WAH WAH WATSON
Soul and funk guitarist
(1950–2018)
Melvin Ragin was just 20 years old when writer-producer norman Whitfield summoned him to Motown to play guitar on edwin Starr’s “Stop The War now” in 1970. His epiphany came soon after, when he was introduced to fellow guitarist Dennis Coffey, whose wah-wah leads for the label included The Temptations’ “Cloud nine” and “Ball Of Confusion”. “i’m saying, ‘Damn, where did you get that from?’” Ragin recalled of their meeting. “So i went and bought a wah-wah pedal.”
As a member of Motown’s house band The Funk Brothers, Ragin adopted the moniker Wah Wah Watson and went on to back the likes of The Jackson 5, The Four Tops, The Supremes and Martha Reeves in the studio. His most striking contribution came in the summer of 1972, when his subtle phrases and signature funk groove lit up The Temptations’ “Papa Was A Rollin’ Stone”. Produced and co-written by Whitfield, the song helped define the sound of cinematic soul. Watson’s imperious run of sessions during the 1970s included Marvin Gaye’s Let’s Get It On and I Want You, Quincy Jones’s Body Heat, Herbie Hancock’s Secrets and Michael Jackson’s mega-selling Off The Wall, on which he can be heard on “Get On The Floor”, “Girlfriend” and “it’s The Falling in love”. Watson issued a solo lP, Elementary, in 1976. He was back in demand during the ’90s, appearing on sessions for Meshell ndegeocello, Stevie Wonder, Maxwell and George Benson.