Courtesy of Fender Com

By Thomas Semioli

 

You either loved or despised Guns ‘n’ Roses – which is the ultimate gauge of a great rock ‘n’ roll band. Muti-instrumentalist, composer, author, economic advisor, masculine mentor,  media host, and bassist Michael Andrew “Duff” McKagan distinguished himself from the majority of his hard rock peers – most of whom played the instrument as a root-note-only buttress – with fluid counter-melodies which weaved their way through Axl’s banshee wails and Slash’s raucous riffage.

 

Born and raised in Seattle, Duff (an Irish nickname) started off as a drummer. He gravitated to the bass by way of his brother Bruce. Plying his craft in various local punk bands, Duff migrated to Los Angeles in the early 1980s.  He answered an ad in a music paper and met his future GNR bandmates Slash and Steven Adler, and the rest, as they say is history… Fans are advised to read his intriguing autobiography It’s So Easy and Other Lies (2011) for the GNR story.  

 

Guns ‘n’ Roses emerged as one of the world’s biggest rock bands in the late 1980s – filling stadiums, whilst moving multi-platinum platters and merch. Akin to their ancestors the Rolling Stones, and Sex Pistols, GNR were the last of rock and roll’s bad boy bands.  Fans dressed like them, and musicians were inspired by them. They were among the few rock bands of any era that were recognized outside the parameters of the music business. GNR’s unsavory public behavior (mostly hype) garnered them headlines aplenty which further fueled interest in the band. Regardless of their persona, GNR delivered the goods: they were exemplary players, writers, performers, and recording artists.  

 

Sadly the original band (mostly) collapsed after four studio albums. However if you were to cherry-pick choice cuts from the members’ ensuing solo slabs: Duff’s Believe In Me (1993), all the Izzy Stradlin albums, Gilby Clarke’s Pawn Shop Guitars (1994), and a Slash’s Snakepit disc or two; you’ve got a few killer GNR sides. Axl’s hired Guns cut a dud of an album sans memorable songs, and fans attended the live performances to hear the classic Duff/Slash/Izzy/Adler era material.

 

Duff’s debut solo slab Believe In Me and his most recent release Tenderness (2019) show him to be well versed in a variety of musical styles – spanning hard rock, blues, funk and Americana.  His band Loaded waxed three sides intermittently between 2001 -11 with Duff on guitar – a collective which echoed his Seattle punk daze with a modern metal modus operandi.

 

McKagan also anchored super-group Velvet Revolver with Scott Weiland, Slash, Matt Sorum, and David Kushner which kept the LA style hard-rock flame burning in pop era of the early 00’s with two fine releases. Among Duff’s other high-profile projects include Neurotic Outsiders with Sex Pistol Steve Jones and John Taylor of Duran Duran, a brief stint in Jane’s Addiction, and Alice Cooper’s star-studded Hollywood Vampires to cite a few. McKagan has also guested on slabs by Iggy Pop and Ozzy, among many others.  In 2015 Duff, Axl, and Slash began a series of GNR reunion tours which resurrect the old glory for those who missed it the first time around. No word as of 2020 if they’ll cut another disc.

 

Duff the bassist is a song-player who renders deep pocket grooves and countermelodies – usually with a slight flange / chorus effect.  Fender feted the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame bassist with a signature model (basically a P/J combo), attitude not included! Duff’s main weapon of choice during the Guns heyday was a Fender Aerodyne bass.

 

 

Duff McKagan Sound & Vision…

 

Guns ‘n’ Roses:

“Pretty Tied Up” https://youtu.be/uOzA23ibxjU

“So Fine” (written and sung by Duff) https://youtu.be/2bM4sdnrNf0

“Paradise City” https://youtu.be/Rbm6GXllBiw

 

Velvet Revolver:  

“Fall to Pieces” https://youtu.be/9JhsUFuqbCM

“Slither” https://youtu.be/BKz2U4fvA4U

Neurotic Outsiders: “Jerk” https://youtu.be/bOs3wBAfwMo

 

Solo Duff:

