The Motown Sound: The Complete Albums & More

Earl Van Dyke was vital to Motown’s sound. The gifted keyboard player spearheaded The Funk Brothers, the anonymous studio band that backed Motown artists from the company’s 1959 Detroit beginnings up until the label relocated to Los Angeles in 1972. This impressive collection gathers a generous 45 songs starting with an instrumental take from the 1965 Martha and the Vandellas hit “Nowhere To Run.” Without the lead vocal track, the voicing of Van Dyke’s Hammond B-3 organ takes center stage. This reveals the man’s talent for playing this unique keyboard as a rhythmic instrument unto itself rather than trying to translate piano lines into its warbly, grinding tones. Even when exercising more restraint as heard throughout the following instrumental version of The Supremes' “Come See About Me,” it’s easy to hear not only how well he fit in the pocket, but how he drove it. As a pianist, he made the boogie-woogie honky-tonk style of playing sound classy — check out his parts on The Four Tops' “I Can't Help Myself (Sugar Pie, Honey Bunch).”