1. Charles "Skip" Pitts was an American soul and blues guitarist.
17 Facts About Charles Pitts
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Charles Pitts is best known for his distinctive "wah-wah" style, prominently featured on Isaac Hayes' title track from the 1971 movie Shaft.
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At the age of 17, Charles Pitts performed on Gene Chandler's "Rainbow '65," which would become his first appearance on many hit recordings.
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In 1970, Charles Pitts moved to Memphis, Tennessee, to join Isaac Hayes' band.
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Charles Pitts went on to work with Hayes over the next three decades, appearing on many of Hayes' hit albums and soundtracks.
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Charles Pitts can be seen onstage performing with Hayes in the documentary Wattstax and in the blaxploitation film Truck Turner.
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Charles Pitts remained the band's guitarist and bandleader until Hayes' death in August 2008.
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Charles Pitts's performances included hits by Rufus Thomas, The Temprees, The Soul Children, and Albert King.
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Charles Pitts appeared with the band at venues and festivals nationally and internationally, including The Ponderosa Stomp, London's Barbican Performing Arts Centre, and Lincoln Center's Midsummer Nights Swing Series.
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Charles Pitts was associated with the eclectic Memphis blues and soul band Elmo and the Shades from the early 1990s, and occasionally appeared as a duo with Elmo Lee Thomas called The Skip and Elmo Show.
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Charles Pitts performed on the band's 2009 album Blue Memphis.
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Charles Pitts appeared on Al Green's Grammy nominated record I Can't Stop, produced by Willie Mitchell, as well as Cyndi Lauper's Grammy nominated Memphis Blues.
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Charles Pitts performed singles from the album with Lauper on the television shows The Apprentice and Late Night with David Letterman.
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Charles Pitts taught at-risk youth at Memphis' Stax Music Academy in the early 2000s.
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Charles Pitts was the voice of the Memphis Police Department's "Blue Crush" advertisement campaign, an effort to reduce street crime in the city.
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In 2011, Charles Pitts received a brass note on the Beale Street Walk of Fame.
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Charles Pitts died of cancer in Memphis, Tennessee, on May 1,2012.