“Believe In Me” https://youtu.be/2-Xd6I-hMgU

“Wasted Heart” https://youtu.be/uY8TEcR5vjM

“How to Be a Man” https://youtu.be/yyIn8hvue7A

“Flatline” https://youtu.be/tcDS_7p99bA

 

By Thomas Semioli

He anchored “the only band that matters.” *

 

The snapshot of his impromptu thrashing of his beloved Fender Precision at the Palladium in New York City on 20 September 1979  is arguably the greatest rock and roll image ever captured on film. Photographed by Pennie Smith, the bassist adorns the cover of what many of my generation consider to be the greatest rock and roll album of its era – and perhaps of all time …

 

Paul Gustave Simonon has gone on record as saying he regrets busting up his instrument in the heat of the moment. Yet Paul and that hunk of wood, metal, and wires have waxed slabs and songs which have stood the almighty test of time.

 

Miles Davis taught us that 90% of playing an instrument is “attitude.” And in the attitude department, Simonon is second to none: Paul’s detached persona of the brooding rock bassist making only the coolest of stage moves has inspired countless players from punk to alternative to metal and permutations thereof.

 

Credited with naming the group he joined at the behest of  Mick Jones as “The Clash” –  Paul’s background in the arts as a scholarship student at Byram Shaw School of Art was a major factor in the band’s formidable fashion forward visual appearance – exuding an attitude which fortified the Joe Strummer’s political libretto and Jones’ songcraft.

 

The Clash looked as dangerous as they sounded! Paul also played a major role in the design of their record sleeves and stage designs / props – or lack thereof!

 

 

As for his musical abilities, Simonon was a minimalist who was taught to play bass by Jones, and he followed guitarist’s instructions to the note.  On Clash tracks which required more rhythmic and technical prowess, bassist Norman Watt-Roy of Ian Dury’s Blockheads was called in to get the job done.

 

As I was witness, Simonon impressively replicated Norman’s passages on stage – and improved as a player as the band’s career progressed. Paul was among the players who made great strides to incorporate the language of ska and reggae into the rock bass lexicon as Clash grooves were ubiquitous on rock radio during their time together.

 

Simonon was not a sonwriter per se, and given the competition between Strummer and Jones, it is indeed ironic that he composed one of the band’s most powerful anthems “The Guns of Brixton.”

 

Following the demise of the Clash, Simonon formed the rockabilly punk ensemble Havana 3am, which waxed one commendable platter with Paul then spilt up following the death of a bandmember. Paul also cut a track with Bob Dylan – who was reportedly a huge Clash fan and attended many shows – which appeared on the bard’s Down In The Groove collection release in 1987.

 

Simonon retired from rock in the late 1980s, and pursued his artistic career until 2010 when he resurfaced on stage and on record with Damon Albarn’s “group” Gorillaz (with Mick Jones) and Albarn’s ensemble The Good The Bad and The Queen which continues to tour and record.

 

Though he has occasionally been photographed with a Rickenbacker 4001 in The Clash’s early years, Paul’s primary weapon of choice and the one he will always be identified with is the Fender Precision.

 

* “The only band that matters” designation was created by CBS Records’ advertising department.

 

Paul Simonon Sound & Vision

Paul crooning “The Guns of Brixton” https://youtu.be/WPOTgzqErd4

 

Paul crooning “Red Angel Dragnet” which he composed with Clash “associate” / producer Kosmo Vinyl https://youtu.be/at09i0NqROI

 

“London Calling,” and “Train in Vain” https://youtu.be/Lhwk9PTPOpU

 

 Paul with Bob Dylan “Sally Sue Brown” https://youtu.be/qhbBESvSt98

 

 Paul with Havana 3am “Reach the Rock” https://youtu.be/vdEt9EuDQhE

 

 Paul with Gorillaz “Plastic Beach” https://youtu.be/AGM8BMqBcTo

 

 Paul with The Good The Bad and The Queen “Herculean” https://youtu.be/iSj0dkqBiWc

 

