Johnny Griffith

John Ellis "Johnny" Griffith Jr. (July 10, 1936 – November 10, 2002) was an African-American musician.

Biography

Born in Detroit, Griffith played piano and keyboards for Motown Records' in-house Funk Brothers studio band. Among the hundreds of Motown recordings Griffith played on are "I Heard It Through the Grapevine" by Marvin Gaye, "I Can't Help Myself (Sugar Pie, Honey Bunch)" by Four Tops, "Stop! In the Name of Love" by The Supremes, "Shotgun" by Junior Walker & the All Stars and "Papa Was a Rolling Stone" by The Temptations.

Griffith played the Steinway grand piano, the Hammond B-3 organ, the Wurlitzer electric piano, the Fender Rhodes, and the celeste and harpsichord. His musical influences included Bud Powell, Glenn Gould, and Oscar Peterson.

Griffith died of a heart attack in a Detroit hospital on November 10, 2002. He was 66 years old.