Phil Upchurch, Legendary Guitarist and Bassist for Michael Jackson and Aretha Franklin, Dies at 84
Phil Upchurch, who played with artists like Michael Jackson and Aretha Franklin, has died at the age of 84. His wife confirmed the news to the LA Times.
Upchurch was primarily known for his guitar work on Chaka Khan’s “I’m Every Woman” and Michael Jackson’s “Workin’ Day and Night,” but that only scratches the surface of his incredible career.
Born in Chicago in 1941, Upchurch began piano lessons early and gave his first recital at just 8 years old. He soon took up the ukulele and eventually the guitar. He went into the studio for the first time in 1956 for VeeJay Records and turned pro, quickly getting work with artists including The Dells, The Spaniels, The Cool Gents, Jimmy Reed, and B.B. King.
His first bass gig happened in 1960, when Otis Rush offered him a job, but soon he would be making history from the low end.
“By the age of twenty, he was also leading his own band, The Phil Upchurch Combo, and had a million-selling hit with ‘You Can’t Sit Down’ in 1961,” Tim Fletcher explains in a No Treble article. “Phil’s bass line from this track was a big influence on John Paul Jones of Led Zeppelin, who recalled that ‘the first record that really turned me on to rock bass guitar was ‘You Can’t Sit Down’ by Upchurch, which has an incredible bass solo and was a really good record as well.'”
After a stint in the Army, Upchurch returned to the music scene and began working with jazz artists Dizzy Gillespie and Stan Getz, but his blues days were far from over. He became a house guitarist at Chess Records, where he also would fill in on bass for Howlin’ Wolf. Through the end of the sixties and early ’70s, he worked with Curtis Mayfield, Gladys Knight and the Pips, The Staple Singers, and Aretha Franklin.
Check out his soulful playing on Hathaway’s cover of “Misty” and follow along with Tim Fletcher’s transcription.
In 1974, Upchurch began working with George Benson on both guitar and bass. It’s Upchurch’s funky underpinnings on the smash hit “Breezin'” that give its feel.
In the intervening years, he contributed to works by Chaka Khan, Bob Dylan, Sheena Easton, Dr. John, Ramsey Lewis, Carmen McRae, Jimmy Smith, Muddy Waters, and more.
Our thoughts are with the family and friends of Phil Upchurch.
In his time with No Treble, Kevin has met hundreds of amazing bassists and interviewed icons like Jack Casady, Victor Wooten, Les Claypool, Marcus Miller, and more. He's a gigging bassist performing jazz in Northern Virginia and bluegrass with The Plate Scrapers up and down the East Coast. Kevin appreciates all genres of music, from R&B to metal and everything in between. Connect with Kevin on Facebook and check his performance schedule on his website.
That cat was cool! I’m college, I saw him with Benson on the tour that would spawn the “Weekend in LA” album. That album had the last real jazz hit on the popular charts, a cover of “On Broadway”.
Upchurch had this thing he would do that I’ve never seen anyone else do before or since: play tambourine with their foot while playing bass. If you dig back through the SNL archives to the show where George Benson is the musical guest, he does it there as well.
That MoFo could groove.