By Thomas Semioli 

 

“He’s the baddest bass player in the U.S.A!” proclaimed the late, great Donny Hathaway from the stage of the Bitter End in New York City nearly 50 years ago (1971) – and that proclamation still holds true well into the 21st Century.

 

You know that jukebox that goes “doyt doyt” at Danny’s All-Star Joint? That’s Willie Weeks!

 

From the late 1960s to the present day, Willie Weeks continues to set the bar as a session player and sideman. A laid-back pocket player, Willie’s command of rhythm and blues, soul, country, jazz, and pop, and just about any permutation thereof has can be heard throughout the seminal recorded works of several artists including Stevie Wonder (“Misstra Know It All”), Rolling Stones (“It’s Only Rock n Roll), Chaka Kahn, Rickie Lee Jones, Herbie Hancock, John Mayer, Vince Gill, Ron Wood , Etta James, John Scofield, Aretha Franklin, Joe Walsh, George Harrison, Eric Clapton, BB King, Buddy Guy, Rod Stewart, Gregg Allman, Randy Newman, David Bowie (“Young Americans”), and Richard Thompson, to cite a very select few.

 

Willie’s weapons of choice include: Fender Precision and Fender Jazz basses, Kay, Alleva Coppolo, and his “WW” Willie Weeks signature bass by Bee Basses.

 

A giant of the instrument, Willie Weeks is long overdue for recognition in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame

 

Tom Semioli / Huffington Post “A Bass Player’s Rant: 33 Who Belong in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame” : https://bit.ly/2POxUJr

 

Willie Weeks Sound & Vision… (See Best Bass: Willie Weeks Know Your Bass Player Playlist – Spotify) 

 

Willie Weeks’ watershed solo on “Voices Inside (Everything is Everything)” https://youtu.be/3gpN-SJD-VY  from Donny’s iconic Live (1972) album remains a benchmark for bassists.

 

A rare Willie slap passage with  George Harrison “Woman Don’t You Cry for Me” https://youtu.be/47l0EzvjN4I

 

Willie and Eric Clapton on a live rendition of  “Motherless Children” https://youtu.be/h9d2ZeAvBgA

 

Rolling Stones “It’s Only Rock and Roll” https://youtu.be/DmgCy__eUa8

 

David Bowie “Young Americans”  https://youtu.be/iO6OvHxD_m8

 

Willie’s bass solo composition with Ron Wood “Crotch Music” https://youtu.be/KNAg8TVS2RY

 

Vince Gill “Never Alone” https://youtu.be/MtQvLF1ZKCg

 

James Taylor “I Was a Fool to Care” https://youtu.be/SnwZySCHyNw

 

Stevie Wonder “He’s Misstra Know It All” https://youtu.be/uivvYGyQiow

 

Rickie Lee Jones “Danny’s All Star Joint” https://youtu.be/T9dRLzd0sXU

 

The late, great Wilton Louis Felder first made his mark in the music biz as a saxophonist and founding member of the groundbreaking Crusaders jazz ensemble with Joe Sample and Stix Hooper. Originally tabbed the “Jazz Crusaders” – this innovative collective was among the early practitioners of “soul jazz” and “jazz funk” – later to be referred to as “jazz fusion” and ultimately “smooth jazz.” 

 

In the late 1960s, Felder commenced to working sessions on electric bass, waxing sides with the Jackson 5, Marvin Gaye, John Cale, Seals & Crofts, Joni Mitchell, Billy Joel, Randy Newman, Michael Franks, Steely Dan, Ringo Starr, Ronnie Laws, Shuggie Otis, Dee Dee Bridegwater, and Joan Baez, to cite a select few.

 

With a Fender Precision that growled when he grooved, Wilton also waxed eight solo sides, and also served as a producer, composer, and arranger.

 

Wilton Felder Sound & Vision…

 

Joni Mitchell “Free Man in Paris” https://youtu.be/jQj6h8KpkiQ

 

Jackson 5 “I Want You Back” https://youtu.be/UvynvnxZJ3Q

 

Billy Joel “The Entertainer” https://youtu.be/d_VHFyaSXQw

 

 

Resplendent in his kaleidoscopic haberdashery and long braided hair, which complimented his multi-colored Warwick instruments, Thomas Michael Stevens was among the preeminent bassists in pop, rock, jazz, funk, metal, punk, hip-hop and permutations thereof in the 1980s-90s until illness necessitated his retirement.

