Funk Brother Drummer Dies

Uriel Jones, a drummer whose versatile style fueled many classic Motown hits, has died. He was 74.

Sister-in-law Leslie Coleman says Jones died Tuesday at a Detroit-area hospital after complications from a heart attack he suffered last month.

Jones played on tracks by the Temptations, Four Tops, Smokey Robinson and the Miracles and others. He was part of the Funk Brothers, the talented house band on Motown recordings.

Paul Riser, a Motown arranger and musician, says Jones had “a pulse in his playing that nobody else had.” But Riser said Jones also could play with finesse and restraint when the song called for it.

He is survived by his wife, June, and three children. A funeral has been scheduled for Tuesday at Detroit’s Greater Grace Temple.