Richard "Pistol" Allen was was the primary recording session drummer for Motown Records' in-house Funk Brothers band on most of Holland-Dozier and Holland's hit productions of the 1960s.



Richard Allen played the drums on hits sucj as "(Love is Like a) Heat Wave" by Martha & the Vandellas, "The Way You Do the Things You Do" by The Temptations, and "Reach Out I'll Be There" by the Four Tops.



Richard "Pistol" Allen's influences included Max Roach, Buddy Rich, and fellow Funk Brother Benny Benjamin. He played a studio set comprised of Ludwig, Slingerland, Rogers and Gretsch components.



Richard Allen died on June 30, 2002 in Detroit, Michigan at the age of 69, almost six months before the film 'Standing in the Shadows of Motown' came out.