Funk Pioneer Walter 'Junie' Morrison, 62, Has Died

Walter 'Junie' Morrison

WALTER "JUNIE" MORRISON, a keyboardist/producer who performed with the OHIO PLAYERS and GEORGE CLINTON's PARLIAMENT-FUNKADELIC, has died at the age of 62. MORRISON also performed with the BRITISH group SOUL II SOUL, which had a hit with the 1989 single "Back to Life (However Do You Want Me)."

MORRISON's death was announced by DAM-FUNK, who said MORRISON's daughter, AKASHA, made the announcement. MORRISON appeared on DAM-FUNK's 2015 album, "Invite the Light," which opened with the song "JUNIE's Transmission."

Tweeted DAM-FUNK: "We spoke often... His passing was private, just like he was."

According to MORRISON's official website, the DAYTON, OH, native was exposed to music at an early age at his church, playing the piano at five years old. As a teenager, he became a multi-instrumentalist, adding the guitar, drums and "certain types of brass instruments." 

MORRISON was a founder of the funk band OHIO PLAYERS in the early '70s, known as much for their sexy album covers as their music. He played keyboards on their albums "Pain," "Pleasure," and "Ecstacy." He helped write and arrange the 1973 hit single, "Funky Worm."

After leaving the group, MORRISON put out solo albums including "When We Do" (1975), "Bread Alone" (1980), "Evacuate Your Seats" (1984), and "When the City" (2004).

In 1977, MORRISON became the musical director for GEORGE CLINTON's PARLIAMENT-FUNKADELIC for the critically acclaimed album "One Nation Under A Groove." A single from the album, "(Not Just) Knee Deep" became a #1 R&B hit in 1979.

MORRISON was inducted into the ROCK AND ROLL HALL OF FAME in 1997 along with CLINTON, keyboardist BERNIE WORRELL, who died last year, and more than a dozen other P-FUNK members. 

 

The Great Junie Morrison. So inspirational. All the #OhioPlayers westbound era funk that birthed #Voodoo & #BlackMessiah: #Junie. Those adlibs on Hov's "#BrooklynsFinest & #Tribe's #ScenarioRemix is Junie. All the Warner Era #Funkadelic songwriting wizzardry #OneNationUnderAGroove & #UncleJamWantsYou (he co-wrote #NotJustKneeDeep) even #Parliament's #MotorBootyAffair & #Gloryhallastoopid. His ideas birthed and ushered in the G-Funk era (all that synthy #FunkyWorm synth yall associate w gangsta rap/Dre's sound? That's #JunieMorrison. Even his #SuzieThundertussy in its tales of "Lost Angeles" were the backdrop on Ye's bright light for #TLOP's #NoMorePartiesInLA. Solange even gave him props on #Junie ("jump on it" for those that call it the "Jump on it song Dre3000 sings on)---this man was an uncelebrated unsung unchampioned whose ideas we just took and took and took. I regret so much not having a "proper" conversation about his journey. His songwriting. His technology innovations. Man. This STINGS. Rip #Junie.

A post shared by Questlove Gomez (@questlove) on Feb 16, 2017 at 10:01am PST

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