Alembic Guitars Club
Connecting => Miscellaneous => Topic started by: cosmicprune on November 30, 2005, 03:02:30 AM
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I'd be interested in which bassists influenced all of you Alembicians at the various stages in your playing career. In other words, who inspired you to pick up the instrument? Who did you discover later on to take you to a new level, etc.?
For my part, I started playing bass in 1982 when I was 15 after deciding lead guitar wasn't for me. I was a metalhead, so my first inspiration was Steve Harris and later on I found Geddy Lee. This meant I was a finger-style player rather than a plectrum flicker. My first band was a covers outfit that did Rolling Stones and Who numbers, so that introduced me to my first Alembic player, not that I knew it then! I'd found Stanley Clarke by the time I went away to college and I met a guy there called Dave Koenig, who got me onto Mark King. I pretty much sucked at slapping back then though and it was the mid 80s, so I picked up a plectrum and belatedly got into some Duran Duran style grooves (is it OK to admit this?). In my second year at college, I blew my grant cheque on a fretless bass and I figured the only way to go for a while was to listen to Jaco Pastorius.
The biggest piece of the puzzle was in 1989 when I first heard Flea on the Mother's Milk album. That brought it all together for me and reconciled all my different influences. I'm always looking for new inspiration though, and that's why I've started this thread ...
(Message edited by cosmicprune on November 30, 2005)
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I started playing bass when I was 15. My first big inspiration was Mark King. But even before that I was always focussed on the basslines I heard in every song. At the same time I discovered Stanley Clarke. These where the two for a long time. I was a heavy slapper when I started it was the only way I could play. Later I got more into Jaco and bassists like Marcus Miller, Alain Caron, Gary Willis and so on. But non bassplayers are just as inspiring. Bands like Gentle Giant, Sade, Mothers Finest, Zawinul, the Meters and more all influenced me.
I always thought John Taylor(duran duran) is a great bassplayer. Also the bassplayer on the early Wham! records is great!! I think it's ok to admit this.
My love for Alembic started in the early days and never passed.
Marc
(forgive me for my english spelling)
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Wham, yeah - Club Tropicana has a great bassline. It's all coming back to me... Lexicon of Love by ABC is another favourite from that era.
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1972,i was 11 & began thumping and my influences were jermaine jackson,peter catera , Larry Graham, Stanley Clarke, then any bassline from soul & classic rock music from back then,& any bass player that can just play the bass,,,,,,,,i take something from everyboody i get my ears on!.
(Message edited by serialnumber12 on November 30, 2005)
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The player who influenced me to start was Jack Bruce. As I progressed my biggest influence was Jack Bruce. Currently I listen to a lot of Jack Bruce.
I got hooked on Alembic in the early 80s when I tried out a Series 1 in the store having never heard of Alembic before. It was wonderful. I had to put it back and get something I could afford. Fortunately life has been good and I've had my Epic for a couple of years now and love it.
Sam
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I started playing at 13, gave up, and started again at 17 (I'm 36 now). My main influence is John Entwistle. Others that peek out here and there in my playing are Geddy Lee, Chris Squire, Billy Sheehan, and Stanley Clarke.
I also very much appreciate lots of other players, including Jaco, Jeff Berlin, Stu Hamm, Victor Wooten, James Jamerson, Larry Graham, and all the other big names (plus some lesser-knowns as well). I'm probably guilty of stealing licks from them on occasion, but I do my best to Entwistlize almost everything I play - usually based on his Alembic and Buzzard eras.
I started with a Vantage bass that looks like a Gibson, borrowed a Musicman fretless for a couple of months, then moved up to a 5-string Washburn, which I traded in for my Epic in 1994. This year, I got my first bass since then - a Rogue. I came to Alembics through Entwistle, and reaffirmed through Stanley and John Paul Jones.
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oops - double post - sorry!
(Message edited by karl on November 30, 2005)
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Similar starting point as a lot of you guys above - as a kid, I was really into Level 42. Wanting to learn to play some of Mark King's stuff, I bought a book called 'Basslines' by Joe Hubbard, which, along with a few Level 42 tunes, also included transcriptions of basslines by Marcus Miller, Stanley Clarke and Jaco Pastorius. So I thought I'd better find out who these people were. That was the beginning of the slippery slope. I've loved these guys' music ever since. Other guys who've influenced my playing in some way since then include George Porter (The Meters), Paul Jackson (Headhunters), Bootsy, Armand Sabal-Lecco, Doug Rauch (Santana), Benny Rietveld, Gerald Veasley, Foley, Tony Hall (the Neville Brothers), Me'Shell Ndegeocello, Alan Gorrie (Average White Band) and Prince. There must be more I've absorbed along the way - I'm like a musical sponge!
