Fifty Years On: Dee Murray & Rock’s Greatest Live Album 11.17.70

 

By Thomas Semioli

 

Who’ll walk me down to church when I’m sixty years of age, when the ragged dog they gave me has been ten years in the grave…

 

To my baby boomer generation, the live album revealed the true mettle of a rock and roll recording artist. 

 

The mercifully truncated single concert slab or the more exotic and oft bloated twofer or threefer or monstrous four-fer*, replete with gatefold and perhaps a poster, was a treasured keepsake for those of us who experienced a band on stage.

 

And for those that never had the chance to witness such an event, it was a testimonial to the power of the music rendered in the moment.

 

Relatively easy and inexpensive to produce, record, release and generate cash for the record company and to a lesser extent, the artist – the live album remains a godsend of the rock era.

 

The self-indulgence, pomp and circumstance, and sheer majesty of such collections – usually enhanced with overdubs (try singing and playing in tune every night on a grueling tour) and augmented crowd noises, is to be treasured.

 

The extended jams, the occasional re-arrangements, muddy mixes, medleys, musical missteps, and sheer bloatedness and gargantuan excess of the platform merits endless celebration – simply because if rock and roll is indeed the art-form of “over the top-ness” so be it the live album as its enduring monument.

 

It is a medium that belongs to us. By the 1980s the live album was mostly archaic – reserved for jam bands and the like. In the 1990s with the (mostly) low-level musicianship of the alt-rock genre, live albums descended into historical documentation status. Mere product. By 2000, the game was over.

 

The list of rock artists whose concert recordings which wore out on the turntable is, in a word, astounding:

 

The Allman Brothers Live at the Fillmore East (1971), The Who Live at Leeds (1970), Cheap Trick At Budokan (1979), Rolling Stones Get Yer Ya-Ya’s Out (1969), Grateful Dead Europe ’72 (1972), Jimi Hendrix Band of Gypsys (1970), Deep Purple Made In Japan (1972), Peter Frampton Frampton Comes Alive (1976), Thin Lizzy Live & Dangerous (1978), Little Feat Waiting for Columbus (1979), Cream Wheels of Fire (1968), Joe Cocker Mad Dogs & Englishmen (1970), Grand Funk Live Album (1970) Grateful Dead Grateful Dead (1971), Lou Reed Rock and Roll Animal (1973), Mott The Hoople Live (1974), Leon Russell Leon Live (1975), Humble Pie Rockin’ the Fillmore (1971), The Band Rock of Ages (1972), Yes Yessongs (1973), Van Morrison It’s Too Late to Stop Now (1974), Emerson Lake & Palmer Pictures at an Exhibition (1971), King Crimson USA (1974), Bob Seger Live Bullet (1976), Rush All The World’s a Stage (1976), The Byrds Untitled (1970), Genesis Seconds Out (1977), David Bowie David Live (1974), Queen Live Killers (1979), Neil Young Rust Never Sleeps (1979), Judas Priest Unleashed in the East (1979), Motorhead No Sleep ‘Til Hammersmith (1981), Warren Zevon Stand In the Fire (1980), Santana Lotus (1974), Joni Mitchell Miles of Isles (1974), Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention Fillmore East (1971) and Roxy & Elsewhere (1973), Genesis Live (1973), Lou Reed Take No Prisoners (1978), 10cc Live and Let Live (1977), Velvet Underground 1969 (1974), Crosby Stills Nash & Young Four Way Street (1970) ….. and *Chicago Live at Carnegie Hall (1971) – a four album box set with horn solos! Whoa! 

       

For my money ($3.98, Sam Goody), the best of the motley is Elton John’s 11-17-70.

 

Originally a WABC-FM radio broadcast from A&R Studios in New York City, the gig was never intended for a release. However, given the flood of bootlegs circulating, along with Elton’s rocketing popularity, MCA Records decided to put out an official version. The 80-minute concert was edited down to 48- minutes in a new running order. It appeared on retail record and 8-track racks April 9, 1971 as a single platter.

 

11-17-70 could be considered the birth of the piano power trio. Drummer Nigel Olsson, bassist Dee Murray, and Sir Elton ripped through deep cuts from John’s repertoire, which at the time included two American slabs,  along with a few contemporary covers. Their improvisatory disposition merits comparison to Cream, the Allman Brothers, or a small jazz ensemble led by Miles, ‘Trane, or Bill Evans.

 

The live interpretations hardly resembled Elton’s orchestrated studio renditions – which, for some reason, were cut with studio cats and not this agile road band.

