ENTER THE WAH WAH

Do you know Dennis Coffey? You bet your ass you do. He was a later member of the Funk Brothers, and his guitar was all over the '69-'72 Motown stuff, including the Temptations' "Ball of Confusion," "Psychedelic Shack," and "Cloud Nine," and Edwin Starr's "War." He was a big part of Motown producer Norman Whitfield's wall of psychedelic funk, staying put in Detroit, when half of Motown's roster up and moved west (some working with members of the Wrecking Crew). Coffey also played on Freda Payne's "Band of Gold," and the Isley Brothers' "It's Your Thing," among many others, and he still managed to squeeze out solo stuff. His 1971 instrumental hit, "Scorpio," made it to #6 on the charts, and he was the first white performer on Soul Train when he appeared to play the song.

If you want to get in the mood for a listen, check this clip of Soul Train first. I couldn't find a clip of him performing back then, but this one's real good. With "Scorpio" playing, the Soul Train crowd is seriously getting down. What strikes me is the variety of moves, all tight enough to seem choreographed. You could watch the clip several times and not see all of the different dance moves. And everybody is into it, even during the conga break. You cannot watch this sitting down.

Coffey has a new album out on Strut. He's still at it. Guesting are Kings Go Forth, Mayer Hawthorne, Fanny Franklin (from Orgone), Lisa Kekaula (the Bellrays), and a duet with Mick Collins (the Dirtbombs) and Rachel Nagy (the Detroit Cobras). Who ever did the picking, did a damn good job.

~ NOTE: ALL MEDIA IS HOSTED BY THE BLOGS & SITES NAMED BELOW ~

From the new one:
Dennis Coffey with Mayer Hawthorne - All Your Goodies Are Gone mp3 at Potholes in My Blog
Dennis Coffey with Fanny Franklin - Don't Knock My Love Pt 1 mp3 at American Athlete
Old stuff:
Dennis Coffey - Scorpio mp3 at EricMGrant.EJFlavors
Dennis Coffey - Wings of Fire mp3 at Art Decade
Dennis Coffey - Theme From Black Belt Jones mp3 at Blog.ddiction
Dennis Coffey - Free Spirit mp3 at Keyboard Masher
Dennis Coffey -Taurus, Ride Sally Ride and Never Can Say Goodbye mp3s at The Vinyl District Note: Click on small arrows under "Download"
Session work:
The Temptations - Psychedelic Shack mp3 at La Viie en Robe
Edwin Starr - War mp3 at Cows Are Just Food
The Temptations - Ball of Confusion mp3 at FishHeads
Isley Brothers - It's Your Thing mp3 at Parasoul
Podcast:
Dennis Coffey - Premium Blend podcast, two part retrospective of his career at BandCamp
Oddball bonus: Purists be forewarned, this is a mash up:
Dennis Coffey, King Curtis, Ken Freedman, Led Zeppelin, and Tina Turner - Whole Lotta Whole Lotta Love mp3 at Beware of the Blog
Visit:
Dennis Coffey Official site
Dennis Coffey at Wikipedia