Michael Eugene Archer, better known as D’Angelo, is an American singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and record producer born on February 11, 1974.
He gained to notoriety after working on the hit single “U Will Know” by R&B group Black Men United.
Brown Sugar (1995), his debut studio album, received widespread acclaim from music reviewers, who credited it with establishing the neo-soul genre; it was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). Its third single, “Lady,” peaked at number ten on the Billboard Hot 100.
Did D’Angelo do voodoo?
Yes, D’Angelo wrote all of the bass lines for Voodoo and sequenced them for Welsh bassist Pino Palladino, whom he met after being asked to do a duet with B.B. King during the earlier sessions for Voodoo.
D’Angelo invited Palladino to learn and improvise on the bass arrangements for his 1961 model P bass.
Guitarist Charlie Hunter played guitar and bass passages on “The Root,” “Greatdayndamornin’,” and “Spanish Joint” using a bespoke eight-string guitar/bass combo with three lower bass and five upper guitar strings.
It also has distinct pickups for each string group, as well as distinct outputs for each pickup.
To accommodate Hunter’s precise playing, Elevado linked separate outputs from Hunter’s instrument to a separate bass and guitar amplifier.
Despite minimal “bleeding into each other” from the pickups in close proximity to each other, he claims there was enough separation to create a passable sound on both amplifiers.
