Dennis....thanks so much for posting this important and fascinating information!!
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Dennis....thanks so much for posting this important and fascinating information!!
Here is the story of why I did not tour with The Funk Brothers. http://denniscoffeysite.com/to-be-or...-funk-brother/
Dennis - thanks so much for starting your blog and sharing your experiences with us....and also for keeping us up to date with your new postings here on SDF. Fascinating information and history.
I had the chance to work with Don Was at Concert of Colors. http://denniscoffeysite.com/don-was/
Hear is blog about me doing my first recording session at the age of 15. http://denniscoffeysite.com/my-first...dennis-coffey/
Hi Dennis, great blog! If you don't have a copy of I'm Gone, there is a copy for sale on ebay right now for $9.99!! Surprised to see the musician credits on the label, as musicians rarely were credited until years later.
Attachment 9246http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/MI-rockabilly-Vic-Gallon-Im-gone-Gondola-1414-LISTEN-/380621797815
Hi Mike. Thanks for the info. I bought the record yesterday and they are sending it to me. I have one copy but a backup copy is always good.
Here another blog on my second recording session at Fortune Records with some great pictures! http://denniscoffeysite.com/my-secon...rding-session/
nice. Dennis, if I may offer an observation. People may be more apt to comment if they didn't have to sign name and email everytime they want to comment. It's stopping MY lazy ass! lol... Maybe make a way to keep someone who has previously commented stay signed in, like on this forum?
I really enjoyed reading about you working with Norman Whitfield, Dennis.
Making music and money in Detroit. http://denniscoffeysite.com/lots-of-...made-part-one/
I remember a lot of good times working with The Royaltones at Bay Shores in Somer's Point, NJ. http://denniscoffeysite.com/bay-shor...nt-new-jersey/
Here is my blog of my earliest recordings as an artist while I was in the army. http://denniscoffeysite.com/discover...dennis-coffey/
Hello everyone. Here is another blog. http://denniscoffeysite.com/lots-of-...and-at-motown/
Here is my latest blog. I found some early records Mike Theodore and I produced on YouTube. http://denniscoffeysite.com/lots-of-...ic-part-three/
Here is another blog of me recording my first album "Hair & Thangs". http://denniscoffeysite.com/detroit-...-money-made-4/
The name Paul Parrish came up on an interview I did with the BBC last Saturday so I wrote a blog about him. http://denniscoffeysite.com/paul-parrish/
Hello everyone. Here is a new blog about Mike Theodore and I producing Lonette McKee. http://denniscoffeysite.com/lonette-mckee/
I just got back from the Les Paul 100 Year celebration at the Hard Rock Cafe in NYC. Some great guitarists were playing at the event to honor Les Paul. I put a video of Joe Bonamassa on my website. http://denniscoffeysite.com/all-star...y-celebration/
Dennis, thanks for your blog. It's terrific!
I have been listening to the complete Invictus recordings collection for a few months now and am curious and interested in your opinions. I always felt I could tell the difference between a Motown and an Invictus recording, even though Holland Dozier Holland were present on both labels, composing and producing.
Invictus to me always had a more sparse, bass and guitar led sound, and although sometimes horns and even strings were added, the fundamental platform was always bass, guitars and drums. Dennis Coffey, Tony Newton, Ray Parker, Zachary Slater and Mckinley Jackson seemed to be the foundation of the majority of the recordings. My question is - did Invictus set out to emulate the Motown sound, or was the intention to provide its own distinctive sound with the sparse clattering guitars, heavy bass and generally less sweetenings? Was this by design, or was it perhaps due to less money available to provide the rich orchestrations provided by cash rich Motown?. Or was it simply down to the studios and their ambient sound and recording equipment?
regards Mike
If I wasn't clear, this recording exemplifies what I was trying to put over to you.... it's too gritty and metallic for Motown....