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That's mad, I've got the exact same book.
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Yeah, it's a great book - pretty tough going at first if you're just starting out as I was, and a few errors here and there (I'm sure there's a whole bar missing from Teen Town!), but it's a great selection of tunes and proved to be a fantastic gateway to jazz-funk and fusion, which had been pretty impenetrable to me before then.
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Hi cosmic...
Many of the same influences here, with the bizarre exception that I never heard Level 42 or Mark (hey.. I'm from Iowa). I actually started back in the sixties in high school, so I have to mention Jack Casady and Phil Lesh from SF (my intro to Alembic), James Jamerson from Motown, Joe Osborn from LA / Capitol, and Lee Sklar from the early James Taylor recordings. Later add Jimmy Johnson and Michael Manring.
Mike
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Too good an opportunity to mention Herman Deinum - now retired? Internationally perhaps best known as a member of Cuby and the Blizzards in the 1960s.
In later years he played a P bass most of the time, through a Marshall guitar stack, with a pick. Not hardrock or anything, no: still blues and soul. Quite a virtuoso from time to time. Once you start mimicking his style, with lots and lots of tasteful legato, it can be pretty difficult to get it out of your playing.
(Message edited by Adriaan on November 30, 2005)
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Herman still plays with Harry Muskee
(Message edited by marcky on November 30, 2005)
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I picked up the guitar in 1964, switched to bass in '67 or so. (can't remember what age that was too long ago)
Mr.McCartney was the culprit that got me started on bass. Shortly after, I discovered James Jamerson and Jack bruce. Then Pete Cetra when the CTA album came out. By 1970 I was into Chris Squire and John Entwhisle. By the mid 70's it was Jaco.
My latest fav player is Bill Kopecky, which I 1st discovered about 2 years.
Gary
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Adriaan, I don't know if he's retired. But this site (http://home.wanadoo.nl/hd-9/) may address that question. Unfortunately, I have poor language skills, so I don't know what it says.
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I forgot to mention Frank Zappa in my post.
He is a large influence for me on music in general.
Marc
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sorry, double post
(Message edited by gbarchus on November 30, 2005)
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Paul McCartney taught me how to play bass and sing harmony. After him it was James Jamerson and all the Motown great hits. At the same time was Duck Dunn and all the Stax classics. Then I went Roundabout for a while with Chris Squire. The sound of THE bass in the Grateful Dead captured my attention and Phil Lesh taught me how to jam. It took me over twenty years before I had one in my hands. Chuck Rainey with Steely Dan (Aja) sat on my turntable for a year! Then Rocco Prestia taught me What Is Hip with all those sixteenth notes. When I heard Byrdland, that was it. I couldn't get Jaco out of my brain. Since then, I've been trying to sound like me!
(Message edited by gbarchus on November 30, 2005)
(Message edited by gbarchus on November 30, 2005)
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Hi Dave, thanks for the link - looks like he's still on tour with Cuby. I checked some of the samples on that fan site (http://home.wanadoo.nl/hd-9/deinum.htm (http://home.wanadoo.nl/hd-9/deinum.htm)) and apart from sounding horrible they're not really prime examples of his playing either.
There's the occasional signature flourish - like at about 35 seconds into this one: http://home.wanadoo.nl/hd-9/geluid/busters.mp3 (http://home.wanadoo.nl/hd-9/geluid/busters.mp3) - but it's really nothing compared to the inimitable bass lines that make up the choruses of Manja on the Sweet d'Buster live album.
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Seek and ye shall find - here's a site where you can get a sample of Manja - see if you can play that on a P bass with a pick - http://music.allofmp3.com/mcatalog.shtml?group=3092&album=1&letter=&volume=&groupname=&albumname= (http://music.allofmp3.com/mcatalog.shtml?group=3092&album=1&letter=&volume=&groupname=&albumname=)
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Thanks Adriaan; nice line!
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Yep, unfortunately the song itself doesn't live up to the expectations raised by that intro. The other tracks are more palatable - for the most part.
