Paul Griffin (musician)

Paul Griffin (August 6, 1937 – June 14, 2000) 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 megahit 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.

Recordings

• B. J. Thomas
  • Raindrops Keep Fallin' On My Head
• Bob Dylan
  • Like a Rolling Stone (Gospel Piano)
  • Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues (Tack Piano)
  • Queen Jane Approximately(Piano)
  • Positively Fourth Street (Piano)
  • Sitting on a Barbed Wire Fence (Piano)
  • Can You Please Crawl Out Your Window? (Piano)
  • One of Us Must Know (Sooner or Later) (Piano)
• The Isley Brothers
  • Twist And Shout
• Chuck Jackson
  • Any Day Now
• Dionne Warwick
  • Walk On By
• George Benson
  • Goodies (Verve, 1968)
• Hank Crawford
  • Mr. Blues Plays Lady Soul (Atlantic, 1969)
• John Denver
  • Rhymes & Reasons
  • The Eagle And The Hawk
• Richard Davis
  • Dealin' (Muse, 1973)
• Dizzy Gillespie
  • It's My Way (Solid State, 1969)
  • Cornucopia (Solid State, 1969)
• Bobbi Humphrey
  • Dig This! (Blue Note, 1972)
• Herbie Mann
  • Latin Fever (Atlantic, 1964)
  • Glory of Love (CTI, 1967)
• Brother Jack McDuff
  • Who Knows What Tomorrow's Gonna Bring? (Blue Note, 1970)
• Don McLean
  • American Pie (1971)
• David Newman
  • The Many Facets of David Newman (Atlantic, 1969)
• Laura Nyro
  • Eli's Comin' (1968)
• Houston Person
  • Houston Express (Prestige, 1970)
• Bernard Purdie
  • Soul Is... Pretty Purdie (Flying Dutchman, 1972)
• Marlena Shaw
  • Marlena (Blue Note, 1972)
• Paul Simon
  • Tenderness
• The Shirelles
  • "Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow"
• Steely Dan
  • The Fez (co-author, electric piano, The Royal Scam, 1976)
  • Sign In Stranger (The Royal Scam, 1976)
  • Peg (electric piano, Aja, 1977)
• Sonny Stitt
  • Little Green Apples (Solid State, 1969)
  • Come Hither (Solid State, 1969)
• Stanley Turrentine
  • The Man with the Sad Face (Fantasy, 1976)
  • Nightwings (Fantasy, 1977)
• Cal Tjader
  • Soul Bird: Whiffenpoof (Verve, 1965)
• Charles Williams
  • Stickball (Mainstream, 1972)
• Jimmy Witherspoon
  • Blues Around the Clock (Prestige, 1963)

External links

• Paul Griffin at the Internet Movie Database
• New York Times Obituary
• Letter regarding Griffin's achievements