Wah Wah Watson

Legendary funk guitarist Wah Wah Watson was born Melvin Ragin in 1950 and raised in Richmond, Virginia. Ragin moved to Detroit in the late 1960s and became a member of The Funk Brothers, a group of session musicians who were Motown's house band and collectively became one of the most successful bands in music history, albeit anonymously. While working in The Funk Brothers, Ragin developed his distinctive guitar style defined by his creative use of the wah wah pedal, a guitar accessory which had risen to prominence during the 1960s as the must-have piece of kit for funk and soul guitarists. Ragin's trademark choppy sound on the wah wah underpinned many iconic Motown hits but is perhaps best illustrated on The Temptations' hit 'Papa Was a Rollin' Stone'. Ragin's work can also be heard across the spectrum of Motown artists who were on the label during its 1970s heyday such as The Jackson 5, The Supremes and Gladys Knight and the Pips. He also worked outside the confines of Motown and recorded and wrote songs with Herbie Hancock and The Pointer Sisters. Ragin's talents as a session player continued to be in demand in the 2000s with his final recorded work being the 2015 album 'Black Rose' by Tyrese. In 2018 he was taken ill and admitted to hospital in Santa Monica, California where he subsequently died at the age of 67.

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