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8. A Whole Lotta Soul, a Whole Lotta Funk
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8. A Whole Lotta Soul, a Whole Lotta Funk As the rock music scene continued to mature, R & B had been evolving into what audiences were now referring to as “soul music.” Many critics felt that records being produced by Stax Records in Memphis by artists such as Wilson Pickett, Otis Redding , and Sam and Dave were truer to the gospel-inspired de‹nition of “soul” than Motown’s more pop-oriented approach. Most audiences, however, both black and white, were associating “soul” with black music and lifestyle in general. Detroit’s WCHB, a black-owned and -programmed station, promoted itself as “Soul Radio.” Despite the strong competition from Stax releases distributed by Atlantic Records, Motown was still the leader. The statistics were impressive. During the period from 1964 to 1967, Motown racked up fourteen number 1 pop singles, twenty number 1 soul singles, forty-six more top 15 pop singles, and seventy -four other top 15 soul singles.1 Although operating in a parallel universe, Detroit rock bands couldn’t help but be in›uenced by the writing and musicianship displayed on hit after hit from the studio on West Grand Boulevard. “Motown was God,” says veteran Detroit rocker Gary Quackenbush. “We were just little white punks from the suburbs. We were trash compared to Motown. I think that’s why it got so intense. I remember really trying harder because of the superior musicianship there. Motown was just such a monolith.”2 Bob Seger felt that Motown’s bass players and drummers “just hammered it,” saying that “if you came out of Detroit, you had to have some of that in your sound.”3 Motown writer and producer Lamont Dozier has named the label’s house musicians as being “at least ‹fty-percent responsible” for the success of the company’s many hit records.4 The core 90 group of players consisted of designated leader Earl “Chunk of Funk” Van Dyke on piano (who joined in 1962, taking over as band leader when Joe Hunter left in late 1963), Robert White (guitar), James Jamerson (bass), and Benny Benjamin (drums). There was also Joe Messina and Eddie Willis (guitars), and Richard “Pistol” Allen and Uriel Jones (drums). Other members continually rotating in and out of Studio A, better known as the “Snakepit,” included Jack Ashford (vibes and tambourines), Eddie “Bongo” Brown (bongos and congas), and Johnny Grif‹th (keyboards ). Most of these players had backgrounds in jazz, and some, such as Jamerson, had been on the road backing artists such as Jackie Wilson and the Miracles. Jack Ashford had played behind Marvin Gaye.5 They were all exceptional musicians, and each was considered to have a unique style that was called upon at various sessions. With so many producers telling them to “play it funky,” the house band started referring to themselves as the Funk Brothers, a name coined by Benny Benjamin. “It was incredible how they knew each producer,” recalled Lamont Dozier. “They locked right into what we were about as producers and songwriters, which made our job very easy.”6 The team of Holland-Dozier-Holland had become the most successful writing and production unit at Motown. Although often overlapping, each member of H-D-H had his primary responsibilities : Brian Holland was the engineer, responsible for the sound and structure of their songs, as well as some melodies. Dozier, who had soloed as Lamont Anthony after leaving the Romeos, came up with basic ideas and also provided melodies, lyrics, and titles. Eddie Holland was the main lyricist and was in charge of teaching new songs to the artists, making them understand the feeling that the writers wanted to get across to the listener.7 As a recording artist, Eddie had scored minor but impressive Motown hits such as “Jamie” and “Leaving Here.” Holland-Dozier-Holland experienced their ‹rst big success in May 1963 with Martha and the Vandellas’ debut hit, “Come and Get These Memories.” According to Lamont Dozier, that record was the “catalyst that opened everybody’s ears up to reach out for heavier chords and to mix those chords with country-type feelings A Whole Lotta Soul 91 and jazz and gospel.”8 Hits such as “Heatwave” and “Quicksand” quickly followed. Many H-D-H songs started out as jam session collaborations. Lamont Dozier recalled that he was just “killing time” at the studio piano when he came up with the line: “Baby, baby, where did our love go? Don’t you want me no more...