jimdunlopusa | 1 decade ago

CHARLES "SKIP" PITTS
4/7/47 - 5/1/12
In the winter of 2009 the film making crew at Dunlop Manufacturing had the great fortune to be able to interview Charles "Skip" Pitts for their feature length documentary on the Cry Baby wah wah pedal, "Cry Baby: The Pedal That Rocks The World."

Skip is the guitarist responsible for creating the legendary and highly influential wah wah part heard on Isaac Hayes' song "Theme From Shaft." Skip made other huge contributions to music history, being one of those classic unsung working session musician heros of the studio and stage with a seemingly unending list of famous artists.

During that afternoon in December, the team not only got great stories from this man's extraordinary life but were awed and inspired by the raw talent, warmth, and humility of this individual.

Skip passed away on May 1st, 2012.

This tribute video in made up of unreleased interview excerpts Skip gave that day that pertain to the story of how he got his start in music and a few of his proudest moments as a guitarist mixed in with some archival footage Skip provided us of him in 1968 with Wilson Picket and performing with Isaac Hayes prior to his good friend's untimely passing.

Skip will truly be missed.

For more information on Skip visit his wikipedia page:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Pitts

To see Skip's description of the creation of the song "Shaft" in the feature long documentary, go to end of the second episode of the Cry Baby film:
http://youtu.be/h0HC3SqAEOc