By Joe Gagliardo
Check out Jim’s tight pocket playing, with melodic flourishes:
Courtesy of Abba Site Com
You can dance, you can jive, having the time of your life, ooh, see that girl, watch that scene digging the dancing queen…
Though rockers of my generation (1970s) were mortified at their popularity, this Swedish pop supergroup were a bona-fide song / harmony driven hit-making machine worthy of their reverence.
Their bassist toiled in several rock bands in his native Linkoping before enrolling at Stockholm’s Royal College of Music. While there, a colleague suggested that apply for a road gig with The Hootenanny Singers – Benny Andersson and Bjorn Ulvaeus. That musical collective soon developed into ABBA, and the rest, as they say is history.
A melodic pocket player, the late Rutger Gunnarsson anchored all the ABBA slabs, he was their touring bassist on several treks, and also served as an arranger on their string of multi-platinum platters.
In addition to working with Bjorn and Benny following ABBA’s demise, Rutger also collaborated with Gemini, Celine Dion, Adam Ant, Ulf Lundell and Josefin Nilsson, among others.
Gunnarsson was also involved the ABBA musical Mama Mia! and anchored the repertory ABBA Orchestra in Concert.
Rutger Sound & Vision…
“Dancing Queen” https://youtu.be/B139-IqKcqg
Rutger rockin’ on “Summer Night City” https://youtu.be/SWj2vy7VS8Q
Plonking down quarter note roots on “Take A Chance” https://youtu.be/-crgQGdpZR0
Dig Tony Senatore’s rendition of “Waterloo” https://youtu.be/4fQBaDHsGU4
Courtesy of Abba Site Com
An extraordinary upright and electric player, David “Rook” Goldflies anchored the Allman Brothers Band from 1978-82 as the ensemble aimed for more of a commercial audience on record. Though the Brothers were not quite cut out for pop radio, David and the band soared on stage, and Goldflies’ work on three Allmans’ releases Enlightened Rogues (1979), Reach for the Sky (1980), and Brothers of the Road (1981) was exemplary.
Born into a family of classical musicians, David was a key member of Dickey Betts’ Great Southern. Nowadays David is a composer and bassist with the Panama City Pops Orchestra, and also helms an Allman Brothers repertory ensemble aptly named the Allman Goldflies Band.
As I was witness – when David Goldflies and Dan Toler joined the then-reunited ABB they brought with them a vibrant, fresh perspective on the blues rock blues rock format which, to my ears, was in a creative rut by the late 1970s.
Composed by Dickey Betts and David Goldflies, and featuring percussionist Joe Lala and vocalist Bonnie Bramlett – dig this pop oriented track “Try It One More Time” https://youtu.be/hS_rGgQpqUI featuring David’s soulful slap-and-pop, harmonic extensions, and sharp tone throughout.
Recordings such as this helped expand the language of the genre and introduced a new generation, myself included, to roots and blues music. Enlighted Rogues, Reach for the Sky, and Brothers of the Road, were gems of their era – hence their appeal to my age group. Then we went back and further explored the art-form.
A master groove and counter-melodic player, improviser – keep up with David’s numerous projects by way of https://www.goldfliesmusic.com/
David Goldflies Sound & Vision
WSRE Pensacola Broadcast of the Allman Goldflies Band https://youtu.be/d7i42N2mnpE
David with BHLT – Betts, Hall, Leavell, Trucks at the Capitol Theater in Passaic NJ in 1983 https://youtu.be/k_Dn1YFkN_Q
David with the Allmans Live at the Capitol Theater in 1979 https://youtu.be/5Hb9aNgivdg
Read about David in Broadway World which references Know Your Bass Player: https://bit.ly/37mU8Zi
Eleven More Bass Players Who Belong in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame: David Goldflies https://bit.ly/2IQTkl3
David Goldflies on Season Tres of Know Your Bass Player on Film, 2019 New York City, Euphoria Studios
By Joe Gagliardo
By Tony Senatore
Photo by Alan Goldberg – Courtesy Tony Curatola Facebook
In this first edition of KYBP Tool Talk, KYBP Adjunct Professor, Bergen County New Jersey Bureau Chief Tony Senatore discusses the Gibson EB2-D with Steve Swallow.
Courtesy of Gibson Com
Earlier in the week (March 2020), I posted some live Gary Burton videos ranging from 1968 to 1972. This garnered a lot of attention from my Know Your Bass Player cohorts Joe Gagliardo and Charles Lambiase. The videos featured Steve Swallow, one of the very first jazz bassists to play electric bass in an era when there was much hostility towards it, on electric and acoustic bass guitars. In the videos from 1968, Steve was playing the electric bass with his fingers, and by the 70’s had transitioned to playing with a pick, which helped him to forge his signature sound.
Gary Burton Molde 1974 https://youtu.be/i_TIVHp0epM
Gary Burton in Copenhagen 1968 https://youtu.be/CL6CcAbDSBQ
Charles, Joe and I marveled at Steve’s style and tone, and the three of us started guessing as to the what went into it, from the pickup configuration he used, to his strings and amplification. His choice of the Gibson EB2-D was key. Joe just added a dual pickup EB2-D that was stolen from him when he first started out, and Charles and I both own the single pickup EB2.
Charles noted that the silk winding on Steve’s bass strings was light blue, thus, we were able to deduce that they were Rotosound Jazz Bass flatwound strings. Rather than guess, I decided to send Steve a message to see if he could remember some of the things we were hoping to find out.
As it turns out, he was able to remember more than I imagined he would:
Tony,
I wish I could tell you more about my use of the EB2, but the truth is I’ve forgotten a lot. At the time I was playing that instrument I knew next to nothing about electric bass, and I cringe a little when I hear my playing from that time. But I must say Roy Haynes sounds incredible in the video you linked me to.
I have no idea what pickup, or combination of pickups, I was using. The instrument was completely un-modified. It was the first electric instrument I ever picked up, at the precursor to the NAMM show, in Chicago in 1969. The strings were, I’m pretty sure, flat wound – they were whatever came with the instrument, and I subsequently ordered replacements from Gibson and just assumed that they were best for the instrument. Initially, I played through a Gibson amp as well, but I soon figured out that it was terrible, and got an Ampeg B15, the classic flip-top. I think that’s what drove me to play with a pick: the Gibson bass had a fat, dark sound and so did the Ampeg, and I was searching for brightness.
At some point – I’m not sure of the year but it was after I’d played with Eberhard Weber – I bought another EB2, this one in sunburst finish, and gave it to Peter Coura, the luthier who made Eberhard’s classic hybrid instrument, who put his pickups and electronics into it. I’ve still got my original red EB2, but I sold the second one for a song a few years ago. Big mistake.
The switch to pick was difficult. I simply couldn’t hold onto the damn thing, would get about halfway through a song and watch it fly from my hand across the bandstand. I took to lining up half a dozen picks on top of the amplifier and grabbing them one by one, until I finally developed that muscle between the thumb and index finger.
Sorry I can’t be more helpful. Write if any questions come up. Wash your hands.
Best, Steve
In four extraordinary interview segments with Alan Mair filmed at Terminal Studios in beautiful downtown Bermondsey, the bassist / composer / recording artist / producer / haberdasher discusses his career with The Beatstalkers, as a haberdasher, and bassist with The Only Ones, among other endeavors!
Special thanks to Amanda Thorpe, Sal Maida, and Edward Rogers for their editorial inspiration.
Alan Mair Know Your Bass Player on Film Season Tres https://bit.ly/2QAk64A
Alan Mair Part 1
In the first of four extraordinary interview segments with Alan Mair filmed at Terminal Studios in beautiful downtown Bermondsey, the bassist / composer / recording artist / producer / haberdasher discusses his tenure in The Beatstalkers who were considered the “Scottish Beatles.” Among the band’s notable collaborators included a young singer songwriter David Jones, later known to the world as David Bowie – who composed and sang back-up for the group.
Alan Mair Part 2
In the second of four extraordinary interview segments with Alan Mair filmed at Terminal Studios in beautiful downtown Bermondsey, the bassist / composer / recording artist / producer / haberdasher discusses his transition from Beatstalker to boot-maker at Kensington Market, wherein he employed the former Farrokh Bulsara – later to be known to the world as Freddie Mercury.
Alan Mair Part 3
In the third of four extraordinary interview segments with Alan Mair filmed at Terminal Studios in beautiful downtown Bermondsey, the bassist / composer / recording artist / producer / haberdasher discusses tenure in The Only Ones.
Alan Mair Part 4
“I want some of that!”
In the fourth and final interview segment with Alan Mair filmed at Terminal Studios in beautiful downtown Bermondsey, the bassist / composer / recording artist / producer / haberdasher recalls the unlikely reunions of both The Beatstalkers and The Only Ones.
Alan Mair: Season Tres Behind-the-Scenes: Rockers ‘n’ Schmatas!
Beatstalkers / The Only Ones bassist Alan Mair, who employed Freddy Mercury as a salesman in his Kensington Market boot shop, discusses fashion with Mark, who has familial ties to the garment industry. Derek reminisces about The Who with Alan.
By Joe Gagliardo