Session musicians often toil in obscurity. People hear the hit records and become fans of the artists whose names are on them without ever knowing the names of the musicians who created the sound that they love. In recent years however, session players have finally been getting their due. There have been acclaimed documentaries about the Wrecking Crew — who were behind hundreds of hits recorded in Los Angeles in the ’60s, the Swampers — the crew that played on all the soul hits that came out of Muscle Shoals, and the Funk Brothers — the unsung heroes behind all of those Motown hits. Notwithstanding the more recent notoriety, there are still hundreds of studio musicians who remain unsung despite their contributions.
One way for a studio musician to become known was to record under his own name. Musicians who started in the studio and became stars in their own right include Glen Campbell and Leon Russell, who were both part of the Wrecking Crew, and Darlene Love, who was a successful background singer before making it on her own.
Dennis Coffey is a Detroit guy. He began his career as a guitar player in groups like the Royaltones, a band that not only had some regional hits, but also played on recording sessions with artists like Del Shannon. By the late ’60s, Coffey was the hot guitar player in town, playing on hits like the Reflections “Just Like…