 

A composer, vocalist, producer, recording artist, first call session cat, clinician, educator, and showman extraordinaire – TM anchored platters and concert performances aplenty by artists spanning James Brown, Steve Vai, The Pretenders, Joe Cocker, Billy Joel, Tina Turner, Nona Hendryx, Tupac Shakur, Cissy Houston, and Narada Michael Walden to cite a very, very select few.

 

A brilliant slap, and finger player, TM was a warm, and spirited presence on the New York City music scene, frequenting clubs and talking bass with anyone – myself included, who shared a love for the instrument.

 

T.M. Sound & Vision….

Corey Glover and Van Romaine on a remake remodel of Deep Purple’s “Burn” https://youtu.be/pY56aonrm48

 

From his Shocka Zooloo LP “The River Flows” https://youtu.be/vuJbkBAmi88

 

With Eric Gales on Jimi’s VooDoo Chile https://youtu.be/TCx-quZVzAw

 

The Pretenders “Don’t Get Me Wrong” https://youtu.be/pKzoXuEkk00

 

The Pretenders “How Much Did You Get for Your Soul” https://youtu.be/47AfhCQAlrU

 

With Neil Zaza “I’m Alright” and “I’m A Believer” https://youtu.be/MIn0XrMn9Fc

 

 

Master showmen, conceptualists, players, recording artists, and composers, The Tubes were undeniably among rock music’s supreme collectives. Waybill & Co.’s distinctive socio-political-absurdist canon traversed theater, hard rock, pop, glam, cabaret, techno, new wave, prog, porn, punk, funk, dance, rhythm and blues, jazz, experimental and whatever else they could throw against the wall, most of which stuck!

 

Bassist Rick Anderson was a study in versatility, seamlessly morphing multiple genres along with his resourceful bandmates.

 

Rick Anderson Sound & Vision with The Tubes…

 

“White Punks on Dope” https://youtu.be/L21mYN9mFP4

 

“She’s A Beauty” https://youtu.be/mQ_k_VG6Syc

 

“Talk To Ya Later” https://youtu.be/H-rEVVAw3-0

 

The Tubes Live at Winterland, New Year’s Eve 1975 https://youtu.be/l8mFEBnAImY

 

 

 

 

By Tom Semioli

 

You’ve heard him on the radio…you’ve heard him on the juke box on the song “Juke Box Hero” among many others….and you’ve likely seen him on the concert stage. Rick Wills commenced his remarkable chart topping career as a bassist with British blues rockers Jokers Wild in 1965 – which also featured future Pink Floyd guitarist David Gilmour. He also anchored hard rockers Cochise for a few slabs which never quite reached their commercial potential despite their stellar output.

 

Among the most sought after recording and touring bassists in the album rock era (1970s-1980s), Rick plies his craft with a decidedly rhythm and blues disposition, usually on a Fender Precision. His high profile gigs include Peter Frampton’s Camel, Roxy Music (Viva Roxy / 1975), solo Bryan Ferry, and the revamped Small Faces. In 1979, Rick commenced a fourteen-year career with Foreigner – waxing several platinum slabs whilst filling arenas around the globe.

 

In 1992 Rick joined Bad Company following Boz’s second or third exit, and helmed the bass chair for Lynyrd Skynyrd for a spell when their original bassist left for health reasons. In recent years Rick and Small Faces / Faces / Who drummer Kenny Jones are on the bandstand under the guise of “The Jones Gang.” 

 

Among Rick’s stellar recordings include David Gilmour’s self- titled debut (1978) wherein he utilizes flange and chorus effects and harmonic extensions to augment the guitarist’s best work outside of the Floyd.

