At The Heart of Music!
Guitar Man - Cornell Dupree
A brilliant session guitarist of the late 60's and early 70's, Cornell Dupree produced a jazz-based style while playing funky rock tracks. This extremely talented sideman recorded his most notable rock sides with Aretha Franklin, Brook Benton, King Curtis, Paul Simon, and Joe Cocker. He has worked with James Brown, Miles Davis, Ray Charles, Donny Hathaway, Elvin Jones, B.B. King, Rahsaan Roland Kirk, Herbie Mann, Jimmy Smith, Lena Horne, Grover Washington, Jr., Richard Tee, Steve Gadd, and many more. He has left his mark on thousands of albums, is still actively performing, and shows no sign of slowing down.
He was also a member of one of my favorite jazz-fusion groups, Stuff. Stuff featured fellow guitarist Eric Gale, Richard Tee on keyboards, Steve Gadd, Chris Parker on drums, and Gordon Edwards on bass. Dupree and Richard Tee also recorded jointly on many other albums.
Born on 19 December 1942, in Fort Worth, Texas, he taught himself how to play the guitar and became a professional musician as a teenager. A short time later, he joined King Curtis' band in New York City
and worked with Jimi Hendrix. Eventually, Cornell was brought into Atlantic Records to help shape the label's soul tracks. Cornell’s unique ability to play rhythm and lead guitar seamlessly reduced the need for multiple guitarists, which reduced the confusion at recording sessions. In the late 60s, he ended up
becoming the prime guitarist for Atlantic Records. Dupree's work for Atlantic then led to a10-year tenure with Aretha Franklin.
Dupree's own recording sessions have seen him in company with David “Fathead” Newman, Ellis Marsalis, Hank Crawford, Bobby Watson, Terell Stafford, and Ronnie Cuber.
At the beginning of the century, he did some touring and performing as Cornell Dupree and his Bayou Buddies. The band consisted of four friends from New Orleans, bassist George Porter Jr., drummer Jeffrey “Jellybean” Alexander, keyboardist Marc Adams, and saxophonist Brian “Breeze” Cayolle.
style="mso-spacerun:yes"> In 2006, he played with one of the most important acts in Soul-Jazz and R&B, known as The Soul Survivors. This group featured pianist Les McCann and guitarist Cornell Dupree, with drummer Buddy Williams, saxophonist Ronnie Cuber, and the great Jerry Jemmott on bass.
Dupree has very varied musical tastes. This is revealed when he talks about the five pieces that he considers his best. He says that he is most proud of, “Rainy Night in Georgia,” with Brook Benton, Aretha Franklin's “Live at Fillmore West,” “King Curtis' Live at Fillmore West,” Donny Hathaway's “Live,: and Lil' Esther Phillips on “From a Whisper to a Scream.”
The sideman category was created in 2000 to fill a void in the Grammy’s. These sidemen were vital in the creation and popularization of rock 'n' roll music, but were hardly ever the featured performers and rarely known by name to the general public. At first the category took care of some long-troubling oversights, such as legendary saxophonist King Curtis, Motown's rhythm section of James Jamerson and Benny Benjamin, Elvis Presley's guitarist Scotty Moore, and two of the greatest session drummers who ever lived, Earl Palmer and Hal Blaine. But the inductees in the Sidemen category slowed down after its early rush to make things right and there hasn't been a new entry since 2004. Considering the backlog of immortal musicians still waiting to be inducted, the recent neglect is bewildering and inexcusable. Because of his huge body of work, Cornell Dupree is certainly worthy of consideration.
Mike Stokes
Comment
Videos
Groups
Network!
Our Sponsors!
Thanks!
Badge
© 2012 Created by Mike Stokes.
You need to be a member of Makin' Music Network to add comments!
Join Makin' Music Network