WILLIE HUTCH

 

As a writer, producer, arranger, musician and solo recording artist Hutch carved out a long and diverse career in soul music, who offered genuine soulfulness, be it funk or smoothing it out. Well known on the UK rare soul scene and for his involvement in Motown, and his early solo offerings. Although he never achieved the recognition as an individual artist, his soul talent is spread over the last few decades.

 

Born Willie McKinley Hutchinson on the 6th December 1944 in Los Angeles California. From the age of twelve he grew up in Dallas surrounded by a musical family. He joined his school choir the Ambassadors and formed a secular local vocal group the V Tones. He joined the Marines, serving a two year tour of duty. After settling in Los Angeles he began his sortie into the music business.

 

He was approached by Soul City Records, which results in 1964 with his debut release 'Love Has Put Me Down'. A Northern favourite followed in 1965 with 'Love Runs Out' on Dunhill. He founded the group the Phoetics recording 'Just A Boy’s Dream' for the Trudel label. Further releases are to be found on Maverick and Modern. His music and song writing talent soon caught the attention of the Fifth Dimension who went on to record Hutch's 'I'll Be Loving You Forever' as their debut single and subsequently collaborating on many others thereafter. In 1969 he signed to RCA where he released his first solo album, SOUL PORTRAIT. One more crafted album SEASONS FOR LOVE and four singles for RCA were released without mainstream success.  

 

In 1970 Motown producer Hal Davis contacted Davis to help finish a song. That song was 'I'll Be There'. The group was the Jackson 5. The record became a worldwide hit, and catapulted Davis into the mighty Motown empire as writer, producer and artist. His association with the label lasted over the next twenty years or so and would see him work with all the Motown greats, Smokey Robinson, Marvin Gaye, Diana Ross, Michael Jackson, and so on.

Some of his most enduring work were the soundtracks he scored for the blaxploitation movies THE MACK in 1973, which spun off two of his biggest R&B hits 'Brother's Gonna Work It Out' and 'Slick', and the movie masterpiece FOXY BROWN in 1974. Hutch had a top ten R&B hit in 1975 with dance floor classic 'Love Power', and in total he had eight Motown albums to his credit.

 

He temporally left Motown in 1978, joining ex Motowner Norman Whitfield on some projects. Also in 1982 he wrote and produced Gwen McCrae's spectacular dance anthem 'Keep The Fire Burning'. He returned to Motown in the mid eighties were he continued to work as a Motown producer into the nineties but could never capture the magic he found in the seventies.

 

Moving back to Dallas in 1994 he continued to record and perform, while living comfortably on the royalties from old hits and growing demands to sample from his vast catalogue. Hutch could groove, just listen to 'In and Out' . His last album was SEXALICIOUS on his own label G-GIT IN 2002. He died 19 September 2005 of unknown causes.