John Ellis Griffith Jr. (July 10, 1936 – November 10, 2002) was an American musician.

Biography

Born in Detroit, Griffith was a musician who played keyboards for Motown Records' in-house studio band,

The Funk Brothers The Funk Brothers were a group of Detroit-based session musicians who performed the backing to most Motown recordings from 1959 until the company moved to Los Angeles in 1972. Its members are considered among the most successful groups of stud ...

. Among Griffith's most notable performances on the hundreds of Motown recordings he played on are the electric piano on "

I Heard It Through the Grapevine "I Heard It Through the Grapevine" is a song written by Norman Whitfield and Barrett Strong for Motown Records in 1966. The first recording of the song to be released was produced by Whitfield for Gladys Knight & the Pips and released as a ...

" by Marvin Gaye and " Ain't Too Proud to Beg" and by

The Temptations The Temptations are an American vocal group from Detroit, Michigan, who released a series of successful singles and albums with Motown Records during the 1960s and 1970s. The group's work with producer Norman Whitfield, beginning with the Top ...

, and the organ on "

Stop! In the Name of Love "Stop! In the Name of Love" is a 1965 song recorded by the Supremes for the Motown label. Written and produced by Motown's main production team Holland–Dozier–Holland, "Stop! In the Name of Love" held the #1 position on the ''Billboard'' ...

" by

The Supremes The Supremes were an American girl group and a premier act of Motown Records during the 1960s. Founded as the Primettes in Detroit, Michigan, in 1959, the Supremes were the most commercially successful of Motown's acts and the most successf ...

and " Shotgun" by Junior Walker & the All Stars. Griffith also played on many of the non-Motown releases with the Funk Brothers, such as " Cool Jerk" by

The Capitols The Capitols were an American, Detroit, Michigan-based soul trio, widely known in 1966 for their '' Billboard'' hit single " Cool Jerk". Formation and disbandment The R&B trio formed in 1962 as "The Three Caps," with Samuel George as the lead v ...

and "

(Your Love Keeps Lifting Me) Higher and Higher "(Your Love Keeps Lifting Me) Higher and Higher" is an R&B song written by Gary Jackson, Raynard Miner, and Carl Smith. It was recorded by Jackie Wilson for his album '' Higher and Higher'' (1967), produced by Carl Davis, and became a Top 10 ...

" by Jackie Wilson. Griffith played the

Steinway Steinway & Sons, also known as Steinway (), is a German-American piano company, founded in 1853 in Manhattan by German piano builder Heinrich Engelhard Steinweg (later known as Henry E. Steinway). The company's growth led to the opening of a ...

grand piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keybo ...

, the

Hammond B-3 organ The Hammond organ is an electric organ invented by Laurens Hammond and John M. Hanert and first manufactured in 1935. Multiple models have been produced, most of which use sliding drawbars to vary sounds. Until 1975, Hammond organs generated ...

, the

Wurlitzer electric piano The Wurlitzer electronic piano is an electric piano manufactured and marketed by Wurlitzer from the mid-1950s to mid-1980s. Sound is generated by striking a metal reed with a hammer, which induces an electric current in a pickup. It is concept ...

, the Fender Rhodes, and the celeste and harpsichord. His musical influences included Bud Powell,

Glenn Gould Glenn Herbert Gould (; né Gold; September 25, 1932October 4, 1982) was a Canadian classical pianist. He was one of the most famous and celebrated pianists of the 20th century, and was renowned as an interpreter of the keyboard works of Johann ...

, and

Oscar Peterson Oscar Emmanuel Peterson (August 15, 1925 – December 23, 2007) was a Canadian virtuoso jazz pianist and composer. Considered one of the greatest jazz pianists of all time, Peterson released more than 200 recordings, won seven Grammy Awards ...

. Griffith died of a heart attack in a Detroit hospital on November 10, 2002. He was 66 years old.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Griffith, Johnny 1936 births 2002 deaths African-American pianists American soul musicians Musicians from Detroit The Funk Brothers members American soul keyboardists 20th-century American pianists American male organists Rhythm and blues pianists American session musicians 20th-century organists American male pianists 20th-century American male musicians 20th-century American keyboardists 20th-century African-American musicians 21st-century African-American people