Until Cornell Dupree came on the scene, legendary Atlantic Records producer Jerry Wexler would hire three or more guitarists for a recording session. That led time and again to “a hellacious mess as the three guitarists got in each other’s way,” Wexler said. That changed when Dupree appeared: “One man playing rhythm and lead at the same time took the place of three.”
Born in Fort Worth, Dupree first took up the saxophone, said The Washington Post. But he traded it for a guitar after seeing Johnny “Guitar” Watson perform. Before long, he “started sitting in with older R&B musicians,” and in 1961, saxophonist King Curtis hired him. One of his bandmates was a hot young guitarist named Jimi Hendrix, with whom he often jammed until dawn. But where Hendrix was a born showman, Dupree was, in the words of writer and musician Josh Alan Friedman, “the ultimate unshowoff.”
Article continues belowThe Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Although he played on hundreds of well-known hits—he was nicknamed “Mr. 2,500” in reference to the number of dates he had played on—wide fame eluded him. But Dupree was content with the respect of his peers. “Regular people don’t know who he is,” said his son, Cornell III, “but there’s not too many musicians who don’t know him.”