Joe Messina

Joseph Lucian Messina (December 13, 1928 – April 4, 2022) was an American guitarist. Dubbed the "white brother with soul", he was one of the most prolific guitarists in Motown Records' in-house studio band, the Funk Brothers. He started playing the guitar when he was thirteen, after his father purchased one for him. Messina initially attended Central High School in his hometown, before studying music at Cass Technical High School. Charlie Parker, Donald Byrd,

In 1958, Motown Records founder Berry Gordy recruited Messina for his Hitsville U.S.A. studio musicians group, known as The Funk Brothers. In the 1960s and early 1970s, they recorded the instrumentals for hundreds of Motown hit records. During this time, Messina worked with performers such as Diana Ross & the Supremes, and Smokey Robinson & the Miracles. Among the many Motown hits Messina played on are "Dancing in the Street" (Martha & the Vandellas, 1964), "I Can't Help Myself (Sugar Pie Honey Bunch)" (Four Tops, 1965), Messina stopped playing guitar for 30 years after Berry Gordy took his Motown operation to Los Angeles in 1972,

Messina was the creator of an alternative music technique known as the Interval Study Method, which uses the chromatic and diatonic scales to create music. The Funk Brothers were also the subject of the 2002 documentary Standing in the Shadows of Motown, in which Messina appeared extensively.

Personal life Messina was married to wife Josie who died in 2009. The couple had two children: Joel and Janice.

Messina died on April 4, 2022, at age 93 at his son's home in Northville, Michigan. He suffered from kidney disease during the last twelve years of his life.