R.I.P. Uriel Jones 1934-2009

[Videoskooter]

Sad news again.

Yesterday, drummer Uriel Jones has passed away due to heart failure.

The legendary Motown drummer worked with stars like Marvin Gaye, The Temptations and Stevie Wonder and he was a member of the (Motown Records) Funk Brothers.

Rest in peace and thank you for the music.

[Cory Ander]

watching this video and hearing about Jones passing reminds me of one of the things I thought was SO VERY ironic about "Standing in the Shadows of Motown". Even though it was intended to finally give credit to Motown's amazing musicians, it STILL ignored an entire group of musicians, namely all the string and horn players. Except for Junior Walker and a few players Stevie Wonder used, most of the string and horn players who contributed so much to Motown music are still unknown, and just try to imagine songs like "My Girl", "Don't Leave Me This Way" or lots of the Supremes, Miracles and Four Tops songs without the strings and horns.

[whitesockedfunk]

Almost all of the string and horn players were members of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra. Unfortunately, mostly when you play in an orchestra you remain anonymous...

[Cory Ander]

Almost all of the string and horn players were members of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra. Unfortunately, mostly when you play in an orchestra you remain anonymous...

that sure seems to be true. I can't think of many disco recordings that list all the string or horn players individually by name, either. I do recall productions by Chic and Paul Sabu that listed all the players' names individually. It seems to me that if a musician needed to prove they had performed on a particular recording, it may be difficult if their name wasn't listed on it.

[Disco Funk]

that sure seems to be true. I can't think of many disco recordings that list all the string or horn players individually by name, either. I do recall productions by Chic and Paul Sabu that listed all the players' names individually. It seems to me that if a musician needed to prove they had performed on a particular recording, it may be difficult if their name wasn't listed on it.

I think it varied from studio to studio. I recall that a lot of the orchestra players at Sigma Sound were consistent from the Philadelphia International recordings to Salsoul. The only difference was that PIR never credited names with the exception of leader Don Renaldo, who was a violinist, and lead sax player Zach Zachary. It was on the Salsoul LPs that they got their credit.

I remember other disco albums I've bought have listed the orchestra players in a addition to the rhythm section, but generally, if they do credit the strings and horns, its usually the "something" orchestra or "someone's" horns and/or strings.

Does anyone know what songs specifically Uriel played on? Was he the guy with the distinctive drum fills on tracks like the Four Tops Standing In The Shadows Of Love? I think he may have been the same guy who went on to also play on Holland Dozier Holland's productions for artists like Flaming Ember, The Politicians, etc... But I could be confusing him with Richard Allen. The only Detroit-era Motown drummer I can pick out is Andrew Smith, who also played on a lot of Philly recordings on Atlantic and Atco records.

Disco Funk