Photo by Wade Gradia

Greg Lake, bassist by Tom Semioli 

 

Lady Supermarket with an apple in her basket, knocks on the manager’s door… 

 

Seminal Sides: King Crimson, Court of the Crimson King (1969) and In the Wake of Poseidon (1970); Emerson, Lake & Palmer,  ELP (1970), Tarkus (1971), Pictures at an Exhibition (1971), Trilogy (1972), Brain Salad Surgery (1973), Works Volume 1 (1977)

 

Among the most influential, innovative, and revered ensembles of prog rock’s golden era were the original configurations of King Crimson, and Emerson Lake & Palmer – both fronted and anchored by vocalist, bassist, songwriter Gregory Stuart Lake. Prompted to take up the electric bass at the behest of his school buddy Robert Fripp – Lake’s work on Court of the Crimson King (1969) was watershed – his adventurous passages bolstered the ensemble’s frenetic forays into classical and jazz in a rock context.

 

Said Lake on his website “…there is a common thread throughout all the music. The forms may be different, but each one to some degree draws upon inspiration from the past. I am as proud to have been as influenced by people like Elvis and Little Richard as I am by composers like Copeland and Prokofiev and I’m honored when other musicians regard me as one of their inspirations.”

 

With ELP, Lake’s bass artistry served as the rhythmic and harmonic bridge between his two virtuoso mates as they broke ground on each ensuing release.  Lake, akin to Sir Paul, Brian Wilson, and Joe Osborn, was a master of upper register countermelodies. His weapons of choice included the Fender Jazz, and later, the Alembic.

 

Greg’s excellence as a bassist was matched by his excellence as a singer and pop composer: “Lucky Man” (a song he wrote at the age of 12), “From The Beginning,” and “Still You Turn Me On,” among others are defining recordings of the classic rock era.

 

Though his solo career and various ELP reunions – including one incarnation with Cozy Powell in the drum chair – failed to generate any significant attention beyond hard-core fans, Lake’s legacy with King Crimson and ELP as a bassist, singer, composer, and producer is matchless – and worthy of rediscovery and further evaluation by 21st Century schizoid prog rockers! .

 

“21st Century Schizoid Man” live at Hyde Park 1969 https://youtu.be/MM_G0IRLEx4

 

“Cat Food” https://youtu.be/uQuAboEvags

 

“Lucky Man” https://youtu.be/lmT2KvF4P5g

 

“From the Beginning” https://youtu.be/a9kXfW2gIcw

 

“Still You Turn Me On” https://youtu.be/McNQqH3RGGI

 

Photo by Robert Ellis Courtesy of John Wetton Com

Boz Burrell, bassist by Tom Semioli

 

Artists/Bands: Bad Company, King Crimson, Alvin Lee & Mylon LeFevre, Jon Lord, Pete Townshend & Ronnie Lane

 

Seminal Sides: Bad Company (1974), Straight Shooter (1975), Run With The Pack (1975) – all with Bad Company 

 

Though Peter Overend Watts of Mott the Hoople was offered the gig first, the late Raymond “Boz” Burrell was the perfect choice for the iconic hard rock hit making machine Bad Company.

 

A former jazz crooner (The Tea Time 4, and The Boz People with Ian McLagan) who took up the bass at Robert Fripp’s behest as a member of King Crimson, the vastly underrated Boz plied his craft with innate simplicity abetted with a decidedly rhythm and blues disposition.

 

Dig Boz with Crimson “Ladies of the Road” https://youtu.be/1HPV5Gdq_q8

 

A fretless pioneer, Boz also waxed sides with Pete Townshend and Ronnie Lane (Rough Mix/1977), Alvin Lee and Mylon LeFevre (On the Road to Freedom / 1973), Jon Lord, Alexis Korner, and Chris Farlowe, among others.

 

Following his tenure in Bad Company, Boz worked with blues rock artist Roger Chapman, and most notably with Scottish blues belter Tam White, with whom he toured extensively until Burrell popped his clogs in 2006.

 

Among Boz’s weapons of choice included an Ampeg AMUB-1 Fretless bass, Fender Precision, Fender Jazz, MusicMan Stingray, a Lakeland 55-02 Five string, and a Fender Precision fretless.

 

When the original Bad Company reunited in ’99 (The Original Bad Company box set), Boz flexed his vastly improved harmonic chops on the five string!

 

Boz Burrell Sound & Vision: 

 

Boz on the 5 String for “Shooting Star” 1999 https://youtu.be/huQRD_RZxP0

 

Boz on his composition “Gone Gone Gone” https://youtu.be/kc0G7kDqCRg

 

“Can’t Get Enough” Live https://youtu.be/7p9mzYB–uI

 

Boz with….

 

Alvin Lee & Mylon LeFevre “Riffin” https://youtu.be/vl9oR4uQPlc

 

Jon Lord “Hollywood Rock and Roll” https://youtu.be/wIHq714ywBg

 

Tam White “Save Me” https://youtu.be/QqfBcjOH4mo

 

Pete and Ronnie “Heart to Hang On To” https://youtu.be/uQ4PIFeofd4

 

Boz Burrell Coda from Lou Loudhailer, who owns one of Boz’s instruments: I bought it frorm a little shop in Camden Town in 1982. I saw it and thought wow that’s the bass for me – although I’d never played a fretless until then. It was about £200… after I bought it the guy in the shop said ‘You just bought Boz Burrell’s bass’ – so I didn’t know until I’d paid for it – I was a fan of Bad Company so I was happy with that! I’ve played it ever since. I read somewhere that Boz didn’t get on with it which is why he sold it. But I love it. It’s got an early serial number. Plays and sounds amazing. I bought a new Cutlass with a carbon graphite neck a few years later when I was in the Red Guitars and played that until about 3 years ago when I replaced it with a Caprice.