Dennis Coffey & the Detroit Guitar Band--Scorpio (1971)

     Dennis Coffey was a part of the "Funk Brothers" who helped changed Motown's image in the late 60's/early 70's by adding a more muscular sound. They could be heard on many of Norman Whitfield produced songs including, The Temptations', "Ball of Confusion", and Freda Payne's, "Band of Gold".
     Coffey had been doing session work from the age of 15, and joined The Royaltones in the late 50's who had a top 20 hit with, "Poor Boy" in 1958. He joined Motown just as Whitfield became the leading producer at the Detroit based company. It was during this time, that some rock and even psychedelic elements were brought into the music.
     Dennis went off on his own in the early 70's, and along with fellow Funk Brother, bassist Bob Babbit, scored a top 10 hit right out of the gate with, "Scorpio". It garnered him an appearance on "Soul Train" (the first white guy to do that), and along with a follow up top 20 the next year, ("Taurus") set in motion a career that would span 14 albums including his brand new release, "Dennis Coffey" on Strut Records. http://denniscoffeysite.com/