Hamilton Bohannon born 7 March 1942

Hamilton Bohannon (March 7, 1942 – April 24, 2020), often credited and known professionally simply as Bohannon, was an American percussionist, band leader, songwriter, arranger, and record producer, who was one of the leading figures in 1970s disco music. 

Born in Newnan, roughly 40 miles southwest of Atlanta, Hamilton Frederick Bohannon started playing drums at the age of 13 with a makeshift kit that included books and handmade sticks. His father bought a real drum set and allowed him to practice at his barber shop. Within a couple years, Bohannon formed a group, first known as the Bob Dads and later as Roy and the Dukes, that played covers to alternately black and white audiences, and he also played with his high school band. While attending Atlanta's Clark College on a music scholarship, he put together a group that became the house band at the Royal Peacock -- a historic venue that hosted scores of top-level blues and R&B artists -- where he befriended and performed with guitarist Jimi Hendrix, who was then between duties with the Isley Brothers and Little Richard. 

After he earned a degree from Clark, Bohannon juggled work at the Peacock with a teaching job in LaGrange. Sidelined by a car accident that severely injured his right foot, he quickly learned to play with his left. While touring with emcee Gorgeous George as part of the Jackie Wilson Show tour in 1965, he met Stevie Wonder and became the young Motown artist's drummer. Bohannon planned to attend Indiana University that fall -- he was offered a master's program scholarship -- but Wonder convinced him to forgo his graduate studies and stay on the road. 

He moved to Detroit in 1967, where he was employed by Motown as the leader and arranger of Bohannon & The Motown Sound, who provided backing for many of the label's top acts on tour, including Stevie Wonder, Smokey Robinson, Marvin Gaye, The Temptations, Diana Ross and the Supremes, The Four Tops and others. When Motown moved from Detroit to Los Angeles, Bohannon stayed behind to form his own ensemble, featuring members of local band, The Fabulous Counts and including such musicians as Ray Parker Jr. and Dennis Coffey. He signed in 1972 with the Dakar label run by producer Carl Davis, and released his debut album Stop & Go in early 1973. This was followed by five more albums for the label over the next two years, on which he "perfected his formula of heavy, thudding bass accents and aggressive rhythms". 

                            

Although several of his tracks were club hits, he had limited chart success. His first hit single, in 1974, was "South African Man", which reached no. 78 on the Billboard R&B chart, but had more success in the UK, where it reached no. 22 on the UK Singles Chart. This was followed up in 1975 by "Foot Stompin Music" – his only record to reach the US Billboard Hot 100 – and "Disco Stomp", his biggest hit in the UK where it reached no. 6. 

In 1976, Bohannon signed with Mercury Records and two years later had one of his biggest successes with "Let’s Start The Dance," which reached no. 9 on the R&B chart and no. 7 on the disco chart. "Let's Start the Dance" featured singer Carolyn Crawford, whose subsequent albums Bohannon went on to produce. In 1981, a new mix of "Let's Start the Dance" was successful on the dance chart. In 1980, he established Phase II Records, and continued to have minor hits on the R&B chart for the next three years, using new vocalists Liz Lands and Altrinna Grayson. He signed with MCA Records in 1984 and released several more albums. His last album, It's Time To Jam, was issued on the South Bound label in 1990. 

In later years Bohannon produced a new singer, Governor, on Atlantic Records, as well as working on material with his son, Hamilton Bohannon II, and publishing an audio book memoir of his early years in the music business, Bohannon Speaks from the Beginning. Bohannon was a devout Christian and dedicated his album Dance Your Ass Off to "God, my master, saviour and Jesus Christ". The album also included a disclaimer that "Dance Your Ass Off is not used in the sense of profanity." 

Although compilations varying in size, scope, and availability, along with scattered singles, were released throughout the following decades, Bohannon's recordings were eternalized more commonly by specialist DJs and rap producers. His hometown further immortalized him in 2017 when the street on which he was raised and operated Phase II (Peachtree Street) was renamed Hamilton Bohannon Drive. He performed for the last time in 2019 at a benefit for Morehouse College and Clark Atlanta. Bohannon died on April 24 2020, at his home in College Park, Atlanta at the age of 78. 

(Edited from Wikipedia & AllMusic)