Music
Benny Benjamin
1925–1969 · drummer
Motown's first studio drummer and the rhythmic engine of the Funk Brothers, heard on "Shop Around", "My Girl" and "I Can't Help Myself".
- Born
Birmingham, Alabama- Died
Detroit, Michigan
aged 43- Birth name
- William Benjamin
- Also known as
- Papa Zita
- Detroit years
- 1950s–1969
- Field
- Music
01 / The Detroit story
The Detroit story
An Alabama native trained in big-band jazz drumming, Benjamin became Motown's first session drummer in 1958 and quickly made himself indispensable: several producers, Berry Gordy among them, would not start a session unless he was on drums and James Jamerson on bass. Working in the cramped Studio A at Hitsville U.S.A., he drove records from Barrett Strong's "Money (That's What I Want)" and the Miracles' "Shop Around" to the Temptations' "My Girl" and "Get Ready", the Four Tops' "I Can't Help Myself" and Stevie Wonder's "Uptight". According to Joe Hunter, it was Benjamin who named the studio band the Funk Brothers. Drug and alcohol problems in the late 1960s meant Uriel Jones and Richard "Pistol" Allen took over more of the work, and he died of a stroke in 1969, aged 43.
Highlights
- Motown's first studio drummer (1958)
- Played on "Money", "Shop Around", "My Girl" and "Uptight"
- Rock and Roll Hall of Fame 2003 (sidemen category)
- Ranked 11th on Rolling Stone's 2016 list of greatest drummers
- Credited with naming the Funk Brothers
02 / Their Detroit places
Their Detroit places 1
Where they lived, worked, performed and liked to hang out. Closed and demolished places stay here too, because they are part of the city's history.
Recorded here · 1958–1969
Motown Museum
Played on Motown sessions in Studio A, the basement room the musicians nicknamed the "Snake Pit".