Charles Pitts
Encyclopedia
Charles "Skip" Pitts is an American
soul
/ blues
guitarist
whose distinctive "wah-wah" style can be heard on Isaac Hayes
' title track
from the 1971 movie Shaft.
Pitts got his start briefly with The Coasters
at the age of seventeen and in the 1960s as guitarist and bandleader with Gene Chandler
(Duke of Earl). He soon became guitarist and bandleader for Wilson Picket and the Midnight Movers until 1969 when Skip joined The Isley Brothers
band. Pitt's guitar can be heard on their hit "It's Your Thing".
In 1970 Skip was hired to perform on the theatrical release Shaft
by Isaac Hayes
. The wah-wah guitar intro on "Theme from Shaft
" was created by Pitts and very instrumental in Isaac Hayes winning the Academy Award for this 1971 release. Pitts was a member of the Isaac Hayes Movement throughout the seventies and was guitarist and bandleader for Hayes at the time of his passing in August 2008.
Pitts was on the "A"-list of session calls at Stax Records
in Memphis, Tennessee
in the 1970s performing on hits by Rufus Thomas
("The Breakdown"), The Temprees
("This is Dedicated to the One I Love"), The Soul Children
, and Albert King
, among others. Pitts appeared in the 1973 documentary WattStax, and in Truck Turner
, and still performs in movies today. His latest movie credits include Barnyard, Forty Shades of Blue, Black Snake Moan, and Soul Men featuring Bernie Mac
and Samuel L. Jackson.
Pitts is also the voice of Memphis' police ad campaign "Blue Crush". As a singer, his vocal stylings are distinctive due to damage to his vocal cords at an early age, his vocal approach is along the lines of a Howlin Wolf.
Pitts still performs with many of the R&B icons from the sixties and seventies, Memphis-based R&B group The Bo-Keys, and the eclectic Memphis blues and soul band Elmo and the Shades who Pitts has been associated with since the early 1990s. Pitts also appears occasionally as a duo with Elmo Lee Thomas as The Skip and Elmo Show.
Pitts worked on the Al Green's album I Can't Stop
with Mabon "Teenie" Hodges on guitar
and Leroy Hodges
on bass
, as well as Rufus Thomas
and Isaac Hayes.
On Theme from Shaft
by Isaac Hayes (1971), Pitts' guitar work is noteworthy, especially on "Café Regios".
Pitts performed on The Royal Sessions by The Bo-Keys (2004, Yellow Dog Records
).
Pitts performed on "Blue Memphis" by Elmo and the Shades (2009, Mudcoast Rercords). Pitts' guitar work also appeared on "Icestorm's Coming Blues" and "Want You Blues".
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
soul
Soul music
Soul music is a music genre originating in the United States combining elements of gospel music and rhythm and blues. According to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, soul is "music that arose out of the black experience in America through the transmutation of gospel and rhythm & blues into a form of...
/ blues
Blues
Blues is the name given to both a musical form and a music genre that originated in African-American communities of primarily the "Deep South" of the United States at the end of the 19th century from spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts and chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads...
guitarist
Guitarist
A guitarist is a musician who plays the guitar. Guitarists may play a variety of instruments such as classical guitars, acoustic guitars, electric guitars, and bass guitars. Some guitarists accompany themselves on the guitar while singing.- Versatility :The guitarist controls an extremely...
whose distinctive "wah-wah" style can be heard on Isaac Hayes
Isaac Hayes
Isaac Lee Hayes, Jr. was an American songwriter, musician, singer and actor. Hayes was one of the creative influences behind the southern soul music label Stax Records, where he served both as an in-house songwriter and as a record producer, teaming with his partner David Porter during the...
' title track
Theme from Shaft
"Theme from Shaft", written and recorded by Isaac Hayes in 1971, is the soul and funk-styled theme song to the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer film, Shaft...
from the 1971 movie Shaft.
Pitts got his start briefly with The Coasters
The Coasters
The Coasters are an American rhythm and blues/rock and roll vocal group that had a string of hits in the late 1950s. Beginning with "Searchin'" and "Young Blood", their most memorable songs were written by the songwriting and producing team of Leiber and Stoller...
at the age of seventeen and in the 1960s as guitarist and bandleader with Gene Chandler
Gene Chandler
Gene Chandler also known as "The Duke of Earl" or simply "The Duke", is an American R&B and soul singer-songwriter, producer and record executive. He is one of the leading exponents of the 1960s Chicago soul scene...
(Duke of Earl). He soon became guitarist and bandleader for Wilson Picket and the Midnight Movers until 1969 when Skip joined The Isley Brothers
The Isley Brothers
The Isley Brothers are a highly influential, successful and long-running American music group consisting of different line-ups of six brothers, and a brother-in-law, Chris Jasper...
band. Pitt's guitar can be heard on their hit "It's Your Thing".
In 1970 Skip was hired to perform on the theatrical release Shaft
Shaft (1971 film)
Shaft is a 1971 American blaxploitation film directed by Gordon Parks, released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. An action film with elements of film noir, Shaft tells the story of a black private detective, John Shaft, who travels through Harlem and to the Italian mob neighborhoods in order to find the...
by Isaac Hayes
Isaac Hayes
Isaac Lee Hayes, Jr. was an American songwriter, musician, singer and actor. Hayes was one of the creative influences behind the southern soul music label Stax Records, where he served both as an in-house songwriter and as a record producer, teaming with his partner David Porter during the...
. The wah-wah guitar intro on "Theme from Shaft
Theme from Shaft
"Theme from Shaft", written and recorded by Isaac Hayes in 1971, is the soul and funk-styled theme song to the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer film, Shaft...