 

Rick Wills Sound & Vision and Zoom Zessions:

 

Cochise: “59^th Street Bridge Song” https://youtu.be/VQtMF8ljtGg

 

Peter Frampton:

 

“Don’t Fade Away”  https://youtu.be/D3HB6ZWVCWo

 

“All I Wanna Be Is By Your Side” https://youtu.be/AoOu5Xa-Iw4

 

“It’s A Plain Shame”  https://youtu.be/pgwEFO651bE

 

“Do You Feel Like We Do” https://youtu.be/CGczyG6-aAw

 

“Something’s Happening” https://youtu.be/mif_MW8YeUU

 

“Doobie Wah” https://youtu.be/3VM0wb7RqeI

 

With Bryan Ferry and Chris Spedding “Let’s Stick Together” https://youtu.be/Z9EbR0ckb40

 

David Gilmour: “Mihalis” https://youtu.be/HTQHA0tOG9A

 

 Foreigner:

 

“Night Life” https://youtu.be/4cAy3hK5tNs

 

“Juke Box Hero” https://youtu.be/W_TOsFvnmeQ

 

Small Faces: “High and Happy” https://youtu.be/U0cnbOo6fe8

 

Bad Company: “Clearwater Highway” https://youtu.be/5aTwhe5seSg

 

The Jones Gang EPK: https://youtu.be/hkYXyAh65us

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Behold the pure power of pop as purveyed in New York City 1981! Bassist Bruce Gordon anchors The Mod Frames with buoyant pocket grooves, upper register grace notes, and graceful contrapuntal passages akin to such masters as Sir Paul, Dee Murray, and Colin Moulding.

 

With Billy Altman (vocals/guitar), multi-instrumentalist Ben Rosenblatt, my drummer pallie David Donen and guitarist Mark Michaels, dig Bruce almighty on “I Don’t Want to Cry” http://bit.ly/2FtCp7w and “Anyone After You.” http://bit.ly/2FWUr03

 

How did the big time elude these maestros of melody? 

 

The Mod Frames live at St. John’s University with Ben Rosenblatt and Dave Donen

By Tom Semioli

 

Legend! Icon!

 

With his patented plectrum prowess as purveyed on a Rickenbacker, and later a Fender Precision, the oft airborne Bruce Foxton was the key to The Jam’s overwhelming power and cohesion as a musical unit.

 

A role model – musically and sartorially – to a generation of bass players, Foxton anchored this remarkable triumvirate which modernized Brill Building pop and ‘60s British beat and expanded the language of “punk” with their yen for soul and rhythm & blues.

 

Foxton’s bass passages were often the hooks beneath Paul Weller’s melodies.  Bruce quoted the greats while maintaining a stripped-down approach sans grace notes or unnecessary fills! (Are there any other kind?)

 

Pity that The Modfather broke up to band much too soon – or at all. Bruce pursued a solo career, waxing platters that are woefully underappreciated. In addition to his fifteen-year tenure in Stiff Little Fingers, Foxton reunited with drummer Rick Buckler in 2007 to form the repertory ensemble From The Jam (go figure what inspired that moniker), touring the globe to packed venues. Foxton has made amends with Weller, and they’ve appeared on each other’s releases. In May 2010 Bruce joined his old boss on stage at the Royal Albert Hall.

 

 

Bruce Foxton Sound & Vision

 

The Jam:

 

“In The City” https://youtu.be/gHE8Z3SeLOg

 

“This Is the Modern World” https://youtu.be/ubRhnnQUyfM

 

KYBP Adjunct Professor Tony Senatore’s rendition of “A Town Called Malice” https://youtu.be/Yt0d3qxhMt0

 

Bruce crooning “David Watts” https://youtu.be/5wRGnbqZBeE

 

“News of The World” https://youtu.be/FO3_Udn3hYA

 

Bruce Solo:

 

“Number Six” https://youtu.be/8LsgACB6aFA

 

“Freak” https://youtu.be/gVfMFHEq0NQ

 

“Smithers Jones” https://youtu.be/26A_DpbaIcI

 

 

 

 

 

By Tom Semioli

 

Visionary, sound conceptualist, innovator…

 

Producer, recording artist, label head, composer – and a bass player, Bill Laswell is a giant of American music. Spanning pop, new wave, no wave, punk, dub, avant-garde, jazz, rock, reggae, electronica, techno – and permutations thereof, there is nary a genre Laswell has not excelled in.

 

Laswell’s innovative production and collaborative efforts are the stuff of legend. His short list (pun intended) of credits include: Mick Jagger, Yoko Ono, Iggy Pop, Laurie Anderson, Brian Eno, Bootsy Collins, Nine Inch Nails, Motorhead, Peter Gabriel, Blur, The Ramones, George Clinton, Pharaoh Sanders, The Dalai Lama, Matisyahu, Angelique Kidjo, DJ Krush, Sting, The Last Poets, Afrika Bambaataa, Julian Schnabel, Whitney Houston, Manu Dibango, Fela Kuti, Herbie Hancock,  PiL, Ginger Baker, Tony Williams, Steve Vai, William S. Burroughs, Miles Davis, Carlos Santana, and Bob Marley, to cite a select few.

 

Akin to his peer bassists Jah Wobble, Jonas Helborg, and such luminaries as Bootsy, Jaco, Jamerson, Marcus Miller…. Laswell’s rhythmic and tonal vocabulary has expanded the language of the instrument.

 

As a bassist his seminal works include his “avant-funk” ensemble Material, progressive dub collective Method of Defiance, Massacre with Fred Firth and Charles Hayward, and Last Exit with Sonny Sharrock among others.

 

Bill Laswell Sound and Vision

“Beyond the Zero” https://youtu.be/ddjMHMuOE7Y

“Golden Spiral” https://youtu.be/XYixWnmv0YE

“Dread Iternal” https://youtu.be/aIzFfMslCQo

“Lightening Teleportation” https://youtu.be/ZlvrMBxM-jE

By Tom Semioli

 

Among the most enduring and idiosyncratic ensembles from the post-punk era, The Violent Femmes forge on into their fourth decade, waxing sides and purveying a unique meld of folk, avant-garde pop, and old school punk to the dedicated masses and new audiences.

Akin to The Ox, bassist Brian Ritchie works his craft with a massive tone, rendering passages which simultaneously anchor the songs and serve as melodic hooks.  A hard-hitting plectrum player, Ritche employs the bass guitar in both electric and acoustic formats. He’s also an accomplished shakuhachi (an Asian end blown flute) player who has taught and developed new versions of the instrument.

In addition to his work with the Femmes, Ritchie is a prolific collaborator and solo recording artist. He’s cut a half- dozen or so platters, and his partnerships include Italian punk rockers Zen Circus, The Surf (featuring members of Midnight Oil) among others, and also organizes music festivals in Australia, where he now resides.

 

Dig Brian and the Violent Femmes  “Blister In the Sun” live https://youtu.be/Ra8VTlXVqUQ

 

Dig Brian and the Violent Femmes “Hotel Last Resort” https://youtu.be/Jc14JPwnp6M

 

Dig solo Brian “Days of the Blend” https://youtu.be/xNm1OWxfPcs

 

Dig solo Brian “Nuclear War” https://youtu.be/W2ciqJCI-nU

 

Dig Brian the flautist “Watazumi’s Tea Bowl”  https://youtu.be/cSh13g1i9T4

 

Dig Brian and The Zen Circus “Punk Lullaby” with Kim and Kelly Deal https://youtu.be/gkIcmHYLxlM

 

By Tom Semioli 

 

Cited among the most influential bassists who played a major role in forging “funk” as a bona fide genre – Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Billy Bass Nelson anchored the original Funkadelic line-up on its trio of groundbreaking slabs Funkadelic (1970), Free Your Mind…and Your Ass Will Follow (1970) and Maggot Brain (1971).

 

Dig Billy on “I Bet You” https://youtu.be/m794e9Z-4aw

 

Dig Billy on “Free Your Mind….” https://youtu.be/Yw4lqwh5c1g

 

Nelson was the bridge between his virtuoso bandmates – most notably guitarist Eddie Hazel and keyboardist Bernie Worrell – often doubling their motifs and providing a firm foundation for their harmonic forays.  As the funk faithful will tell you – it’s the notes you don’t play!

 

Following his departure from Funkadelic over financial disputes (are there any other kind?) Nelson collaborated with many of his admirers including The Commodores, Lionel Richie, Jermaine Jackson, Fishbone, and The Temptations – and occasionally worked with Funkadelic alumnae on such projects as O.G. Funk, The New Funkadelic and has rejoined Parliament-Funkadelic in many of its permutations.

 

Dig Billy with O.G. Funk “Yeah Yeah Yeah” https://youtu.be/ekB0cLDqrSg