Joe Messina was a guitarist with the Funk Brothers, the longtime studio band for Motown Records artists.
- Died: April 4, 2022 (Who else died on April 4?)
- Details of death: Died at his son’s home in Northville, Michigan of natural causes at the age of 93.
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Funk Brothers
Messina got his start playing jazz guitar as a member of ABC Television studio band and the band for “The Soupy Sales Show.” His playing on TV and in Detroit jazz clubs impressed Motown founder Berry Gordy, who personally approached him to offer him a job in Motown’s backing band. Messina joined Motown in 1959, one of several guitarists who worked together to create and shape the distinctive Motown sound. He played on hit songs including “Dancing in the Street” by Martha and the Vandellas, “For Once in My Life” by Stevie Wonder,” and “Can’t Help Myself (Sugar Pie, Honey Bunch)” by the Four Tops. Messina remained in the Funk Brothers until Gordy moved Motown Records to Los Angeles in 1972, at which time he retired from the music industry and spent his time running a car wash and a jewelry store. In later years, as fond memories of the 1960s prompted reunion tours and recordings, Messina rejoined the Funk Brothers for a series of shows and was featured in the 2002 documentary “Standing in the Shadows of Motown.”
Messina on shaping the Motown sound
“I remember one of the early sessions. It was Holland, Dozier, and Holland. Those guys were beautiful. They came in with a chord sheet; it might have had three, possibly four chords at the most, and they would say, ‘Run this down.’ So as we’re running it down, we sort of feel what we think would fit. As we were doing that, they would keep it. So we arranged it for them – didn’t know we were doing it!” —from a 2005 interview for the Musicians Hall of Fame
Tributes to Joe Messina
Full obituary: The Detroit News