“Taurus” by Dennis Coffey

Dennis Coffey, acclaimed guitarist for Motown’s legendary house band the Funk Brothers, dropped this thrilling funk-rock instrumental in 1972. It was the follow-up to his gold-certified smash “Scorpio,” released the previous year. “Taurus” is a rousing, high-adrenaline groove that features some fantastic guitar work from Coffey. He gets strong support from fellow Funk Brothers Bob Babbitt and Andrew Smith. Babbitt serves up some wicked funk on bass, and Smith keeps the groove cookin’ with his ferocious drumming. And James Barnes tears it up on the congas. The track boasts a killer arrangement that’s impeccably performed by all of the talented players.

“Taurus,” written by Coffey, was a single from his third album, Goin’ For Myself, released on Sussex Records in 1972. It peaked at #18 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #11 on Billboard’s R&B singles chart. The album, produced by Mike Theodore, had a respectable showing on Billboard’s R&B Album chart, reaching #37.

The United States Air Force Academy Band, the Falconaires, recorded a great cover of “Taurus” in 1972, and the Peruvian garage rock band Los Comandos also covered it that same year.

Here’s the full personnel for the Goin’ For Myself album: guitar (Dennis Coffey), bass (Bob Babbitt, Tony Newton), drums (Andrew Smith), percussion (James Barnes, Jack Ashford), keyboards (Eric Morgeson), horns, string (Alvin Score, Barbara Fickett, Beatrix Staples, Carl Raetz, David Ireland, Felix Resnick, Fred Boldt, Haim Shtrum, Jacl Boesen, LeRoy Fenstermacher, Mario DoFiore, Parker Groat, Richard Margitza, Bob Cowart, Virginia Halfman, Wally Gomulka), backing vocals (Emanuel Johnson, Joyce Vincent, Pam Vincent, Rothwell Wilson, Telma Hopkins, Tyrone Brown).

"Taurus" is available at Amazon

Related blog entry:

"Scorpio" by Dennis Coffey and The Detroit Guitar Band