But it was certainly one of the records that I turned to grey on my portable mono Philips record player, trying to keep up with Herman on my own crappy bass, with an assortment of picks - ah, those were the days. Never got anywhere near that Manja line though ...
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John Entwistle was the reason I bought a bass. I love the way he made his bass growl. He remains my favorite and biggest influence.
I was 16 when I started saving the $$$ and 17 when I finally acquisitoned my first bass. During that time I took the first and second string off an old acoustic guitar and used it as a bass to jam with my younger brother and two other friends.
McCartney was next because of the way he played bass notes in the third and fifth of the guitar chords.
Then Chris Squire, then Mike Watt of the Minutemen/Firehose/and solo works. Then there were many to admire but I pretty much had my playing influence after those four. Jack Casady, Les Claypool, John Paul Jones, Jaco Pastorius (last listen gave me chills), Brian Ritchie, Jah Wobble, Paul Simonen, James Jamerson, Stanley Clarke, Jonas Hellborg, Geddy Lee ... so many more
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When I first started playing bass, I was really in to Claypool and Chris Squire.. but I didn't really get to into playing until I started to study jazz.. so my main influences have been people like Jaco, Stanley, Steve Swallow, Reed Mathis, Oteil Burbridge on electric. I've learned most of my stuff on upright, though.. so some of my upright influences are Eddie Gomez, John Pattitucci, Miroslav Vitous, Dave Holland, Larry Grenadier, Chris Wood (who can make his bass sound like tabla drums. completely insane), Scott LaFaro, Jimmy Garrison, ETC, ETC, so on and so forth. so many.
oh! and ofcourse, the mighty phil lesh ;]
austin
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Growing up I always enjoyed listening to music, good ole AM and then FM radio, liked many songs without knowing who the group or players were, my Mom played piano and there was an acoustic guitar hanging around the house, so I used to noodle around on both every now and again.
Then in the late 70's early 80's I went over one of my classmates house, He played bass and gtr and his brother played drums ( they were twins no less....lol ) and he asked me what instrument I wanted to play, I said bass it has less strings so it must be easier ( LOL if I only knew then what I know now.....boy was I wrong !!)
so he showed me how to play some Hendrix, Black Sabbath, Neil Young, UFO and I was hooked.
He had a Rickenbacker ( or it might have been the Ibanez copy) so I bugged my parents to get me a bass, it was a jazz bass copy then a Ibanez Musician ( their attempt to copy an Alembic) and now here I am.........;o) so I'd say my main influences are John Paul Jones, Geezer Butler, John Entwistle, Leon Wilkeson, Geddy Lee, Chris Squire, Jack Bruce, Billy Sheehan and so many more including just about all of the ones mentioned in the prior postings, its going on 25 years now for me and the art of bass playing has come a long way and I've moved on to 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 & 12 string basses, fretted and fretless, electric upright, bass pedals, some keyboards and I'm trying the Chapman Stick............what a long strange trip it has been !!
LOL
Bruce
oh I have a few guitars but they usually sit in the case, Bass will always be my first love !!
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So many of the bassists listed above were strong influences of mine, too. There is one bassist who died young, inspired me then, and still inspires me. The jazzy feel that Berry Oakley gave to the bluesy southern rock of the Allman Brothers puts him in the top group of my list. Another one I didn't see above is Greg Lake.
Rich
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Well, If Phil Lesh and Sara Lee (B-52's, Indigo Girls) had a kid who loved Country music, Sabbath and Southern Rock, that'd be me.
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In 1972 Paul McCartney was the man mainly because I hadn't listened to a lot of other stuff yet, then John Entwistle, Jack Bruce and Jack Casady entered my budding bass oriented consciousness. In 1973 a good friend of mine was stood up on a date (thanks Holly) and I ended up with his extra ticket to see the Dead and Phil Lesh. My earliest and longest running influences have been these guys. Not surprisingly I lusted for an Alembic for a long time before laying hands on one.
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I almost forgot. Let's not leave out Peter Tork.