" was created by Pitts and very instrumental in Isaac Hayes winning the Academy Award for this 1971 release. Pitts was a member of the Isaac Hayes Movement throughout the seventies and was guitarist and bandleader for Hayes at the time of his passing in August 2008.
Pitts was on the "A"-list of session calls at Stax Records
Stax Records
Stax Records is an American record label, originally based in Memphis, Tennessee.Founded in 1957 as Satellite Records, the name Stax Records was adopted in 1961. The label was a major factor in the creation of the Southern soul and Memphis soul music styles, also releasing gospel, funk, jazz, and...
in Memphis, Tennessee
Memphis, Tennessee
Memphis is a city in the southwestern corner of the U.S. state of Tennessee, and the county seat of Shelby County. The city is located on the 4th Chickasaw Bluff, south of the confluence of the Wolf and Mississippi rivers....
in the 1970s performing on hits by Rufus Thomas
Rufus Thomas
Rufus Thomas, Jr. was an American rhythm and blues, funk and soul singer and comedian fromMemphis, Tennessee, who recorded on Sun Records in the...
("The Breakdown"), The Temprees
The Temprees
The Temprees were an American soul vocal trio from Memphis, Tennessee, most popular during the 1970s. The band released several albums under We Produce records, an offshoot of Stax Records...
("This is Dedicated to the One I Love"), The Soul Children
The Soul Children
The Soul Children was an American vocal group who recorded soul music for Stax Records in the late 1960s and early 1970s. They had three top ten hits on the Billboard R&B chart – "The Sweeter He Is" , "Hearsay" , and "I'll Be The Other Woman" – all of which crossed over to the Hot...
, and Albert King
Albert King
Albert King was an American blues guitarist and singer, and a major influence in the world of blues guitar playing.-Career:...
, among others. Pitts appeared in the 1973 documentary WattStax, and in Truck Turner
Truck Turner
Truck Turner is a 1974 blaxploitation film, starring Isaac Hayes and Yaphet Kotto, and directed by Jonathan Kaplan. The screenplay was written by Michael Allin, Jerry Wilkes and Oscar Williams...
, and still performs in movies today. His latest movie credits include Barnyard, Forty Shades of Blue, Black Snake Moan, and Soul Men featuring Bernie Mac
Bernie Mac
Bernard Jeffrey McCullough , better known by his stage name, Bernie Mac, was an American actor and comedian. Born and raised on the South Side of Chicago, Mac gained popularity as a stand-up comedian. He joined comedians Steve Harvey, Cedric the Entertainer, and D. L...
and Samuel L. Jackson.
Pitts is also the voice of Memphis' police ad campaign "Blue Crush". As a singer, his vocal stylings are distinctive due to damage to his vocal cords at an early age, his vocal approach is along the lines of a Howlin Wolf.
Pitts still performs with many of the R&B icons from the sixties and seventies, Memphis-based R&B group The Bo-Keys, and the eclectic Memphis blues and soul band Elmo and the Shades who Pitts has been associated with since the early 1990s. Pitts also appears occasionally as a duo with Elmo Lee Thomas as The Skip and Elmo Show.
Pitts worked on the Al Green's album I Can't Stop
I Can't Stop (album)
I Can't Stop is a 2003 album by American R&B singer Al Green, produced by Willie Mitchell and released on the Blue Note label. The album was Green's first release since 1995, his first for Blue Note and his first collaboration with Mitchell since 1985's He Is the Light; it was also Green's first...
with Mabon "Teenie" Hodges on guitar
Guitar
The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
and Leroy Hodges
Leroy Hodges
Electric bass player Leroy "Flick" Hodges is a relatively unknown soul musician.Paired with either Booker T. & the MGs's drummer Al Jackson or Stax staff drummer Howard Grimes, Leroy and The Hodges Brothers were the backing musicians for Al Green, Ann Peebles and several other soul, gospel and...
on bass
Bass guitar
The bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
, as well as Rufus Thomas
Rufus Thomas
Rufus Thomas, Jr. was an American rhythm and blues, funk and soul singer and comedian fromMemphis, Tennessee, who recorded on Sun Records in the...
and Isaac Hayes.
On Theme from Shaft
Theme from Shaft
"Theme from Shaft", written and recorded by Isaac Hayes in 1971, is the soul and funk-styled theme song to the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer film, Shaft...
by Isaac Hayes (1971), Pitts' guitar work is noteworthy, especially on "Café Regios".
Pitts performed on The Royal Sessions by The Bo-Keys (2004, Yellow Dog Records
Yellow Dog Records
Yellow Dog Records is an American independent record label based in Memphis, Tennessee that features authentic American music - blues, jazz, soul and Americana...
).
Pitts performed on "Blue Memphis" by Elmo and the Shades (2009, Mudcoast Rercords). Pitts' guitar work also appeared on "Icestorm's Coming Blues" and "Want You Blues".
External links
- http://archives.cnn.com/2002/SHOWBIZ/Music/03/19/hayes.cooper.cnna/Interview of Isaac HayesIsaac HayesIsaac Lee Hayes, Jr. was an American songwriter, musician, singer and actor. Hayes was one of the creative influences behind the southern soul music label Stax Records, where he served both as an in-house songwriter and as a record producer, teaming with his partner David Porter during the...
] by Anderson CooperAnderson CooperAnderson Hays Cooper is an American journalist, author, and television personality. He is the primary anchor of the CNN news show Anderson Cooper 360°. The program is normally broadcast live from a New York City studio; however, Cooper often broadcasts live on location for breaking news stories...
in which Hayes thanks Pitts for his contributions to Hayes' music.