Chalmers Alford

Chalmers Edward "Spanky" Alford (May 22, 1955 – March 24, 2008) was an American gospel, jazz, and neo-soul guitarist. Alford was born in Philadelphia. He was well known for his playing style, utilizing chord embellishments. He had an illustrious career as a gospel quartet guitar player in the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s with groups such as the Mighty Clouds of Joy. His most notable contributions are to the D'Angelo album Voodoo, and his contributions to music from other popular artists including Tupac Shakur, Roy Hargrove, and The Roots.

Career Alford's career spans across multiple musical scenes. Beginning in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, he relocated multiple times to areas such as Dallas, Texas, and finally, Huntsville, Alabama.

His career as a recorded guitarist began in 1977 with the group The East St. Louis Gospelletts. Within the same year he would find himself playing with the influential gospel group the Mighty Clouds of Joy These early gospel records would prove to be important in establishing his body of work as an influential gospel quartet guitarist. It was on the Might Clouds of Joy album Pray For Me that Alford also became a recorded vocalist.

Alford provided guitars on the 2003 Roy Hargrove album Hard Groove.

The final era of Alford's career was spent in Huntsville, Alabama, where he performed locally and taught a generation of area musicians from the locally known guitar store, T-Shepard's Guitars. His funeral was held at Saint Luke Missionary Baptist Church in Huntsville.

D'Angelo's 2014 release Black Messiah includes some posthumously released recordings of Alford's playing. These recordings were likely created during Alford's time in New York recording at Electric Ladyland Studios.

Playing style Alford's playing style was an eclectic mix of gospel and jazz influences. Cited as some of Alford's influences are Wes Montgomery, Joe Pass, Charlie Christian, Chet Atkins

On The Roots track "What They Do", Alford brings a more smooth sound to the production. His signature direct, and warm sound produced from his signature black Gibson ES-335, being played through a Fender Twin Reverb shows another aesthetic side of Alford not seen on his earlier recordings. His playing on this track demonstrates his influence from jazz guitarist George Benson, and his solo is a great example of his ability to create chord melody hooks that help drive the track forward.

Discography The East St. Louis Gospellettes, Love Is The Key (1977) Mighty Clouds of Joy, Live And Direct (1977) Randolph Watson And The Voices Of Faith, Rodena Preston Presents Look Where God Has Brought Us (1977) The Topics, Wanted Live! By A Million Girls (1978) The Mighty Clouds Of Joy, Miracle Man (1982) The Mighty Clouds of Joy, Pray for Me (1990) The Evereadys, A Message For You (1991) Tony Toni Toné, House Of Music (1996) Kissin' You, Total (1996) The Roots, Illadelph Halflife (1996) With My Eyes Closed, Bee Gees (1997) Bone Family Choir, O Lord I Want You To Move (1997) Always, Willie Max (1998) A Tribe Called Quest, The Love Movement (1998) Lamentation, Eric Benét (1999) Angie Stone, Black Diamond (1999) Hurry Up This Way Again, Terri Gore (1999) The Roots, Things Fall Apart (1999) Unconditional Love, Tarralyn Ramsey (2000) D'Angelo, Voodoo (2000) Clarence Fountain & The Blind Boys Of Alabama, My Lord What A Morning! (2000) 2Pac, Until the End of Time (2001) Raphael Saadiq, Instant Vintage (2002) There's Nothing In This World Without A Heart, The Blind Boys Of Alabama (2003) Roy Hargrove, Hard Groove (2003) Roy Hargrove, Strength (2004) Norman Brown, West Coast Coolin' (2004) The Canton Spirituals, New Life: Live in Harvey, IL (2004) Pretty Baby, Eric Benét (2005) Vick Allen, Simply Soul (2005) Evelyn Turrentine-Agee, Call Jesus (2005) Evelyn Turrentine-Agee, Go Through (2005) Rhian Benson, Gold Coast (2005) Mary J. Blige, The Breakthrough (2005) Vikter Duplaix, Bold and Beautiful (2006) John Mayer, Continuum (2006) Jackie Gore, Soulful Provider (2007) Stan Jones, Out of the Shadows (2007) Joss Stone, Introducing Joss Stone (2007) Ali Shaheed Muhammad, Shaheedullah and Stereotypes (2007) Al Green, Lay It Down (2008) D'Angelo, Black Messiah (2014)