from
http://www.bbc.co.uk/manchester/music/2004/02/02/funk_ashford_jones.shtml"JACK ASHFORD (Vibes and tambourine)
Tambourine might not sound like an important instrument was but it was central to the Motown Sound. Listen to the beginning of "Heard it Through the Grapevine" or "Dancing in the Street"
Jim Clarke talked to Jack.... "
"on... the tambourine sound:
"The boss of EMI here in England back in the early days said Motown would never sell in Britain because the tambourine was too loud! The reason it was so loud was a simple one…there wasn't enough mikes in the studio for the tambourine so I had to sit in the drum booth with Benny (Benjamin) . As the session went on I was edging closer and closer to the drum mikes because I was watching what the guys were doing. So when it came to mixing the track they couldn't turn the tambourine down without turning the drums down..then they realised they liked the sound they were getting, so it stayed that way.!"
from
http://www.themoviechicks.com/nov2002/mctstandinginshadows.html"Question: How long were you with Motown? When did it start and when did you leave?"
"Jack: Marvin Gaye took me there in 1963 and when they shut down, I stayed until '75. I only went there to spend about 8 weeks with Marvin, he was going on tour, but after the Funk Brothers heard me play vibes, they invited me to work at the club thing and then they worked me right on into the studio. Cause I had a bag of tricks. The competition was keen, when I was there, there were other vibe players floating through. I was plotting. I came up and hit them from so many angles they had to keep me. I put that first tambourine on them and I was the first guy in the world, and I knew I was in then. I started developing the tambourine; the vibe became obsolete as far as my skills were concerned. They could hire somebody to play vibes, but they couldn't hire anyone to play what I was doing with the tambourine."
