The baritone saxophone of Andrew Mike Terry remains an indelible component of the famed Motown sound -- his grunting, gutbucket solos electrified dozens of the most memorable hits from soul's golden era, spanning from pop blockbusters including Martha the Vandellas' Heatwave and the Supremes' Where Did Our Love Go to cult classics like Darrell Banks' Open the Door to Your Heart and Cliff Nobles' The Horse. Born in Hempstead, TX, in July 1940, Terry grew up in Detroit, later attending the city's noted Cass Tech High School, launching pad for a number of Motown artists and session players. There he took up the baritone sax, later proclaiming "No one else wanted it...I really wanted to play the trumpet." In addition to saxophone, Terry also proved a talented arranger, and made his professional debut in 1959 as a member of pianist Richard Popcorn Wylie's backing unit the Mohawks, serving alongside bassist James Jamerson and drummer Clifford Mack, both of whom later served as members of the Motown label's famed studio group, the Funk Brothers. A performance at the Detroit nightspot the Twenty Grand Club first brought Wylie and the Mohawks to the attention of Motown owner Berry Gordy, Jr., who signed the group to release the single Shimmy Gully, one of the company's first-ever releases. From there, Terry signed on with pianist Joe Hunter, who doubled as the Motown studio crew's musical director from 1959 until 1964, and apart from a brief tour behind R&B sensation Jackie Wilson, Terry remained a Funk Brother throughout the first half of the decade, even touring with the first Motortown Revue in 1962.

Terry's résumé reads like a roll call of soul's greatest hits -- his Motown track record alone spans chart smashes including the Four Tops' I Can't Help Myself, the Isley Brothers' This Old Heart of Mine (Is Weak for You), Kim Weston's Take Me in Your Arms (Rock Me a Little While), and Marvin Gaye's Baby Don't Do It, and as a freelancer he played on monsters like Jackie Wilson's Higher and Higher, the Fascinations' Girls Are Out to Get You, and the Capitols' Cool Jerk. What Terry lacked in technical finesse he made up for in sheer rhythmic propulsion, maximizing the brief windows of opportunity afforded him by the Motown assembly-line production process. Over time, Terry nevertheless began to chafe under the strict limitations of the Motown approach, and in 1965 he left the label, enrolling at the Detroit Institute of Music Arts. A year later he signed with Motown rival Golden World, teaming with George Clinton and Sidney Barnes to form Geo-Si-Mik Productions and appearing on sessions including Edwin Starr's Headline News and J.J. Barnes' Day Tripper. After Motown acquired Golden World in 1968, Terry relocated to Chicago, where he tenured at Epic subsidiary OKeh, and spent the remainder of his career as an arranger and producer, pursuits that led him to Philadelphia, Los Angeles, and finally New York City, where he composed film soundtracks and worked on the off-Broadway production +Big Time Buck White. For reasons that are unclear, Terry did not participate in the Funk Brothers reunion that yielded the acclaimed 2002 feature documentary #Standing in the Shadows of Motown. He died on October 30, 2008, at the age of 68. ~ Jason Ankeny, Rovi