 Tony Senatore’s rendition of Paul’s passage for “Should I Stay or Should I Go” https://youtu.be/jQsEY5iXXxI

 

 Tony Senatore’s rendition of Paul’s passage for “London Calling” https://youtu.be/1xpuPKDuHng

 

 

 

Tune in to classic rock radio and you’ll likely hear this cat laying down grooves on his maple neck Fender Precision…

 

A bassist, composer, and co-writer of “One Way of Another,” “Union City Blue,” and “Eat to the Beat” – Nigel Harrison anchored Rock and Roll Hall of Famers Blondie during their classic run which included such seminal sides as Parallel Lines (1978), Eat to the Beat (1979), and Autoamerican (1980).

 

“One Way or Another” https://youtu.be/valVixMpzQY

 

“Union City Blue” https://youtu.be/Hvqgb1D6Opw

 

“Eat to the Beat” https://youtu.be/dh6L_7770pM

 

Dig Nigel’s bass solo! “Atomic” https://youtu.be/O_WLw_0DFQQ

 

 

 

Harrison also worked the harmonic and rhythmic foundation for one of rock’s great unheralded ensembles – Silverhead – helmed by Michael Des Barres. Silverhead waxed two magnificent sides: Silverhead (1972) and 16 and Savaged (1973).

 

Nigel was the bassist with Ray Manzarek’s Nite City, and Chequered Past with bassist Tony Sales moonlighting on guitar, Des Barres, Frank Infante, and Sex Piston on busman’s holiday Steve Jones.

 

 Silverhead “Sixteen and Savaged” https://youtu.be/4j1MW55y99Y

 

 Nite City on their signature tune: https://youtu.be/emPdI-Oo3pw

 

Chequered Past “A World Gone Wild” https://youtu.be/tJW2x-jER3I

 

Nigel’s punchy octaving riffage on “Heart of Glass” made “disco” (somewhat) acceptable to rockers!

 

“Heart of Glass” https://youtu.be/WGU_4-5RaxU

 

 

 

Courtesy of John Illsley Com

 

Bassist, pub-owner, singer, painter, band member, recording artist, TV presenter, producer, and multi-instrumentalist John Edward Illsley anchored Rock and Roll Hall of Fame ensemble Dire Straits for the entirety of their extraordinary career which spanned 1977 to 1995.

 

Given the presence of world class guitarist, songwriter Mark Knopfler, Illsley deftly worked the pocket with a trad tone in support of his bandleader – and they managed to sell over 100 million albums.

 

In 2005 John began performing and recording with Cunia, and Irish Celtic Rock Group. Among John’s weapons of choice include MusicMan StingRay, and Fender basses.

 

A prolific solo / collaborative recording artist, John has waxed nine slabs and runs East End Arms pub https://www.eastendarms.co.uk/ was has been cited among the “Fifty Best Pubs Around Britain” according to The London Times.

John Illsley Sound & Vision

 

With Dire Straits

“Skateaway” with Jayzik Azikiwe as the “roller girl.”  https://youtu.be/vcwl-Q7pAtY

“Money for Nothing” with Gordon Sumner https://youtu.be/wTP2RUD_cL0

“Sultans of Swing” https://youtu.be/h0ffIJ7ZO4U

“So Far Away” https://youtu.be/YIHMPc6ZCuI

Solo John Illsley

“Long Shadow”  https://youtu.be/gYO6ihi7QuA

“Young Girl” https://youtu.be/srs261bUEqc

 

Classically trained at New York University, flautist/bassist Andy Kulberg anchored one of rock’s most influential ensembles; Blues Project. Composer of “Flute Thing” Andy was among the first wave of electric rock bassists who drew from jazz, blues, and folk in an improvisational rock context. Following Blues Project, Andy formed Seatrain, which broke ground in rock roots music including a fine self-titled sophomore slab produced by George Martin.    

