Courtesy Belly Band Com

 

No frills, no problem!

Totally tonic note referencing, pulsating pocket groove bassist Gail Greenwood anchored two influential and commercially successful alternative rock ensembles in the roaring ‘90s: Belly and L7.

A guitarist, writer, and spirited performer (watch the video clips) who carries the punk ethos to a new generation, Ms. Greenwood is also an activist for responsible land development and conservation.  

Belly reunited in 2016, and released their third official slab Dove in 2018.

Gail’s preferred weapon of choice a low slung the Gibson Thunderbird. So you wanna be a rock and roll star?

Gail Greenwood Sound and Vision

With Belly:

“Super Connected” https://youtu.be/YRWC5YueHnM

“Gepetto” Live on the Jon Stewart Show https://youtu.be/EYUfkh-AvL0

“Gepetto” Official Video https://youtu.be/nJRluXBa4e8

“Shiny One” https://youtu.be/prF1CdzjTZ4

“Slow Dog” on Later…with Jools Holland https://youtu.be/F4CViYoHI-8

With L7

“Drama” https://youtu.be/nQCVWcasHkg

Courtesy Belly Band Com

Courtesy of Angel Air Co UK

There’s no avoiding John McCoy… on stage, or on record!

 

A showman, multi-instrumentalist (cello, horns, guitar, drums…and upright) and beloved mainstay on the British metal scene since the 1970s, John has anchored numerous ensembles, some under his own name, and most notably in the service of Ian Gillan sans Deep Purple and with the late, great guitarist Bernie Torme.

 

The burly, baldheaded, bottom busting, be-spectacled bassist is a groove pumping powerhouse with a whopping resonance akin to his physical presence.  Given the fact that he started his career in the biz as a guitarist with The Drovers in the mid-1960s, McCoy is particularly suited to accompany six-string virtuosos. John’s weapon of choice is a battered Fender Precision run through various permutations of Marshall and Trace Elliot rigs. 

 

 

John McCoy Sound & Vision…

 

McCoy “Because You Lied” https://youtu.be/iEGIWEZSsiQ

 

McCoy “Demon Rose” https://youtu.be/WsT7s560-Mg

 

Gillan “On The Rocks” https://youtu.be/Y0JOE-tQ7P4

 

Mammoth “Fatman” https://youtu.be/h7gK3oeVUV4

 

GMT (Robin Guy, John McCoy, Bernie Torme) “You Can’t Beat Rock and Roll” https://youtu.be/-m9rG5IS8ts

 

 

 

 

A composer, sideman, collaborator, producer, singer, recording artist, educator and bassist… Fernando Saunders a one-man orchestra!

 

His tenure with Lou Reed is a master class in the symphonic powers of the fretless bass in a rock context.  Akin to Sir Paul, Brian Wilson, Ron Carter, Paul Chambers, and Jaco Pastorius – to cite  a select few – Saunders’ approach to the instrument is composition. His bass passages are songs within the songs – employing chord extensions, harmonics, pedal tones, and sustained notes, among other techniques to serve the singer, songs, and melodies. 

 

Fernando has waxed seminal sides with Lou, Jeff Beck, John McLaughlin, and Marianne Faithfull, among others, and his collaborations are numerous. Be sure to check out Fernando’s solo slabs as well which traverse jazz, funk, rock, rhythm & blues, new age, pop, soul and permutations thereof!

 

Fernando Saunders Sound & Vision….

 

Fernando with Lou:

 

“Legendary Hearts” https://youtu.be/Ltk-F6eFfmc

 

“My House” https://youtu.be/Dtiih7wk4uQ

 

“Pow Wow” https://youtu.be/VS5mzCDz2vQ

 

“New Sensations.” https://youtu.be/PrXIoHyfObg

 

Fernando with Jan Hammer and Jeff Beck:

 

“Earth (Still Our Only Home)” https://youtu.be/2i9tEXyDqes

 

Fernando with John McLaughlin and the One Truth Band: “Electric Dreams Electric Sighs” https://youtu.be/18Lnod4TAsY

 

Fernando with Marianne: “Times Square” https://youtu.be/B8CqnKYfNTQ

 

“Live in LA” (Part 1) https://youtu.be/In0_XQfbiyw

 

“Live in LA” (Part 2) https://youtu.be/nDwQrziwW0M

 

Fernando flying solo “I Will Break Your Fall” https://youtu.be/3Cr_WgCxBJE

 

Keep up with all things Fernando:  http://fernandosaunders.net/

 

 

Sunday, July 25, 1965 – Bob Dylan takes the stage of the hallowed Newport Folk Festival backed by Mike Bloomfield, Al Kooper, Sam Lay and the most significant affront to the aesthetic of traditional folk – an electric (Fender Jazz) bass in the hands of Jerome Arnold! The rest, as they say, is history…and a moment in time which reverberates over a half-century and counting.

