King Errisson
BY
Graham Sclater
Few people outside of the music industry know King Errisson, but they know the hall-of-famers he's worked for. He's toured with Neil Diamond since 1976, and Diamond introduces him as the best percussionist in the world.
He's played live or as a session musician with Marvin Gaye, Diana Ross, The Temptations, Smokey Robinson, Michael Jackson, Doc Severinsen, Ringo Starr, Barbra Streisand, Johnny Mathis, Lou Rawls, Barry White and The Carpenters.
Like everyone in business from a chief operating officer on down, Errisson knows what it is to be the unsung hero. Errisson, spoke to USA TODAY corporate management reporter Del Jones about coping in a world where the stars take the bows.
Quincy Jones says "I've been not only a friend but a fan of King Errisson's for quite a while now. All I can say is that if you're talking about musicians with a fantastic sense of time and dynamics, then you have to put King's name at the top of the conversation. Welcome to the King's kingdom, it's a sound you'll be glad you found."
As an actor, King has appeared in the movies Uptown Saturday Night (with Bill Cosby and Sidney Poitier) and on television in Abe Vigoda’s Fish series and The Watcher, the 1980 remake of The Jazz Singer with Neil Diamond, and the movie Thunderball with Sean Connery.
King has been praised as “the unsung hero behind Motown” by Ray Singleton in her book Berry, Me, and Motown as well as by Berry Gordy in his book To Be Loved for his work with his artists.
He was a featured member of the Incredible Bongo Band which included a cover of the Shadows’ Apache. It was recorded at Can-Base Studios in Vancouver and produced by Jorgen Ingmann. It was not a hit and last interest until it was adopted by early hip-hop artists which resulted in so many artists sampling the long percussion break by King as the basis for their drum and bass tracks. To this day it is still being used as a sample for so many tracks.
King has released several CDs through UK based Tabitha Records and most recently “Songbook,” a compilation of his best-known songs.