studio after session work, paused on the stairs, turned and said to his fellow musicians, "You all are the Funk Brothers". The band was then informally named. The powerful vocal on the rhythmical and accomplished groove of Funk Brothers is the core of Motown sounds.

James Jamerson

If you trace the roots of your favorite bassist, whatever the genre of the bassist, you almost always come down to James Jamerson. He had such huge impact on bassist today. His bass play go beyond the just back-music and played a important role in Motown music. He knock the bottom of the image of simple repetitive bass style. Jamerson’s bass lines were more melodic, more syncopated, and more improvisational than had been heard before, but never disarrange the main melody. His bass lines could create beautiful harmony with the singer. He uses only first finger to play, so his finger was nicknamed “the hook”. This habit is attribute to the fact that he played uplight bass before he started to use electric bass. He is the first bassist who was inducted into the The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2000.

Instrument
James Jamerson uses1962 Fender Precision bass known as “The Funk Machine” with .052-.110 heavy gauge strings. He never exchange the strings for years (Usually, professional bassist exchange the strings for each stage). He said “This dirt keep the funkness”. This made motown fat bass sound. However, “The Funk Machine” was stolen from Jamerson’s Los Angeles house shortly before his death in 1983, and it have not been found.

Works sited

Wikipedia. Motown. November 7,2010
Wikipedia. The Funk Brothers. November 7,2010
Wikipedia. James Jamerson. November 7,2010