Tommy Shannon?

[Brandonh]

Ever listen to Stevie Rauy Vaughans bassist?

Hes pretty good. I thougt all he did was the normal blues bass pattern but he throws in lots of intresting stuff in his lines.

[acidbass]

Another great, underrated player. As you say, Blues does have a lot of repetitive patterns that even the best players employ, but he does manage to keep it interesting and fresh in each line he plays. Also works really well with the drummer (Chris Layton?) to create a great rhythm section. Certainly not the easiest position to fill, standing behind SRV and laying down the rhythm, but they both do it brilliantly.

[Sean]

He was on the short list to replace Bill Wyman in the Stones but Charlie wanted Darryl and what Charlie wants, Charlie gets apparently. I used to listen to SRV a lot but after he died I lost interest a bit. TS is a great bass player though, some really solid boogie lines going on.

[The Burpster]

BH,

Oh yes, he is a loverly player...... If you like SRVs stuff check out John Mayer too...... My best mate, and +++tarist really gets off on getting these parts right so I have to learn the bass lines.......

[slaphappygarry]

John Mayer is your best mate!?

I have a herbie hancock cd he does a track on and its stunning!

G

[bass_ferret]

Tommy Shannon was also Jonny Winters bass player - two great gigs.

[Painless]

[quote name='Brandonh' post='18808' date='Jun 16 2007, 09:39 AM']Ever listen to Stevie Rauy Vaughans bassist?

Hes pretty good. I thougt all he did was the normal blues bass pattern but he throws in lots of intresting stuff in his lines.[/quote]

I adore SRV's tunes, they are usually grooving out of my mp3 player at work, home and in my truck on a daily basis!

I agree with you about the bass playing of Mr Shannon, although bare in mind that Jack Newhouse also played bass for SRV for a time too. I'm not sure which tracks are which.

The bass line in 'Shake for me' always interested me, in essense it is a quite simple repetetive pattern but a lot more than a bassist could get away with in that track, even compared to some jazzed up root notes. Makes the urge and feel of the whole track.

If you like blues, check out Dave Hole (the aussie) he plays some awesome electric slide guitar and his bass player adds some interesting chops behind it, even some slap on tracks like Night Cat, although that track leans a little closer towards rock. Watermelon Slim and The Workers also makes for some interesting listening, the album of the same name is a good start.

Russ.

Edited June 16, 2007 by Painless

[Paul Cooke]

if you see it, get the "Live at the El Mocambo" DVD...

magic gig at a small "intimate" venue... the guys just get on down and build a monster platform for Stevie to play over.

You'll also see a lot of Tommy Shannon's playing style... the fingering is not as you would normally expect... he tends to stay down on the E and A strings and moves around a lot on those two

[Alun]

One of my favourite under rated players. Great time, feel and choice of notes. His funk playing is also beautiful - have a listen to "Tightrope" from the "In Step" album.

As far as contemporary blues bassists go, I'd definitely go for Tommy and Roscoe Beck as my faves.

Cheers,
Alun

[acidbass]

[quote name='Paul Cooke' post='18856' date='Jun 16 2007, 04:50 PM']the fingering is not as you would normally expect... he tends to stay down on the E and A strings and moves around a lot on those two[/quote]

I've noticed this with quite a lot of blues bass players - it doesn't really seem economical at all, given that you have to move positions a lot more? Always wondered why people do this instead of playing the D and G strings to reach the notes they desire.

[chris_b]

[quote name='acidbass' post='18867' date='Jun 16 2007, 05:21 PM']I've noticed this with quite a lot of blues bass players - it doesn't really seem economical at all, given that you have to move positions a lot more? Always wondered why people do this instead of playing the D and G strings to reach the notes they desire.[/quote]

By sticking to lower strings he would have got a deeper, fuller sound. Both SRV and Tommy Shannon down tuned for the same reason. SRV also had his Dumbell amps set up for a full, bass heavy sound.

Edited June 16, 2007 by chris_b

[Hamster]

[quote name='acidbass' post='18815' date='Jun 16 2007, 03:14 PM']Another great, underrated player. As you say, Blues does have a lot of repetitive patterns that even the best players employ, but he does manage to keep it interesting and fresh in each line he plays. Also works really well with the drummer (Chris Layton?) to create a great rhythm section. Certainly not the easiest position to fill, standing behind SRV and laying down the rhythm, but they both do it brilliantly.[/quote]

Amen. Tragedy that SRV died when he did - the band were just getting back on form again.

Hamster

[The Funk]

Weren't Double Trouble also in Archangel with Doyle Bramhall III?

[doctorbass]

Tommy is a great bluesman. His playing with SRV and Johnny Winter show just how to hold down the bottom end in a 3 piece

[MB1]

MB1.

Control....bass....Tommy Shannon....riviera paradise...........sometimes its what you dont play that matters!.

MB1.

[artisan]

i play in a blues band "The Growlers" (for 11 years) & i must confess when we first started i wasn't into blues at all,prefering Sabbath,Led Zep,Maiden etc but my brov' ,who's our lead guitarist,is SRV mad.So i listerned to a lot of Tommy's playing to get the feel of the blues mojo thing & i always thought he is a damn fine player,really driving the songs along.
+ because my brother thinks he's Yorkshire's answer to SRV we have to tune down a half tone which made jamming along with the CD's easier.