Rich
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Bootsy Collins
Duck Dunn
Rocco Prestia
Tony Levin
Jack Casady
John Entwistle
Jack Bruce
Phil Lesh
Allen Woody
Oteil Burbridge
Victor Wooten
Edgar Meyer
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what about Horace Planter and Graham Maby....two points if you know who they are...LOL
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David Crosby, 8/14/41
www.grahammaby.com (http://www.grahammaby.com), Joe Jackson, Natalie Merchant, They Might Be Giants
You got me on Horace Planter
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One point then .. Horace Planter.. the Specials
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Graham Maby is one my favorites, with Joe Jackson, possibly the ugliest bass player on the planet; Sunday (later Monday)Papers, loved that bass line. Horace Panter, also know as Sir Horace Gentleman, another real cool player. I love all the British Ska groups of the early '80s.
Valentino
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The Two Tone movement of the late 70's early 80's is one of the biggest influences on my own very poor style of playing.. if you can call hitting my Bass with a Baseball Bat playing
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How could I forget Graham Maby? Still - credit where credit's due: he always points out that those marvellous bass lines came from Joe Jackson himself.
Now that we have the UK contingent back in line: we must mention Norman Watt-Roy (Ian Dury & the Blockheads).
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Wow, David Crosby's even older than my Mom, LOL!
BTW, you don't have to do a few hits to enjoy your LP's on a turntable. Analogue is alive and well and has never sounded better. Anyone who thinks digital is the cat's *ss hasn't heard good analogue...done right, it always has been and still is superior to digital: it's just plain sounds more like real music. Pardon me for my rave...my Hi-Fi tendencies are poking through, LOL!
Remember, lennon had a truntable installed suspended from the ceiling of his custom psychedelic painted '65 Rolls Phantom just so he could listen to Procol's Whiter Shade over and over again, LOL!
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you don't have to do a few hits to enjoy your LP's on a turntable
Well, thats true, its just a little more fun that way !
I agree with the analog/digital thing, seems like they compress everything so much now days that there's not much bandwidth (an unsolicitied opinion, please I bruse easily), I do prefer the sizzle of a cymbal in there etc.
Kev..I had a buddy that had a 66 Impala with a turntable under the dash..it was a riot..come on, hit that pot hole ! Zzzzzzzz...he wrecked more good records with that thing ! LOL !!!!
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Your average sizzle on an LP will be caused by dirt seated in the groove. But anyway, you need to look at the whole chain of reproduction, not just the start. And I'm not even talking recording techniques here ... though I do recommend making your own recordings on a digital tape recorder, perhaps an old Sony PWM module with a VHS machine for storage, in a controlled environment with only your own instruments, in a climate controlled ... etc, etc.
For sizzle, I recommend 1980s speakers of just about any German manufacturer.
For mid burp and no low or high end response to speak of, 1980s Tannoy.
For pure bliss, Quad electrostats with a meaty tube power amp.
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Sir Paul pre-playing; Phil Lynott as an inspiration and Lemmy as both player AND inspiration at the very start, then Geddy, Geezer, Glenn Hughes/Roger Glover/John Paul Jones/Mike Rutherford, Jean Jacques Burnel of the Stranglers and Lee/Leigh/Leroy Gorman of Bow Wow Wow (who is vastly underrated IMHO) then Stanley Clarke, Mark King (the first guy I ever saw slapping; I wish I'd seen someone a bit slower first, scared the pants off me), John McVie and Chris Squire, then Entwistle (for some reason I discovered him very late!). Joey DeMaio of Manowar (No comments please!). Since then Stuart Zender, ex Jamiroquai. And probably loads of others along the way.....
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I'm glad someone mentioned Phil Lynott. If you want to define what it means to play tight, he was the man. Great feel for the groove.
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Phil is one of my all time heroes. Just had my picture taken with his statue in Dublin , the nearest I ever got to meeting him unfortunately. Seeing Thin Lizzy live on the Old Grey Whistle Test was what made me want to join a band. Well, that and the first rock gig I actually attended (Hawkwind in 79). Was a bit of a culture shock as the previous gigs I'd been to were Buddy Rich (twice- my favourite drummer of all time), Louis Bellson, Stan Kenton and Woody Herman.
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Where in Dublin is Phil's statue? I didn't know about it and haven't seen it. Do you know when it was erected?
Sam
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Almost all those mentioned by everbody has been an influence on me, a few I can't say I'm really aware of. However, nobody mentioned (save your laughter until the end, please!) Mel Schacher of Grand Funk. For some reason his playing caught my 13 year old ear back in '72 and made me want a bass. Not a technician but could definately cut a groove.