 

By this juncture in their career Elton, Nigel, and Dee were a seasoned outfit, riding the wave of the piano player’s first forays of fame and fortune. Forging a three-way musical dialogue, Nigel created a rhythmic anchor for Dee and Elton who expanded the harmonic boundaries of John’s compositions and Bernie Taupin’s cinematic libretto.

 

Murray worked a Fender Jazz, favoring the bridge pick-up, which cut like a knife yet retained the warmth of a traditional bass. I can’t help but think that Jaco heard these recordings and decided to try that tonal adjustment to his own liking.

 

On 11-17-70 Dee reveals himself to be a maestro accompanist. His deft meld of chords, arpeggios, chromatic runs, staccato phrases, sustained passages, and endless combinations thereof – to my ears, evoke comparison to Jack Bruce, James Jamerson, and Scott LaFaro.

 

But don’t take my word for it, listen to the album in it’s 1996 remastered, bonus track format:  

 

“Bad Side of the Moon” https://youtu.be/ah9OS-ziAcI

 

“Amoreena” https://youtu.be/ddJl5QccBHc

 

“Take Me to the Pilot” https://youtu.be/cC1ocO0pVgs

 

“Sixty Years On” https://youtu.be/rRngmF-AcFQ

 

“Can I Put You On” https://youtu.be/ZIp-gn3xmMc

 

“Honky Tonk Woman” https://youtu.be/s5EbECPUO88

 

Medley “Burn Down the Mission, Get Back, My Baby Left Me” https://youtu.be/I370NFAPt8E

 

Coda: Tom Semioli / Huffington Post “11 Bass Players Who Belong in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame”

Dee Murray https://bit.ly/2UBjiyg

 

 

Dark Horse: Lockdown Lowdown “There’s A Moon Tonight”

 

What Steely Dan were to jazz rockers, Dark Horse is to DIY rockers! They do things on their own terms – albeit in modern times.  A “loose” collective helmed by the father / son duo John and Jack Russell, Dark Horse makes records. Sort of. Depends on how you define a “record.” John Russell is a product of the golden album era of the 1970s. Jack Russell is a product of John Russell and inherited his dad’s musical pedigree and love of LPs. When National Record Day (which is every day in the Russell household) rolls around, these cats are on it, scooping up the rarest new sides.  That aesthetic extends to their body of work. When they have something to put out – they do. Only it’s in the streaming world. No hard copy, which is the way it is (mostly) nowadays. Yet their long-players, EPs, and singles exude the magic of polyvinyl chloride platters.

 

Given the uncertainty of COVID, which has stopped all live performances, Dark Horse goes cinematic. The song / video for “There’s A Moon Tonight” is John flying solo, with music production by bassist / multi-instrumentalist Andy Greatorex, and Amanda Greatorex chirping in the background. Sophia Russell turned on the camera to capture the moment.

 

John Russell in his favorite under-garment “look here everyone, I’ve got this fab new song….”

Says John:

One morning this past Spring I woke up with a riff in my head. This surprised me because it had never happened to me before. I got out of bed, picked up my guitar, played the riff a few times, and started to hum a melody over it.

 

I played the riff for a couple of days, then started to think about lyrics. Around that time, I had also been leafing through an art book and saw a painting of Paul Revere, riding on his horse with the moon glowing in the night sky. I thought about Revere making his famous ride, warning his fellow countrymen of the dangerous invasion that was about to happen. And then I suddenly made a connection: to the 2020 pandemic – another dangerous invasion. The lyrics to the song came quickly after that….

 

Follow Dark Horse on Spotify…

 

 

John Carey

Courtesy John Carey Net

A wizard, a true star….

 

Versatility be thy name. Bassist, composer, educator, humorist, recording artist, sideman, producer, author, journalist, band-member, collaborator, muti-instrumentalist … John Carey is a fixture on the New York City music scene. His impressive body of work spans theater, assorted varieties of session work; rock, jazz, folk, funk and permutations thereof on stage and on record.

 

Carey’s tome, The Working Bassist, What You Really Need to Know to Survive in New York City (2008), is essential reading for any player seeking to squeeze out a living on our instrument. 

 

Utilizing a variety of instruments in assorted configurations from the trad-4 to extended range, fretless, along with effects aplenty; John’s eclecticism is reflected in his expansive canon.   

 

This cat can play anything with authenticity and expertise. John’s ever-expanding list of projects, releases, gigs, and collaborators would break the internet, so keep tabs on JC by way of JohnCarey.Net and PlanetBassNYC on YouTube.