 

In addition to his Rock and Roll Hall of Fame tenure with the Paul Butterfield Blues Band, Chicago born Romeo Maurice “Jerome” Arnold also anchored a few Howlin’ Wolf ensembles – all of which continue to inspire generations of blues rock artists.

 

Working soulful rhythms, harmonic extensions, and jazzy chromatic runs; Jerome’s support of Butterfield, Bloomfield, Dylan, and the former Chester Arthur Burnett was a major factor in the acceptance of the electric bass in the studio and on stage.

 

 Jerome Arnold with Paul Butterfield:

 

“East West” https://youtu.be/NvWvOwLCWGg

 

Arnold swingin’ on “Work Song” https://youtu.be/cF6fCzEZ3Hs

 

“I play things with strings…”

 

As a bassist for Stephen Stills, Graham Nash, David Crosby, and Neil Young in their innumerable configurations – Calvin “Fuzzy” Samuels complimented his bandleaders’ wayward folk, rock, blues, and country yearnings with soulful bass passages borne of his love for Muddy Waters, Count Basie, and Fats Domino.

 

 

Nowadays Fuzzy is a bandleader who records under his own name – which, incidentally, does not include the last “s” in his surname.

 

Fuzzy Sound & Vision

“Carry On” from CSN&Y Four Way Street https://youtu.be/BAkMlzOBFbc

“Me Wanna Go Home” from Love Don’t Taste Like Chicken https://youtu.be/Gv2yax5QOSs

Tracks from Fuzzy’s Island Breeze https://www.calvinfuzzsamuel.com/media

Manassas “Rock and Roll Crazies” / “Blue Grass” https://youtu.be/09dYiDz8Fmo

 

 

 

They were one of rock’s greatest influencers, yet remain largely unknown to the masses. And though press photos and lip-sync TV clips show The Seeds’ bandleader Sky Saxon as a bassist, or the band with no bassist at all – the player who actually cut those groovin’ tracks was session cat Harvey Sharpe.

 

Essentially “the fifth Seed” Sharpe shaped soulful passages into the band’s magnificent mélange of psychedelic blues and garage rock.

 

Harvey Sharpe from the Documentary “Pushin’ Too Hard” A Film by Neil Norman https://youtu.be/nE-eFMeM7ys

 

Sound & Vision….Harvey and The Seeds:

 

“Excuse Excuse” https://youtu.be/HKWcJeIELsI

 

“Can’t Seem To Take You Off of My Mind” https://youtu.be/mWRslLvUCOk

 

“Pushin’ Too Hard” https://youtu.be/aKZ1NYmgDHc

 

 

By Thomas Semioli

 

Gone at Last, Mind Games, Sweet Disposition, Stranded in a Limousine….  Live from New York, it’s Gordon Edwards!

 

He was the bassist who helped forge the soundtrack of the Big Apple in the 1970s wherein jazz, funk, punk, rock, disco and reggae created a magical musical brew.

 

The Bronx was burning uptown, CBGB was forging new waves downtown, and the beautiful people were boogieing in mid-town Studio 54 as Gordon Edwards grooved mightily with passages that percolated with the rhythm of the streets.

 

Edwards was surprise choice for John Lennon’s Mind Games (1973) as the ex-Beatle usually favored unadorned accompaniment from his bassists. Gordon contributed a funky undertow to one of Lennon’s most under-appreciated collections. 

 

A first call session cat, Gordon was a founding member of Stuff, a highly sought-after ensemble comprised of studio legends at the peak of their collective and individual powers: Richard Tee (keyboards), Eric Gale and Cornell Dupree (guitars), and drummers Chris Parker and Steve Gadd. Stuff and Edwards were everywhere in that halcyon era – in the clubs, touring, and recording under their own name and backing such artists as Paul Simon, Phoebe Snow, Daryl Hall & John Oates, Leon Thomas, Joe Cocker, Carla Bley, Donny Hathaway, and Aretha Franklin, among many others.

