Our Motown 45th Anniversary Artists Avatar for this week is one of the greatest studio band in Motown history. The Funk Brothers was formed in 1959 consisted of Robert White on guitar, Dan Turner, Earl Van Dyke on keyboards, Uriel Jones on drums, and James Jamerson on bass. The group started around 1959 while playing such genres like jazz and blues at a number of different clubs in Detroit. The group met Berry Gordy and they started to formed the group and went on to make hits for Motown. The group recorded all the great songs at Motown's Studio A which is probably the basement called "The Snakepit" which was located four steps to the basement in Hitsville. The group performed all of the songs in the early to late 60's with such great artists like Stevie Wonder, Diana Ross & The Supremes, The Four Tops, Marvin Gaye, The Marvelettes, The Temptations, Martha & the Vandellas, Smokey Robinson & the Miracles and just to name a few. In the early 70's while Motown's Hitsville was relocating to Los Angeles, the group disbanded. For those of you have seen the movie "Standing in the Shadows of Motown", the Funk Brothers are still with us with their music. A few members were survived, a few of the former members are gone. The Funk Brothers are one of Motown's biggest backup band.