Post by Emerald City on Jun 2, 2005 19:25:45 GMT -5
Motown loses its beat
Friends mourn percussionist Eddie (Bongo) Brown
January 9, 1985
BY JOHN FLYNN
Free Press Staff Writer
In this corner, you'll find stories that go beyond the day's headlines.
Eddie (Bongo) Brown's family and friends said goodby to him Tuesday.
They filled the seats and lined the walls of the small chapel at Stinson Funeral Home on Meyers Road for a final service and tribute to a musician who left his mark on American pop music with his work in the Motown sessions band, which backed up virtually all of Motown's biggest stars.
"He played on at least 97 percent of all the music that came out of Motown," recalled Earl Van Dyke, who played with Brown in the Motown sessions band. "You hear a Motown song and you hear Eddie Bongo Brown."
Brown, 52, died of heart trouble Dec. 28 in Los Angeles, where he had been living and performing since 1974 when he followed Berry Gordy Jr. and Motown's move from Detroit to California.
THERE WAS little glitter at Tuesday's service. The Motown family had said goodby to Brown at an earlier service in Los Angeles. But two of the founding members of the Motown sessions band, keyboard player Van Dyke and drummer Uriel Jones, both of Detroit, were on hand to recall the contributions that Brown made to the Motown sound.
Brown was the percussionist for the Motown band. More than that, "he was the spice," Jones said. He said the band that played for the Supremes, the Temptations, Marvin Gaye, Stevie Wonder, the Four Tops and the Spinners, to name a few, took on a new dimension after Brown joined it in 1962, shortly after it was formed.
His contribution to the band was rhythm, said Van Dyke and Jones.
Jones said: "He could pick up two sticks -- anything that made noise -- and put rhythm to it. He spiced the sound. He couldn't read music, but he didn't have to. And no one had to coach him, he just slid in when the time came."
BROWN WAS most famed for his work with bongos and congas, though he played every hand-held percussion instrument except the tambourine.
"He was an innovator in R&B with his Latin thing," said Van Dyke.
Brown played in Marvin Gaye's first band and later toured with Liza Minnelli after moving to Los Angeles. He contributed to hundreds of Motown singles, Jones said.
Brown was born in Clarksdale, Miss., and grew up in Memphis, Tenn., famed for its Southern blues. After moving to Detroit, he worked nightclubs before going to work for Motown. "The Motown sound had started before Eddie came along, but he added to it," said Jones. "A lot of producers wouldn't hold a session without Eddie, or they'd hold it up until he arrived so they could get that unique sound."
The unique sound to which Brown contributed became known, of course, as the Motown sound.
"The sound wasn't the performers -- you could bring them in from anywhere -- it was the band," said Jones. Van Dyke added: "Berry Gordy left the sound here; he left the musicians."
And so it was that Eddie Bongo Brown, an integral part of the Motown sound, was carried home to Detroit to be buried.
"He was a very kindhearted person who had a smile and a joke for everyone," Van Dyke said. "Eddie was loved by everybody, he really was."
Friends mourn percussionist Eddie (Bongo) Brown
January 9, 1985
BY JOHN FLYNN
Free Press Staff Writer
In this corner, you'll find stories that go beyond the day's headlines.
Eddie (Bongo) Brown's family and friends said goodby to him Tuesday.
They filled the seats and lined the walls of the small chapel at Stinson Funeral Home on Meyers Road for a final service and tribute to a musician who left his mark on American pop music with his work in the Motown sessions band, which backed up virtually all of Motown's biggest stars.
"He played on at least 97 percent of all the music that came out of Motown," recalled Earl Van Dyke, who played with Brown in the Motown sessions band. "You hear a Motown song and you hear Eddie Bongo Brown."
Brown, 52, died of heart trouble Dec. 28 in Los Angeles, where he had been living and performing since 1974 when he followed Berry Gordy Jr. and Motown's move from Detroit to California.
THERE WAS little glitter at Tuesday's service. The Motown family had said goodby to Brown at an earlier service in Los Angeles. But two of the founding members of the Motown sessions band, keyboard player Van Dyke and drummer Uriel Jones, both of Detroit, were on hand to recall the contributions that Brown made to the Motown sound.
Brown was the percussionist for the Motown band. More than that, "he was the spice," Jones said. He said the band that played for the Supremes, the Temptations, Marvin Gaye, Stevie Wonder, the Four Tops and the Spinners, to name a few, took on a new dimension after Brown joined it in 1962, shortly after it was formed.
His contribution to the band was rhythm, said Van Dyke and Jones.
Jones said: "He could pick up two sticks -- anything that made noise -- and put rhythm to it. He spiced the sound. He couldn't read music, but he didn't have to. And no one had to coach him, he just slid in when the time came."
BROWN WAS most famed for his work with bongos and congas, though he played every hand-held percussion instrument except the tambourine.
"He was an innovator in R&B with his Latin thing," said Van Dyke.
Brown played in Marvin Gaye's first band and later toured with Liza Minnelli after moving to Los Angeles. He contributed to hundreds of Motown singles, Jones said.
Brown was born in Clarksdale, Miss., and grew up in Memphis, Tenn., famed for its Southern blues. After moving to Detroit, he worked nightclubs before going to work for Motown. "The Motown sound had started before Eddie came along, but he added to it," said Jones. "A lot of producers wouldn't hold a session without Eddie, or they'd hold it up until he arrived so they could get that unique sound."
The unique sound to which Brown contributed became known, of course, as the Motown sound.
"The sound wasn't the performers -- you could bring them in from anywhere -- it was the band," said Jones. Van Dyke added: "Berry Gordy left the sound here; he left the musicians."
And so it was that Eddie Bongo Brown, an integral part of the Motown sound, was carried home to Detroit to be buried.
"He was a very kindhearted person who had a smile and a joke for everyone," Van Dyke said. "Eddie was loved by everybody, he really was."