Willie Hutch - R.I.P.

[Captain Bacardi]

Motown producer/songwriter Willie Hutch died on Monday in Dallas at the age of 59. He had written many of the Jackson 5's big hits. Here's an obit from Billboard:

Motown singer/songwriter Willie Hutch dies

LOS ANGELES (Billboard) - Veteran singer-songwriter-producer Willie Hutch, who helped compose several hits for the Jackson 5, died Monday of undisclosed causes in Dallas. He was 59.

Best known for his work at Motown, his association with the label began in 1970 when record producer Hal Davis asked Hutch to help complete a song for the Jackson 5. "I'll Be There" became a hit for the group as did Hutch's subsequent collaborations with the quintet: "Got to Be There" and "Never Can Say Goodbye."

Hired to work regularly with other Motown artists by label founder Berry Gordy, Hutch logged production credits on albums by the Miracles, Marvin Gaye, Smokey Robinson, Michael Jackson and Diana Ross, among others.

Branching into soundtracks, Hutch penned the music for the 1973 blaxploitation movie "The Mack." The critically acclaimed soundtrack spun off two of Hutch's biggest R&B hits, "Brother's Gonna Work It Out" and "Slick."

Hutch's other Motown solo albums during the 1970s include "Fully Exposed," "Foxy Brown" and "Concert in Blues," as well as his 1975 top 10 R&B hit, "Love Power." His most recent work includes "From the Heart" (1994), "The Mack Is Back" (1996) and 2002's "Sexalicious."

Born Willie McKinley Hutchinson in Los Angeles in 1946, Hutch was raised in Dallas where he began singing as a teenager. He released his first solo single in 1964, "Love Has Put Me Down." Before working at Motown, Hutch penned songs for the 5th Dimension.



Capt. Bacardi

 

[Dave]

Here is info I found on Willie Hutch, courtesy of www.soulwalking.co.uk -- a Website dedicated to biographies and other current information on Yesterday & Today's Soul and R&B artists:

b. Willie McKinley Hutchison -- December 6th, 1944 -- Los Angeles, California / d. September 19th, 2005 -- Duncanville, Texas

Grew up in Dallas, TX where he sang with The Ambassadors.

Graduated from Booker T. Washington High School in Dallas.

First came to the attention of the music business in 1964, when his debut single, "Love Has Put Me Down" was released by Soul City Records.

Some of his songs were recorded by The Fifth Dimension.

Willie, himself, recorded with Venture, prior to two albums in the early-1970's with RCA, including a single, "Let's Try It Over".

In 1970, he received a phone call from producer Hal Davis who urgently needed a song, written to a backing track he had entitled "I'll Be There". By 8 AM the next morning, The Jackson 5 were in the studio, recording it.

Willie later co-arranged vocals on "Got To Be There" and "Never Can Say Goodbye" for the group, impressing Berry Gordy who employed him at Motown on a more permanent basis.

Willie produced the first Smokey Robinson album, without The Miracles, and when Sisters Love had a cameo role in the film, THE MACK, the group's manager suggested Willie record the soundtrack.

The result was an album, THE MACK--Original Motion-Picture Soundtrack, which included "Brother's Gonna Work It Out" and "Slick", Willie's first album for Motown, in 1973. Willie also worked with Sisters Love on "Mr Fix-it Man".

His other albums at the label included FULLY EXPOSED (1973), FOXY BROWN [Soundtrack] (1974), THE MARK OF THE BEAST (1975); ODE TO MY LADY (1975)--which included "Party Down"; CONCERT IN BLUES [Live] (1976); COLOR HER SUNSHINE (1976)--which included "I Like Everything About You", and HAVIN' A HOUSE PARTY (1977), before joining the Whitfield label for two albums, IN TUNE (1979)--which included "Easy Does It", and MIDNIGHT DANCER (1980).

In 1982, he wrote "Keep The Fire Burning" for Gwen McCrae, and returned to Motown for three collaborations with Berry Gordy.

The first was a duet for The Four Tops and Aretha Franklin, "What Have We Got To Lose" (1983), the second, a Song/Production for Sammy Davis Jr., "Hello Detroit" (1984), and the third, a Soundtrack Album for a Berry Gordy-produced film, THE LAST DRAGON (1985). The Soundtrack included a Willie Hutch single, "The Glow".

During this period at Motown he wrote/produced "Sexy Ways", for The Four Tops, and released two albums, IN AND OUT (1983) and MAKING A GAME OUT OF LOVE (1985), which included, "Keep On Jammin'..."

Willie has also written and/or produced for The Miracles, The Main Ingredient ("California My Way"), Junior Walker, Diana Ross and Marvin Gaye, among others.

Willie released two albums in the Nineties: FROM THE HEART, and THE MACK IS BACK. Both sets were well received.

Willie Hutch, sadly passed away on September 19th, 2005. He was 60.

Dave

...wondering why a lot of Artists/Musicians tend to be "one- or two-years younger" than they actually are...

 

[Jay Maynes/Juan Oskar]

Dave wrote: Wondering why a lot of Artists/Musicians tend to be one- or two-years younger than they actually are?
My question is: Wondering why a lot of Artists/Musicians tend to be four or five years younger than me?

Later....Jay