Wah Wah Watson R.I.P.

[Roburt]

Brenda Joyce Evans (of the Undisputed Truth) has stated that Wah Wah (Melvin Ragin) has passed away.

Wah Wah  made his name playing on Motown sessions & then went on to be one of the top & most sought after session guitarists on LA recording sessions in the 70's. He also made a few recordings in his own right (including some tracks in the mid 90's as part of Spirit Traveler) ... another sad loss for soul music.

 

 

His web site ....    https://wahwahwatson.com/

[Roburt]

Another goodie he made ... 

 

[Roburt]

INFO lifted from his web site ...

Let’s take it back to Detroit Michigan, 1968, Wah Wah Watson a/k/a Melvin Ragin is the musical director for Bobby Taylor and the Vancouver’s who did a tour of 75 one-nighters, opening for the Temptations. When he wasn’t on tour with Bobby Taylor, Melvin was sitting in at The Twenty Grand Club on 14th Street and Warren Avenue in Detroit, as the guitar player with the house band headed up by Hamilton Bohannon. The house band was comprised of musicians who also became music icons to be reckoned with from Bohannon and Michael Henderson to James Jamerson. The horn players that went on to became jazz greats included; Eli Fontane, Marcus Belgraves, Tim Conway, Hooks, Maurice White, Beans Bowes and Danny. Knowing talent when he saw it, Bohannon spotted a then 15 year-old guitar player, Ray Parker Jr. playing in another band at the historic Latin Quarter (on East Grand Blvd. between Woodward Ave. and John R.) and asked him to join his house band at The Twenty Grand club. Both Wah Wah and Ray agree that back in the day, Hamilton Bohannon played his part in giving both of them their start in the music business.

Bohannon’s band was backing up all the Motown acts performing at the club. The Spinners with GC Cameron, Gladys Knight and the Pips, Marvin Gaye, Philippé Wynne and many other R&B grets. Even though Bohannon invited Ray Parker Jr. into the band, it was no walk in the park. Ray recalled, “I was youngest, I was the Johnny come lately, so every wrong note that was played I got hit with a giant drumstick, if Gladys Knight sang the wrong note or a horn player played the wrong part it was my fault and everyone looked at me, and I got hit with a drumstick, that’s why I play perfectly now, that’s why I don’t make mistakes!”

Motown producer and songwriter Norman Whitfield would see Ray onstage at The Twenty Grand and say “what-chall got this young boy up in here?”, no matter how hard Ray would try to blend in with the carpet. Whitfield simply felt Ray was just too young to be in the band. Norman Whitfield and Ray Parker Jr. wound up becoming good buddies and as Ray also says “I love Norman Whitfield!”

After playing at The Twenty Grand they would hit Esquires delicatessen on the corner of Fullerton and Dexter in Detroit. Even though they were not part of the original funk brothers, the company they kept was certainly A-list far as musicians went in Detroit.

The young musical genius was no novice before joining Bohannon’s band. The first professional band Ray toured with were The Spinners with GC Cameron. As Ray remembers “the band would come over to my house because they had to ask my mom for permission to go on tour, and Rays mom would reply, ” ‘as long as he’s at school Monday morning!”

Then the Detroit recording sessions commenced. Wah Wah did most of the Motown sessions because he was working with Norman Whitfield (Holland Dozier Holland, Marvin Gaye, etc) and of course Norman still thought Ray was too young. Although Ray missed recording on Papa Was a Rolling Stone and Cloud Nine because he was too young, he expresses that “Wah Wah was my hero” and in fact, Ray later had the opportunity to do some Motown sessions with Smokey Robinson, Marvin Gaye and Holland Dozier Holland.

Edited October 25, 2018 by Roburt

[Smudger]

This was used as an army advert in the early 70's in the U.K. Rest in Peace Melvin

 

Edited October 25, 2018 by smudger