Uriel Jones Proposed Headstone

**stingbeelee** · 05-30-2012, 09:30 AM

This story regarding trying to get a headstone for famed Funk Brother Uriel Jones is in today's Detroit News. I believe I can put the story in here, if not, Ralph please tell me otherwise!

May 30, 2012 at 1:00 am
Fans aim to honor grave of Uriel Jones
By Susan Whitall
Detroit News Music Writer

Detroit musician fans of Funk Brother Uriel Jones are raising money for a headstone to mark the Motown drummer's grave at Woodlawn Cemetery in Detroit. Jones, the last survivor of Motown's three main drummers, died in 2009, at 74.

Jones grew up in Detroit, and often credited the music instruction and tough discipline he received at Detroit's Moore School for putting him on the right path — toward a career in music. He was also a proficient boxer, which made him probably the most athletic of Motown's drummers.

After touring with Marvin Gaye, Jones was able to fill a slot at Motown's Studio A in 1964, when the runaway success of the company meant that drummers Benny Benjamin and Richard "Pistol" Allen could barely keep up with the recording schedule.

That's Jones rocking hard on the Temptations' "Ain't Too Proud to Beg" and "Cloud Nine," and many Ashford & Simpson productions for Motown, including Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell's "Ain't No Mountain High Enough." He was known in the studio for a never-ending string of jokes, many told in the Funk Brothers' double-secret patois, that few outsiders learned to parse.

John Milroy of the Milroys and the Rickety Nelsons became interested in raising money for a headstone for Jones after he saw The Detroit News' 2010 interactive map that plotted out where many of Detroit's music legends are buried. Milroy resolved to help raise money for the unmarked graves.

"Woodlawn is a few blocks from where we live," Milroy said. "When we have people visiting from out of town, we try to take them over there, because it's pretty historic when you see who's buried there."

After conferring with Jones' widow June, Milroy formulated a plan to raise money for a simple marker. He set up a fundraising page on Indiegogo.com to raise the first $1,000 — http://www.indiegogo.com/urieljones?c=home — within 86 days.

"We decided to try to raise $1,000 through that website to give out-of-town people a chance to be part of it," Milroy said. "But I'd like to see the community around here give the lion's share of it. We'll end up walking business to business. I'm sure it's probably going to be a pretty easy thing to do."

The hope is to secure enough money to install a marker by next spring.

Next up: Milroy wants to raise money for a marker for early Motown crooner Marv Johnson [["Come to Me," "You Got What it Takes"), who's also at Woodlawn. He's looking to get in touch with Johnson's family to make arrangements.

swhitall@detnews.com

twitter.com/swhitall

From The Detroit News: http://www.detroitnews.com/article/2...#ixzz1wMKPgvHk

**Motown4Ever518** · 05-30-2012, 05:15 PM

mr. Jones grooves are what made me interested in the drums. The footage of him from SITSOM made me feel as though I knew him, thank you for sharing, I would be honored to contribute.