 

 

Gordon was the bassist on the infamous SNL episode wherein John Belushi spoofed Joe Cocker! https://youtu.be/aZsOyO_lXD8

 

 

Gordon Edwards Sound & Vision…

 

 

Stuff live at Montreux in 1976: https://youtu.be/MZcTP3-ARFQ

 

Joe Cocker:

 

“The Jealous Kind” https://youtu.be/F-FaZTyLkq4

 

“I Broke Down” https://youtu.be/c7MMhIbrPB8

 

“The Man In Me” https://youtu.be/hHwK_RWrHcs

 

John Lennon:

 

“Mind Games” https://youtu.be/QLeObvcUii4

 

“Intuition” https://youtu.be/7KI0nVS2BtU

 

“Only People” https://youtu.be/-SVbqK01ImM

 

Paul Simon:

 

“Tenderness” https://youtu.be/WNcmOBVvuxs

 

“Gone At Last” https://youtu.be/wT_zVoA6mYE

 

“Stranded in a Limousine” https://youtu.be/xVvbxAIrT-Y

 

Daryl Hall & John Oates: “Las Vegas Turnaround” https://youtu.be/up0qIJlETO4

 

Aretha Franklin: “With Everything I Feel in Me” https://youtu.be/37_c2VzXsfI

 

Grover Washington: “No Tears in the End” https://youtu.be/ZApAWvaZoZw

 

Donny Hathaway: “Magdalena” https://youtu.be/M-fPEiFxLt8

 

Carla Bley: “Song Sung Long” https://youtu.be/_VvfhAoaGC4

 

Phoebe Snow: “Sweet Disposition” https://youtu.be/PhxryBBwN4g

 

Leon Thomas: “Let’s Go  Down to Lucy” https://youtu.be/1BnHNeUauww

 

 

A consummate pocket player given to soulful grooves, Gary Gilmore served as the anchor of Taj Mahal’s early watershed slabs and ensembles which introduced a new generation to traditional folk blues and a guitarist named Jesse Ed Davis. Gary also helmed seminal platters by J.J Cale, among others, including Slowhand drummer extraordinaire Jamie Oldaker’s tribute to Oklahoma’s rich musical heritage, aptly entitled Mad Dogs & Okies (2005).

Gary Gilmore Sound and Vision

Gary and Mad Dogs on “Daylight” with J.J. Cale https://youtu.be/zXJn8gUqqlA

With Taj:

“Leaving Trunk” https://youtu.be/9V9jtHjno9w

“Ain’t That A Lot of Love” from the Rolling Stones Rock and Roll Circus https://youtu.be/bpKPhsC9Nnw

“Giant Step” https://youtu.be/lHbZapq69xQ

bass

Courtesy of Sandberg Guitars

Though he plies an upright in the video clip, his sleek electric bass harmonics and groove passage on the massive 1987 “sophisti-pop” hit “Mary’s Prayer” https://bit.ly/1wuI4KX with Meet Danny Wilson underpinned a timeless tune of its era – dare I say “standard.”

A busy session player who currently anchors Simple Minds, Gerard “Ged” Grimes is also a producer – composer for television , film, and video games (Earthworm Jim 3D, Enter the Matrix, Shrek 3, Amplitude and Quarrel); a sideman for noted Gaelic artists Kathleen MacInnes, Mackenzie, and Ellidh Cormack, and music business entrepreneur.

 

Ged is an endorser of Sandberg guitars and Mark Bass amplification.

 

Ged on stage with Simple Minds

“Big Music” https://youtu.be/mzpp8h_Vi2M

“Sanctify Yourself” https://youtu.be/ntYEE5ix2L0

“Waterfront” https://youtu.be/2VXGK_HHCkQ

 

 

Randy Jo, a dandy persona with mutton chops and fanciful headwear, plied brazen funky, staccato lines in the service of Johnny Winter as the guitar icon switched gears from blues to a more soulful  mainstream line-up which sometimes included Rick Derringer, keys, horns, and backing vocalists.

 

Mr. Hobbs, who was a member The McCoys (“Hang On Sloopy”/ 1965) with Derringer, anchored such seminal sides as Johnny Winter And (1970), Still Alive and Well (1973), and Saints & Sinners (1974) among others, and was featured on Ronnie Montrose’s Jump On It (1976). Working with a plectrum, Hobbs rendered a perfect balance of treble and bottom in the studio and on stage. His main weapons of choice were Fender Precision, and Dan Armstrong basses. 

 

Randy Jo Hobbs Sound & Vision…

Johnny Winter:

“Rock and Roll Hoochie Koo” in ’71 at a Backstage Jam. https://youtu.be/o5R_7unuvPI

“Still Live And Well” https://youtu.be/mb2frZOA1Fw

“Rock and Roll People” (John Lennon) https://youtu.be/Evaw2APwUK0

Randy Jo and Ronnie Montrose:

“Let’s Go” https://youtu.be/9p35aVdBZr8

“Jump On It” https://youtu.be/jZCo1u3QQ8s

Randy Jo lip-synching “Hang On Sloopy” with The McCoys https://youtu.be/DO2Y2sGZ1dk

 

Courtesy of Johnny Winter Com