Bill Wolfer was a hot young session musician who received an unexpected chance in 1982 to make his own record — and made the most of it. The Wyoming native’s star had been rising in the Soul Music world, and in the prior year he was involved with Stevie Wonder’s Hotter Than July and had been responsible for the synthesizer and keyboard work on perhaps the year’s most memorable song: Michael Jackson’s “Billie Jean.”
Based on some demos on a cassette tape, Solar Records honcho Dick Griffey signed Wolfer to a record contract on his new Constellation Records label, and Wolfer put together a truly great album in the vein of Quincy Jones’ The Dude. The album, Wolf, seemed an unlikely hit. The disc included 10 Wolfer compositions, 5 with vocals and 5 without, and skirted the line between pop, soul, funk and the as-yet-undefined smooth jazz.
He put together an all-star collection of musicians, including Wonder and Jackson and released Wolf, a hot collection of funk and soul numbers, with great guest vocalists such as Finis Henderson and Jon Gibson. It was Gibson who, with Michael Jackson singing in the background, led the excellent cut, “So Shy.” It never hit the charts, but became a sought-after track for three decades afterward. Take a listen to it below and tell us what you think!
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