Paul Griffin (musician)
Encyclopedia
Paul Griffin was an American
session musician
and pianist
, who recorded with hundreds of artists from the late 1950s to the 1990s. Born in Harlem, New York, he began as the touring pianist in the backing band for King Curtis
and eventually worked with artists such as Bob Dylan
, Steely Dan
, Don McLean
, The Isley Brothers
, Van Morrison
, The Shirelles
, and Dionne Warwick
. He may be best known for playing on the critically acclaimed albums Highway 61 Revisited
, Blonde on Blonde
and Aja
. His distinctive piano accompaniment to Don McLean's "American Pie" is considered by many to be a defining element of that mega-hit recording. In addition, he worked on several films. He was an arranger for The Warriors (1979) and Four Friends
(1981) and performed in On Location: Robert Klein at Yale (1982) and on the soundtrack for Blue Sunshine
(1976). Griffin died at age 62 at his home in New York.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
session musician
Session musician
Session musicians are instrumental and vocal performers, musicians, who are available to work with others at live performances or recording sessions. Usually such musicians are not permanent members of a musical ensemble and often do not achieve fame in their own right as soloists or bandleaders...
and pianist
Pianist
A pianist is a musician who plays the piano. A professional pianist can perform solo pieces, play with an ensemble or orchestra, or accompany one or more singers, solo instrumentalists, or other performers.-Choice of genres:...
, who recorded with hundreds of artists from the late 1950s to the 1990s. Born in Harlem, New York, he began as the touring pianist in the backing band for King Curtis
King Curtis
Curtis Ousley , who performed under the stage name King Curtis, was an American saxophone virtuoso known for rhythm and blues, rock and roll, soul, funk and soul jazz. Variously a bandleader, band member, and session musician, he was also a musical director and record producer...
and eventually worked with artists such as Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan is an American singer-songwriter, musician, poet, film director and painter. He has been a major and profoundly influential figure in popular music and culture for five decades. Much of his most celebrated work dates from the 1960s when he was an informal chronicler and a seemingly...
, Steely Dan
Steely Dan
Steely Dan is an American rock band; its core members are Donald Fagen and Walter Becker. The band's popularity peaked in the late 1970s, with the release of seven albums blending elements of jazz, rock, funk, R&B, and pop...
, Don McLean
Don McLean
Donald "Don" McLean is an American singer-songwriter. He is most famous for the 1971 album American Pie, containing the renowned songs "American Pie" and "Vincent".-Musical roots:...
, The Isley Brothers
The Isley Brothers
The Isley Brothers are a highly influential, successful and long-running American music group consisting of different line-ups of six brothers, and a brother-in-law, Chris Jasper...
, Van Morrison
Van Morrison
Van Morrison, OBE is a Northern Irish singer-songwriter and musician. His live performances at their best are regarded as transcendental and inspired; while some of his recordings, such as the studio albums Astral Weeks and Moondance, and the live album It's Too Late to Stop Now, are widely...
, The Shirelles
The Shirelles
The Shirelles were an African-American girl group that achieved popularity in the early 1960s. They consisted of schoolmates Shirley Owens , Doris Coley , Addie "Micki" Harris , and Beverly Lee...
, and Dionne Warwick
Dionne Warwick
Dionne Warwick is an American singer, actress and TV show host, who became a United Nations Global Ambassador for the Food and Agriculture Organization, and a United States Ambassador of Health....
. He may be best known for playing on the critically acclaimed albums Highway 61 Revisited
Highway 61 Revisited
Highway 61 Revisited is the sixth studio album by singer-songwriter Bob Dylan. It was released in August 1965 by Columbia Records. On his previous album, Bringing It All Back Home, Dylan devoted Side One of the album to songs accompanied by an electric rock band, and Side Two to solo acoustic numbers...
, Blonde on Blonde
Blonde on Blonde
Blonde on Blonde is American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan's seventh studio album, released in May or June 1966 on Columbia Records and produced by Bob Johnston. Recording sessions commenced in New York in October 1965, with a plethora of backing musicians, including members of Dylan's live backing...
and Aja
Aja (album)
-Charts:AlbumPop Singles-Awards:Grammy Awards-External links:**, courtesy of The Museum of Classic Chicago Television...
. His distinctive piano accompaniment to Don McLean's "American Pie" is considered by many to be a defining element of that mega-hit recording. In addition, he worked on several films. He was an arranger for The Warriors (1979) and Four Friends
Four Friends (film)
Four Friends is a 1981 American drama film directed by Arthur Penn. The semi-autobiographical screenplay by Steve Tesich follows the path of the title characters from high school to college during the often turbulent 1960s and beyond.-Plot synopsis:...
(1981) and performed in On Location: Robert Klein at Yale (1982) and on the soundtrack for Blue Sunshine
Blue Sunshine (film)
Blue Sunshine is a 1978 horror film directed and written by Jeff Lieberman and starring Zalman King and Deborah Winters. The film has become a cult item among horror fans, remembered mainly for its creatively weird atmosphere and offbeat plot...
(1976). Griffin died at age 62 at his home in New York.
Recordings
- B.J. Thomas
- Raindrops Keep Fallin' On My HeadRaindrops Keep Fallin' on My Head"Raindrops Keep Fallin' on My Head" is B. J. Thomas's #1 song, written by Hal David and Burt Bacharach for the 1969 film Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. It won an Academy Award for Best Original Song. David and Bacharach also won Best Original Score. It was recorded in seven takes, after...
- Raindrops Keep Fallin' On My Head
- Bob DylanBob DylanBob Dylan is an American singer-songwriter, musician, poet, film director and painter. He has been a major and profoundly influential figure in popular music and culture for five decades. Much of his most celebrated work dates from the 1960s when he was an informal chronicler and a seemingly...