 

John Carey Sound & Vision…

 

“Hard Vision”  https://youtu.be/htjlZl9qZGY

 

“Son of the House” https://youtu.be/3iGnrL5PZRo

 

“So Bold” https://youtu.be/FYxr_Jzt8k8

 

“California” https://youtu.be/JB4lPlhQJSE

 

“Revelry Now- Someone Like You” https://youtu.be/x-qtGWg2poM

 

Margaret LaBombard (Slyboots)

Courtesy Margaret LaBombard FB

 

“If a song makes you feel something, you can thank the bass player!”

 

Whilst willingly winnowing her musical aspirations as a high-school student Margaret LaBombard made her F clef bones on trombone long before her interest electric bass tones, of which she intones “we bass players are all connected by the low frequency…”

 

A student of KYBPOF Season One star Mike Visceglia and KYBP confidant John Carey (we’ll get you on film soon, I promise), among others, MLB grooves gracefully with an occasional melodic extension on the trad-4 and extended range 5.

 

Her main gig is anchoring NYC based new-wave-ish popsters Slyboots with KG Noble.  

 

Margaret LaBombard Sound & Vision

 

“If We Could Let Go” https://youtu.be/bET0zLUdsnA

 

“Kicking the Stars” https://youtu.be/Q3lmz8HV6hM

 

“Beautiful Loser” https://youtu.be/IuE4qHp3cKs

 

Courtesy of Slyboots Com

Lothar Meid (Amon Duul II, Passport)

 

A young, impressionable Lothar Meid was initially introduced to the instrument when he heard American rhythm & blues from the U.S. troops stationed in his native German town.

 

Meid took up the bass in his teens, and soon found himself on the bandstand backing The Drifters and other soul, vocal groups when they toured military basses, an experience which eventually led to an impromptu jam with Jimi Hendrix in late 1966.

 

A prog-rock pioneer, multi-instrumentalist and solo recording artist, Lothar worked with Klaus Doldinger on various projects and with KD as the anchor of the German jazz rock collective Passport. Meid commenced a four-year stint in Amon Duul II in 1971. Blending their space / psychedelic / folk rock yearnings with supportive and countermelodic passages, Meid was also a prolific composer with ADll, and occasionally assumed a lead vocal or two.

 

In his later years Meid participated in various reunion shows with Amon Duul II and Passport until he popped his prog clogs in 2015.

 

Lothar Meid Sound & Vision….

 

Amon Dull ll…

 

“Between the Eyes” https://youtu.be/ZkSAsYjL54s

 

“Eye Shaking King” https://youtu.be/1eFLGZ14lek

 

Live 1971 https://youtu.be/3gWd_41sLc4

 

Lothar Meid Solo…

 

“Django” https://youtu.be/hvrEFUqMnMs

 

“Die Helden aus dem Undergrund” https://youtu.be/iQhsCD9jaxs

 

Passport: “Shirokko” https://youtu.be/kFY105dd_y4

 

Amon Duul circa 2009

Vivien Garry (Vivien Garry Trio / Quartet)

By Thomas Semioli

A woman’s place is in the groove!

 

She was a bass player who helped erase the gender line in America’s preeminent artform at the height of its popularity. ‘Twas a time in the 20th Century wherein female presence on the jazz bandstand was usually reserved for chirpers and hoofers. Enter Vivien Garry, born in 1920 and working the doghouse as a pro by the mid-1940s. Ms. Garry waxed sides for independent jazz record imprints aplenty, and scored a major label deal with RCA Victor as a bandleader- a rarity for bassists regardless of their biological disposition. 

 

In ’46 vivacious Viv formed the Vivien Garry Trio, and later Quartet with her renown guitarist – husband Arv Garrison.  Among Garry’s collaborators included another barrier breaking woman of note, violinist Ginger Smock. Vivien also anchored ensembles featuring top cats such as Shorty Rogers, Shelly Manne, Jimmy Giuffre,  Ricky Jordan, and Eddy Edell.

 

 Vivien Garry Sound & Vision….

 

“Hopscotch” https://youtu.be/BBVQ2vmPsBU

 

“Operation Mop” https://youtu.be/6BZuEHTefaA

 

“A Woman’s Place is In the Groove” with Ginger Smock https://youtu.be/HCkWdmJMbBE

 

Mike Howlett (Gong, Strontium 90)

 

He’s the cat who produced the iconic 80s Flock of Seagulls hit “I Ran (So Far Away)!”

 

Bassist Michael John Gilmour Howlett commenced his music career as the bassist for the Aussie pop ensemble The Affair in the late 1960s. In 1973 Mike took over the bass chair in the prog rock collective Gong, wherein he also made significant contributions as a composer. When he split from Gong, he joined what would later become The Police – serving as “lead bassist” with Gordon Sumner working the pocket, Andy Summers, and Stuart Copeland.