 

Andy Kulberg Sound and Vision:

 

With Blues Project:

 

“Flute Thing” https://youtu.be/ERxBkzoYIp8

 

“Steve’s Song” https://youtu.be/HeYLMC7W6ZE

 

“I Can’t Keep from Crying” https://youtu.be/1Uxalc0o10s

 

With Seatrain:

 

“Willin’ https://youtu.be/iV9C8jlhOmY

 

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame trio Green Day turned a new generation on to “political” punk while forging a canon that melded pop melody and social commentary, especially on such collections as American Idiot (2004) and 21st Century Breakdown (2009).  To my ears, Billie Joe carries the populist mantle forged by Joe Strummer, Bob Dylan, Bob Marley, John Lennon, and Jello Biafra…

 

However don’t let the simplistic “punk” moniker mislead you when it comes to the music and the bassist, as the former Michael Ryan Pritchard is a accomplished and dexterous player; rendering chords, slaps, walking lines, and counterpoint as evidenced on such Green Day tracks as…

 

“Father of All” https://youtu.be/eXv00PJ9IQM

 

“Welcome to the Paradise” https://youtu.be/iOcrKFiB_ts

 

“Makeout Party” https://youtu.be/hsHrfNzal0U

 

“No One Knows” https://youtu.be/jRbVjJPKoUY

 

“Chump”  https://youtu.be/qiN2rE7shBc

 

“Minority” https://youtu.be/cDBlqu6KF4k

 

“Dirty Rotten” https://youtu.be/Tsn7pW8TcI4

 

“Longview” https://youtu.be/vlOuYdPVlak

 

…to cite a few.  

 

A songwriter, occasional lead singer, and backing vocalist, Mike Dirnt’s signature Fender P bass plays like butta! Dig Dirnt talkin’ Dirnt bass: https://youtu.be/vYWm9gvtlKQ

“I prefer to think of myself as a musician who is still learning and trying to do something every time out…” Geddy Lee

In their nearly 50 years of existence – Rush was a genre unto their own, bringing prog rock to the masses by way of their pop inclinations, work ethic, and overall canon which, to my ears, never was given to formulae and always seemed to move forward. Geddy and Rush filled stadiums, sold gazillions of albums,  and inspired musicians for as long as I can remember.

Bassist / singer / keyboardist / composer / author / baseball fanatic / wine connoisseur Gary Lee Weinrib experimented with a wide array of bass tones and instruments, among them Rickenbacker, Wal, Steinberger, and Fender Jazz. In fact, Fender created a massively popular Geddy Lee Signature Jazz bass which, in my opinion, tops Leo’s original designs and continues to be a best seller.

Working the pocket, and forging melodic passages Geddy influenced scores of players known for their chops and flash – yet he is a consummate compositional player who never allowed dexterity to take favor over melody or songwriting.

To choose one Geddy track is impossible. I’ll cite “Leave That Thing Alone” – a bass solo composition which to my ears reflects the expanse of Rush’s entire career wherein Lee quotes metal, jazz, progressive, blues, and funk – all within the span of 5:00.

Rush “Leave That Thing Along” https://youtu.be/iqyBq4vnuvc

That composition alone, and I am sure there are many, many, many more – is a testimony to Lee’s deep knowledge and reverence of the instrument and its role in every genre conceivable. This cat has every bass (pun intended) covered. Every serious student of the electric bass would be advised to study Lee’s work.

A true giant of the instrument, Geddy Lee has won scores of bass polls throughout his career, and his Geddy Lee’s Big Beautiful Book of Bass is essential reading.

Listen to Geddy discuss his book on CBC https://youtu.be/jIMmdOZlmrU

They are a quintessential American band whose excellence as songwriters, instrumentalists, and recording artists was so profound that their generation took The Doobie Brothers for granted!

From the time he hooked up with the San Jose collective in 1972 until he departed the band shortly before they split in 1980, Tiran Porter’s bass artistry was a staple on FM and AM radio.

An accomplished backing vocalist greatly inspired by Sir Paul, Tiran rendered a unique, funky plectrum plied attack coupled with a penchant for purveying melodic motifs which defined several rock standards including “China Grove,” “Listen to the Music,” “Long Train Runnin,” “Minute By Minute,” and “Takin’ It to the Streets” among others.

