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were the brilliant but anonymous studio band responsible for the instrumental backing on countless
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from 1959 up to the company's move to Los Angeles in 1972. Woefully underappreciated as architects of the fabled "
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" the individual musicians were rarely credited on the records that relied upon their performances, which downplayed their importance to the label.
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's sophisticated, urbane brand of R&B certainly would have been difficult to achieve without the extensive jazz training that many of
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brought to the table. In order to keep that sound a distinctive brand name,
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signed most of the group to exclusive, highly restrictive contracts during their tenure, although a few peripheral members were able to moonlight on sessions for other companies from time to time. In more recent years,
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legacy has begun to receive proper attention, most notably in Allen Slutsky's 1989 book
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, which focused on bass genius
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, and the 2002 documentary film of the same name, which covered the group as a whole