- Like a Rolling StoneLike a Rolling Stone"Like a Rolling Stone" is a 1965 song by American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan. Its confrontational lyrics originate in an extended piece of verse Dylan wrote in June 1965, when he returned exhausted from a grueling tour of England...
(Gospel Piano). - Just Like Tom Thumb's BluesJust Like Tom Thumb's Blues"Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues" is a song written and performed by Bob Dylan. It was originally recorded on August 2, 1965 and released on the album Highway 61 Revisited. The song was later released on the compilation album Bob Dylan's Greatest Hits Vol...
(Tack Piano). - Positively Fourth StreetPositively 4th Street"Positively 4th Street" is a song written and performed by Bob Dylan, first recorded by Dylan in New York City on July 29, 1965. It was released as a single by Columbia Records on September 7, 1965, reaching #1 on Canada's RPM chart, #7 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100, and #8 on the UK Singles Chart...
(Piano) - Sitting on a Barbed Wire Fence (Piano)
- Can You Please Crawl Out Your Window?Can You Please Crawl Out Your Window?"Can You Please Crawl Out Your Window?" was a 1965 single by American rock artist Bob Dylan. It reached #58 on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart, and #17 on the UK chart in January 1966...
(Piano) - One of Us Must Know (Sooner or Later)One of Us Must Know (Sooner or Later)"One of Us Must Know " is a song written and recorded by Bob Dylan. It is the fourth track on his 1966 album Blonde on Blonde, and was released as the album's first single that February. The song is an emotional confession of misconnects and apologies from the singer to a woman who has tragically...
(Piano)
- Like a Rolling Stone
- The Isley BrothersThe Isley BrothersThe Isley Brothers are a highly influential, successful and long-running American music group consisting of different line-ups of six brothers, and a brother-in-law, Chris Jasper...
- Twist And Shout
- Chuck JacksonChuck JacksonChuck Jackson is an R&B singer who was one of the first artists to record material by Burt Bacharach and Hal David successfully. He has performed with moderate success since 1961...
- Any Day Now
- Dionne WarwickDionne WarwickDionne Warwick is an American singer, actress and TV show host, who became a United Nations Global Ambassador for the Food and Agriculture Organization, and a United States Ambassador of Health....
- Walk On By
- John DenverJohn DenverHenry John Deutschendorf, Jr. , known professionally as John Denver, was an American singer/songwriter, activist, and humanitarian. After growing up in numerous locations with his military family, Denver began his music career in folk music groups in the late 1960s. His greatest commercial success...
- Rhymes & Reasons
- The Eagle And The Hawk
- Bobbi HumphreyBobbi HumphreyBarbara Ann Humphrey is an American jazz flautist and singer who plays fusion, jazz-funk and soul-jazz styles. Bobbi Humphrey has performed for audiences around the world....
- Dig This!Dig This!Dig This! is an album by American jazz flautist Bobbi Humphrey recorded in 1972 and released on the Blue Note label.-Reception:The Allmusic review awarded the album 3 stars.-Track listing:# "Lonely Town, Lonely Street" - 4:33...
(Blue Note, 1972)
- Dig This!
- Brother Jack McDuffJack McDuff"Brother" Jack McDuff was an American jazz organist and organ trio bandleader who was most prominent during the hard bop and soul jazz era of the 1960s, often performing with an organ trio.-Career:...
- Who Knows What Tomorrow's Gonna Bring?Who Knows What Tomorrow's Gonna Bring?Who Knows What Tomorrow's Gonna Bring? is an album by American organist Brother Jack McDuff recorded in 1970 and released on the Blue Note label.-Reception:...
(Blue Note, 1970)
- Who Knows What Tomorrow's Gonna Bring?
- Don McLeanDon McLeanDonald "Don" McLean is an American singer-songwriter. He is most famous for the 1971 album American Pie, containing the renowned songs "American Pie" and "Vincent".-Musical roots:...
- American Pie (1971)
- Marlena ShawMarlena ShawMarlena Shaw is an American singer. Shaw began her singing career in the 1960s and is still singing today. Her music has often been sampled in hip hop music, and used in television commercials.-Biography:She was first introduced to music by her uncle Jimmy Burgess, a jazz trumpet player...
- MarlenaMarlena (Marlena Shaw album)Marlena is an album by American vocalist Marlena Shaw recorded in 1972 and released on the Blue Note label. The album was Shaw's third release and her first for the Blue Note label.-Track listing:...
(Blue Note, 1972)
- Marlena
- Paul SimonPaul SimonPaul Frederic Simon is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist.Simon is best known for his success, beginning in 1965, as part of the duo Simon & Garfunkel, with musical partner Art Garfunkel. Simon wrote most of the pair's songs, including three that reached number one on the US singles...
- Tenderness
- The ShirellesThe ShirellesThe Shirelles were an African-American girl group that achieved popularity in the early 1960s. They consisted of schoolmates Shirley Owens , Doris Coley , Addie "Micki" Harris , and Beverly Lee...
- "Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow"
- Steely DanSteely DanSteely Dan is an American rock band; its core members are Donald Fagen and Walter Becker. The band's popularity peaked in the late 1970s, with the release of seven albums blending elements of jazz, rock, funk, R&B, and pop...
- PegPeg (song)"Peg" is a song by rock group Steely Dan that was released as a single from their 1977 album Aja. In G Major, it, like many Steely Dan songs from the period, blends rock with jazz and R&B elements. The song became a big hit in 1978....
(electric piano, AjaAJAAja or AJA may refer to:In anthropology:*Aja people, a people living in Benin**Aja language , the language of the Aja people, part of the Gbe dialect continuum*Aja , an ethnic group living in Sudan...
, 1977)
- Peg