Eddie Willis obit

Motown's Eddie Willis, one of last remaining Funk Brothers, dies at 82

 

He was not on the list.

Guitarist Eddie Willis, who played on many of the best-known Motown hits from the Detroit era, died Monday morning at home in Gore Springs, Miss. He was 82.

His daughter Terez Willis said he had been suffering complications from a childhood bout with polio.

With the death of Willis, only guitarist Joe Messina and percussionist Jack Ashford remain from the seminal, core lineup of the Funk Brothers, the revered Motown house band that largely worked in obscurity. Messina lives in Warren.

The group's legacy was brought to wider prominence with the 2002 award-winning documentary "Standing in the Shadows of Motown."

Willis started with Motown in 1959, and remained with the label as it moved operations to Los Angeles in the early 1970s. Willis soon returned to Detroit, working as a touring guitarist with Eddie Kendricks and spending about two decades with the Four Tops.

He moved back to Mississippi about 25 years ago, Terez Willis said.

Despite the Funk Brothers' lack of wider recognition, "he knew that he was loved," said his daughter. "He knew that a lot of people in the industry loved him. That's what he talked about when I saw him two weeks ago."

Eddie Willis told PopMatters in 2008 he got a kick out of knowing that Motown's hit records were still played around the world.

"It's a wonderful thing and a wonderful feeling," he said. "You hear this music everywhere, and you have a tendency to say, 'Wow, I played on that! That was me!' "

Eddie Willis is survived by his wife, Rosemary Willis; children Michael Willis, Terez Willis, Kristy Young, Julie Brock and Rroice Willis, and several grandchildren.

Funeral arrangements will be handled by Clark-Williams Funeral Home in Grenada, Miss.