A body of experience… the acquisition of knowledge or skills through experience, study, or by being taught…

 

I met Phil Spalding in London in 2019 when I interviewed him for my Know Your Bass Player film series with Mark Preston, Derek Hanlon, and Oliver Harley Symonds. As best as I can recall he was recommended to me by bassist / publicist Dave Clarke, to whom I am greatly appreciative of.  I knew of Phil from my record collection: Seal, Terence Trent D’Arby, GTR, Toyah, Mike Oldfield, Ray Charles, Bernie Torme, Right Said Fred, Elton John, Mick Jagger, The Who, and Robbie Williams to cite a select few.

 

When I interviewed Phil at Terminal Studios in beautiful downtown Bermondsey, I was surprised to learn that he did not study music formally or informally. You can hear Phil explain this to me in the film clip below. I was even more perplexed that he had paying students and hosted lectures on bass education.

 

How can an “illiterate” musician teach aside from regaling students with tales of rock stardom and demonstrations of his most recognizable bass parts, and provide said audience with tutorials on gear?

 

Not that there’s anything wrong with telling stories about famous people and places and talk equipment.

 

When I expressed my stance to Phil – he shot back in the “you can do anything if you work hard, follow your dreams, and are passionate” formulae.

 

I agree. Though I am extremely pleased that the doctor who removed my cancer and saved my life in 2017 attended med school. Phil challenged me to set up bass lectures in New York City so he could fly in and show me his methodology. Sadly, that dare never materialized due to our conflicting schedules and his untimely passing.

 

Phil was a natural ala Paul McCartney, and Prince. Phil had the gift of coming up with great parts for great songs by great artists.

 

His stage presence as a sideman was infectious – you could not take your eyes off the lithe, follicularly challenged performer regardless of the caliber of musicians with whom he shared the stage.  Off stage, Phil was a loving, charming, humble cat who loved to eat Kit-Kat bars with a loud crunch whilst other bass players were being interviewed on film. His contribution to the instrument in his era is to be lauded – which is where I am going.

 

Phil kept our instrument relevant in an age – the 1980s – when synthesizers were pushing the electric bass to the background, and in some instances, eliminating the instrument. Depeche Mode anyone?  

 

Magnificently, Spalding found ways to make our instrument essential among the sonic din of digitally enhanced keyboards and guitars which were all the rage.

 

And he did it all on a Fender Precision – a tool that was considered a dinosaur in the Reagan / Thatcher years. Phil didn’t change instruments like some players change socks. He made that device work regardless of what was vogue. Akin to Pino Palladino’s use of the Precision on D’Angelo’s watershed Voodoo (2000), Phil made the P bass forever relevant.

 

So, what did Phil do?

 

Technically he employed harmonics, muting, slap/pop, hammer-ons, plectrum, assorted methods of finger plucking (atop the string, beneath the string), string bending, trills, alternate tuning, flopping strings, and glissandos among other physical practices. Phil harbored no prejudices to the techniques oft derided by the “bass police.” Can you teach an open mind? Not sure…

 

Rhythmically he played on top of the beat, behind the beat, ahead of the beat, staccato, legato; he accented off the kick-drum, guitar motifs, vocal inflections and the like. He’d render a reggae groove on a rock tune and play punk eighth notes on a reggae track; he danced around synth lines – to analyze a few. Phil was a daring cat! Be like Phil say I!

 

Harmonically he would voice lead other than with the root, utilize pedal tones where you wouldn’t expect to hear them, and run a chromatic passage, leave space,  utilize 6ths, 9ths, 10ths, 13ths to enhance lyrics and melody; render chords – all in the service of the almighty song. Spalding had a golden ear. Do they sell golden ears at Sweetwater? Denmark Street? Can you get a good used golden ear at Reverb? Not the last time I checked…

 

Sonically – though a devout Fender Precision practitioner, he did wield a fretless Steinberger XL – both fashionable and functional in its time. Phil also worked every bass pedal known to man and beast. And probably a few others as well.  Phil was a timbre chameleon.  

 

Phil was unusually gifted. To negotiate time-signature shifts, abrupt key changes, and complex unison lines – among other requirements of players at Phil’s level – by memory – is challenging even to the most learned of players. And to be called upon to create parts to complement such artists and their compositions is the stuff of world class players. If Phil did that off the top of his bald pate then hats off to Spalding! We should all be blessed with such aptitudes.  I get Phil’s theory regarding passion and hard work…

 

What about the rest of us? What about the other stuff? 

 

Music education cannot teach creativity. Music education cannot make you Phil Spalding, yet it offers you the opportunity to understand what Phil Spalding did – making you a better you -no matter where you are in your career.  And music education is not just note reading and a working knowledge of music theory – which is essential and not as daunting as it appears. It’s listening, analyzing, asking questions, and practice, practice, practice.

 

Music history is also a key to knowledge, improvement, and the joy of discovery.

 

Phil spoke intelligently of players spanning his hero Phil Lynott to Jaco Pastorius. When I posted social media missives spanning Muscle Shoals, Motown, The Sound of Philadelphia, Funk Brothers, Wrecking Crew, Memphis Stax; Nashville, New York City and London session aces, Leon Russell’s Oklahoma posse, among others, Spalding knew every name and could tell you what made them great. He incorporated those lessons into his toolbox, which made Phil great.

 

To know where you are going, you have to know where you came from! 

 

Yet, unless a divine (and I’m not referring to actor Harris Glenn Milstead) creator taps your headstock and fills your world with glorious bass lines, as was the case with Phil Spalding as far as I knew him and what he imparted to me on film and in our conversations; education is the best answer. 

 

I am deeply grateful of the brief, rich friendship I had with Phil. His diverse, entertaining, and innovative recorded canon is testimony to the man. Phil was blessed and he blessed us by sharing his talents. I highly advise that you analyze this Phil Spalding playlist, brilliantly compiled by “Didymus” on Spotify.  

 

Godspeed you Phil Spalding, we shall meet once again in that great gig in the sky. I’ll bring my ’76 P bass. You can play it… if you wipe the Kit-Kat chocolate off your fingers!

 

Phil Spalding Playlist:

 

Spotify (Entire List): https://open.spotify.com/playlist/3L15ENGPrH7NLikRC67M86?si=37f0d652a1b94ac1

 

Selections:

 

“It’s a Mystery” Toyah https://youtu.be/hKDi6ym3Ny0

 

“Moonlight Shadow” Mike Oldfield https://youtu.be/cL0r7Sc6_BA

 

“Kids” Robbie Williams https://youtu.be/cvn6eYJh-0c

 

“Wishing Well” Terence Trent D’Arby https://youtu.be/ynIHsHYaig0

 

“Goddess in the Doorway” Mick Jagger https://youtu.be/ExtDXLXleSs

 

“Melt” Melanie C https://youtu.be/k0RBIkWpyd8

 

“I Want to be Free” Toyah https://youtu.be/c4s7xqntVaY

 

“I’m Too Sexy” Right Said Fred https://youtu.be/P5mtclwloEQ

 

“Stars” Dubstar https://youtu.be/b-x6ywUqVvk

 

“The Key” Roger Taylor https://youtu.be/pNRW6IJLwZA

 

“Feel” Robbie Williams https://youtu.be/iy4mXZN1Zzk

 

“Come As You Are” Beverly Knight https://youtu.be/IQNoanH2Iak

 

“I’m No Angel” Marcella Detroit https://youtu.be/mIZ2OebnURw

 

“Sexed Up” Robbie Williams https://youtu.be/mBhqMwOl_ZE

 

“When The Heart Rules the Mind” GTR https://youtu.be/ARERFbiqCfk

 

“Prayer for the Dying” Seal https://youtu.be/Btl5PYdpcNs

 

“Loveboat” Kyle Minogue https://youtu.be/FR6C6kNuHKM

 

“Love Is the Law” Toyah https://youtu.be/O7YicicF9Hg

 

“Not So Manic Now” Dubstar https://youtu.be/7JHp8Cc3wBY

 

“Contenders” Heaven 17 https://youtu.be/ARARRPaqNvk

 

Know Your Bass Player on Film

 

Phil Spalding Explains How He Became a Bass Player https://youtu.be/SCK4SQt_ADQ

 

 

This past weekend, I watched the Robert Trujillo-produced documentary about the life of legendary bassist Jaco Pastorius entitled Jaco. Although the film was made in 2014, I finally got around to viewing it, and the timing was perfect. A steady diet of highly mediocre Instagram bass videos sent to me by my bass-playing friends featuring cute children, overplaying adults, and sexy, scantily-clad women who didn’t get the message that they should be working toward the fall of the patriarchy was draining my soul and spirit. The videos demoralized me because they depicted the art of music and bass playing as a cheap parlor trick that anyone could do.  People say that if you do something that you love for a living, you will never work a day in your life. I have never been a fan of aphorisms, but in my life, I have come to a different conclusion; Sometimes, doing what you love as a means of sustenance can make you despise what you once loved. As such, it is often necessary to find inspiration in any way possible. 

 

The Jaco documentary, available for viewing here, did not make me feel any better about my decision to pursue a career as a professional bassist for the last forty-three years but instead explained the motivation behind that decision. It is very impactful when someone profoundly influences your life, as Jaco influenced mine. Someday there might come a time when you realize that you should have emulated Bill Gates rather than Jaco Pastorius.  Often, it is impossible to deviate from the course you set out on once the passion takes hold. This is especially true for those pursuing careers in the arts.  Although it is not stated directly, what is implicit in the documentary is the idea that whatever your chosen instrument, all musicians must strive to develop a personal style and voice.

 

Jaco did this by transforming his life’s joy and chaos into art and settling on one specific bass to express himself; a 60’s fretless Fender Jazz Bass played through his beloved Acoustic 360 amplifier. This is a crucial lesson for those (like me) that feel the need to have a vast array of bass guitars. Know Your Bass Player “head honcho” Tom Semioli has often pointed this out to me to no avail. Sometimes too many equipment options are a detriment to finding your voice. After trying to break new ground on my six-string bass between the years of 1987 to 1995, an unexpected encounter with a Hamer 12-string electric bass guitar in a New Jersey music store changed my life. With that instrument, I could finally express myself like never before. I released an audio CD entitled Holyland in 2005 and my 12-string bass X-ploration DVD in 2007. From that point on, my career took off, and modest critical acclaim followed.

 

The themes of mental illness and family were the aspects of the documentary that resonated with me the most and shaped my life and Jaco’s. The birth of Jaco’s daughter Mary was the catalyst for him to get serious about his life and ultimately become a better bassist. As he looked at his newborn daughter, he turned to his brother and said, “Gregory, I have to do something on the electric bass that has never been done before.” Jaco was a working musician in Florida, but he instinctively knew that wasn’t enough to give her and his other children the life they deserved. Unfortunately, Jaco’s mental illness, undiagnosed until much later in his life, caused him to become estranged from his children and lose his career and, ultimately,  his life.

 

On the other hand, he achieved his goal of becoming arguably the most incredible electric bassist ever. Although I have no biological children, the birth of my niece Alexandra in 1993 radically altered the trajectory of my life. Moreover, I am no stranger to mental illness. My late sister suffered from schizophrenia and manic depression and could not raise her daughter. I relocated from Florida to raise my niece as my daughter with the help of my parents. By 2004, I was in the same place Jaco was when he told his brother Gregory that he needed to become the world’s greatest bassist. Unlike Jaco, I decided that getting a day job unrelated to music was a better plan than becoming a better bassist.

 

By 2008, I decided to get the college degree I abandoned in 1980. By 2017, I received my bachelor’s degree from Columbia University in the City of New York. During my nine-year journey in academia, I never stopped playing the bass. I played live sporadically and maintained a rigorous practice schedule. I wasn’t trying to break new ground but simply preserve what I had developed over the years.

 

After graduation, I got a better job and resumed my music career. By 2018, I realized that although reinventing myself as an academic was perhaps the most extraordinary period in my life, music and playing the bass were what I did best. After graduating college at age 55, I recorded some videos with friends, including a dual bass performance with Steve Swallow, which fills me with pride. The message is clear. There is no one size fits all solution to succeeding in life or the music business. My favorite scene in the documentary is when Jerry Jemmott showers Jaco with accolades regarding all the innovations he bestowed on the bass guitar’s history, lexicon, and development. Jaco turns to Jemmott and says, “ get me a gig!”

 

Jaco’s mental illness wreaked havoc on his personal and professional life. As Jemmott wisely pointed out, if you are a musician and your life doesn’t have stability, your art will suffer. Success in the music business always was, and always will be, about having the respect of those that you respect and having paid work and a full schedule of gigs. Everything else, including popularity on social media platforms, is an illusion and a distraction.

 

Although it might be a controversial statement, I believe Jaco Pastorius’s bass playing has not been surpassed. I agree with Flea, who asserted that “he’s the greatest bass player that ever played… there’s nothing else like it… am I missing something or someone… is there anything close to it on bass? Not to me, man!”

 

Robert Trujillo deserves much respect for his effort to document the life and legacy of Jaco Pastorius.