Performance · Other credits

Melvin "Wah Wah" Watson

also recorded as Melvin Ragin

real name Melvin M. Ragin

Richmond, United States

Melvin "Wah Wah" Watson is credited on 1,210 releases across 297 albums tracked on Gatefold, active 1971–2025 — the collector-built map of who actually made the music.

View as artist →

Start your shelf →Open in app

1,210

Credits

297

Albums

6

Decades active

733

In collections

Biography

American soul/funk guitarist, songwriter and producer.
Born: December 8, 1950 in Richmond, VA - died: October 24, 2018 in Santa Monica, CA (age 67)
He worked as a top session musician for artists such as Michael Jackson (Off The Wall), Marvin Gaye (Let's Get It On), Herbie Hancock (Man-Child), and Quincy Jones (Body Heat), among others.
He joined the house band, The Funk Brothers, in 1968 and later played on one of The Temptations’ most iconic singles 'Papa Was A Rollin' Stone'.

Bio from Discogs

Credited work

1,210 releases · 297 albums · active 1971–2025

  • Performance · 1,718
  • Other credits · 81
  • Production · 70
  • Engineering · 5

Studios: Westlake Studios · United Western Studios · Cherokee Studios · The Village Recorder

Discography

Records they worked on — most-collected first.

Frequent collaborators

Around the web

See who really made the music.

Gatefold maps every producer, engineer, and player across your shelf — the credits no one else surfaces.

Start your shelf →

Free forever. Works with 10 records or 10,000.