Tony Bongiovi: Motown Drummers Were Amazing

Scott K Fish

Silver Member
Tony Bongiovi: Motown Drummers Were Amazing

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SKF NOTE: In my Life Beyond the Cymbals post interview with Motown songwriter Brian Holland, I tell the back story of how tough it was, in the early 1980's, for me to find information -- especially reliable information -- for my History of Rock Drumming series for Modern Drummer. That was especially true for Motown which, again, I spell out in my intro to Brian Holland's interview.

My goal was straightforward: Who were the drummers on Motown's records? Period. Today that info is well chronicled, although there may be missing pieces to the Motown puzzle. With that in mind, I decided to post verbatim, transcripts of my research interviews about Motown with key people. Maybe some Motown historian will discover a new fact or the answer to a longstanding riddle.

This is my interview with recording engineer Tony Bongiovi. According to Mr. Bongiovi's web site bio, "At the age of seventeen, while conducting experiments with equipment in his Raritan, New Jersey home, Tony Bongiovi discovered the secret to duplicating the well-guarded audio formula for the Motown Sound. After contacting Motown, his abilities so impressed Motown President Barry Gordy that Tony was flown between New Jersey and Detroit on a regular basis to engineer records for Motown greats such as Stevie Wonder, Gladys Knight and the Pips, Diana Ross and the Supremes, The Temptations, and other leading artists."

In this interview, Bongiovi tells me, "I was at Motown from '67 to '70." And he shares some great insight into Motown drummers, especially Benny Benjamin.

I admit I've forgotten how Tony Bongiovi and I connected for this interview. He designed and founded Power Station recording studio in New York City. I was spending a decent amount of time with drummer Max Weinberg when Bruce Springsteen was recording Born in the USA at the Power Station. In fact, I attended a couple of recording sessions with Max. I don't remember meeting Tony Bongiovi, but it's very possible Max -- who loved the Motown drummers -- deserves credit for my interview with Mr. Bongiovi.

Final note: This is a verbatim transcript. I may have left out some of my questions. That is, I might have asked to clarify something said. In the interest of time -- because I always transcribed my own interviews -- if I could leave out one of my questions without interrupting the flow of Mr. Bongiovi's answers -- I might have done so. That wasn't always my practice. But it was sometimes. Also, this transcript has a Bongiovi reference to a Motown song, Agent Double-O Cool. As of this writing I cannot find that song. Maybe Mr. Bongiovi had the wrong song title or maybe I misunderstood him.

I thank Tony Bongiovi was sharing his knowledge with me.

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Tony Bongiovi: When they played they used the traditional grip. One thing that was interesting about Benjamin, if you listen to the records, the drums have a pretty amazing sound -- and it wasn't because of the engineering at Motown. It was beccause of the way the drummers' played.

If you walked about ten feet away from Benny, you couldn't hear him anymore. He played accents, and he knew all of his rudiments. He applied all that knowledge -- and he could read music. All of them could read music. All of them played with the Detroit Symphony at some point. They all had an amazing feel, and Benjamin had an amazing foot. He was the best around.

Scott K Fish Blog: Life Beyond the Cymbals Click Here for Full Interview
 
Great interview! Thanks for sharing.

I'm guessing that the song he was referring to was "Agent Double O Soul" by Edwin Starr.
 
"If you walked about ten feet away from Benny, you couldn't hear him anymore. "
I bet those Motown drummers developed that way from the many, many hours working in the Detroit clubs. Benny does sound amazing. I wish drum were better mixed on Motown records.
 
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