Uriel Jones was an African-American musician. Jones was a recording session drummer

Drummer

A drummer is a musician who is capable of playing drums, which includes but is not limited to a drum kit and accessory based hardware which includes an assortment of pedals and standing support mechanisms, marching percussion and/or any musical instrument that is struck within the context of a...

 for Motown Records

Motown Records

Motown is a record label originally founded by Berry Gordy, Jr. and incorporated as Motown Record Corporation in Detroit, Michigan, United States, on April 14, 1960. The name, a portmanteau of motor and town, is also a nickname for Detroit...

' in-house studio band, the Funk Brothers, during the 1960s and early 1970s.

Jones was first hired by Motown as a fill-in for principal drummer Benny Benjamin

Benny Benjamin

William "Benny" Benjamin , nicknamed Papa Zita, was an American musician, most notable as the primary drummer for the Motown studio band known as The Funk Brothers. He was a native of Birmingham, Alabama....

; along with Richard "Pistol" Allen, he moved up the line as recordings increased and Benjamin's health deteriorated. Jones had a hard-hitting, funky sound, best heard on the tracks for the hits "Ain't No Mountain High Enough

Ain't No Mountain High Enough

"Ain't No Mountain High Enough" is an R&B/soul song written by Nickolas Ashford & Valerie Simpson in 1966 for the Tamla Motown label. The composition was first successful as a 1967 hit single recorded by Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell, becoming a hit again in 1970 when recorded by former Supremes...

" - both versions, by Marvin Gaye

Marvin Gaye

Marvin Pentz Gay, Jr. , better known by his stage name Marvin Gaye, was an American singer-songwriter and musician with a three-octave vocal range....

 & Tammi Terrell

Tammi Terrell

Thomasina Winifred Montgomery, known as Tammi Terrell was an American singer-songwriter most notable for her association with Motown and her duets with Marvin Gaye. As a teenager she recorded for the Scepter–Wand, Try Me and Checker record labels. She signed with Motown in April 1965 and enjoyed...

 in 1967 and the 1970 remake by Diana Ross

Diana Ross

Diana Ernestine Earle Ross is an American singer, record producer, and actress. Ross was lead singer of the Motown group The Supremes during the 1960s. After leaving the group in 1970, Ross began a solo career that included successful ventures into film and Broadway...

, "I Heard It Through the Grapevine

I Heard It through the Grapevine

"I Heard It Through the Grapevine" is a landmark song in the history of Motown. Written by Norman Whitfield and Barrett Strong in 1966, the single was first recorded by Smokey Robinson & the Miracles...

" by Marvin Gaye, "Cloud Nine" by the Temptations (in which he was augmented by "Spider" Webb), Jr. Walker's "Home Cookin'," "I Second That Emotion" by Smokey Robinson & the Miracles, "For Once In My Life" by Stevie Wonder

Stevie Wonder

Stevland Hardaway Morris , better known by his stage name Stevie Wonder, is an American singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, record producer and activist...

, and many more. His influences included jazz drummer Art Blakey

Art Blakey

Arthur "Art" Blakey , known later as Abdullah Ibn Buhaina, was an American Grammy Award-winning jazz drummer and bandleader. He was a member of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community....

. For his Motown recordings, Jones performed on a studio set composed of Ludwig

Ludwig-Musser

Ludwig-Musser is a drum and percussion instrument manufacturer that is part of the Conn-Selmer division of Steinway Musical Instruments.The first product made by the Ludwig brothers, William and Theobaldner , was a bass drum pedal capable of playing faster beats than was typical of products of the...

, Slingerland, Rogers

Rogers Drums

The Rogers company was started in 1849 by an Irish immigrant from Dublin named Joseph Rogers. Rogers came to the United States and started crafting drum-heads. His son began making drums in the mid-1930s at a Farmingdale, New Jersey location...

 and Gretsch

Gretsch

The Gretsch Company was founded in 1883 by Friedrich Gretsch, a twenty-seven year old German immigrant recently arrived in the US. Friedrich Gretsch manufactured banjos, tambourines, and drums, until his death in 1895. His son, Fred, moved operations to Brooklyn, New York in 1916...

 components. Jones became better known to music fans through his memorable appearance in the feature documentary film, Standing In The Shadows Of Motown

Standing in the Shadows of Motown (film)

Standing in the Shadows of Motown is a 2002 documentary film directed by Paul Justman. It recounts the story of The Funk Brothers, the uncredited and largely unheralded studio musicians who performed on Motowns' recordings from 1959 to 1972....

.

In 2008 he performed on the Carl Dixon BandTraxs session at Studio A/Dearborn Heights/Detroit where he and fellow drummer Spider Webb helped complete Dixon's dreams of paying homage to musicians from the city that appeared on the many Motown and Detroit recordings he aspired to. In addition to Uriel Jones on the session were other top musicians including Dennis Coffey

Dennis Coffey

Dennis Coffey is an American guitarist. He was a studio musician for many soul and R&B recordings.-Biography:Coffey learned to play guitar at the age of thirteen, in the Michigan Upper Peninsula town of Copper City...

 (co producer), Bob Babbit, Ray Monette (Rare Earth), Robert Jones, Spider Webb, George Katsakis (The Royaltones), Gil Bridges (Rare Earth), Dennis Sheridan, Larry Frantangelo, John Trudell, David Jennings, Mark Burger, George Benson, Ed Gooch & Rob Pipho. Also ex Motown arranger David Van De Pitte

David Van De Pitte

David J. Van De Pitte was an American music arranger and bass player. He is best known for his work at Motown Records during the 1960s and early 1970s, when he was responsible for arranging many of the best known and most successful of the company's records, including those by Marvin Gaye, The...

 scored the musical arrangements around the original UK demos he was sent and led the band in the studio.

Jones died aged 74 at Oakwood Hospital & Medical Center in Dearborn

Dearborn, Michigan

-Economy:Ford Motor Company has its world headquarters in Dearborn. In addition its Dearborn campus contains many research, testing, finance and some production facilities. Ford Land controls the numerous properties owned by Ford including sales and leasing to unrelated businesses such as the...

, Michigan

Michigan

Michigan is a U.S. state located in the Great Lakes Region of the United States of America. The name Michigan is the French form of the Ojibwa word mishigamaa, meaning "large water" or "large lake"....

, after suffering complications from a heart attack.

External links

• Motown drummer Uriel Jones dies in Michigan
• Obituary in the Traverse City Record-Eagle
  Traverse City Record-Eagle
  The Traverse City Record-Eagle is a daily morning newspaper based in Traverse City, Michigan. It calls itself "Northern Michigan's Newspaper".The newspaper formerly was owned by Dow Jones & Company, also publishers of the Wall Street Journal...
  
  
• Carl Dixon Brits Motown Supreme dream Detroit News 2008