How much is Dennis Coffey worth?
| Net Worth: | $50 Million |
|---|---|
| Profession: | Professional Guitarist |
| Date of Birth: | November 11, 1940 |
| Country: | United States of America |
| Height: | 1.73 m |
About Dennis Coffey
American guitarist Dennis James Coffey was born on November 11, 1940, and his estimated net worth is $50 million. Before beginning to lay out the fundamentals of his instrumental masterpiece “Scorpio” in early 1971, guitarist Dennis Coffey had already established himself as a legendary figure in the funk genre. In reality, the “psychedelic soul” singles produced by Producer Norman Whitfield for the Temptations, such as “Ball of Confusion,” “Cloud Nine,” “Psychedelic Shack,” etc., feature Coffey’s magnificent wah-wah technique.
But Dennis, the uncommon white artist of the time who could compete with the Detroit jazz greats known as Motown’s “Funk Brothers” house band, was about to go down in history as one of the first hip-hop samples, not just as a one-hit wonder. However, it wasn’t Coffey who put it down; rather, it was his fellow soldiers at Motown.
Dennis had been wise enough to forgo a full-time contract with Berry Gordy, giving him the freedom to perform and record for anybody he pleased. Because of the blaxploitation explosion started by Isaac Hayes’ “Shaft,” lush, orchestral funk was all the rage, and Coffey decided to improve on that concept, he jumped at the chance when the Sussex label, best known today for a string of classic Bill Withers hits, offered to let him record an entire LP of instrumentals.
He then enlisted the aid of several of his Motown friends, including drummers Uriel Jones and Richard “Pistol” Allen, bassist Bob Babbitt, Eddie “Bongo” Brown on congas, and Jack Ashford on tambourine, to help create a massive guitar riff that included no less than nine overdubs performed by three different guitarists and scored like horns or strings over three octaves.
He let them stretch out during the jam, as usual, allowing for a lengthy breakdown. very lengthy In actuality, it lasted for two minutes and 17 seconds, with just percussion taking up half of that time. The interaction between Coffey and his friends was helpful, with Brown imploring the bassist to “Grab it, Babbitt!” Amazing energy was present. However, the song was a failure.
Nowhere, that is, until Sussex learned a full year later that “Scorpio,” was setting Detroit dance floors on fire. As a result of the A&R push that followed, it entered the pop Top 10.
Coffey broke the TV show “Soul Train,” by daring to perform it live, making him the first white man to ever appear there. A few years later, enterprising Bronx DJs started include “breaks” in their sets, and “Scorpio” was virtually always included. It was featured on the iconic “Ultimate Breaks & Beats” compilation in 1986, and it quickly became a go-to for hip-hop and dance artists trying to spice up the drab keyboard beats of the time. Coffey only had one Top 20 follow-up single, “Taurus,” but “Scorpio,” whose panoramic guitar riff was also often sampled, was enough to establish his legacy.
