Producer, writer, keyboardist, and vocalist Walter “Junie”
Morrison, part of the funk band Ohio Players in the early 1970s, was reported
dead in February 2017 (exact date of death undetermined) at the age of 62. He
began by playing piano in church in Dayton, OH at the age of 5.
Junie was a part of the Ohio Players, beginning when he
graduated from high school, and was instrumental in putting together the Ohio
Players albums Pain (1972), Pleasure (1972), and Ecstasy
(1973). He primarily wrote and arranged the 1973 gold certified smash hit, Funky
Worm.
In 1974, Junie left the Ohio Players to pursue solo projects.
In 1977, Junie joined P-Funk as musical director, where he made
important contributions to the album One Nation Under a Groove, and
especially to the single (Not Just) Knee Deep (1979). Junie produced
some P-Funk material under the pseudonym J.S. Theracon. He produced other
artists and contributed to P-Funk albums through the 1990s. As a part of
Parliament-Funkadelic, he was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in
1997.
In 1980, Junie revived his solo career.
In 2016, Solange Knowles released a song entitled Junie (inspired
by Junie Morrison), on her Grammy award winning album A Seat at the Table.
Walter “Junie” Morrison [1954 — 2017]
© 02/18/2017
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