DOUG Talks To Guitarist DENNIS COFFEY about the upcoming RODRIGUEZ Celebration

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Episode Transcript

(00:00):
Yeah, hither to Troit' wheels.Oh dog, Dennis Coffee, Dennis,
how are you, my friend?I'm doing good. How are you doing?
I'm doing well and it's good totalk to you. I know.
We've got this big event coming uphere on Thursday night with well a celebration
of Rodriguez and right, and youhad a big part in that right from

(00:22):
the beginning. And I want totalk about that in just a second.
But lifelong Michigander Dennis Coffee, incredibleguitar player and one of the actual Funk
Brothers. Now, I know yourbuddy Ted Nugent wishes he was a Funk
brother. I know, Oh man, he's got He plays a Gibson Birdland.

(00:45):
I also have a Gibson Birdland innineteen sixty three model that I bought
back in nineteen sixty three, soI use that sometimes on the gig.
Wow. Yeah, I know hetalks a lot about the Funk Brothers,
But you were an actual funk brotherat Motown Records in an era that where
they really needed a new influence andyou brought it. Yeah, yeah,

(01:10):
you brought it with Cloud nine BalaConfusion Psychedelic Shack War from Edwin's Star.
I mean, the list goes onof the songs that you made popular there.
Yes, and I was also theonly funk brother then ended up going
to LA and I was working forMotown out there as well. Yeah,

(01:30):
when they moved out there to LosAngeles, it was a sad day and
Detroit but that was good for Motown. Yeah. Yeah, Mike Theodore and
I moved out there because we wereon salary. We're house producers for Sussex
Records and Clarence Avant had his companyout there, so we ended up moving
out there. And then that wholething happened with his wife. That was

(01:52):
once later on, of course,but what a sad story that was.
You know, we all have tocarry on in life. There's a lot
of sad stories out there, noquestion, you and I know about a
couple of them. But h andof course, one of the biggest songs
from nineteen seventy one, the trackcalled Scorpio that you put out back then,
and that's still I mean, thatis still you know, just an

(02:15):
award winning song, no question aboutit. Yeah, absolutely, that was
my first gold record. You know. Then I did the Gallery, you
know, I next to me withyou was another one, and then the
whole Rodrigus Cold Fact album was awhole nother story that Mike and I did.
Mike Theater and I, so,well, that's that's kind of the

(02:37):
story I want to talk about rightnow because that is that is quite the
story. Well, that album ColdFact, you know, it ended up
becoming you know, iconic because ofwhat happened to rod Regus. And it's
crazy that you were a part ofproducing that. Yeah, Mike Theater and
I produced it. We uh youknow, rod Regus had recorded four songs

(03:01):
for Harry Balk for one of hislabels, and uh we did the arrangements
on that and then uh uh thethen one day, uh uh you know,
and they couldn't They didn't know whatto do with Rodriguez, you know,
they were they didn't know what todo with him. So anyways,

(03:22):
they dropped him from the label andhe had a manager raining and she called
me and Mike and said, well, rod Regus is out looking for a
deal and stuff. So uh uhso we went out to hear him and
he was playing at this place calledthe Sewer and it was on the riverfront

(03:43):
kind of at water in that areaand uh, and so we went in
and we first saw him. Rodriguezhad was playing guitar and singing and he
was facing the walls. Well,this is kind of interesting. He was
kind of shy, but you knowwhat we heard past that because we realized

(04:08):
he was really, you know,writing a great, great songs for that
album. And we got Clarence,they want to sign him up, and
we recorded an album on him.And then that's uh, that's what happened.
And then the whole story with thatalbum and suddenly it did nothing for
fifty years, and then suddenly ittook off in South Africa and in Australia

(04:30):
and all over the place, andthen uh, finally it ended up with
the film Searching for Sugarman and allthat other stuff. So it really was
quite interesting. Well, it's absolutelyan interesting story and it captured the imagination
of people across the world. SoI see, the very first song on
the Cold Fact album is sugar Man. So where did you know Rodriguez actually

(04:54):
get his name from that song?Uh? No, that that was this
guy I uh over in South Africa. He was the guy that was the
sugar Man. That was his nicknamein South Africa. It wasn't Rod Regus,
and he was the guy that kindof discovered him. And then then

(05:15):
for a while they thought Rod Reguswas dead and so that rumor was going
around and Mike Theater saw that,he said, what are you talking about?
He's not dead, He's alive inDetroit and so forth, and Mike
gave that feedback back to the guysin South Africa and everything, so that
whole uh things, you know,kind of just started taking on a life

(05:39):
of its own. Now when theystarted looking for him, did they contact
you at all? No, theywere in South Africa, they had no
idea, you know, what wasgoing on and U and back then they
had all kinds of termoil with theparty and all that stuff in South Africa
and all that and so, butthat particular album, they the South African

(06:03):
government were not would not allow themto keep it in the library and would
not allow anybody to have that album. So they ended up bootlegging logging the
album over there because for some reason, you know, whatever struggles they were
having over there, you know,it just struck a chord in everything.

