The Funk Brothers
Motown's house band, responsible for the instrumental tracks on more number-one hits than the Beatles, Elvis, the Rolling Stones, and the Beach Boys combined. Bassist James Jamerson, drummers Benny Benjamin and Uriel Jones, guitarists Robert White and Eddie Willis, keyboardist Earl Van Dyke, pianist Bob Neloms, and others recorded in Studio A at Hitsville, often laying down multiple takes of the same part, then overdubbing and duplicating instrumentation. Two drummers played in unison or in overdub. Three or four guitar lines stacked on top of each other. Jamerson's bass functioned as a lead instrument, his lines weaving between the drums and vocals with a melodic independence that became a Motown trademark. Neloms worked with artists such as The Supremes, Martha and the Vandellas, Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gaye, and Mary Wells, and can be heard on hits like "Dancing in the Streets," "You've Really Got A Hold On Me," "Baby Love," and "Heat Wave." They were so tight, so rehearsed, that the sound felt complete even with a relatively simple signal chain.