Tiran, who waxed a solo album in 1995 entitled Playing to an Empty House, is still on the bandstand in the Bay Area. His weapons of choice included Alembic, Fender, and Gibson.

Dig some of Tiran’s classic performances….

“Takin” It To the Streets” https://youtu.be/5o_umKOTXIs

“Long Train Runnin’ https://youtu.be/m4tJSn0QtME

“Listen to the Music” https://youtu.be/DkytJLoxGmQ

Dig Tony Senatore’s redition of “It Keeps You Runnin’” https://youtu.be/XZsWolQbxp4

Dig Tony Senatore’s rendition of “For Someone Special” https://youtu.be/4KMr3jqoImE

My guess is that most folks assumed that The Doobie Brothers were already in the Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall of Fame until the “powers that be” granted them honors in 2020!

By Thomas Semioli

Jazz icon Ray Brown praised him for his work on “Bus Stop.” Akin to numerous bassists in the early days of the instrument, Bernard Bamford Calvert started his musical journey at the keyboards. Calvert, who took up the bass at the behest of The Hollies’ Tony Hicks, toiled with several groups before joining the aforementioned Rock ‘n ‘ Roll Hall of Fame ensemble in 1966 commencing with the album For Certain Because which was renamed Stop! Stop! Stop! for the U.S. and Canadian markets.

Though not as harmonically and rhythmically adventurous as the band’s previous bassist – Eric Haydock -Calvert’s supportive artistry drew from a wide array of influences ranging from jazz, blues, dance hall, soul, and folk. As such, he deftly negotiated The Hollies diverse canon which spanned Merseybeat, AM pop, psychedelic, MOR and every permutation thereof. Bernie Calvert departed The Hollies in 1981 and is still on the bandstand with church groups in his native Lancashire.

Dig Bernie on “Bus Stop” https://youtu.be/YCFvXAbSXUQ

Dig Bernie on “He Ain’t Heavy” https://youtu.be/iPDl9yKSnDE

Dig Bernie on “The Air that I Breathe” https://youtu.be/Cwt65tG2GI8

Dig Bernie playing keyboards on “Ye Olde Toffee Shoppe” https://youtu.be/2vVG1CPw3vc

By Thomas Semioli

“Doesn’t everyone sniff cocaine off stripper’s bums?”

They don’t make rock stars like Glenn Hughes anymore. The rightfully proclaimed “Voice of Rock” is a world class bassist and singer-songwriter on par with Sir Paul and Sting who carved his legend with Trapeze and Deep Purple Mark III & IV.

Dig Glenn with Trapeze “Coast to Coast” https://youtu.be/ivSMRe4SUVI

Armed with a Fender and Rickenbacker 4001 –among other instruments, Glenn’s funky bass playing and soaring vocals with Deep Purple were decidedly soulful: which was one of the primary reasons Ritchie Blackmore bolted to form Rainbow.

Dig Glenn and Deep Purple at the legendary ‘74 California Jam https://youtu.be/KJ-CMPqvzQU

As such, the Purps hired Tommy Bolin and waxed one of the great lost albums of the 1970s – Come Taste The Band (1976).

Glenn’s solo catalog and collaborations are an extraordinary, groundbreaking fusion of rhythm & blues and hard rock: Play Me Out, Glenn Hughes Blues (with Tony Franklin), The Way It Is, Soul Mover, Hughes-Thrall, Tony Iommi/ Black Sabbath’s Seventh Star, and Black Country Communion, to cite a select few.  

Dig Glenn Hughes performing “Burn” with his solo band https://youtu.be/hzaGm3L0oqo

Dig Tony Senatore’s rendition of Deep Purple’s version of “Burn” with Glen Hughes https://youtu.be/XZsWolQbxp4

Dig Glenn with Trapeze “You Are The Music, We Are Just the Band” https://youtu.be/nLSVY0VS3Dg

Glenn’s autobiographical tome, penned with Joel McIver is essential reading!