Wilton Felder

Biography

Wilton Lewis Felder (August 31, 1940 – September 27, 2015) was an American saxophone and bass player, and is best known as a founding member of the Jazz Crusaders, later known as the Crusaders. Felder played bass on the Jackson 5's hits "I Want You Back", "The Love You Save", and "ABC", and on Marvin Gaye's "Let's Get It On".

Biography

Felder was born on August 31, 1940, in Houston, Texas and studied music at Texas Southern University. Felder, Wayne Henderson, Joe Sample, and Stix Hooper founded their group while in high school in Houston. The Jazz Crusaders evolved from a straight-ahead jazz group into a pioneering jazz-rock fusion band, with a definite soul music influence. Felder worked with the original group for over thirty years, and continued to work in its later versions, which often featured other founding members.
Felder also worked as a West Coast studio musician, mostly playing electric bass, for various soul and R&B musicians, and was one of the in-house bass players for Motown Records, when the record label opened operations in Los Angeles in the early 1970s. He played on recordings by the Jackson 5 such as "I Want You Back", "ABC" and "The Love You Save", as well as recordings by Marvin Gaye including "Let's Get It On" and "I Want You". He also played bass for soft rock groups like Seals and Crofts. Felder played bass on #1 big hit The Hues Corporation's "Rock the Boat" (1974), not James Jamerson. He played on records by many other musicians such as Four Tops Keeper of the Castle (1972), Steely Dan's Pretzel Logic (1974), Joni Mitchell's For the Roses, John Cale's Paris 1919, Billy Joel's Piano Man, Randy Newman's Sail Away (1972) and Joan Baez' Diamonds & Rust. Felder also contributed to albums from Grant Green and Michael Franks. He released the album "Inherit the Wind×Inherit The Wind1980 · Studio albumSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 6 tracksA1Inherit the Wind7:23A2Someday We'll All Be Free5:44A3Until the Morning Comes5:02B1Insight7:24B2L.A. Light5:43B3I've Got a Secret I'm Gonna Tell6:54" with Bobby Womack in 1980.
His album Secrets×Secrets1985 · Studio albumSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 6 tracksA1Secrets5:56A2(No Matter How High I Get) I'll Still Be Lookin' Up to You7:00A3La Luz4:44B1The Truth Song5:24B2I Found You7:25B3Mr. Scoots6:08, which prominently featured Bobby Womack on vocals, reached No. 77 in the UK Albums Chart in 1985. The album featured the minor hit, "(No Matter How High I Get) I'll Still be Looking Up to You", sung by Womack and Alltrinna Grayson.
Felder died in 2015 at his home in Whittier, California from multiple myeloma. He was 75.

As leader/co-leader

Bullitt (Pacific Jazz, 1969)
We All Have a Star (MCA, 1978)
Inherit the Wind (MCA, 1980)
Gentle Fire (MCA, 1983)
Secrets (MCA, 1985)
Love Is a Rush (MCA, 1987)
Nocturnal Moods (PAR, 1991)
Forever, Always (PAR, 1992)
Lets Spend Some Time (BCS, 2005)
With The (Jazz) Crusaders

Freedom Sound (Pacific Jazz, 1961)
Lookin' Ahead (Pacific Jazz, 1962)
The Jazz Crusaders at the Lighthouse (Pacific Jazz, 1962)
Tough Talk (Pacific Jazz, 1963)
Heat Wave (Pacific Jazz, 1963)
Jazz Waltz (Pacific Jazz, 1963) with Les McCann
Stretchin' Out (Pacific Jazz, 1964)
The Thing (Pacific Jazz, 1965)
Chile Con Soul (Pacific Jazz, 1965)
Live at the Lighthouse '66 (Pacific Jazz, 1966)
Talk That Talk (Pacific Jazz, 1966)
The Festival Album (Pacific Jazz, 1966)
Uh Huh (Pacific Jazz, 1967)
Lighthouse '68 (Pacific Jazz, 1968)
Powerhouse (Pacific Jazz, 1969)
Lighthouse '69 (Pacific Jazz, 1969)
Pass the Plate (Chisa Records, 1971)
Scratch (Blue Thumb Records, 1974)

As sideman

With Joan Baez

Diamonds & Rust (A&M, 1975)
Blowin' Away (Portrait, 1977)
With Four Tops

Keeper of the Castle (Dunhill, 1972)
Main Street People (Dunhill, 1973)
Meeting of the Minds (Dunhill, 1974)
Four Tops Live & In Concert ( ABC Dunhill, 1974)
With Donald Byrd

Ethiopian Knights (Blue Note, 1972)
With Donovan

Slow Down World (Epic, 1976)
Lady of the Stars (RCA, 1984)
With Jackson Browne

For Everyman (Asylum, 1973)
With John Cale

Paris 1919 (Reprise, 1972)
With Michael Franks

The Art of Tea (Reprise, 1976)
Sleeping Gypsy (Warner Bros., 1977)
With Marvin Gaye

Let's Get It On (Tamla, 1973)
I Want You (Motown, 1976)
With Dizzy Gillespie

Free Ride (Pablo, 1977) composed and arranged by Lalo Schifrin
With Grant Green

Shades of Green (Blue Note, 1971)
Live at The Lighthouse (Blue Note, 1972)
With Richard "Groove" Holmes

Welcome Home (Pacific Jazz, 1968)
With The Hues Corporation

Freedom For The Stallion (RCA Victor, 1973)
With Ronnie Laws

Pressure Sensitive (Blue Note, 1975)
With Joni Mitchell

For the Roses (Asylum, 1972)
Court and Spark (Asylum, 1974)
The Hissing of Summer Lawns (Asylum, 1975)
With Randy Newman

Sail Away (Reprise, 1972)
With B.B. King

Midnight Believer (ABC, 1978)
Take It Home (ABC, 1979)
With Harry Nilsson

Flash Harry (Mercury, 1980)
With Jennifer Warnes

Jennifer (Reprise, 1972)
With Milt Jackson

Memphis Jackson (Impulse!, 1969)
With Tina Turner

Private Dancer (Capitol, 1984)
With John Klemmer

Constant Throb (Impulse!, 1971)
Waterfalls (Impulse!, 1972)
Magic and Movement (Impulse!, 1974)
With Charles Kynard

Reelin' with the Feelin' (Prestige, 1969)
With Minnie Riperton

Stay in Love (Epic, 1977)
With Ringo Starr

Stop and Smell the Roses (RCA, 1981)
With Carmen McRae

Can't Hide Love (Blue Note, 1976)
With Billy Joel

Piano Man (Columbia, 1973)
Streetlife Serenade (Columbia, 1974)
With Randy Crawford

Now We May Begin (Warner Bros., 1980)
With Shuggie Otis

Here Comes Shuggie Otis (Epic, 1970)
Freedom Flight (Epic, 1971)
With Dusty Springfield

Cameo (ABC, 1973)
With Jean-Luc Ponty

King Kong: Jean-Luc Ponty Plays the Music of Frank Zappa (World Pacific/Liberty, 1970)
With Seals & Crofts

Summer Breeze (Warner Bros., 1972)
Diamond Girl (Warner Bros., 1973)
I'll Play for You (Warner Bros., 1975)
Get Closer (Warner Bros., 1976)
Sudan Village (Warner Bros., 1976)
With Jimmy Smith

Root Down Live! (Verve, 1972)
With Steely Dan

Pretzel Logic (ABC, 1974)
Katy Lied (ABC, 1975)
With Gerald Wilson

California Soul (Pacific Jazz, 1968)
With Hugh Masekela

Reconstruction (Chisa, 1970)