Melvin “Wah Wah Watson” Ragin—a guitarist identified for his work with Michael Jackson, Marvin Gaye, and plenty of different Motown artists—has died. He was 67. His spouse, Itsuko Aono, confirmed that Ragin handed yesterday (October 24) at St. John’s Hospital in Santa Monica. “He will be greatly missed but music is eternal,” she mentioned in a press release. “Wherever he is, he’s groovin’.” Known for his use of the wah wah pedal as a session guitarist and producer, Ragin was a member of the Motown home band the Funk Brothers and contributed to the label’s 1970s funk and soul sound.
Ragin was born in Richmond, Virginia. He later moved to Detroit the place he would go on to play his first session with Motown producer Norman Whitfield at age 20. His most notable options embrace guitar work on the Temptations’ “Papa Was a Rolling Stone,” Marvin Gaye’s Let’s Get It On, Michael Jackson’s Off the Wall, and Quincy Jones’ Body Heat. He additionally performed with artists just like the Supremes, Rose Royce, Herbie Hancock, and Gladys Knight & the Pips. Ragin additionally put out his personal initiatives, together with the file Elementary, which he launched as Wah Wah Watson in 1977. Later in his profession, he contributed to R&B initiatives equivalent to Maxwell’s Urban Hang Suite. He continued working with pop musicians like Janet Jackson and Alicia Keys within the early 2000s.
“I can’t even properly structure the sentence to convince you guys how much THIS particular guitar god effects your life,” Questlove mentioned in a tribute to Wah Wah Watson. “[A]ll due repsect to the cat who oooozed love and passion from his craft.”
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