Legendary Chicago guitarist Phil Upchurch, collaborator with a who’s who of musicians, dies at 84

Guitarist Phil Upchurch, who made his name in Chicago before moving to Los Angeles, worked with a who’s who list of the country’s most popular musicians.

Mr. Upchurch played on Chaka Khan’s 1978 hit “I’m Every Woman” and Michael Jackson’s 1979 funk hit “Workin’ Day and Night.”

He was friends with fellow Chicagoan Curtis Mayfield and played on Mayfield’s top-selling soundtracks for several films including the 1972 hit "Super Fly."

Mr. Upchurch, who recorded at Chess Records, Vee-Jay, Mercury and Brunswick when the labels flourished in Chicago during the 1960s, worked closely with Chicago singer Donny Hathaway, including on what Mr. Upchurch considered to be the best Christmas song ever by a Black performer: "This Christmas."

Other performers he worked with include the Staple Singers, Otis Rush, Ramsey Lewis, Etta James, Howlin' Wolf, B.B. King, Leon Russell, Cannonball Adderley, Dizzy Gillespie, Herbie Hancock, Muddy Waters, and Booker T. & the M.G.'s.

"He was just that good, so people called him," said singer Gene "The Duke of Earl" Chandler, who worked with Mr. Upchurch. "And he was also good at helping musicians create at recording sessions."

Mr. Upchurch, who was known for his silky sound and ability to blend jazz, blues and funk, toured with George Benson and played on his 1976 Grammy Award-winning album “Breezin.’”

He also was a member of the psychedelic-soul group Rotary Connection and released more than 20 albums as a solo artist or band leader.

Mr. Upchurch died Nov. 23 in Los Angeles. He was 84. A statement on his website announced his death but did not specify a cause.

He moved from Chicago to Los Angeles in 1978 and toured with Quincy Jones, another Chicagoan who headed West.

“I don't like to go around saying that I've recorded with this person and that, because in most cases the artist doesn't call the musician, the producer does,” Mr. Upchurch told Guitar Player magazine in 1985. “It's better when things happen, like how I came to play on Michael Jackson's "Off the Wall." I just stopped by the studio to say hello to Quincy Jones — who was the producer‚ and he said, ‘Hey, let's have you play on this one. Then he stuck a guitar in my hands.”

Mr. Upchurch fielded a call from Bob Dylan's camp and performing on Dylan's 2009 Christmas album "Christmas in the Heart."

"Never in a million years did I expect to hear from Bob Dylan's people. Never worked with him. Never met him," Mr. Upchurch told the Sun-Times after the album came out.

In 1973, Mr. Upchurch said he received a call from Cat Stevens out of the blue from England. Stevens, now known as Yusuf Islam, told Mr. Upchurch he had just listened to some of his music and asked if he would make a record with him in Jamaica.

Mr. Upchurch was born July 19, 1941, in Chicago. His father, a jazz pianist, gave him a ukulele at 13, and he soon learned to play guitar, bass and drums.

He graduated from Marshall High School in 1958. One of his first gigs was with The Kool Gents, a group that featured Cicero Blake and Dee Clark and was named after WVON Chicago radio personality Herb Kent, "the cool gent."

In 1960, while helming the Philip Upchurch Combo, he recorded his first hit, “You Can’t Sit Down."

From 1965 to 1967, Mr. Upchurch served in the Army, where he trained as a radio operator, played music in a glee club and developed a lifelong passion for photography.

Survivors of Mr. Upchurch include his wife, Sonya Maddox-Upchurch.

Services have been held.