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Our friend Chris Peters has been working on organizing a new Dennis Coffey album, and has helped put together a fantastic site that includes a Dennis Coffey “Premium Blend” mixtape as well as some oral history podcasts from Mr. Coffey himself. The new album should be released some time next year. I’ll keep things updated as they move along.

This is a very exciting development, as you could make an argument for Dennis Coffey being the single most important guitarist to come from Detroit. Not only was Coffey an original Motown Funk Brother, but he continued to be the studio guitarist for countless records out of Detroit including Hot Wax, Invictus, and Westbound, not to mention his solo work, which produced the absolute killer side, Scorpio, and a half dozen sought-after and highly influential electric funk albums. From the site:

Dennis Coffey Premium Blend Vol 1. In this episode, Dennis takes us on a musical trip through his career, starting with a track from his first solo record “Hair And Thangs” and ending with “I Bet You” off the first Funkadelic album. Along the way, we move with Dennis through the volcanic environment that was Detroit music in the 1960s and 1970s, including hot tracks from the likes of Honey Cone, The Temptations, 100 Proof Aged In Soul, and The Spinners.

This is the first of a series of podcasts celebrating the career of Dennis Coffey, with a new funk inspired record coming from the guitar legend later this year. Future editions will include more hits from Motown, labels such as Hot Wax, Invictus and Westbound, as well as Dennis’ hugely influential solo career.

It’s exciting because Dennis Coffey is still performing in and around Detroit, but has been, for the most part, almost ignored. Cousin Justin and our friend Max went down to legendary Baker’s Keyboard Lounge on Livernois about a year ago to see Coffey play, and said there was maybe about 50 people there. They sat there, blown away by the fact they were watching Dennis Coffey play at few feet away at Baker’s, and that nobody else was there to see it. Justin bought a copy of his autobiography for both of us and had them signed by Coffey after the show.

This is crucial, essential Detroit music history that is being preserved and resurrected with this project. I’m looking forward to the album being released: I bet you Dennis Coffey has at least one more in him.