Best Guitar Player on disco!!!

[Blaxman]

Ok, all the musicians mentioned here are great!!!

[NickNack]

On 2002-06-21 00:40, zeca azevedo wrote:
Hey BLAX,
you forgot something on your post: WAH WAH WATSON's most memorable performance ever is on PAPA WAS A ROLLING STONE by THE TEMPTATIONS - produced by NORMAN WHITFIELD.

Hi zeca,

I need to offer a correction here. It was Melvin 'WAH WAH' Ragin, tearing up the guitar on "Papa...". He, along with Dennis Coffey and others became 'the players' at Motown when Coffey introduced that wah wah sound on their "Cloud Nine" album. Melvin was on everything --- CLOUD NINE, RUNAWAY CHILD, PAPA WAS A ROLLING STONE, MASTERPIECE, LAW OF THE LAND, GLASSHOUSE, SHAKEY GROUND, JUST MY IMAGINATION --- you name it.

[zeca azevedo]

Hey Nick,

I've checked the WAH WAH WATSON site and here's what I've found:

"Papa Was A Rolling Stone" by the Temptations, Marvin Gaye's "Let's Get It On", "Smiling Faces" by The Undisputed Truth, Quincy Jones' "Body Heat", Herbie Hancock's Man-Child album, Off The Wall by Michael Jackson, Rose Royce's Car Wash, Maxwell's Urban Hang Suite.
Aside from being among the greatest soul/funk/pop classics of our time, those and scores more smash hits of the last two decades share another major distinction; all feature the signature riffs, licks and grooves of legendary session guitarist, writer, producer and artist Wah Wah Watson."

"A behind-the-scenes pioneer of the '70s soul/funk, Watson was a key player in the era's Motown Sound and has contributed guitar and/or writing and production to literally hundreds of singles and albums between then and now. Together, those recordings have sold an estimated 100 million copies around the world."

"His first major record date was with renowned Motown producer Norman Whitfield, who called the 20-year-old axe ace in to play on Edwin Starr's "Stop the War Now", released by Motown in spring of 1971."

"Then came sessions with The Four Tops, Martha Reeves, The Supremes and dozens more. Watson, meanwhile, had also begun what turned out to be a lengthy residency with the famed 12-piece Motown band led by Hamilton Bohannon. That's where he really started developing his signature technique, and picked up his nickname."

"He worked with all the hit producers at Motown, including Holland-Dozier-Holland, Frank Wilson and Johnny Bristol, but the person who had the biggest influence was Norman Whitfield. It was Whitfield, of course, who produced the Temps' "Papa Was A Rolling Stone", the 1972 soul and pop smash which prominently featured Watson's signature chugging, funky, wild wah-wah groove."

WAH WAH WATSON's name is MELVIN - he is the same guy you're talking about, you know? At least, this is the info I have for 2 decades or more.

If you have any doubt, check the man's website - http://www.wahwah.com.

Peace.

zeca azevedo

[nonkel808]

Everybody is talking about Wah WAh Watson,
but nobody mentioned JOHNY GUITAR WATSON!
He did some funky things too with his guitar: Superman Lover, Miss Frisco (queen of the disco), a real mother for ya, ....
It ain't always real disco, but it sure is funky!

also sammyPerrez you're right on the Slave tracks too. I just found "Stellar fungk" on 12" and it rocks! very nice guitar riffs!

Peace,
808

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: nonkel808 on 2002-06-22 14:17 ]</font>

[Nano]

Zeca, great info!
And Marky again surprises me: I didn't know it was Jeff Baxter (which I knew from Steely Dan records) who did the solo on "Hot stuff". It would be useful, by the way, if you guys with vinyl collections mention other known musicians (specially session players) who play in the background of disco records.
For example, is that Toto on the backtrack of Cheryl Lynn's "Got to be real"? She was on Columbia too and sings on Toto's "Georgy Porgy".

[markydefad]

On 2002-06-22 14:48, Nano wrote:
For example, is that Toto on the backtrack of Cheryl Lynn's "Got to be real"? She was on Columbia too and sings on Toto's "Georgy Porgy".

Hi Nano,

The link between Toto & Cheryl Lynn is David Paich (keyboards & vocals for Toto) and co-producer for Cheryl Lynn with his father, noted string arranger, Marty Paich.

Toto was as group of studio musicians that actually formed after cutting the tracks for Boz Scagg's "Silk Degrees" LP.

The lineup of musicians on Cheryl Lynn's "Got To Be Real" & "Star Love":

James Gadson (Drums)
David Shields (Bass)
Ray Parker Jr. (Guitar)
David Paich (Keyboards)

Steve Lukather from Toto plays guitar on "You're The One".

Toto, Cheryl Lynn, & Boz Scaggs all recorded for Columbia during this period--so that's another link.

_________________
Make My Feet Wanna Dance!

Markydefad

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: markydefad on 2002-06-22 16:19 ]</font>

[NickNack]

Hi Zeca,

Thanks for that link. I went there and then did some digging on my own with google. You're right --- seems like we're talking about the same man. Melvin 'Wah Wah' Ragin later became Wah Wah Watson. I knew I'd seen both names on lp jackets but just thought it was coincidence... two different guys playing that sound.

I found an interview that Wah Wah gave to EmagicUSA. In it they asked if Watson was his real last name. He said no and told them how he thought of it: Trying to make a long distance phone call with an operator that refused to say "Wah Wah" as the name he gave her. After that incident, he said he wanted a name with triple initials, like 'KKK' (yes, that's what he used) that symbolized power. He thought --- Wah Wah White-no; Wah Wah Washington-no; Wah Wah Watson. Yeah, that's it!

I also found a site that finally listed his name as Melvin "Wah Wah Watson" Ragin. In any case, I most definitely agree with you that he is one of the best session players. His "playlist" under both names reads like a 'who's who' in funk and jazz.

[zeca azevedo]

Hi Nick,

thanks for the story about the WWW name - I did'nt knew why he chaged his name until I read your post. I gave you some info about WWW and you gave me some infor about him too - that's why we're here on this FORUM, to change info about music and make good friends. Thank you, friend.

Hey NONKEL, I've mentioned JOHNNY "GUITAR" WATSON on my post, just check it out. I agree with you, the guy is great. My favorite track by him: FUNK BEYOND THE CALL OF DUTY.

Peace,
zeca azevedo

[Nano]

Thanks Marky, that was the info I wanted. It seems Toto also played backtrack to Elton John's disco album "Victim of love", have you heard it?
Right now I'm doing a piece on L.A. session musicians and it's tough. There's so many connections everywhere. Seems some people like Tom Scott, the Porcaros and the Brecker brothers were in all records of that time!