Coffey learned to play
guitar at the age of thirteen, in the Michigan
Upper Peninsula town of
Copper City. In 1955, as a fifteen-year-old sophomore at Detroit's
Mackenzie High School, Dennis played his first
record session - backing Vic Gallon in "I'm Gone", on the Gondola
record label. In the early 1960s he joined The Royaltones who had had
hits with "Poor Boy" in 1958 and "Flamingo Express" in 1961. The Royaltones played sessions with other
artists including
Del Shannon. By the late 1960s as a member of the
Funk Brothers studio band, Coffey played on dozens of recordings for
Motown Records, and introduced a hard rock guitar sound to Motown
record producer Norman Whitfield's recordings, including distortion,
Echoplex tape-loop delay, and
wah-wah: most notably heard on "
Cloud Nine", "
Ball of Confusion (That's What the World Is Today)", and "
Psychedelic Shack" by The Temptations. He played on numerous other hit records of the era:
Edwin Starr's "
War", Diana Ross &
The Supremes' "
Someday We'll Be Together", and
Freda Payne's "
Band of Gold". In 1971, Coffey recorded "
Scorpio" which was a million selling
instrumental single that peaked in the US at number nine on the
Billboard Hot Soul Singles chart and at number six on the
Billboard Hot 100. The instrumental track featured the former Motown "funk brother",
Bob Babbitt on
bass. On January 8, 1972 Coffey became the first white artist to perform on the
television show Soul Train, playing "Scorpio". "Scorpio" received a
gold disc awarded by the
Recording Industry Association of America on December 9, 1971. The follow-up in 1972 was "Taurus", both credited to Coffey and the Detroit Guitar Band. It reached #55 in
Canada. Since then, he has recorded several
solo albums, most of them for the
Sussex and
Westbound labels. While at Sussex Records Coffey
arranged and produced along with Mike Theodore the million selling "Nice To Be With You" by the
group Gallery. In addition, Coffey
scored the
blaxploitation film,
Black Belt Jones (1974). Coffey was interviewed in the 2002 film,
Standing in the Shadows of Motown, which told the story of
Funk Brothers and explained that he had sold his
Fender Stratocaster to buy a
Gibson Firebird after he heard
Eddie Willis of
Funk Brothers play it during a Motown session. In 2004, he published a
memoir,
Guitars, Bars and Motown Superstars. In 2008, he co-produced the
Carl Dixon sessions at Studio A,
Dearborn Heights,
Michigan. Four tracks were recorded featuring some of the Funk Brothers including
Uriel Jones,
Bob Babbitt, Coffey and
Ray Monette, plus other distinguished Detroit session musicians.
Spyder Turner, Pree and Gayle Butts were vocalists on the session. The session was arranged by David J. Van De Pitte. On April 26, 2011 (April 25 outside the US) Coffey released his self-titled album, consisting of new songs and new versions of songs which originally featured Coffey's distinctive guitar work. Promotion for the album included an international tour, kicking off with several appearances at
SXSW. Singer-songwriter
Kendra Morris accompanied him on tour, performing backing vocals. Dennis was a constant performer in his hometown Detroit. He performed at the Detroit Jazz Concert, the Concert of Colors promoted by Don Was and recorded on the Blue Note label. His performances at the Legendary Morey Baker's Keyboard Lounge and other venues included notables; Steve Adams, Drew Schultz, Danny Tyrell and others. In 2012, Coffey was interviewed on the PBS program
History Detectives, about the authenticity of an old
Ampeg B-15 amplifier with the stenciled name of fellow Funk Brothers member bassist
James Jamerson. Along with Mike Theodore, Coffey discovered the folk-rock singer-songwriter
Sixto Rodriguez, who is the subject of the 2012 Oscar-winning film
Searching for Sugar Man in which Coffey appears. Coffey played lead guitar on Rodriguez's first album
Cold Fact (1970). Dennis Coffey was inducted into the Michigan Rock and Roll Legends Hall of Fame as a member of the Funk Brothers in 2010 and as a solo artist in 2018. ==Discography==