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lBxaj9N-DIg
Hi Mikew. Peanut played bass on most of those recordings. HDH hired Motown Sound Engineer Lawrence Horn to be part of their operation. In the beginning some of those early HDH recordings were done at Tera Shirma with some of the Funk Brothers but they still probably had Lawrence Horn doing the engineering. I was always in the rhythm section not the control room but Ralph may be able to tell you more about those sessions.
Hi Folks. I finally got a chance to play guitar on a record in a Quintin Tarantino movie. Mike Theodore and I produced a record on Rodriguez called "Hate Street Dialog". It is in the new Tarantino movie coming out in December called "Hateful Eight". The song was written by Mike Theodore, me, and Gary Harvey. I am playing a guitar solo on my guitar using a Hammond Condor Unit. http://denniscoffeysite.com/dennis-c...-in-new-movie/
Dennis,
Lawrence die NOT engineer any of those early sessions. The engineer was Milan Bogdan.
Congratulations on the movie deal, Dennis. That is quite an achievement,
Thanks, Ralph. I knew you would know the answer. Hey back in the day I got to work with James Burton, the guitarist who played with Ricky Nelson and Elvis Presley. http://denniscoffeysite.com/james-burton/
Dennis,
Remember when we were playing in Somers Point and staying at that motel? I was in the pool one day and struck up a conversation with another road musician who was telling me he was getting involved with this group in Muscle Shoals. Real nice guy. Turned out it was a young [[like us at the time) Steve Cropper.
Nice to read the news about the movie Dennis!
Ralph, I finally met Steve when we received our Funk Brothers Pioneer Awards at the R&B Foundation Event in Philadelphia.
Hi Everyone. Wes Montgomery was one of my guitar heroes. I heard him many times at the Drome Lounge in Detroit. I also got to know him and started playing jazz because of him. http://denniscoffeysite.com/my-guita...es-montgomery/
Great article Denny, thanks ! And the concert is fabulous !
Thanks Phil. Two of Rodriguez's daughters, Sandra and Eva came down to Northern Lights last Tuesday and invited Millie and me to attend the concert at the Fox Theater Sunday night featuring Brian Wilson with Rodriguez as the opening act. We are looking forward to it.
Yes, I love the records with Norman Whitfield. Dennis, you really made these records jump out at you from the opening chords, especially I'll never forget hearing "Friendship Train" for the first time, and then realizing it was Gladys Knight and the Pips. That blew me away.
It was when Motown finally started crediting some of its musicians on their LPs that I learned your name as well as several others. I believe you played on another of my all time favorites "What It Is," by Undisputed Truth. I loved that entire album, "Face to Face With the Truth" so much from start to finish. So much great guitar on that LP, especially on the deconstruction of "What's Going On."
Did you ever play with George Clinton, either on Parliament or Funkadelic? I have to think you must have. Didn't you in fact record for Westbound as did Funkadelic in their early days?
I did play that solo on Smiling Faces and that album. I also played on I Want to Testify with George and the first Funkedelic album. George and I both received Heroes and Legends Awards in LA in 2009. We had breakfast the next day and talked about old times.
Just want to clarify. I was talking about the UT's second album "Face to Face with the Truth," and its single "What It Is." I'm pretty sure you meant you played on that entire album, but just like to know for sure. But good to know you also played on their first LP as well.
Thanks!
I am not sure I played on that album unless they have me listed in the credits. I was playing on so many albums back then that it is hard to remember each one.
I have been writing about some of my guitar heroes. Pat Martino is one of them. http://denniscoffeysite.com/my-guita...s-pat-martino/
Another one of my guitar heroes George Benson. http://denniscoffeysite.com/my-guita...george-benson/
Congratulations on the movie gig! Look forward to hearing the song.
I will be playing August 19-22 at the Dirty Dog Jazz Cafe. http://denniscoffeysite.com/back-at-...dog-jazz-cafe/
I added some videos to my blog on the first time I used my special guitar effects at Motown. http://denniscoffeysite.com/motown-guitar-effects-use/