*With the passing of legendary Detroiter Michael Henderson, singer, producer, bassist extraordinaire and songwriter of too many hits to name, the world lost a music legend, but EURweb lost a friend.
Michael and EURweb headman, Lee Bailey, had periodic phone conversations, where Michael would regale Lee with stories of his years in the music business. Michael’s stories were quite entertaining.
For those who are unfamiliar with Michael’s musical history, he taught himself how to play the bass guitar at 12 years old, and by the time he was 14, he was playing professionally, doing Motown recording sessions.
At 19, he began playing with jazz great Miles Davis. To say Miles stole Michael from Stevie Wonder would not be untrue, as according to Michael in a previous conversation with Lee, “I was playing a gig in New York with Stevie Wonder. Miles was in the audience. After the show Miles walked backstage and told Stevie in a raspy voice, ‘I’m taking your f –ing bass player.’” And so he did.
MORE NEWS ON EURWEB: Michael Henderson: Legendary R&B/Soul Singer/Bassist Has Died – He was 71 | Watch Him Perform
After his stint with Miles Davis, Michael shared songs with the Dramatics, that turned out to be beneficial for both Michael and the Dramatics. The hits poured in; he wrote, “Just Shopping (Not Buying Anything),” and “Be My Girl,” as well as played bass on “In the Rain,” “Hey You, Get Off My Mountain,” “What You See Is What You Get,” and other Dramatics hits. He also wrote, sang and played bass guitar on Phyllis Hyman’s, “We Both Need Each Other,” as well as recording duets, “Can’t We Fall In Love Again” with Phyllis, “At the Concert,” with Roberta Flack, which he also wrote, and “Take Me, I’m Yours,” with Rena Scott, another one he wrote. Michael’s first hit came with “Valentine Love,” which he sang with Jean Carn…yep, another one he wrote. It was included on Norman Connors’ album, “Saturday Night Special.” Michael also did the heavy lifting on Norman Connors’ “You Are My Starship,” which he wrote, composed, arranged, played bass, and sang. By now you get the point. Michael Henderson had a hand in many a hit, and that was in addition to “Wide Receiver,” “In the Nighttime,” and “Let Me Love You,” which he recorded on his own albums.
Michael loved performing at the Catalina Jazz Club in Hollywood. He performed four times in two years, and always made sure EURweb had tickets, and good seats. He hung around after the shows to take pictures with fans and did not stop until the last request was completed.
Yep, he was very accommodating. His last Los Angeles concert was a Michael Henderson’s 70s House Party, where the advertisement mentioned dressing in 70s attire. Although yours truly was the only one I noticed who accepted the 70s dress assignment, not only did I not feel out of place, but I had a ball…as usual.
Michael liked to let it be known that he wrote those Dramatics and Norman Connors hits. At one of his concerts, he said Norman Connors had been given credit long enough. Michael liked to talk at his concerts and talked about playing with the greats as a teenager, how music these days is indiscernible, and “Everyone who stole my music is on Unsung and the rest I work with.”
Not only were Michael’s friends, EURweb, in attendance at his concerts, but he always brought a few more friends, some in the audience and some on stage.
Rena Scott, Ray Parker Jr, Charles Wright, Sylvester Rivers, and Lamont Dozier Jr joined him onstage, while other friends were in the audience.
We always had a ball. We had such a good time with Michael at his July 2019 concert, that he asked if we wanted to come back the next day.
Michael once said, “I still love to play music and that’s what I got in it for originally is to play and music is healing; it is self-healing, so I like to play and see the response from people that are hearing good music. You know when you do it right there is a certain response that people give….”
If fan and audience reaction is an indicator, Michael Henderson did it right for nearly 60 years.
Michael Henderson passed away at age 71, on July 19, at his home in Atlanta, Georgia. Goodbye, Michael. Rest easy, and thanks for the memories.
Your Friends at EURweb.com
Marilyn Smith is a Los Angeles based writer/reviewer. Contact her via [email protected]
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