Dennis Coffey - Dennis Coffey

Strut are proud to announce a priority release for 2011, the new studio album by Detroit guitar legend, Dennis Coffey. Guitarist of choice for major artists as diverse as Del Shannon, Funkadelic and The Temptations, Coffey was a member of the original Motown ’Funk Brothers’ backing band and was key in bringing heavy wah wah guitar to soul and R&B during the late ’60s. The canon of classics featuring Coffey’s work is immense - from Temptations’ ’Ball Of Confusion’ and ’Cloud Nine’ to Edwin Starr’s ’War’ and Freda Payne’s ’Band Of Gold’, the list is a roll-call of classic soul and R&B landmarks.

As a solo artist, Coffey is perhaps best known for a series of rare groove classics during the early ‘70s including the million-selling breakbeat staple ‘Scorpio’ and soundtrack to cult action flick ’Black Belt Jones’. Alongside producer Mike Theodore, his ‘70s ‘Theo-Coff’ productions and his prolific guitar work ranged from raw funk to classic disco, including CJ & Co’s ‘Devil’s Gun’ and The Sylvers’ ’Boogie Fever’.

For 2011, Dennis Coffey’s new self-titled album is a revelation, a dense, fuzz-heavy haze of incendiary psychedelic soul. Much of the set recalls the sentiments of earlier solo work such as his seminal, trippy ’Hair ’N’ Thangs’ album. For these sessions, in addition to a host of new compositions, Coffey personally cherry-picks tracks upon which he first appeared and enlists an illustrious guest list for all-new interpretations. Stones Throw’s new soul hero Mayer Hawthorne takes up The Parliaments’ poignant mid-tempo swayer ’All Your Goodies Are Gone’, Fanny Franklin from killer Hollywood funk combo Orgone voices a new version of Wilson Pickett’s psych-soul jam ’Don’t Knock My Love’ and Lisa Kekaula from California garage-soul band The Bellrays takes on the 100 Proof Aged In Soul stomper ’Somebody’s Been Sleeping’. The Detroit connection looms large throughout the set – Mick Collins from the Dirtbombs  alongside Detroit Cobras’ Rachel Nagy unleash a dark, brooding take on Funkadelic’s ’I Bet You’. UK chart sensation Paolo Nutini  contributes a passionate version of Rodriguez' „Only Good For Conversation.“ Completing the list of collaborations, Milwaukee funk sensations Kings Go Forth (Luaka Bop) mould an intense funk jam around some heavy Coffey licks on ’Miss Millie’.

Tracklisting:

1. 7TH GALAXY
2. DON’T KNOCK MY LOVE FEAT FANNY FRANKLIN
3. ALL YOUR GOODIES ARE GONE FEAT. MAYER HAWTHORNE
4. I BET YOU FEAT. MICK COLLINS OF DIRTBOMBS AND RACHEL NAGY
5. MISS MILLIE FEAT. KINGS GO FORTH
6. SOMEBODY’S BEEN SLEEPING FEAT. LISA KEKAULA
7. PLUTONIUS
8. KNOCKABOUT
9. ONLY GOOD FOR CONVERSATION FEAT.PAOLO  NUTINI
10. SPACE TRAVELLER
11. DON’T KNOCK MY LOVE (PART 2)

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