Music
Earl Van Dyke
1930–1992 · keyboardist, bandleader
Detroit-born keyboardist who led the Funk Brothers from 1964 and played on "My Guy", "Where Did Our Love Go" and "I Heard It Through the Grapevine".
- Born
Detroit, Michigan- Died
Detroit, Michigan
aged 62- Also known as
- Big Funk · Chunk o' Funk
- Detroit years
- 1930–1992
- Field
- Music
01 / The Detroit story
The Detroit story
Van Dyke was born in Detroit and came up in the city's jazz scene; in the early 1960s he also recorded as an organist for Blue Note with saxophonists Fred Jackson and Ike Quebec. He was organist at the Flame Show Bar on John R Street, following Maurice King there, and in 1964 he succeeded Joe Hunter as keyboardist and leader of Motown's studio band. His piano and organ are on the Four Tops' "Bernadette", the Supremes' "Where Did Our Love Go", Mary Wells's "My Guy", Marvin Gaye's "I Heard It Through the Grapevine" and Stevie Wonder's "For Once in My Life". He also led a small band that opened Motown shows and released instrumental albums as Earl Van Dyke & the Soul Brothers, because Berry Gordy disliked the word "funk". His "6 by 6" became a northern soul favorite. He died of prostate cancer in Detroit in 1992.
Highlights
- Leader of the Funk Brothers from 1964
- Keyboards on "My Guy", "Bernadette" and "I Heard It Through the Grapevine"
- Recorded for Blue Note with Ike Quebec and Fred Jackson
- Solo single "6 by 6" (1967), a northern soul staple
- Featured in Standing in the Shadows of Motown (2002)
02 / Their Detroit places
Their Detroit places 3
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 · 1964–1972
Motown Museum
Played on Motown sessions in Studio A, the basement room the musicians nicknamed the "Snake Pit".
Worked here · early 1960s
Flame Show Bar
Demolished · 1949–1963
He played organ at the club after Maurice King. Demolished in 1965 for Detroit Medical Center urban renewal.
Buried here · 1992
Woodlawn Cemetery
His grave (per Wikidata).