 

Howlett has forged  a Grammy Award winning career behind the console, producing such artists as Joan Armatrading, The Alarm, OMD, China Crisis, Thompson Twins, and Sniff ‘n’ The Tears,  and the above referenced FOS, among others.

 

A label owner, former chairman of the Music Producers Guild, and educator (Queensland University of Technology, University of South Wales, among others), Howlett has participated in various Gong reunions over the years and has collaborated extensively with various members of the band.

 

 

Mike Howlett Sound and Vision…

 

Strontium 90 with Sting, Sumner, Copeland:

 

“Visions of the Night” https://youtu.be/hdiokgQ5VbQ

 

“New World Blues” https://youtu.be/xP9ySV44lso

 

“Lady of Delight” https://youtu.be/kx8PBAn0e_o

 

Gong

 

“The Isle of Everywhere” https://youtu.be/VXhb0vsgfZE

 

“Wingful of Eyes” https://youtu.be/ehbowA_pzJE

 

Hoffnugg / Howlett “Vitality” https://youtu.be/sanDGnJgo7A

 

Courtesy Mike Howlett FB

An Interview with Tom Semioli, KYBP Co-Founder NYS MUSIC.COM by Sal Cataldi

By Sal Cataldi – This feature appeared in NYS MUSIC COM on 22 October 2020  https://bit.ly/3dMI0oi

 

How many bass players does it take to change a lightbulb?  None, the pianist can do it with his left hand!

 

It’s an old musician’s joke demonstrating how little respect some give the men and increasingly women who wield the bass – that indispensable instrument which lays the foundation without which any tune would, let’s face it, sound rather wimpy.

 

Since 2013, bass playing NYC journalist Tom Semioli, has been out to change this with Know Your Bass Player (KYBP), a blog of entries profiling the bass greats of rock, jazz, blues, funk and country’s classic eras. In 2014, Mark Preston joined the bass fray as producer and director of a video companion Know Your Bass Player on Film, a video channel with serious production values. 

http://knowyourbassplayer.com/kypb-on-video/

 

To date, approximately 650 players world renowned to little known but deserving have been profiled in KYBP’s online features. Know Your Bass Player on Film captures the stories of about 50 players in over 180 video episodes, shot on location in NYC and London, and now, like everything in COVID era, via Zoom and Skype.  The video vignettes reveal behind-the-scenes, fly-on-the-wall stories of Bob Dylan, John Lennon, The Pogues, Ronnie Lane, Keith Richards, Ian Hunter, Paul Simon, Boy George, Roxy Music, George Harrison, The Zombies, The Kinks, Les Paul, Joe Jackson, David Bowie and Freddie Mercury, to name a few, by the bassists who were in the studio and on stage with these iconic artists for some of their greatest triumphs…and missteps!

 

Semioli’s deep well of talent as a writer and player, and his humor, are at the heart of KYBP’s content. He approaches each player’s work and life with both a refined knowledge of the artform and a nose for the kind of humorous anecdotes that make for great reading and viewing, whether you sling the bass or not. 

 

Semioli’s creds are impressive. While earning a degree in communications at the University of Miami, he minored in jazz, at the institution that gave us Jaco Pastorius and Pat Metheny.  Upon moving to NYC, he continued in private study with jazzer Ron McClure of Charles and Blood Sweat & Tears fame. Semioli quips that he did his “post-graduate work” during gigs at NYC institutions like CBGB and The Bitter End, all while holding down a series of impressive day jobs in journalism and media.

 

So just what is the life of a bass player all about?  We think these words below from Semioli and KYBP’s “About Page” provide some pretty good insight:

 

“We are the ones who serve the singer, the song, and the soloist. Though we do not possess the harmonic nor sonic range of a guitar, keyboards, horns and other wind instruments, nor the dynamics of drums –it is us who determine how a chord actually sounds – which, in essence – often determines whether or not you’ll like the artist, or the track. We are the only individuals on the bandstand and in the recording studio with that critical responsibility…  To be a bass player is to exude skill, confidence, humility, patience, tolerance, and knowledge: very few are chosen, and fewer still are called! 

 

So, who are these important players, and why should you know who they are?

 

Sal Cataldi:  First off, when did you get into music?

 

Tom Semioli: I vaguely remember The Beatles on The Ed Sullivan Show at age 4 or 5.  At the New York World’s Fair, my mom took me to the British pavilion to witness Beatlemania by proxy at a screening of their movie, Help. Girls were screaming and I thought ‘this is interesting!’

 

I was a working musician through most of the 80s, then I moved to California to start a studio business in the early 90s. Somehow, through a simple twist of fate, I became a music journalist, then a music publicist…then I went into the television production field as a writer in the 2000s, when Napster flattened the record business. I’m like a cockroach with four strings! 

 

SC: How did Know Your Bass Player dot Com come into existence?  

 

TS: I’m sitting at my desk, working for a very successful television news video production company sometime in the early 2010s.  My colleague at the time was among the most influential publicists in the industry. He has a pal who works for a major concert promotions company and they’re discussing Paul McCartney, who is in town to do a show. He asks me, ‘was Paul McCartney the bass player in The Beatles?” My jaw drops! How does he not know that? Well, he’s a few years younger than me, so I forgive him. 

 

That same evening I’m watching the great British music television show Later….with Jools Holland with my wife, who was an upright bass player in high school. Sting is the guest. My wife is a huge fan. She turns to me and whispers ‘Sting has a guitar that looks like yours, is he a bass player?’ Ye gods, again, I am in disbelief. The former Gordon Sumner is likely the most famous bassist in the world.

 

Next morning, I’m in the dentist chair. She is wearing a Bruce Springsteen t-shirt beneath her open white medical smock – as she just attended her umpteenth show. I stop her in mid-sentence during her Bruce hosannas and inquire “who plays bass in the E Street Band?” She replies ‘bass? Bass fiddle? There’s no bass in the E Street Band.” I point to Bruce’s bassist on her t-shirt Gary W. Tallent. Now I have a mission in life.

 

The next morning, I begin posting Know Your Bass Player missives on Facebook. I start off with Tallent, then Danny Klein from the J. Geils Band, Dee Murray from Elton John, Phil Chen from Jeff Beck. Slowly, I start to gather simpatico followers.  After a year or so, I start to archive all the content on a website – thus was born Know Your Bass Player dot Com!

 

SC: What is behind the growth and aesthetic of Know Your Bass Player?

 

TS: Well, here’s the secret. This website and video series relates to my generation of bass players.  We’re talking the golden age of the album era and FM radio from the late 60s to the 90s. A magic time. My demo is the oft neglected 55 and upwards group. The rocking AARP motley. Stretch jeans, loose shirt to hide the pot belly. Chain wallets so we don’t forget where our money is. Hats covering bald spots. We play gigs with our friends who are still alive in the fringe clubs. The kids are out of the house and married, so now we rock again.  Scotch on the rocks and Viagra. And a nap. Very important! The mainstream has no idea we exist! 

 

The whole Know Your Bass Player concept explodes – it’s like the gay liberation movement on steroids! All these bass players start coming out of the bass closet – “you like Carl Radle!” – who was Eric Clapton’s bassist. “I love Carl Radle too!” We hug, we bond, we shed tears over the bassline in “Bell Bottom Blues.” Nobody gets this stuff but us!  Finally we are family! Guys start wearing the Know Your Bass Player t-shirt in public. They come out to their wives, their children, their co-workers! It’s a movement!

 

SC:  How did Know Your Bass Player evolve into a corresponding video series?

 

TS:  Right about the time I started the Know Your Bass Player website, I reconnected with an old friend – Mark Preston. In addition to being a successful real estate broker, Mark is also an accomplished singer and songwriter. He’s old school, traditional country.

 

So I meet up with Mark at one of his gigs. He invites me to travel with him to London to see the Mott The Hoople reunion of 2013. Mott is my all-time favorite band, so of course I’m there.  At the time, the band’s bassist, the legendary late, great Overend Watts had just written a book on his long distance hiking experiences. Watts was among rock’s most elusive characters. But I talk with Mott’s publicist and offer to render a review for Huffington Post books. They were duly convinced.  Mark and I get the VIP treatment, we’re with the band before the show, chatting with Watts, Ian Hunter, Verden Allen, Mick Ralphs, and having a grand time.

 

Backstage at the O2 after the gig, we’re among legends such as Jimmy Page, the guys in UFO, Queen, Joe Elliott of Def Leppard – all huge Mott fans in attendance to witness glam rock history. The scene is surreal – the old dudes in leather with their young and not so young wives. Mark says to me ‘hey we oughta film this for Know Your Bass Player!” 

 

Enter cinematographer, producer, production company owner Derek Hanlon – a close friend of Mark who has an extensive rock and roll history and was with us at the Mott gig. He’s filmed everyone from Jethro Tull to Motorhead to Madonna – to cite a very, very select few. Derek was headquartered SoHo, London during the 70s, 80s working with record labels, the BBC. Derek has more rock and roll stories… we should be doing a documentary on him!

 

Our first inclination was to do a documentary. However, Mark and I were so impressed with all the stories, we felt that I would be a shame to edit out anything, so it became a film series of shorts, something akin to Comedians In Cars Getting Coffee.

 

We schedule three bassists just for a test run in London.  Our first filmed interview was Steve Bingham, who was the bassist with Ronnie Lane’s Slim Chance and had a gig at the Half Moon in Putney with a reformed version of the band. Jim Rodford, who played with Argent, The Kinks and at the time was in the latest version of his cousin’s band, you may know them as the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame ensemble The Zombies. And studio ace Mo Foster who waxed sides with everyone from Phil Collins and Jeff Beck.

 

Then we continued in New York City over the next few years. Our taped interviews in New York include Sal Maida of Roxy Music, Gary Van Scyoc with John Lennon and Elephant’s Memory, Cait O’Riordan with The Pogues, Graham Maby with Joe Jackson, Rob Stoner with Bob Dylan’s Rolling Thunder, Brian Stanley with Garland Jeffreys, Paul Page with Ian Hunter’s Rant Band, Joe Vasta with Mink DeVille and Joan Jett, my former bass teacher Ron McClure with Blood Sweat & Tears, my former classmate Paul Nowinski with Keith Richards, Les Paul and Rickie Lee Jones; John Ford of The Strawbs, Hannah Moorhead of The Giraffes, Mike Visceglia with Suzanne Vega, Tony Senatore with Genya Ravan, Ernie Brooks with the Modern Lovers, David Goldflies with the Allman Brothers Band.   And we also filmed local players, guys who do the Broadway Shows – we want to represent everyone..

 

We went back to London last year and it was even more remarkable. Mark chatted with Chris White about The Zombies’ Odessy & Oracle. Our other guests included Phil Spalding and Mickey Feat – two studio players who are in your record collection! Alan Mair of The Beatstalkers, Graham Gouldman of 10CC, Kevan Frost with Boy George, we shot Steve Bingham again, this time with Geno Washington, John Bentley of Squeeze. We also had an all-star cast who could not make it due to scheduling difficulties.

 

SC:  As the site has grown, you’ve gathered more collaborators.  Can you tell us some brief stuff about your team?

 

TS:  Our most important collaborator is also a bass player – Mark Polott whom we interviewed on film as he anchored the legendary prog-metal band Haystacks Balboa, an Atlantic Recording act that toured with Rod Stewart and The Faces and Jethro Tull.  He created the look of the revamped website and also edited Season Deux and Season Tres of Know Your Bass Player on Film. Our first season was too DIY looking, as we had to get something out to protect our name. Mark’s graphics afford Know Your Bass Player a unique look.

 

We have a “Chicago Bureau” helmed by another veteran bass player – Joe Gagliardo, who also wrote for Goldmine. His contributions are enormous. Chicago has such a rich, untold history in rock and roll. These Chicago stories would be lost to the ages if not for a guy like Joe who is as passionate about the instrument as he is about the legacy of his hometown.

 

Our Adjunct Professor is Tony Senatore. A great bassist, composer, recording artist Tony contributes editorials, and helps us with story angles when we film in New York City. Whenever a “bass controversy” arises, we turn to “Senny.” Think of Robert Duvall’s character of Tom Hagen in The Godfather. Bassist Robert Jenkins writes for our “Austin Bureau.” Like Joe, Rob shines a light on players who are in the trenches, making great sounds in one of the world’s greatest musical cities.  We also have contributions from bassists Joe Iaquinto, Graham Maby, Chris Semal, and Jeff Ganz, among others.  

 

SC: What are some of your favorites in terms of the video interviews? 

 

TS: Truth be told, everyone reveals gems in their personal stories.  But if I had to pick one interview segment – Paul Page’s “All American Alien Boy” is ‘the greatest bass story ever told.” And Paul Nowinski’s “The Dead Conga Player” is a close second.

 

SC:  Who are the dream video interviews you have yet to capture?

 

TS:  Bruce Thomas of Elvis Costello and The Attractions, Norman Watt-Roy with Ian Dury and Wiko Johnson, Herbie Flowers, and Andrew Bodnar of Graham Parker and the Rumour – all of whom have committed to appearing on camera – we just have to work out scheduling.

  

SC:  What are the attributes that you think make for a great bass player? 

 

TS:  Humility! Confidence! Gallows humor! An appreciation of the absurd!

 

SC:  Our site is focused on New York and New York musicians.  Who do you think are some of the must-see players on the local scene?

 

TS:  My must-see artists include Lorraine Leckie and Her Demons, The Dive Bar Romeos with Joey Kelly and Jimmy McElligott, Edward Rogers, Urban Blue, Tom Clark at the Treehouse 2A, Anne Husick’s various projects, and Emily Duff. In New York City you can plug into any scene and discover unique artists.  That includes the artists I play with, Kathena Bryant and Tim Champion who work under the moniker The Hippy Nuts, along with my pals Stu Richards and Dan Reich as Tex Wagner. And this wild jazz-rock improv trio, Spaghetti Eastern 3. In Manhattan, I’ll drop into the Bowery Electric, the Village Vanguard, The Bitter End, 11th Street Bar after hours and stumble into something remarkable!

 

SC:  What are your future plans for KYBP?

 

TS:  As for the film series, given COVID-19 we are starting to do Zoom and Skype chats. We did a fine interview with Donnie Nossov whom you know with John Waite, Pat Benatar, Cher, Lita Ford, and Tom Verlaine which also featured legendary Creem writer James Spina. I just wrapped up a Zoom chat with Paul Gray of Eddie & The Hot Rods, UFO, The Damned, and Professor and the Madman.  We’re never going to stop. You can’t get rid of us.

 

As for the website, I would like it to be more collaborative. The site is designed to be a quick, digital media read, with the exception of Joe Gagliardo who does long form as he interviews the players. But I’d like musicians, fans, bassists, journalists, and industry folks – producers, camera men, engineers, publicists – to contribute anecdotes, pictures, reflections.

 

We have an egalitarian approach – we respect all genres of music. From Rock and Roll Hall of Famers to bar band denizens.

Ace Kefford (The Move)

 

The Move, co-founded by bassist Christopher “Ace” Kefford were among the seminal British psychedelic-pop progressive rock ensembles of the late 1960s – early 70s. Appearing only on the band’s self-titled platter, Ace was a charismatic performer who, according to drummer Bev Beven “functioned as the group’s pouting glamour-man.” Akin to Brian Jones and Syd Barrett, Ace was a casualty of the psychedelic era.

 

A scrapped 1968 solo album produced by Tony Visconti which eventually surfaced in 2003, scattered recordings by the short-lived Ace Kefford Stand collective featuring drummer Cozy Powell, and a brief stint (and single) with the band Rockstar (1976) have further enhanced his legend.   

 

Ace Kefford Sound & Vision…

 

The Move:

 

“Morning Dew” https://youtu.be/PJz2BOcufu8

 

“Flowers in the Rain” https://youtu.be/cT2exTHx8f0

 

“Fire Brigade” https://youtu.be/UVys3YPRLWk

 

Ace Kefford Solo:

 

“Save the Life of My Child   https://youtu.be/9aWl44pcgeY

 

“Daughter of the Sun” https://youtu.be/1lzRA5B1q_g

 

Lockdown Lowdown: Glenn McCready Bringing Down the House

Courtesy of Glen McCready FB

 

Timing in life is everything…

 

You know Glenn from his appearance in Know Your Bass Player Season Deux: His episode “Any Fool Can Play Guitar” https://youtu.be/hfqDIlybG9A is testimony to his stance as a “rock and roll lifer.”

 

He is player borne of the rock and roll trenches: working the clubs, the cafés, the social gatherings, public events, music venues large and small, among other gigs. McCready is a songwriter, singer, multi-instrumentalist, producer, engineer, and bassist. Glenn interprets the work of the masters in his band of grizzled veterans, Hell Or High Water. He waxes slabs under his own name too, featuring compositions that recall the golden Laurel Canyon era.

 

McCready’s latest effort I Hear Your Voice arrives under the moniker Bringing Down the House – a collaborative effort with Michael Sakoulas.

 

Says Glenn in the liner notes / press release: Broken hearts and broken lives, hope for the future and questions about the past. This is a lot of what Bringing Down The House is about. We took a different route this time, going for a quieter overall sound. Most of the songs are acoustic based and use percussion in lieu of a full kit on almost all of the songs.  We tried to do some different things, from Michael’s bouzouki on the title track, to the walking bass line and unison vocal/guitar riff in, “Another Morning.”

 

A lot of the songs are pretty personal; as for the writing, we like to say the wand chooses the wizard.  “Once In A Lifetime,” pretty much happened exactly as written, and was one of the few that started with the bass line.  And, (before time) Takes It All Away” started out as a song about caring for people with dementia, and ended up being about me caring for my mom before I realized it… the wand chooses the wizard. There are the eternal questions about choices we make, “What Were (we doing)” and “Memories” letting someone know you wouldn’t want to be anywhere else after all these years, “Our Lives” and even some hope for society, “Voices Back.”

 

It’s been said that Bringing Down The House hearkens back to the old, “coffee-house” days of stories and songs. That sums it up pretty well. Just songs we hope everyone can relate to.

 

Timing in life is everything. Due to the pandemic we are denied the opportunity to hear BDTH live, which to my ears, is Glenn’s natural habitat. The stage and its intangibles, the dynamic of a performance, the high-wire is the “elan vital” of all rock and roll lifers.

 

Until the plague lifts we are all in lockdown – here’s the lowdown on Glenn and  Bringing Down the House…

 

 

What have you been doing musically in the lockdown?

Actually, more writing than I’ve done in a long time!

 

Why a “mostly acoustic” album?

Michael and I love that whole, “singer/songwriter” and “Laurel Canyon” style, and I think we wanted to see if we could do a whole album in that style. And we wanted to be a little more… I guess thoughtful, both with subject matter and the lyrics themselves. What was really fun about this was deciding what to put where, instead of the usual bass, drums, electric guitar…etc. Michael got to play his bouzouki on one track, and mark my words, we’ll find more ways to work that in!  I think one song has a “flute” solo. And all except one are just hand percussion instead of a kit.

It’s funny, when we were planning this, Michael referred to it as our, Rubber Soul. I sure hope so, because then I think came Revolver and Sgt. Pepper. That’s not a bad goal to shoot at.

 

Once again, what role does the song-cycle (aka “album”) play in a world of streaming, song-lists, and Tic-Tockery?

I’m not sure there’s a real pattern all the way through to be honest. I know we wanted to end with something a little more hopeful than usual – “Voices back.” I know there is a mix of subjects, from saying goodbye to a loved one, before time to the, “what if?” questions we all have, “What Were we Doing.”

 

Did you work the songs out on stage before committing them to (metaphorical) wax?

A couple of them had been part of our live set, but we wanted to have a studio version, especially since Michael is such a better rhythm player than I am. He makes all of this stuff sound so much better. I think rhythm guitar is as underrated a skill as bass playing is, probably because it’s almost looked on as a support role. Some of the other songs were actually written during the recording process, so they’ve not had a chance to be road tested. I’m looking forward to playing some of these out.

 

Talk about your relationship with Michael – what makes your partnership click? Explain the yin-yang of Bringing Down the House?

First, we’ve been friends for forty plus years, so there’s no nonsense, we both know each other far too well. As far as the yin/yang… the best way I can explain it is that from the moment he picked up a guitar, I was there! All he ever wanted to do was play rhythm guitar. He’s the embodiment of, “Guitar George” from “Sultans of Swing” whereas I am a bass player first and foremost, but I play all the other instruments you hear on the record. Some better than others of course. I’m a little more open personality wise. Not that Michael isn’t, he’s actually one of the funniest guys I know, he’s just not as out there. And he’s absolutely more sensible than I am.

 

Not to dwell on doom and gloom, but a cure-all vaccine is the only way to return to gatherings as we know it in the performing arts – is there life after gigs? Can you adapt to a remote music career with videos and recording taking the place of live performance?

I think one of the good things about, “BDTH” is that we are actually built for small gatherings. The name came as a play on the whole, “Concerts In Your House” idea. The recordings are good because, hopefully it gives our audience the material we’re going to play out. Could we go remote? I suppose, but we’d rather not. And I can say that I am far better with an audience than not.

 

Bass players in quarantine / shelter tend to salivate over instruments during their isolation – what are some of your latest bass obsessions?

I have to say, I am loving my two P-Basses, the “Players” model and The Sting model, basically a ’51 so really, I’m good I admit I have been missing my Epiphone EB-3 lately, mainly for the humbucker for recording. And they’re cool looking as hell!

Also thinking about an acoustic, I’d love to do the whole campfire thing with Michael… and Tom Wipf…I’m hoping the third time will be the charm.

 

How can we hear I Hear Your Voice – list all streaming, hard copy options…

We have the old school CDs for now. I’m waiting for the word that it’s up in all of the usual outlets. Unfortunately, one aspect of this stuff that I’m really not very good at is the business/promotional end. But for now, you can email us at bringingdownthehouse9@gmail.com and we can send one.

 

What is on Glenn’s playlist nowadays?

Obviously the “Canyon” and singer/songwriter stuff is always there, also lots of 60’s stuff. The Association is always somewhere nearby Also have rediscovered a bunch of albums, Odyssey and Oracle is criminally unknown here…

 

Glenn’s future – plans Hell High Water, Bringing Down the House, solo…

HoHW is doing a livestream in November 1st. We have played the NYC Marathon for the past dozen or so years, and even though there’s no marathon this year, we’re still playing. As far as solo, I think those days might be gone. Playing with Michael the way “BDTH” does, is really… truly… my favorite way of doing this. We’ve been friends for so long, and even back then, this is what I wanted… just two guys, guitars… and some songs and stories. I can’t imagine anything better.