OK, now you can laugh, but hey, I was 13!!!
JP
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In all honesty one is most likey influenced by everyone one hears in some form or another even by bad player(like me) if it is just knowing what not to do
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Mel Schacker's tone is killer, too. I always liked what he did...
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Sam, that's a good question! I was walking with my girlfriend in a torrential downpour and just sort of ran into it! It's actually in the middle of a small street around Temple Bar, but I'd be pushed to find it again. Its kind of low key...not sure when it was erected.
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Sam, that's a good question! I was walking with my girlfriend in a torrential downpour and just sort of ran into it! It's actually in the middle of a small street around Temple Bar, but I'd be pushed to find it again. Its kind of low key...not sure when it was erected.
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Oh rats, double post....
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It's on Harry Street, just off Grafton Street (http://www.rte.ie/arts/2005/0819/lynottp.html).
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Here's the link to the RTE release in Dublin.
http://www.rte.ie/arts/2005/0819/lynottp.html (http://www.rte.ie/arts/2005/0819/lynottp.html)
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Pix here.
http://www.hwcn.org/~ae818/lizzy4/tribute/rjdub05.html (http://www.hwcn.org/~ae818/lizzy4/tribute/rjdub05.html)
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Dave, Michael, thanks for the info. I'll be sure to look for it on my next pilgrimage to Eire.
Sam
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Phil's 70's Irish 'Fro is the best! Slainte'!
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Kevin, Dia dhuit ar maidin! Slainte, eh? Not bad for an Italian.
Sam
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I'm afraid my Gaelic is limited to cheers and curses, LOL!
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Sam:
Give us some warning on your trip, and we'll see if we can meet up for a pint of Guinness. . . or two. . . or three. . . or four! I really don't need much of an excuse!
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Mike
Go ahead and start without me. At the moment my budget doesn't have trans-Atlantic journeys in it.
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Are any of the bass players here fans of Bobby Vega? Just curious. I've heard absolutely inspired playing by Bobby.
Tom
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Hi Charles; welcome to the group!
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Reason to pick up bass: Jack Bruce. After that: John Prakash, Buzz Burell and Larry Taylor. Here in Belgium: Evert Verhees.
PTBO
As I already put in a similar threat as this one back in the dark history of this jolly club: MacCa and JE were seen as a bandmember not as a bassplayer. Weird ...I know.
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Oh yes, richbass939. I remember those crazy days as an 8 year old.
and years later get whacked out of my brain at some party and taking in Auntie Grezelda thinking this is one of the greatest songs ever Not to mention I'm gonna buy me a dog and Circle Sky
And ... well .... I do own the Head movie on DVD.
and lets not forget Andy West of the Dixie Dregs.
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Thanks guys. There's a few new names here for me to go and check out, but the one who really leaps off the page because I've never listened to him is Jack Bruce. Where should I start - which tracks sum up his style the best?
I have to admit that I went through a period recently (while starting a family) where I played bass only rarely. I even went over to the dark side and played lead guitar for a while. My Alembic purchase has brought me back round again though, and there has been one very positive experience resulting from my dalliance with the skinny stringed instrument - I have discovered a fantastic tablature community site. It's all free and although it's aimed at guitarists there's a lot of bass tab on there too. The accompanying software shows tab and traditional notation and it plays back through the MIDI on your PC. You could do a lot worse than to start with Victor Wooten and Sinister Minister:
http://www.powertabs.net/pta.php?page=song,17847 (http://www.powertabs.net/pta.php?page=song%2C17847)
(Message edited by cosmicprune on December 01, 2005)
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Hi Simon,
I think you board another threat-worth subject How I went away and came back to it (huhuhu ...this is about bassplaying guys). Most of us non-prfessional playing musicians went though such a period. Family-matters were always part of it.
So I have to speak about the second influence too: the one that bought me back were Mark King and Bakithi Kumalo. This brought me off the Fenderish style of basses and moved my taste up to higher (money) levels.
About Jack Bruce: the first influence period I am talking about is his Cream period. So I suggest you start there.
