Eddie "Spanky" Alford

American three-time Grammy winning jazz guitarist. Born May 22, 1955 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Alford began his care as a guitarist for gospel quartets, including The Mighty Clouds Of Joy and The Truetones, and went on to become one of the secret weapons of the neo-soul movement, lending not only his musical skills, but spiritual guidance to albums by Raphael Saadiq, [a44944], and The Roots. One of Alford’s final projects was “Lay It Down” by the soul singer [a25261], which was produced by the Roots’ drummer [a12473]. Alford died March 24, 2008, at the age of 52, in Huntsville, Alabama after a long battle with diabetes.