(06:25):
And that's what happened with that album. That's how it got started over there.
That is just it is. Itis an amazing story. And you
know, I'm going to have togo back and take a look at that
special that they did again. Um, maybe I'll try and get it in
before tomorrow. But did you knowof Rodriguez around because I had known of

(06:45):
him over at Wayne State University.We used to see him over there all
the time. He was probably abit younger, got to degrees from Wayne
State. I got a bachelor's degreein a master's degree from Wayne State.
So did you know did you rememberhim being around on campus all the time
and seeing him? Pleased to seehim once in a while, and they
always seemed to be wandering around withHe had one of those uh wine bags

(07:12):
you know, like in the alpsIs stuff. He used to have one
of those. And uh, hewent to Wayne he got some kind of
the green philosophy or something from Wayneand then he was gonna run for a
city council or what have you eventhings like that. So, uh,
he was quite the interesting character,you know. So so after you saw

(07:34):
him performing live singing to the Wall, I mean, what what what happened?
Then? Did you go up tohim and say, hey, I'm
Dennis Coffee we want to produce yourrecord. Yeah, yeah, I saw
you talked to him, and Itold my theater, we got to check
this guy out. And so uh, Mike, actually, so Clarence avon

(07:55):
on signing up Rodriguez and we sentsome demo tape to Clarence and got him
to do it. It was itwas kind of different from what Clarence had.
And then Clarence, you know,was distributed by Buddhists, so he
started, Uh. Then we didthe gallery and so Boodha was freaking out.
It says, that's our jobs.They So Clarence, You're supposed to

(08:18):
be doing the R and B stuff. Now you got rod Regus and now
you got the gallery and all that. And Clarence says, you don't tell
me what to do. I dowhat I want to do. So that's
that's how that thing worked out.Oh those were the days back then when
the artist, when the artist toldthe label what to do. My god,
yeah, yeah, you know thatwas yet. I remember when uh

(08:43):
I met Henry Stone when he wasinvolved with TK Records, and I was
talking to him at some DJ conventionin New York and uh said, well,
uh, I told him, well, we had this girl that he
was looking for a girl singer,and I said, well, we have
a girl, girl singer, andhe says, oh really, He says,
well, I'll sign you guys up. So he gave me a check

(09:05):
for twenty five grand, and Itold theater, I says, I guess
we better. I guess we betterfind a girl. So we found one
and did the album and it cameout so that you know that that's where
everybody had the deep pockets, youknow, the album deals fifty grand was
a normal thing to do an albumand everything, you know, and things

(09:28):
have changed so much as far aswhat's going on. But you know,
it's so funny because here I amback at Northern Lights Lounge again, you
know, my third week there,and we're packing him in that one night
that I worked there, and Igot a good band and everything, and
I'm right back there. Last timeI was there, I was there for
twelve years in the same owner,and so I'm back there and uh,

(09:54):
the last three Tuesday nights have beenpacked all night and uh, we're rocking.
You know. I got a goodband here, got some young guys
in the band and everything, andthe way we go, I have to
write their names down on a sheetof paper because I never knew these guys.
I hired them off with a gig, so it was pretty wild.
But they're good players, you know. Detroit always has great players. Very

(10:16):
Gory told me that he couldn't havestarted Motown in any city besides Detroit because
Detroit had all the town you know, and he was right, you know,
that was the whole picture. Imean, Detroit has always been a
music city. I mean there's moreclubs in Detroit than a lot of cities
that maybe New Orleans or some place, but there's certainly more clubs in Detroit

(10:37):
than there is in La Well,I've seen you many times up there at
Northern Lights, and I first Ijust want to say how great it is
to have you back there on Tuesdaynights, and we will definitely be up
there this summer, but also howgreat it is to have that club back
because that is a great club forpromoting local music and just a nice vibe