PTBO
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My earliest influences were Chris Squire, John Entwhistle and Dennis Dunaway. I saw Yes in '74 after having some ragtime lessons from my brother, realised the Bass was the most important instrument in the band, and put the guitar away for good. Spent most of the 70's working out what 'prog rock' bassists were playing and trying to fit in more notes than was actually possible. I'd been turned onto Jaco and Stanley by this time which just made things worse. By the 80s just about every bass player was forced into slapping by seeing the success Mark king had with level 42. Needless to say he was a big hero and I fell into the same trap as everyone else which probably cost me more gigs than i got;-(
Nowadays I'm more interested in how the whole band sounds and follow Bass players who might be hugely talented but still lay down the groove rather than indulge in pyrotechnics. I'm thinking of musicians like Jimmy Johnson, Tony Levin, 'hutch' hutchinson and the like. Special mention must go to Del Palmer, Andrew Powell and John Giblin who have laid down some superb basslines on Kate Bush's work. (Andrew Powell played bass on Wuthering heights which would be top of my 'desert island discs' list)
Graeme
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what about Carol Kay, monster bass player
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H*ll, anybody that can play better'n me (which is just about EVERYBODY) has influenced me in one way or another! If you can play, regardless of style, good on ya!
My advice: Listen to as many different people play as you can, make up your own mind on which way you wanna go, and develop your own style and go for it! It's all good.
Cheers,
Kevin
(Message edited by kmh364 on December 01, 2005)
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I've picked up noticeable influences from these guys:
Long term influences
Stanley Clarke
Aston Family Man Barrett
Bootsy Collins ( and other bass players from Parliafunkadelicment)
Jaco & Alphonso Johnson( very small doses )
In recent years ( last 2 or 3 )
Marcus Miller
Victor Bailey
I tend to pick up influences from the grooves in the music I hear regardless of the bass player so as much as the named guys primarily are cited as influences they are not indicative of my current playing style (except maybe Clarkee ).
Jeff Lorber had some neat bass playing on his earlier albums and also some great bass lines from his synth bass parts in more recent years too, same for Chick Corea.
The thing is all of the great bass players had great drummers to feed off and support their playing so thats gotta help with the freedom of expression, so I guess these drummers also deserve credit for supporting these fantastic bass players who's talents we love.
To be honest I've always had a bass kocking around but only since I have had my alembic in 2002 have I really started to play seriously and think about find my voice. The basses I had before were nice but I think with the alembic things have taken a very fast turn.
In reality I'm primarily a guitarist who can play bass and get a few gigs here and there so I think a lot of my guitar playing influences and techniques and bad habits have contributed to how I play bass. Therefore I'd have to add Carlos Santana, Jimi, Robert Cray,Scott Henderson, Buddy Guy, and many other guitarists to that influence list.
I better stop now.
Jazzyvee
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How about local heros? I'm sure many of us were influenced by the unsung. For me it was Greg Loeb of the Grapes of Wrath, Tom LaVarta of Mendlebaum, and Rolly from Oz. These were groups in Madison, Wisconsin in the '60s. I used to sit at their feet and listen all night, then go home and try to play what they were doing. My mother would make me stop playing in the early hours of the morning, but I was so inspired.
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Hey- My main influences come in two classes:
Class #1-bass players i can possibly steal from. These include Geddy Lee(Rush- Hold Your Fire is one of my favorite bass albums),John Mcvie, Lee Sklar. I also like Henry Bogdan in Helmet. i love when the bass, drums, and guitar are playing the same thing for a driving rhythym. Also Bootsie and everyone associated with P-Funk. The first song I learned to play note-for-note was Stevie Wonder's Sir Duke.
Class #2- bass players that i can just watch with my jaw dropped.This includes Stanley Clarke, Victor Wooten, Jaco, and most recent addition- Trip Wamsley. I saw Trip a few months ago in a small coffeehouse/church in Pineville, NC. He was displaced after Hurricane Katrina and he was incredible. He was also playing his Alembic 8- string bass. Wow what a sound!
Mike
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Speaking of Trip he seems to have remembered several of our members on his web page when he is saying thanks to folks for his visit to the UK.
To quote:
The three guys that were disappointed about no Alembic 8. I'll have the proper case next time and I'll bring it, I swear! Correction: They were and are Mike, Ian and Graeme! Love to you guys!
(Message edited by keith_h on December 01, 2005)
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That would be MPISANEK, myself and Ian Petch - he has a superb cocobolo Mark King but so far hasn't registered on here yet. Trip was a really nice guy - he took the time to chat and drink beer with the three of us whilst bemoaning the fact that he couldn't bring an alembic with him. His set was absolutely incredible. Of the 'loopers' on the day, he was by far the best - sounded more like a Bass player than the rest of the solo acts who seemed to spend far too much time trying to sound like a group of Flamenco guitarists. Nice of him to give us a mention on his site too.
Graeme
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Simon
As for Jack Bruce, Paul mentioned starting with his Cream period. I'll agree with that and would suggest starting with Cream's Wheels of Fire. Pressed Rat and Warthog is one of my favorite tracks. The live jams on disc two really show him, and the other two musicians, off.
Sam
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Hi Brother Sam!
Is it possible that Jack Bruce started with King Crimson???
IFF that would be true the funny thing is that Buzz Burell (most known for his work with Bad Company)ALSO started with King Crimson
Weird huh?
Paul TBO
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Hi Brother Paul
How is everything?
No, Jack didn't play with King Crimson. His first major gig was with Alexis Korner's Blues, Inc. along with Ginger Baker. That lead into the Grahmn Bond Organization also with Ginger. Cream came after that. Then various solo projects and Ringo Starr's All Star Band.
I don't know about Buzz Burell.
Sam
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Correction, maybe Ginger didn't play with Alexis Korner, Charlie Watts did.
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My mistake ...I am jumping to conclusions!!!
PTBO
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27 years ago yesterday (12-01-78) I Bought my first Porsche, a 914, I picked it up in the afternoon and that night I went to Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band, WOW days like that don't happen everyday, Gary W Tallant is one of my Major influence's on bass, the first 3 E Street albums are the best
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I believe Greg Lake was the bass player in King Crimson for their first two albums, then John Whetton, Boz Burrell, Tony Levin, and Trey Gunn.
(why do I remember this stuff?)
Mike
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Interestingly, according to the bio at Allmusic.com, Robert Fripp taught Boz Burrell how to play bass for the gig with Crimson. Before that he was a singer.
Ginger Baker replaced Charlie Watts in Blues Incorporated.
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Thanks Dave, I confused myself on that one.
Middle age sucks
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I wasn't sure either and had to look it up!
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Me?
Geddy Lee - I spent the better part of my teenage years playing a Rickenbacker 4001 and learning all of his stuff note for note.
John Alec Entwistle - His playing has had a profound influence on my own playing (and bass of choice - Alembic, of course).
Chris Squire - A monster player, and the reason I still own a Rick.
Jaco - 'nuff said.
Stanley - 'nuff said X 2.
Sir Paul McCartney - The original melodic bass player, IMHO.
Sting - every thing that guy plays is just so ... perfect for the song. I love playing Walking On The Moon for that very reason.
Greg Lake - Anyone who can keep up with Keith Emerson and Carl Palmer is OK in my book.
Les Claypool - Jesus, he's good.
Gene Simmons - not great technically, but he was the first guy I tried to copy. It wasn't hard!
John Paul Jones - Anyone who can put down lines like that and play keyboards is incredibly talented, not to mention his producing abilities.
Tom Fowler - his stuff with Zappa was amazing.
Arthur Barrow - ditto.
Patrick O'Hearn - ditto X 2.
Flea - I love his slapping and popping.
Stu Hamm, Victor Wooten, and Roscoe Beck - Man, I wish I could play like any one of them.
Alan
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I'm a bit different at this.
I went through my younger years idealizing certain players, and as I'm 50, most of them fall into the Jamerson/McCartney/Kaye, etc., end of things.
However as I dodder off into middle age, I find that it's really impossible to 'solo' the players out from the bands they were in and the songs that made such an impression on me.
So my influences now actually run out this way:
I grew up in the heyday of AM radio, so there's a big part of me that loved all the 'West Coast' singles: Beach Boys, Carpenters, Monkees, Grass Roots, especially Glen Campbell's Jimmy Webb records. This was the classic LA 'A Team' folks like Carol Kaye, Hal Blaine, Howard Roberts, Tedesco, Glen Campbell, Larry Knechtel, all of those guys who were mostly serious jazzers knocking off these 'little pop records' 4 a day to make house payments so they could play REAL music at night. Brian Wilson's harmonies and charts, the string charts behind 'Wichita Lineman', just breathtaking. They cut so many TV scores, listen to Hal Blaine drive the theme to 'Hawaii 5-0', one of my favorite TV themes. To this day, I'm crazy for Floyd Sneed's drumming with Three Dog Night. This taught me to respect playing precise charts that were well written, the antithesis of 'never playing it the same way twice'.
Motown and Jamerson and Jerry Scheff were huge to me, but divorce their lines from all of those fabulous tunes and what have you got? The Funk Brothers are surely the most overlooked bunch of session cats that ever drew breath that truly changed the world. Motown really was The Sound of Young America, and did more to end segregation than anything else at that time: How could you love Marvin or the Temps or Stevie and hate the black kids at school? It was the precursor of funk and one step back from soul music only because it was from Michigan, not Mississippi.
Since I lived in the South, the 'other' Motown (Memphis) really was the home of soul, blues, and Gospel. All of the Chicago guys stopped in Memphis on the way from the Delta, and lots of 'em stayed. I really cut my teeth on Al Green, Ike Hayes, the BarKays, Booker T + the MGs, Rufus and Carla Thomas, etc. This also spread out to the Delta Blues (R Johnson, Muddy, the Wolf) across (early) Elvis and on to Black and White Quartet gospel. Pre-Movie Elvis is just too cool for school. This was really my roots. A little branch of this grew to Southern Rock, the Allmans, Wet Wille, Skynyrd, and so forth.
Then the damn British came along. There's nobody my age that, like me, saw the Beatles on Ed Sullivan and didn't say, Geez I wann be like that!! Which brought the Stones, the Animals, the Who, Traffic, the Hollies, which over time led through Zeppelin and Pink Floyd and Cream.
I loved the Dave Clark Five, and 'Ferry 'Cross the Mersey' and Dusty Springfield still really get to me. The British landmarks for me were Sgt Pepper's, Exile on Main Street, Who's Next, Dark Side of the Moon, The Low Spark of High Heeled Boys. I wore out Mad Dogs and Englishmen. Delaney and Bonnie. Gasoline Alley-era Rod Stewart and the Faces. Dave Mason's Alone Together still haunts me, and when I hear Mr Fantasy I'm right back there.
After I got married, my wife and in-laws thouroughly educated me to country, bluegrass, and Southern Gospel, music from poor white people, in a way the same feelings translated to music in a different culture as the black music from Memphis, maybe it was segregation . . .
And of course I had to learn Texas Swing playing beer joints in Texas, as well as a little cajun and a little TexMex. Sometimes there just isn't anything that's more fun than Asllep at the Wheel.
These are the things that shaped me. I can say in very few cases did I ever learn a certain bass part from any of this note for note. But I absorbed a lot of the styles deeply, and I hope it shows in the right places.
The hardest thing was to learn what to leave out . . . not how much to put in.
J o e y
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Joey: Very nice!
As one born at the tail of the Baby Boom, I grew up int the 60's and early '70's in a house that played a lot of country and AM radio, so I was immersed in all those influences you mention. I was also a TV Baby back when we only had what, FIVE channels, LOL! I was exposed to all the studio greats because of that as well, I just didn't know their names at the time.
Your writings brought back a lot of great memories...growing up in that time period exposed me to all sorts of seminal forms of music, a love of which I carry to this day.
I wish I could say the same about today's music, practically NONE of which speaks to me in any meaningful way, unfortunately.
It SUCKS to get old, LOL!
Cheers,
Kevin
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You know Kevin, I heard David Crosby talk about the Summer Of Love and being our age, and he opined that he came along at that magical moment in time ...after the pill and before AIDS. . ., and I must admit I knew EXACTLY what he meant!
I think you could apply the same logic that we came ...after the PBass and before sampling,,!!
I think that just about covers it!
J o e y
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I hear ya!
BTW, it's hard to imagine that Crosby, like most of my hereos, are all from my parent's generation! For as much as I love 'em, my parents (Baby Boomers themselves, having been born at the leading edge of same), and most of their contemporaries, just weren't cool like that, LOL! I guess music (and drugs) was the defining difference, LOL!
(Message edited by kmh364 on December 03, 2005)
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Geez..after reading Joey and Kevins soliloquies I feel like 'doin a few hits' and firing up the turntable (you remember those). Maybe get around to playin Whiter Shade of Pale a few dozen times !
'it's hard to imagine that Crosby, like most of my hereos, are all from my parent's generation! '
I just did a very quick search but couldnt find it..how old is he ? I always thought of him in my/our generation...
WOW MAN
G