Arrangers

Benjamin Wright Jr. Part 2

in Arrangers, Los Angeles & West Coast

The year 1980 was a very good one for Benjamin Wright, starting with an important recognition of work that he had done in 1979. Benjamin’s string arrangement on “Don’t Stop ‘Til You Get Enough” contributed to the award of a Grammy to Michael Jackson for Best Rhythm and Blues Vocal Performance, […]

Benjamin Wright Jr. Part 1

in Arrangers, Chicago, Los Angeles & West Coast

Benjamin F. Wright Jr. was born on July 11th 1946, in Greenville, Mississippi. He demonstrated his musical talent at Coleman High School, performing as a drum major in the marching band and singing doo-wop in a group he and his friends set up. He also played timpani in the school […]

Phil Collins, Tom Washington & the Phenix Horns

in Arrangers, Artists, Chicago, UK

Phil Collins started writing songs for his first solo album, after he returned to the UK in April 1979 from Vancouver, where he had tried but failed to patch things up with his wife. As a result, the new songs were very personal and Collins decided to produce them himself, […]

Tom Washington

in Arrangers, Chicago

Thomas Clay Washington was born in Chicago in 1944. He grew up on the South Side of the city on a large housing estate called the Ida B. Wells Project. He learned to play drums and keyboards and went on to study music with James Mack at Crane Junior College. […]

Holland, Dozier, Holland

in Arrangers, Motown, Producers, Songwriters

The creative team of Holland-Dozier-Holland became the dominant and most influential songwriting and music production team of the 1960s. They were responsible for making Motown a globally powerful force in the music industry that was able to meet the challenge of the British invasion led by The Beatles and The […]

Gene Page’s Extraordinary Contribution

in Arrangers, Los Angeles & West Coast, Motown, Other USA

The contribution of arrangers to popular music is often ignored, George Martin and Quincy Jones being the exception to the rule. Gene Page, the American orchestrator and producer who died in Los Angeles in 1998, was “session call number one” for any artist needing lush strings to heighten the appeal […]

Gene Page & Barry White

in Arrangers, Artists, Los Angeles & West Coast, Motown

In the late Sixties, Gene Page met the young singer Barry White, who was doing odd jobs to make ends meet between recording dates. To this day, the soul superstar remembers the arranger’s generosity. According to Barry White, during several Motown recording sessions on the West Coast at Motown Recording Studios, […]

Billy Davis

in Arrangers, Chicago, Motown, Producers, Songwriters

The late Billy Davis was born on July 11th 1932 in Detroit. He started his career in the entertainment industry as a songwriter with Berry Gordy in Detroit during the mid 1950s, creating successful songs for his cousin the late Jackie Wilson, under the pseudonym of Tyran Carlo. Billy Davis Their first major international hit was “Reet Petite” released […]

Invictus Records

in Arrangers, Motown, Producers, Record Companies & Recording Studios, Songwriters

The analysis of the Sound of Detroit was made more complicated in 1970 by the first major successes for Invictus Records, which had been founded in Detroit by Motown’s former staff song-writing and production team Holland-Dozier-Holland in 1968. Two key members from the audio and sound team at Motown were […]

Richard Evans & Johnny Pate

in Arrangers, Chicago, Musicians, Producers

Both these men have contributed to further education at university level in recent years, with Richard Evans now a professor of composition at Berklee College of Music in Boston and Johnny Pate conducting classes at Nevada University in the music department. Pate was born in 1923, in Chicago Heights, Illinois. […]