Occupation(s) Session musician Name Johnny Griffith Instruments Keyboards Role Musician | Labels Motown Albums Dance With the Lady | |
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Birth name John Ellis Griffith, Jr. Born July 10, 1936
Detroit, Michigan
United States ( 1936-07-10 ) Died November 10, 2002, Detroit, Michigan, United States Movies Standing in the Shadows of Motown Music group The Funk Brothers (1963 – 1972) Similar People Richard "Pistol" Allen, Joe Hunter, Jack Ashford, Uriel Jones, Eddie "Bongo" Brown | ||
Associated acts The Funk Brothers | ||
John Ellis "Johnny" Griffith, Jr. (July 10, 1936 – November 10, 2002) was an African-American musician.
Biography
Born in Detroit, Griffith played piano and keyboards for Motown Records' in-house Funk Brothers studio band. Among the hundreds of Motown recordings Griffith played on are "I Heard It Through the Grapevine" by Marvin Gaye, "I Can't Help Myself (Sugar Pie, Honey Bunch)" by Four Tops, and "Stop! In the Name of Love" by The Supremes.
Griffith played the Steinway grand piano, the Hammond B-3 organ, the Wurlitzer electric piano, the Fender Rhodes, and the celeste and harpsichord. His musical influences included Bud Powell, Glenn Gould, and Oscar Peterson.
Griffith died of a heart attack in a Detroit hospital on November 10, 2002. He was 66 years old.