Dennis Coffey | Artist

Dennis Coffey is an American guitarist born 1940 in Detroit, Michigan. He was a studio musician for many soul and R&B recordings, and is well known for his 1971 Top 10 hit single "Scorpio". As a fifteen year old school student, Coffey made his first record session backing Vic Gallon in "I'm Gone", on the Gondola label. By the late 1960s as a member of studio band Funk Brothers, Coffey played on dozens of recordings for Motown Records and introduced a hard rock guitar sound to Motown producer Norman Whitfield's recordings, including distortion, Echoplex, tape-loop delay, and wah-wah techniques. He played on numerous hit records such as "Cloud Nine", "Ball of Confusion" and "Psychedelic Shack" by The Temptations, "War" by Edwin Starr, "Someday We'll be Together" by Diana Ross & The Supremes, and Freda Payne's "Band of Gold". In 1971, Coffey recorded "Scorpio" which was a million selling instrumental single, and he was the first white artist to perform on the TV show Soul Train, playing "Scorpio". As a soloist and with The Detroit Guitar Band, Coffey released several excellent albums including Hair and Thangs, Evolution, Electric Coffey, and the live Hot Coffey in the 'D'. Along with Mike Theodore, it was Dennis Coffey who discovered the folk-rock singer-songwriter Rodriguez, who is the subject of the 2012 Oscar-winning film "Searching for Sugar Man" in which Coffey appears. Coffey also played lead guitar on Rodriguez's first album Cold Fact (1970).

Artist Website: denniscoffeysite.com

Featured Albums: Dennis Coffey

Related Artists: Dennis Coffey & The Detroit Guitar Band, The Funk Brothers, Rodriguez