![]() ![]() ![]() “Nobody wanted to play bass, they wanted to be up front.”Īnd yet the instrument has its own proud tradition in popular music, stretching from the mighty upright work of Jimmy Blanton in Duke Ellington’s orchestra and bebop pioneers like Oscar Pettiford to fellow jazz geniuses like Charles Mingus and Ron Carter studio champs like Kaye and James Jamerson rock warriors like Cream’s Jack Bruce and the Who’s John Entwistle funk masters like Bootsy and Sly and the Family Stone’s Larry Graham prog prodigies like Yes’ Chris Squire and Rush’s Geddy Lee fusion gods like Stanley Clarke and Jaco Pastorius and punk and postpunk masters like Weymouth and the Minutemen’s Mike Watt. “It wasn’t the number-one job,” McCartney once said, reflecting on the fateful moment when he took over the four-string after Stu Sutcliffe exited the Beatles. ![]() Guitarists, singers, and horn players tend to claim the flashiest moments in any given song, while drummers channel most of the kinetic energy, but what the bassist brings is something elemental - the part that loops endlessly in your head long after the music ends.īassists are often overlooked and undervalued, even within their own bands. Whatever you play puts a framework around the rest of the music.”Ī great bass line, whether it’s Paul McCartney’s hypnotic “Come Together” riff, Bootsy Collins’ sly vamp from James Brown’s “Sex Machine,” or Tina Weymouth’s minimal throb on Talking Heads’ “Psycho Killer,” is like a mantra: It sounds like it could go on forever, and it only feels more profound the more you hear it. He appeared onstage in an episode of American Idol, backing up Jacob Lusk's performance of "You're All I Need To Get By" for AI's Motown Week in March 2011.“The bass is the foundation,” session legend Carol Kaye once said, “and with the drummer you create the beat. He accepted an offer from Phil Collins to perform on his album of Motown and 1960s soul classics Going Back and also appears in Phil's Going Back live concert DVD. He played on the Jimi Hendrix album Crash Landing. He participated in hundreds of other hits, including "Little Town Flirt" by Del Shannon, "I Got a Name" by Jim Croce, "Midnight Train to Georgia" by Gladys Knight & the Pips, "Scorpio" by Dennis Coffey & the Detroit Guitar Band, and "(The) Rubberband Man" by The Spinners. The Pittsburgh-born Babbitt's most notable bass performances include "Signed, Sealed, Delivered I'm Yours" (by Stevie Wonder), "War" (by Edwin Starr), "The Tears of a Clown" (by Smokey Robinson & the Miracles), "Mercy Mercy Me (The Ecology)" and "Inner City Blues" (by Marvin Gaye), "Band Of Gold" (by Freda Payne), "Ball of Confusion (That's What the World Is Today)", and Just My Imagination (Running Away With Me) (by The Temptations). Babbitt traded off sessions with original Motown bassist James Jamerson. Also in 1968-1970, with Mike Campbell, Ray Monette and Andrew Smith he formed the band Scorpion. He was 74.īob Babbitt (born Robert Kreinar NovemJuly 16, 2012), was an American bassist, most famous for his work as a member of Motown Records' studio band, the Funk Brothers, from 1966 -1972, as well as his tenure as part of MFSB for Philadelphia International Records afterwards. Bob Babbitt, a bassist for Motown Records and key accompanist to some of the recording studio’s biggest stars, including Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gaye and the Temptations, died July 16at a hospice near his home in Nashville. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |