Lenny Kotke (The Good Rats)

By Thomas Semioli

 

Dubbed the “world’s most famous unknown band,” go figure why this legendary Long Island collective helmed by the late, truly great Peppi Marchello never achieved global acclaim, if only for a brief shining moment.

 

As I was witness, The Good Rats blew many a headliner off many of the biggest (and smallest) stages. Alas Peppi’s proclamation of the “Curse of the Rat” rang true.

 

Bassist Lenny Kotke anchored the band during their golden era from roughly 1972 through 1980 or thereabouts – traversing blues, jazz, metal, hard rock, pop, prog, theatre, and every permutation thereof with pocket grooves that supported the singers, the soloists, and the songs. 

 

You should have been there!

 

Lenny Kotke Sound & Vision: 

The Good Rats live at The Bottom Line in 1978 https://youtu.be/ZeJkZCE4fdw

 

Taking It To Detroit

Does It Make You Feel Good

Don’t Hate The Ones That Bring You Rock And Roll

Ratcity In Blue

Let Me

Coo Coo Blues

Dear Sir

Yellow Flower

Reason To Kill

Local Zero

Victory In Space

Fireball Express

Injun Joe

Klash Ka Bob

 

Peppi Marchello – Vocals, Mickey Marchello – Guitar, John Gatto – Guitar, Joe Franco – Drums, Lenny Kotke – Bass

 

KYPB Adjunct Professor Tony Senatore’s lecture and rendition of “Takin’ It To Detroit” https://youtu.be/uVs7iKXWt-k 

John DeSalvo (Tuff Darts)

 

Go figure why the Tuff Darts canon, with crooners Robert Gordon or Tommy Frenzy – didn’t position this fiery collective among their celebrated CBGB peers The Ramones, Blondie, Television, and the Talking Heads. They had the songs, the riffs, the looks, the chops…

 

Melding pub with punk, bassist / songwriter John DeSalvo worked a straightforward, punchy Fender P pocket with an occasional melodic riff. Woulda…shoulda…coulda…

 

John and the Tuff Darts with….

 

Robert “All for the Love of Rock and Roll” https://youtu.be/381hvkh4vj4

 

Tommy “Nuclear Waste” https://youtu.be/Dro6Ysjd5RQ

 

Ben Orr (The Cars)

Courtesy of The Cars Com Courtesy of The Cars Com

Courtesy of The Cars Com

By Thomas Semioli

With his “rock star” good looks and patented “rock star” coiffe, the late rock star Benjamin Orzechowski anchored Boston’s new wave Rock and Roll Hall of Famer quartet: The Cars.

An accomplished lead singer who crooned with an icy Bowie Berlin era delivery, and composer – Ben belted out the band’s signature hits “Just What I Needed,” and “Drive,” among others. Orr’s playing style exemplified the genre’s rudimentary roots rooted, eighth-note modus operandi which afforded a solid platform for the synths and shiny guitars to do their thing.

Orr continued his career when The Cars split with Big People, and Voices of Classic Rock. He also waxed a fine solo slab in ’85 entitled The Lace which featured the hit “Stay The Night.” 

Ben was a bass collector as well, among his weapons of choice included: Rickenbacker 4001, Fender Precision, Spector N2, Dean Metalman ML, Guild Pilot, Gibson Flying V, Gibson EB 6, and a Vox Teardrop

“Just What I Needed” at Live Aid https://youtu.be/Ukfkqs9LU4E

“Drive” https://youtu.be/xuZA6qiJVfU

“Stay the Night” https://youtu.be/1WGVG3_IoG8

The Cars_opt.jpg The Cars_opt.jpg

Garry Gary Beers (INXS)

Inspired by Sir Paul, John Paul Jones, and James Jamerson, Garry Gary Beers anchored the mega-platinum INXS with a distinctly soulful approach, working the pocket with melodic motifs that fueled the Aussie ensemble’s signature hits.

 

Doubling on upright and guitar, outside of INXS Beers collaborated with the late Scott Weiland, Sean Kelly and His Absent Friends, and Ciaran Gribbin, among others.

 

Garry’s weapon of choice is usually the Fender Precision, though he did wield a vogue, functional Steinberger XL in the equally fashionable early ’80s.

 

Gary Gary Beers Sound & Vision…

 

“Devil Inside” https://youtu.be/hv_zJrO_ptk

 

“What You Need” https://youtu.be/FoEPrbdfmT4

 

“Listen Like Thieves” https://youtu.be/bJn73b4SkpQ

 

Dig Tony Senatore’s rendition of “Don’t Change” https://youtu.be/qaugH2H_OBM

 

Along with Jeffrey Hammond-Hammond of Jethro Tull, Gary Gary is the most prominent double-named bassist in the history of rock!

 

Tina Weymouth (Talking Heads, Tom Tom Club)

Courtesy of Tom Tom Club Com

As the punk ethos purveyed an illogical distain for instrumental dexterity, even though seasoned session cats often cut tracks on several seminal sides during the genre’s golden 1975-80 era, the smartest players employed rhythm and space as their primary means of expression. Among the masters of this less-is-a lot-more modus operandi was founding Talking Heads bassist Tina Weymouth. Appropriating reggae, dance, and funk influences with an intense minimalist approach, Tina’s work was both groundbreaking and influential to a generation of players.

 

Aside from her work with Talking Heads, Tina anchored Tom Tom Club, and the David Byrne-less Heads in addition to several collaborations with the likes of Happy Mondays, Gorillaz, and Le Tigre.

 

Among Tina’s numerous weapons of choice included, Fender Mustang, Fender Jazz, Steinberger L, and the Hofner 500/2 bass.

 

Tina Weymouth Sound & Vision…

 

Talking Heads

 

“Psycho Killer” live 1977 https://youtu.be/vmmvtX0IUHU

 

“Life During Wartime” https://youtu.be/jShMQw2H2cM

 

“And She Was” https://youtu.be/cl3B_FTDKD0

 

“Wild Wild Life” https://youtu.be/616-QGQyx-I

 

Tom Tom Club

 

“You Sexy Thing” https://youtu.be/4DRlRFFiS-Y

 

“Genius of Love” https://youtu.be/8eGGSZUfEGA

 

The Heads

 

“The Damage I Have Done” with Johnette Napolitano https://youtu.be/uW56q3EvKbc

 

 

Scott Edwards (Hall & Oates, Donna Summer, Boz Scaggs, T.Rex, Yvonne Elliman)

From a Rhinestone Cowboy to a Dandy in the Underworld, from Bad Girls to a Rich Girl to I’m A Fool For You Girl… from Sara Smile to Angela to Smokey to Candi, and I’ll throw in Peaches & Herb and Boz to boot…

 

When Michael Henderson spilt from the employment of the former Stevland Hardaway Morris to work with a newly electrified Miles Davis, a young Atlanta cat named Scott Edwards stepped in and took over the bass chair and thus began a stellar career as a first call sideman session player.

 

A chameleonic Fender Precision wielding James Jamerson disciple, Scott’s incredible body of work spanned every genre of pop music embracing rock, smooth jazz, funk, soul, disco, rhythm and blues, fusion, and permutations thereof.  

 

Scott Edwards Sound & Vision 

 

Peaches & Herb: “Reunited” https://youtu.be/Bu3OQFCsKXQ

 

Donna Summer: “Bad Girls” https://youtu.be/NF46NnUn5nw

 

Yvonne Elliman: “If I Can’t Have You” https://youtu.be/nBqrcMBdG8Y

 

Hall & Oates: “Sara Smile” https://youtu.be/nOFCTFXn6xE 

 

“Rich Girl” https://youtu.be/oIAkRVBS-0U

 

Stevie Wonder: “All Is Fair In Love,” “You Are the Sunshine of My Life” https://youtu.be/SbenaOqv4yQ

 

Jose Feliciano: “Angela” https://youtu.be/YUS60TR3SZA

 

Rhythm Heritage: “Three Days of The Condor” https://youtu.be/gN3RhsVI8C8

 

Glenn Campbell: “Rhinestone Cowboy” https://youtu.be/8kAU3B9Pi_U

 

Johnny Mathis “The Last Time I Felt Like This” https://youtu.be/aJ8F23b58Qo

 

Righteous Brothers: “Rock ‘n’ Roll Heaven” https://youtu.be/SW4tRBalFLQ

 

Smokey Robinson: “Being With You” https://youtu.be/0P2a6aLDkkM

 

Candi Staton: “Summer Time With You” https://youtu.be/9B-yHZ1nax4

 

Captain & Tennile: “Do Me One More Time” https://youtu.be/8ZSyH-ZpIlk

 

T-Rex: “I’m A Fool For You Girl,” https://youtu.be/-F6fLEzcDUU

 

“Dandy In the Underworld” https://youtu.be/82FB5OC-AOo

 

Tavares: “It Only Takes A Minute” https://youtu.be/BxtPbCYk-38

 

Busta Rhymes vs. Timbaland & Magoo: Turn It Up, Fire It Up When Clock Strikes https://youtu.be/ipUcgDcMDOo

 

Boz Scaggs: “Then She Walked Away” https://youtu.be/pi_-L8xAyYQ

 

Fudgie Kae (Mandrill)

Anchoring what could arguably be among the first “world music” ensembles, the late Frederick “Fudgie Kae” Solomon helmed Bedford-Stuyvesant Brooklyn’s Mandrill during their golden era circa 1972 -75.

 

Laying down the groove with a fat flat-wound Fender P, Fudgie fused funk with Latin, rock, blues, and salsa on tracks which emerged in various edits on scores of hip-hop, techno, and acid jazz DJ mixes.

 

Fudgie Sound & Vision….

 

Mandrill’s signature track https://youtu.be/ayhpzgUrPQM

 

“Fencewalk” https://youtu.be/aTsw3u6g5YI

 

“Mango Meat” https://youtu.be/n-cIqYof2-8

 

 

Fudgie 2.png Fudgie 2.png

Charles Larkey (Carole King, The Doors)

 

An LA based electric / upright session player, Charles Larkey is most noted for his stellar work with his former wife, the former Ms. Carol Joan Klein, with whom he waxed several seminal sides.

 

A dexterous bassist that excelled in the pocket and plied superb counterpoint in the service of the singers and their songs, Charles also anchored releases by The Fugs, The Doors sans Mojo, Paul Williams, Peter Allen, B.J. Thomas, and The City with Carole and guitarist Danny Kortchmar, among others.  

 

Charles Larkey Sound & Vision…

 

Carol King

 

“It’s Too Late” https://youtu.be/VkKxmnrRVHo

 

“I Feel the Earth Move” https://youtu.be/6913KnbMpHM

 

“Been to Canaan” https://youtu.be/Ug9ffdhIlo0

 

The Doors Full Circle (1972)

 

“The Piano Bird” https://youtu.be/BZUM5m3vrQU

 

“Verdilac” https://youtu.be/Oq85Trne8UA

 

Billy Rich (Taj Mahal, Buddy Miles Express, Paul Butterfield)

Among the top session/touring sidemen of the late 1960s and 70s, Billy Rich brought his rich knowledge of blues, soul, funk, gospel, and jazz to several notable artists including Taj Mahal, John McLaughlin, The Buddy Miles Express (with Jimi Hendrix), Geoff Muldaur, Seals & Crofts, Jesse Ed Davis, and Paul Butterfield, to cite a few.

 

An Omaha native inducted into the Nebraska Hall of Fame in 2004, Rich was offered the bass chair in Jimi’s Band of Gypsys by producer Alan Douglas but declined. Billy’s composition “69 Freedom Special” as recorded by Les Paul & Friends, won a Grammy for Best Rock Instrumental in 2005.

 

Rich remains active on the bandstand and recording studio – check out all things Billy Rich at http://www.billrichmusic.com/

 

Billy Rich Sound & Vision:

 

Geoff Muldaur “Chevrolet / Alice” https://youtu.be/wEkoKntwRV0

 

Buddy Miles “Freedom Special” https://youtu.be/0L5ZG96b-xg

 

John McLaughlin “Marbles” https://youtu.be/l0wnc-eBRbg

 

Taj Mahal “Johnny Too Bad” https://youtu.be/l0wnc-eBRbg

 

Paul Butterfield “New Walkin’ Blues” https://youtu.be/SV-aqZXlhDI

 

Les Paul & Friends “69 Freedom Special” https://youtu.be/cTC0acyGpMg

 

Bill Rich “Can You Pheel It” https://youtu.be/vO-ui58SwYg

 

Nik West (Dave Stewart, Orianthi)

An F Clef coiffed lioness of the electric bass, Nik West does it all: soul, rock, blues, jazz, hip-hop and permutations thereof.

 

A dynamic performer, bandleader, vocalist, composer, and collaborator (Prince, Dave Stewart, John Mayer, Glen Ballard, Orianthi), Ms. West draws upon her funky forefathers Prince, Bootsy, Larry Graham, and Marcus Miller for her slap/pop predilections and harmonic repertoire.

      

Nik West Sound & Vision…

 

“Bass Groove” https://youtu.be/37alIHxVkpg

 

“Purple Unicorn” https://youtu.be/EFYfbbZ-Om8

 

“My Relationship” https://youtu.be/9uf0fKh-Bow