(10:58):
and down town Detroit. And ifyou know people haven't been there, they
need to get out there, especiallyon Tuesday and see you perform, because
you are just a jewel of theMotor City. Dennis and we couldn't be
more proud to have you as partof the Motor City Rockers and a funk
brother on top of it. Soyeah, well I'm still, like I

(11:18):
say, I still practice guitar everyday. And I got about six guitars
and uh, you know, Gibsongave me a brand new uh three fifty
five Gibson, so I have thatone, and then I've got a few
other ones I use. So I'mstill learning how to play. Man.
Let me find that lost chord outthere and see what I can. I

(11:39):
find that hard to believe, butyeah, I guess if it works for
you, there you go, Dennis. So what will you be doing at
the show, the Rodriguez birthday show? Will you do a song from from
the Cold Fact album? Or you'rejust going to do your stuff? I
don't know, I have no idea. Yeah, I haven't decided the set

(12:01):
yet. No, you know,you just look at the club, you
know. I just uh, Ihave chord sheets, you know. So
I got I got all the songsthat I do, you know, I
got them all on chork sheets.And so I show up at the gig
with a book for the musicians.I got cork sheets to all the songs
I'm gonna do, and I kindof sketchy of I have no idea what

(12:24):
order I'm going to do them orwhatever. So I just look at my
music stand and all that stuff andintroduced the guys in the band to write
down their names because they're all goingto go, oh, you're gonna have
I beat them. Is when Ihired them like three weeks ago. You
know, there's gonna be like twentyguys on stage there tomorrow. I mean,
this is it is gonna be.It is gonna be madness. I

(12:46):
mean, the tickets went so fast, and it is going to be just
a who's who out there with yourself. Also, Derek Saint Holmes from the
Ted Nugied Band, Mike Skill fromThe Romantics, you got my roof you
guy there, Johnson Claire is goingto do his thing, Vinny from the
Orbitson's, and I think everybody wantedto be a part of this celebration for

(13:09):
Rodriguez. I can't Rodriguez. Youknow, he's certainly a talent of the
guy. I mean we heard thatright away, you know, Mike and
I heard that. We heard thatthe songs that he was writing, and
then He was telling us that hewas writing songs off of headlines in the
paper, and he was using articlesin the newspaper to write his songs.

(13:35):
He told me one time, well, hey, wherever he can find it,
right, I mean, inspiration comesfrom from somewhere different for everybody.
What was the last time he sawhim? Is this going to be a
big reunion between you two. Iunderstand he is going to be there.
Yeah, as far as I know, Well, you know, he's always
been kind of h I opened upfor Rodriguez in uh in Europe, you

(13:58):
know, when he was performing overthere. I was opening act for him
from some gigs over there. Butyou know, he's like he was always
you know, It's like Mike andI would meet him on the street by
Wayne State. I mean that's wherewe'd meet him and go into a restaurant

(14:18):
there and talk about what we wantedto do. And yeah, Mike said,
one time he went over to Rodriguez'shouse, I guess, and somehow
Rodriguez had some song lyrics and theyhad a fireplace and somehow the song lyrics
got blown down into the fireplace thatburnt up. Well, it should be

(14:39):
a fun night, I mean,I am looking forward to this for sure.
It's it's been a buzz since theyou know, since it was announced,
and I think it's going to bea fantastic showing for someone who who
really needs to be celebrated at hishometown and really hasn't, so, you

(15:00):
know, we're finally going to getit done. In the meantime, you've
got about fifteen albums twenty albums outthere. Do you have a website there,
Dennis Coffee that people can go to? Yea, so, Dennis Coffee,
si te dot org. I thinkit is or dot com So I
just looked it up. It's DennisCoffee site dot com. You know.
Yeah, I do have a website. Okay, Well, people should search

(15:22):
it out and pick up some ofyour incredible music that you've done yourself.
But this is going to be afun night. I'm looking forward to it,
and I'm especially looking forward to yourset there tomorrow, Dennis. So
well, we'll have fun. IfI if I wasn't having fun, I
wouldn't do it anymore. Yeah,And I had a chance to work with
the Les Paul before he passed away, and I was also on the Jimmy

(15:46):
Fallon Show with the roots fan.You can't get more current than that.
No, no, there you go. So congratulations on that. Looking forward
to seeing you tomorrow, and justthank you so much, Dennis for your
time and hook it up with ushere at Detroit's Wheels and we will see
you for a great celebration for agreat MotorCity rocker. There, Rodriguez.

(16:08):
All right, thank you, Dennis. Coffee right here on w LLLZ Detroit's
Wheels. Thanks Doug,