Dennis Coffey

Dennis Coffey continues performing as a veteran from Detroit soul’s storied prime, supplying guitar parts to key releases on Motown, Ric-Tic, and Revilot. His instrument appears on Northern soul classics including “Just My Imagination,” “Ball of Confusion (That’s What the World Is Today),” “War,” “Cloud Nine,” “Someday We'll Be Together,” and “Band of Gold.” Under his own name he issued several projects, most prominently the cult blaxploitation soundtrack Black Belt Jones and the single “Scorpio,” later prized by collectors of vintage records. Once Motown departed Detroit in 1972, session dates continued, among them the Sylvers’ “Boogie Fever,” while he also scored films and produced Gallery’s Nice to Be with You plus Rodriguez’s Cold Fact. Although he maintained steady studio work as producer and songwriter with Mike Theodore and kept gigging regularly, broader recognition faded until the 2002 film Standing in the Shadows of Motown, centered on the label’s celebrated but uncredited house band, introduced him to fresh listeners and players worldwide.

Raised in the Motor City, Coffey began playing guitar at thirteen during visits to relatives in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. A country-music enthusiast in his youth, he shifted focus at Detroit’s McKenzie High toward rock & roll, jazz, and blues, citing Chuck Berry, Scotty Moore, and Wes Montgomery among his influences. His first studio date backed rockabilly singer Vic Gallon on “I’m Gone,” released on Gallon’s Gondola imprint. Subsequent work included a rockabilly duo with vocalist Durwood Hutto and a contract arranged through Jackie Wilson’s manager, Nat Tarnopol. Tarnopol facilitated an introduction to Berry Gordy, Jr., yet Coffey built his session reputation at Ed Wingate’s Ric-Tic label, contributing to Edwin Starr’s “S.O.S. (Stop Her on Sight),” J.J. Barnes’ “Real Humdinger,” and the San Remo Strings’ “Hungry for Love.”

Throughout the mid- to late 1960s Coffey remained a Detroit studio regular, appearing on Darrell Banks’ “Open the Door to Your Heart,” Carl Carlton’s “Competition Ain’t Nothing,” and Tobi Lark’s “Happiness Is Here.” His inventive lines link countless tracks revered in Britain’s Northern soul scene. Around 1968 steady Motown assignments began with the Temptations’ “I Wish It Would Rain,” followed by “Cloud Nine” and “Ball of Confusion,” where his wah-wah pedal expanded the label’s funk palette and introduced other technical refinements. Concurrently he moved into arranging and production, starting with Jack Montgomery’s “Dearly Beloved” on Scepter and forming the Theo-Coff partnership with drummer Mike Theodore. Their early success came with a demo for the Sunliners, leading to a deal on MGM’s Maverick subsidiary; six months later Maverick signed Coffey as a solo artist, issuing the psych-funk album Hair & Thangs and scoring a regional hit in 1969 with his fuzz-driven instrumental cover of the Isley Brothers’ “It’s Your Thing.”

Maverick closed in late 1969. While the Sunliners rebranded as Rare Earth and joined Motown, Coffey resumed session work, appearing on Edwin Starr’s “War” and Freda Payne’s “Band of Gold.” In 1971 he joined Clarence Avant’s Sussex label as artist and staff producer, achieving a Top Ten single with the funk track “Scorpio,” later sampled for its drum breaks. Follow-up “Taurus” also charted, and albums Evolution and Goin’ for Myself supplied breaks later used by Public Enemy, the Beastie Boys, and LL Cool J. Production credits include Gallery’s 1972 soft-rock hit “Nice to Be with You.” After moving to Westbound in 1974, Coffey and Theodore produced disco successes such as CJ & Co’s “We Got Our Own Thing” and the Tempest Trio’s “Love Machine,” while Coffey scored the 1974 film Black Belt Jones; his own Westbound solo releases have not aged as favorably as the Sussex material.

Following Westbound’s 1980 closure, session work resumed until the 1989 lite-jazz album Under the Moonlight. Coffey’s memoir Guitars, Bars and Motown Superstars appeared in 2004. Renewed interest in his catalog during the 2000s yielded three compilations: Vampi Soul’s Big City Funk: Original Old School Breaks & Heavy Guitar Soul, Live Wire: The Westbound Years 1975-1978, and Fuel’s Absolutely the Best of Dennis Coffey. The Detroit Music Awards presented him a Distinguished Achievement Award in 2011; he also received a video nomination for a YouTube instrumental of Cee Lo’s “Fuck You.” That April, at age seventy, he released a new self-titled Strut album featuring vocalists Mayer Hawthorne, Rachel Nagy of the Detroit Cobras, Paolo Nutini, Lisa Kekaula of the BellRays, Fanny Franklin of Orgone, and Kings Go Forth, backed by Detroit musicians, earning international praise.

Subsequent activity included guest appearances on recordings by Booker T. Jones, Adrian Younge, and Andre Williams, plus ongoing online exchanges about his career, Detroit music history, and guitar influences. His band maintains a weekly residency at Northern Lights Lounge, with additional headline dates at Baker’s Keyboard Lounge and Dirty Dawg Jazz Cafe, plus national festival appearances. Coffey and Theodore continue writing and recording. On Record Store Day 2016, Resonance Records issued the limited-edition LP Hot Coffey in the D: Burnin' at Morey Baker's Showplace Lounge, drawn from 1968 trio recordings with organist Lyman Woodard and drummer Melvin Davis originally captured by Theodore; wider release followed in January 2017. Eighteen months later Omnivore issued One Night at Morey's: 1968 from the same venue, and in 2019 Live at Baker's, documenting a 2006 performance at Baker’s Keyboard Lounge with keyboardist Demetrius Nabors, Grammy-nominated drummer Gaelynn McKinney, and bassist Damon Warmack, interpreting works by Freddie Hubbard, Miles Davis, Jimmy Smith, the Temptations, plus standards such as “Moonlight in Vermont” and “Scorpio.”