- He continued to reside in Detroit until his death, where he performed as a jazz musician for a number of years.
- In 1958, Motown Records founder Berry Gordy recruited Messina for his Hitsville U.S.A. studio musicians group, known as The Funk Brothers.
- In 2004 the Recording Academy gave him and the Funk Brothers a Lifetime Achievement Award.
- Father was Jasper and mother was Mary.
- He attended Central High School in Detroit, Michigan before switching to Cass Tech for the music instruction, but he dropped out preferring to launch his career as a professional musician.
- On March 21, 2013, The Funk Brothers were awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk Of Fame.
- 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.
- While at ABC, Messina played on The Soupy Sales Show, alongside guests such as Miles Davis and Charlie Parker.
- Messina started playing guitar as an adolescent. By his mid-twenties, he was playing in the ABC Television studio band, accompanying such guests as Sonny Stitt, Charlie Parker, Stan Getz, Jack Teagarden, Lee Konitz, Jimmy Giuffre, Pepper Adams, Donald Byrd, Frank Rosolino, and Dizzy Gillespie.
- In the 1960s and early 1970s, The Funk Brothers recorded the instrumentals for hundreds of Motown hit records. During this time, Messina worked with performers such as Diana Ross & the Supremes, the Temptations, Marvin Gaye, the Four Tops, Stevie Wonder, and Smokey Robinson & the Miracles.
- Messina created his guitar parts while bouncing ideas off of White and Willis when producers would ask the band to add the right groove to a song. Often recording with all the singers, and on some sessions members of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, the band and everyone has to be tight because everything was recorded live in one take; one mistake and the recording tape would have to be rewound and everyone would have to start all over again.
- 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), and "Your Precious Love" (Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell, 1967).
- Messina died on April 4, 2022, at his son's home in Northville, Michigan.
- The Funk Brothers were also the subject of the 2002 documentary Standing in the Shadows of Motown.
- Messina stopped playing guitar for 30 years after Berry Gordy took his Motown operation to Los Angeles in 1972: "I just had no interest", he said.
Contribute to this page
Suggest an edit or add missing content