DENNIS COFFEY
Dennis Coffey
[Strut]
Don't call this a comeback, he's been here for years. Detroit guitar legend
Dennis Coffey's raw and funky playing can be heard on a roll call of seminal songs -
The Temptations' Ball Of Confusion and
Cloud Nine,
The Sylvers' Boogie Fever,
Edwin Starr's War,
Freda Payne's Band Of Gold, among many, many others - as Coffey was a member of the original Motown Funk Brothers' backing band, popularising a heavy, funky guitar sound. But this self-titled set for
Strut is no old timers' get-together: guests include Mayer Hawthorne, Mick Collins (The Dirtbombs) and Fanny Franklin (Orgone), and Coffey stylishly leads a crack band through a dense selection of new material and hand-picked covers (from The Parliaments and Funkadelic to 100 Proof Aged In Soul and more). The funk and fuzz levels are set to high, with a swirling, soulful psychedelica permeating most tracks. A rare treat from one of the originators.
3 and 1/2 stars from 5
