(soulful music) (crowd talking) - Well, I've been here for 11 years.

We pack it so I'm still here so it's a great room.

(soulful music) Back in the day, I worked at Motown Studio A's about two miles from here and now I'm workin' here and I still go to the museum and play sometimes so I've traveled two miles in my (laughs) career.

(soulful music) (crowd talking and singing) Yeah, I was there every day so I did Cloud Nine, Just My Imagination, Psychedelic Shack, Someday We'll Be Together, Nitty Gritty with Gladys, it just went on and on.

Norman Whitfield came in with an arrangement of a song on Cloud Nine and I had a wha wha pedal.

(upbeat music) He says that's it, so in two weeks I was backin' up The Temptations in the studio on that record and then I was there all the time.

(upbeat music) Check it out.

(upbeat music) Let's see what we have here.

- [Narrator] Early on, Dennis Coffey tried collecting the records he played on like J. J. Barnes, the Shades of Blue, Jamie Coe, The Volumes, a whole lot of northern soul back before his Motown days.

This thing's probably worth a lot of money.

- Yeah, they are.

One time I sold a record for $1400 dollars and then I stopped sellin' em.

- [Narrator] In the '50s, in high school, they called him the rock and roll kid.

- I started doin' blues then I started doin' rockabilly.

I was 14 at Mackenzie High School.

I had my rockabilly guitar and I'm doin' Blue Suede Shoes and singin' it at an assembly and the kids are goin' nuts and I gotta tell you, this spinster the teacher thought it was too suggestive and she pulled the plug in my amplifier before I could get done.

("I'm Gone" by Vic Gallon) That's the first record I ever played on, I'm Gone by Vic Gallon.

If you listen to the Vic Gallon record, you'll hear me doin' a rockabilly solo at the age of 15.

When you get paid for playin' music, it's pretty cool.

We did a session called Crazy Little Satellite about the satellite.

- [Announcer] The satellite is free.

- And so we actually recorded that record at United Sound and Berry Gordy was the arranger on that session.

The record didn't come out in a year so we were only like still probably 16 or 17 so I says, "Well obviously this record business isn't happenin'" so I just told 'em I wanted out of my contract and I wasn't interested in the record business anymore.

I don't think Berry probably even knows to this day that that's where I first met him.

- [Narrator] After high school, Coffey joined the army airborne in Kentucky.

- Being airborne is crazy anyways.

They give you combat pay for jumping out of planes.

(slow music) I get back, still only 20 years old, so now I'm playing six nights a week and makin' a good livin' doin' music.

Back in those days you could work six nights a week in a club and make a living at it.

And I was a member of The Royaltones and we were signed to Harry Balk's label.

("Little Town Flirt") Del Shannon was one of his artists so I played on Handy Man with Del Shannon, Little Town Flirt, all that stuff.

Del Shannon told me that The Beatles use to open up for him in England.

("Little Town Flirt") - [Narrator] As the British invaded, Coffey played on, joining recording partner Mike Theodore and became record producers.

All while Coffey worked at Motown as freelance funk brother.

Coffey and Theodore produced Rare Earth's first album.

- See this guy right here?

That's me 'cause their guitar player got lost on the way to the picture so I put on sunglasses and got in there.

- [Narrator] They also produced Rodriguez.

- [Dennis] He's my most memorable artist.

- [Narrator] The Searching For Sugar Man Rodriguez.

And Coffey put out a record of his own.

- This was the very first one.

- [Narrator] An LP and a single.

- This is a sure thing, you know, first instrumental I had out, and it's Coffey and the Lyman Woodard Trio.

- [Narrator] It didn't sell like The Isley Brothers' version.

Coffey had to wait a couple years.

It was 1971.

- This is the Evolution album.

- Give it up for the Dennis Coffey and the Detroit Guitar band and Scorpio.

- I said well you know what, what if I write some songs and I'm gonna make it like a guitar band.

(funky music) And I'm gonna have guitars doing horns and string parts and that whole thing just took off.

It took a year before that was a hit.

(funky music) - [Narrator] It's been said Scorpio's break beat would help lay the foundation for the hip hop sound.

- Once Motown left, there were no sessions here anymore.

I mean there was nothin' here for me to make extra money doin' that.

I said you know maybe this is the time for us to go out to L.A.

'cause I always wanted to do a movie.

- [Movie Announcer] Black Belt Jones.

(yelling) - Black Belt Jones, yeah it's a karate guy.

- [Narrator] A combo of Black and karate.

- It was, it certainly was, yeah.

- [Movie Announcer] Enter Jim, Dragon, Kelly.

- I was in L.A.

for three years from '73 to '76 and I got up one day and I said you know what?

I don't even like it out here.

It's not fun for me.

I'm a Detroit guy.

Detroit is just, it's my vibe.

- [Narrator] Back in the midst of a recession, Coffey had a tough decision to make.

- I went to work on the assembly line at General Motors.

- [Narrator] Someone realized who the new hire was.

Worried the guitarist's hands could be ruined, he moved Coffey to a less dangerous job.

Coffey went to college, became an expert on the lean manufacturing process and he trained the people running the assembly lines.

- I made a good living at it.

- [Narrator] Coffey kept playing and recording too.

- Can you get the other stuff, Dave?

- Dennis can play anything.

He is just amazing so we've been down to hear him at Northern Lights and you know there isn't anything he can't do and when he came out with this kind of a new genre that fits into our schedule, we thought it'd be great to have him.

(jazzy music) - [Narrator] Coffey's put together a combo for the Greater Detroit Jazz Society at the Shield's Restaurant in Southfield.

(jazzy music) Jerry McKenzie played with Stan Kenton, Ray Tini with Paul Anka.

That's Dave Tatrow on trumpet, Scott Gwinnell at the keyboard.

- We're playing more contemporary jazz, not the far out, avant garde type jazz.

(jazz music) It's just straight ahead, American songs that we're doing in there.

(jazz music) - To be able to play with a master, I get to check that off my bucket list and hopefully do some more of these gigs, because it's thrilling to play with a legend.

- For a six stringed instrument, I'm still a student of the instrument.

For six strings, there's a lot of possibilities left yet, you know, at the top.

(jazz music) (crowd applauding)