The Funk Brother What Becomes of the Broken Hearted

 featuring Joan Osborne

Some of the Funk Brothers together in 2002

       Motown records was started in 1959 by song writer and producer Berry Gordy.  Much has been written, both positive and negative, about Gordy in the ensuing decades but one thing is certain, the man was a visionary.  Before the establishment of Motown Records many black artists had achieved "crossover" fame.  Guys like Chuck Berry, Little Richard, Jackie Wilson, & Fats Domino created chart topping rock classics and had sold tons of records but still found themselves held back by a lack of promotion and racism. Gordy's vision was to find the next generation of these genius musicians and put them in a studio with the finest writers, producers, musicians, and equipment and then invest heavily in the promotion of their music they created thereby leveling the playing field that has been skewed by seperatism. 

Stevie Wonder backed by the fabulous
Funk Brothers 

        To that end he assembled a band whose music, if my research is correct, provided the backing track for 31 #1 hits plus hundreds of top 40 hits between 1961 & 1972.  That's more #1 hits than the Beatles, Stones, Elvis, and Beach Boys combined*. Sadly the musicians that brought this magic to your speakers remained anonymous and the credit, and the bulk of the earnings, was shared between the singers, writers, producers, and of course Berry Gordy.  When your listening to the Temptations, The Supremes, Smokey Robinson, Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gaye, Mary Wells, The Marvelettes, The Four Tops, all of the other top flight Motown singing groups you are listening to the Funk Brothers.   

       In 2002 the world was finally introduced to this incomparable group of musicians in the amazing film Standing in the Shadows of Motown.  It tells the story of these unheralded rock and roll heroes as well as the times they lived in.  This group of musicians believed they were so good that you could pretty much stick any competent singer in front of them and they'd become stars*.  That sounds like a conceit, but the film makers do exactly that. They put lesser known singers in front of the band and, as the Funk Brothers predicted, they make magic.

       The song featured here is What Becomes of the Broken Hearted.  The song was a hit for singer Jimmy Ruffin in 1966.  Ruffin, the brother of Temptations singer David Ruffin, was a relatively minor artist in the Motown stable.  He was a good, but not great singer, and this was by far the biggest hit he ever had.  In the 2002 concert version the Funk Brothers are fronted by Joan Osborne.  She had a minor hit with the song One Of Us which went on to become the theme song to the short lived TV show Joan Of Arcadia.  With the Funk Brothers as her backup band Osborne puts on a goose bump raising performance.  Proving that you can pretty much stand anybody in front of the Funk Brothers and they will become stars.

Accepting their well deserved Gammy in 2004
Better late than never!!!

Some of what I've written can be credited to the documentary "Standing In the Shadows of Motown". While  I have taken pains to not plagiarize any copy-written material it is difficult to write anything about the fabulous Funk Brothers without referencing this definitive award winning film. I've placed a * next to any statement that cites this film.