Walter "Junie" Morrison -

Walter “Junie” Morrison (1954 — Feb. 11, 2017) was an American soul-funk musician who served as music director for the Ohio Players on their three Westbound studio albums. He went solo with the 1975 Westbound release When We Do, followed by Freeze and the 1976 album Suzie Super Groupie, billed to his Junie mononym.

Background

Walter Morrison Jr. was born in June 1954 in Dayton, Ohio. Relatives called him “Junie,” a nickname tied to his June birth and Jr. suffix. Morrison played piano for a church children’s choir from about age four; fellow singers included Thomas and William Shelby and future Heatwave brothers Johnnie and Keith Wilder. He studied music under Charles Spencer at Roosevelt High School, where he became student choir director and orchestra conductor.

Morrison first saw the Ohio Players at a Roosevelt High concert. He formed drum squads, bands, and choir octets with fellow students and played grand piano with school friends on a local televised battle of the bands. The Ohio Players appeared on the same broadcast and invited Morrison to join after his performance. Morrison entered the band in 1970 at age sixteen, initially on trumpet until he could afford an electric piano.

Within a year, Morrison became musical director for the Ohio Players. He arranged and produced sessions while he sang and played keyboards, guitar, and bass. The Ohio Players stopped at a studio on a road trip to Memphis, where Morrison devised “Pain” on the spot and directed a one-take performance. Armen Boladian signed the group to Westbound after Top Hit issued “Pain” as a regional single.

Under Morrison’s direction, the Ohio Players made the 1972/73 Westbound albums Pain, Pleasure, and Ecstasy. Morrison devised the ARP Soloist line and Granny voice for the 1973 single “Funky Worm.” Morrison split from the group after Ecstasy over business and creative differences, while the Ohio Players moved to Mercury.

Eastbound issued “Tightrope” (b/w “Walt’s Second Trip”) in late 1973 as the first Junie solo single. Westbound president Armen Boladian prepared the March 1975 release of When We Do under the new 20th Century distribution agreement.

Discography: