Author Topic: Favorite Stanley Clarke tracks (Read 498 times)

hieronymous · « **on:** August 22, 2008, 04:40:20 PM »

In high school, Stanley Clarke was one of my absolute favorite bass players. I had almost all of his solo albums (hadn't yet managed to penetrate Return to Forever yet) on vinyl. I practically wore out my copies of School Days and Modern Man.

Not that I ever gave up on him, but I stopped listening to his solo stuff during college, though I finally got hip to Return to Forever! The only recent album of his that I have purchased is The Toys of Men which is good but I haven't really been able to get deeply into it.

Anyway, I finally remembered that I could download the old solo stuff from the Apple Store so I went on a bit of a frenzy yesterday, downloading the songs that I remember liking from my old LPs (all gone now). The big thing I noticed is THE SOUND - having owned a couple of Alembics I feel like I can hear something in his sound(s) that I wasn't aware of or took for granted before.

So what are your favorites? I'll give a couple:

Rock 'n' Roll Jelly from Modern Man: guitar by Jeff Beck, drums by Carmine Appice, crazy solo by Stanley!

Play the Bass 103 from Time Exposure: insane slap-fest with Louis Johnson, plus don't forget the piccolo parts

My Life from Find Out!: kind of an '80s revisitation of School Days

I've left some obvious ones out, but these to me are some of the gems buried in otherwise unremarkable albums - the beauty of the Apple Store! And to tell the truth, I ended up buying the entire Modern Man album because it was always one of my favorites - the interludes are beautiful, and some of the space themes are interesting.

dadabass2001 · « **Reply #1 on:** August 22, 2008, 05:04:07 PM »

Lopsy Lu Desert Song and The Dancer were a part of regular rotation in my tape deck during the early/mid 70s.
Mike

David Houck · « **Reply #2 on:** August 22, 2008, 05:39:41 PM »

Here's a nice little ditty: Medieval Overture

artswork99 · « **Reply #3 on:** August 22, 2008, 05:43:28 PM »

All of the above and below!

Basically Taps - Stanley and Gregory Hines on If This Bass Could Only Talk has always been a favorite. Life is Just a Game is another.

(Message edited by artswork99 on August 23, 2008)

hieronymous · « **Reply #4 on:** August 22, 2008, 09:15:36 PM »

I was looking for some older footage on YouTube - here's the Clarke/Duke Project doing School Days - looks like he's using a tenor bass, because notice where he plays the riff under the keyboard solo.

And check out this version of Hot Fun from 1977 - it's great to see the people whose faces I've seen on the inside of the I Just Wanna Play For You album.

And finally - this one I've never seen before, it's awesome - Stanley with Gregory Hines on the Arsenio Hall Show, doing stuff from If This Bass Could Only Talk

Oh, and thanks for the link to Medieval Overture Dave - the video is hilarious, and yet fitting!

(Message edited by hieronymous on August 22, 2008)

(Message edited by hieronymous on August 22, 2008)

bassman68 · « **Reply #5 on:** August 23, 2008, 06:17:44 AM »

Great choices guys, love the links.
Mine would be
School days- Anthemic!
Lopsy lu- Love the shuffle beat
Stans version of 'Born in the USA'- a bit 'leftfield', but hats off to the guy!

pauldo · « **Reply #6 on:** August 23, 2008, 06:40:54 PM »

Wow - how do you answer a question like that?
Stan is the Man anything he touches is gold - I had the pleasure of meeting him in person at Shank Hall and he was the humblest, kindest, down to earth kind of guy you could ever wish to meet.

Rocks, Pebbles and Sand
Old Friends
Quiet Afternoon
and everything else that was already mentioned...

David Houck · « **Reply #7 on:** August 24, 2008, 10:46:27 AM »

Harry; the Hot Fun video was pretty cool!

And the Clarke/Hines thing was terrific!

3rd_ray · « **Reply #8 on:** August 24, 2008, 11:10:20 AM »

Tough question. Harry, if you don't have Vertu' or The Rite of Strings, I would definitely recommend them.

Some of my favorites are Renassaince and Anoche' from those CD's.

Children of Forever has always been another favorite.

Mike

jazzyvee · « **Reply #9 on:** August 24, 2008, 02:12:01 PM »

I don't have rite of strings but do have the DVD of the concert with Al, Jean Luc Ponty and Stanley which is great.
Vertu is a wicked album.. Right up there with the fusion. Highly recommended. the last track Toys is a monster. I want to do that one on a future gig.

Jazzyvee

David Houck · « **Reply #10 on:** August 24, 2008, 04:49:44 PM »

Vertu; beautiful!

jazzyvee · « **Reply #11 on:** August 24, 2008, 05:07:20 PM »

I'm gutted I missed that gig Dave, that track is fantastic.
Jazzyvee

David Houck · « **Reply #12 on:** August 24, 2008, 05:29:43 PM »

Thanks for reminding me of Vertu; I haven't listened to it in a while!

terryc · « **Reply #13 on:** August 26, 2008, 01:21:07 AM »

'Old friends' along with the bass anthem 'School Days'
'Dayride' from 'Modern Man'(I think)
'Jamaican Boy' from 'I Wanna Play For You'
Mind you I like the tongue in cheek funk of 'We Supply' from Rocks, Pebbles & Sand.
I didn't like any of that 80's mellow soft disco stuff, maybe he was trying to cut into the commercial side of things during that period.
Vertu itself is a vast combination of world music styles.
'Marakesh' is a great track from 'Vertu' along with the sonic onslaught of 'V-Wave'.
Really there are just too many to list!!!!

bigbadbill · « **Reply #14 on:** August 27, 2008, 05:22:45 AM »

The entire Brown Album and Desert Song. The Brown Album is one of my favourite albums of all time, and it's the only solo bassist's album that comes anywhere near that sort of accolade (most solo bassist's albums I find completely snoresville).