He anchored one of the world’s most artistically and commercially successful recording acts ever.
Though the Bee Gees employed scores of studio cats during their long, iconic career, the late Maurice Ernest Gibb waxed nearly all the bass tracks throughout their golden run from 1967 to 1979.
A multi-instrumentalist, brilliant harmony and lead vocalist, composer, and producer – Maurice was an underrated song-player who excelled on ballads, rockers, pop tunes, disco, dance tracks, and permutations thereof to which the brothers Gibb triumphantly traversed with fine countermelodies and pocket grooves.
Inspired by vocal groups including The Mills Brothers, Everly Brothers, Paul Anka, and The Beatles, Maurice’s weapons of choice included Rickenbacker and Fender basses.
This Lancastrian (he was born in Lancashire, North West England) bassist, composer, singer, recording artist, multi-instrumentalist, producer has penned some of rock’s most enduring hits – most notably The Yardbirds “For Your Love,” (along with “Heart Full of Soul,” and “Evil Hearted You”), The Hollies “Bus Stop,” and Herman’s Hermits “Listen People,” among others for Wayne Fontana, and Normie Rowe.
Co-founder of the watershed pop / art-rock ensemble 10cc – which he continues with to this day as sole leader – Gouldman is the consummate song-player, rendering passages that anchor the composition and afford harmonic and rhythmic embellishments. Graham has also waxed a few solo slabs, and teamed with many notable artists including Ringo Starr and Andrew Gold.
Coda: As per Graham…”Mythology has it that the name 10cc came from the average male ejaculation being 9cc, and, of course, being big, butch, Mancunian guys, we’re gonna be, y’know, 1cc more than that. No, the name actually did come from Jonathan King. Um, he said he’d had a dream the night before he came up to Manchester to listen to Donna. And, he saw a hoarding over Wembley Stadium or Hammersmith Odeon or something like that and said, “10cc The Best Group in the World”. So we … well, that sounds great to us, we’ll call ourselves 10cc. And that’s how it came about. ”
He penned the (el) perfecto paean to plump patootie entitled “Tush!” Joseph Michael “Dusty” Hill endures as the unshakable rhythmic/harmonic moor of ZZ Top, the iconic little ol’ band from Texas.
Entrenched in the pocket, and pulsating in 1/3/5/b7 modus operandi plied on a myriad of custom and vintage instruments, Dusty is “A Sharp Dressed Man” who accentuates his wardrobe with “Cheap Sunglasses.”
In the rock and roll profession, you can rest assured that you’re on the hallowed path to fame, fortune, fornication, and immoral immortality if the critics (duh) despise you…which brings us to…
…an individual who created one of the most influential bands in the history of rock and roll. Yet the “establishment” will never, never, ever admit it.
Though recognized more for their outrageous image and debauched reputation for excess, Motley Crue, co-founded by the former Frank Carlton Serafino Feranna Jr., will forever define the vital ‘80s metal era by way of their exceptional song-craft, musicianship, and studio work. It ain’t rocket science – it’s rock and roll! And Crue delivered the goods, pushing the music industry to its most profitable zenith.
Heaven (and hell) forbid another generation of George Michael, the Pet Shop Boys….thank you Crue for that reason alone. (Full Disclosure: I’ve never purchased Motley Crue music.)
Nikki Sixx, the band’s primary songwriter and visionary, guided this crew through a decade plus of platinum albums, arena-filling tours, and entertaining videos which set the template for modern hard rock.
Overcoming a horrific childhood, Sixx absorbed the essence of what made The Beatles, Queen, Sir Elton, Alice Cooper, and David Bowie great – a visually provocative persona with music to match. Crue concerts were bona-fide events. Their records were fun, subversive, occasionally reflective, and above all, dangerous. What more can rock and roll ask for?
As a bassist Sixx was all meat-and-potatoes – heavy riffs and pocket grooves to support the songs. Outside of the Crue, Nikki embarks various endeavors as an author, producer, radio host, photographer, and entrepreneur. His musical side-projects reflect the glory of Crue, but that’s a chemistry than cannot be replicated.
Millions love ‘em – millions hate ‘em… but that’s rock and roll for ya…
John Glascock is a brilliant bass player, the best in the business in rock…. opined Deep Purple’s Ritchie Blackmore, a rock guitar legend in his own right who worked with iconic bassists aplenty including Roger Glover, Glenn Hughes, Jimmy Bain, John Paul Jones, and Bob Daisley…to cite a select few.
A multi-instrumentalist, composer and vocalist, the late John Glascock anchored Latin prog-rock ensemble Carmen (Fandangos in Space, Dancing on the Cold Wind), blues ensembles Toe Fat and Chicken Shack (Imagination Lady) and one of the more eclectic line-ups Jethro Tull from 1976-79.
Among the early adopters of Leo’s MusicMan Stingray bass in 1976 (or thereabouts), John was an engaging stage performer and a register leaping, plectrum purveying, dexterous pocket / melodic player. Among John’s additional weapons of choice included Fender Precision, and Gibson basses.Sadly, John passed at the age of 28 from congenital heart problems.
A student at the London College of Printing who started out as a drummer, Scottish born Neil Murray passed on a career as a graphic designer for a rock and roll vocation which has worked out quite nicely – he has anchored several of the most influential artists in hard rock history.
Among the most in-demand bassists on stage and in the studio for three generations and counting, Neil’s “short list” of credits include one of the many underrated versions of Black Sabbath, along with Whitesnake, The Brian May Band, Gary Moore, Graham Bonnet, Cozy Powell, Peter Green, Bernie Marsden, Jon Lord, Micky Moody, Queen and Paul Rodgers, and the Michael Schenker Group to cite a very, very, very select few.
A chameleonic player Neil Murray’s versatility sets him apart from the metal motley – altering his tone and playing style as the situation warrants, drawing from prog-rock, rhythm & blues, pop, jazz fusion, soul and permutations thereof.
Dig Murray’s Jaco-esque tone and phrasing on the 1980 version of “Fool for Your Loving” https://youtu.be/PWJFjgcAhjQ
Dig Tony Senatore’s rendition of Neil with Whitesnake “In the Still of the Night” and Neil’s response to Tony https://youtu.be/FgS7iQrjg1k
Neil Murray writes: thanks for doing the track, Tony – don’t blame me for the video! I wanted to check the fast riffs at the beginning, since almost no-one ever gets them 100% right. I realize it’s hard to make out, but I was happy to see that the first one is correct, with the high A note on the G string; however, the second part STARTS with the same A note, so it’s exactly the same as the first riff, just missing off the beginning Bb-B-C. Many people play both riffs the way you’ve played the second part, not playing the high A at all, which is wrong. I’ve been planning to do videos like yours of my own bass parts, though I’m worried about the copyright issues, plus I’d quite like to eventually earn some money from doing them, which seems to be a minefield! Towards the end of the song, I am playing some 16th-note runs all the way through, not just on the first couple of bars, which sadly are virtually inaudible in the mix, so I’ll try to show what I do on that part. I replaced the root & 5 chords as the start of the middle quiet section, with double-tracked fretless slides which gave a bit of Jaco-chorusing, but maybe my tuning was judged to be not perfect enough, so the original fretted version was used. I played a Kubicki ExFactor bass on this track, as far as I can remember. [A pedant writes: no ‘In The”, it’s just “Still Of The Night”].
George Perry (Joe Walsh, CSN)
Courtesy of Standard Hotels
His big break came in the late 1970s when he was the house bass player / producer at TK Studios in Hialeah, Florida wherein Stephen Stills was seeking a young, funky cat to appropriate the disco grooves which permeated the pop pantheon!
George “Chocolate” Perry leveraged that opportunity to wax sides and tour which such renowned artists as CSN and various permutations thereof, along with Dion, Bobby Caldwell, Jon Secada, Bee Gees, Joe Walsh, John Cougar Mellencamp, and Dionne Warwick, among many, many others.
A producer will several impressive credits (Joe Walsh, Bobby Caldwell, The Blue Notes, among others) Perry quit the road and the biz in the early 90s, however his grooves can still be heard on classic rock radio, and I’m sure he’s been sampled in innumerable hip-hop and rap tracks.
Born into a musical family, James Alec Stewart was a founding member of the platinum selling Goth / hard-rock ensemble The Cult.
A converted guitarist, Stewart also doubled on keys and occasionally returned to the six-string as needed.
Stewart anchored the band on its trio of signature slaps Love (1985), Electric (1987), and Sonic Temple (1989) – which, to this day, dominate the band’s live sets. A hard rock pocket player who set the simple sonic template for his many successors (The Cult never permanently replaced him) Jamie’s main weapons of choice were Fender Jazz and Precision basses, and earlier in their career, the MusicMan Stingray – a common instrument among UK Goth rockers.
Following his split from the band, Stewart went into production before retiring from the music biz, however on occasion The Cult play in their native UK, Stewart joins them onstage for a song or two.
Underpinning Zack de la Roca’s sharp political libretto and Tom Morello’s angular riffage with monster grooves, Timothy Robert Commerford anchors the off-again on-again rap metal masters Rage Against the Machine. Utilizing Geddy Lee’s one finger technique whilst drawing on funk, progressive, and old school hard- rock, Commerford abets his sound with multiple effects spanning delay, wah, phase, and distortion.
Inspired to pick up the instrument by Gene Simmons (or studio cat Neil Jason!) has heard on Kiss Alive ll, Commerford revised his RATM role with grunge-metal supergroup Audioslave for a pair of platinum slabs.
Occasionally dabbling on upright, Tim currently fronts the electro-prog collective Future User, and has anchored yet another rap-metal supergroup – Prophets of Rage with a few of his ex-RATM mates and DJ Lord and Chuck D.
Tim’s primary weapons of choice are MusicMan Stingray and Fender Jazz basses.
WARNING to traditionalists – Commerford has been spotted using a Steinberger bass with Future User!
Though known to the masses as a Hollywood celebrity husband to …(that’s not what we focus on here at Know Your Bass Player*) … bassist, composer, producer Martyn LeNoble has forged a varied and noble career as a collaborator, side-man, and band member with The Cult, Pornos for Pyros, Jane’s Addiction, Mark Lanegan, Dave Gahan, Tom Morello, and Scott Weiland, to cite a few. Martyn’s usual weapon of choice is the Fender Jazz bass.
In addition to composing for film and television, LeNoble is a dexterous song-player who forged pocket grooves, slaps passages, and melodic counterpoint on some of the most perplexing platters of those aforementioned artists’ careers.
