Bass Players in the Late 60s

[obbm]

I was a bass player in the late 60s, now I'm a bass player in his early 70s.

I'll get my coat.😁

 

Very interesting read.  All my influences were pre 1966 and by the late 60s I'd already retired from playing and sold all my gear.  One of the biggest mistakes of my life. 

 

 

[lowdown]

1 hour ago, NikNik said:

I was a brat in those days but that bass-sound in Everlasting Love got me hooked. Dunno who actually played that. Loved that click-bass tone in those days.

Session Bassist, Russ Stableford. He also played Bass in 'The Muppets Band'. 

 

 

[scrumpymike]

Jogged by the mentions of Jet Harris, my tired old brain has just come up with another couple of names - Eric Haydock and (post-'66) Bernie Calvert of The Hollies.  I saw the band - including EH - in '64 as a kid on holiday at the Princes Theatre in Torquay, where they were sharing the bill with Jet Harris and Tony Meehan.  I was mainly interested in The Hollies for their vocal harmonies but I really loved the distinctive bass lines Haydock played on a Fender VI, although Calvert turned out to be a more than adequate replacement.

[alexa3020]

I see someone mention jimi Hendrix bass players Noel redding and billy cox.

my favourite bass playing on any Hendrix track is have you ever been to electric lady land. I love the playing on that track and I think that was Hendrix playing bass

[EssentialTension]

16 hours ago, NikNik said:

I was a brat in those days but that bass-sound in Everlasting Love got me hooked. Dunno who actually played that. Loved that click-bass tone in those days.

Session bassist Russ Stableford ...

[EssentialTension]

14 hours ago, lowdown said:

Session Bassist, Russ Stableford. He also played Bass in 'The Muppets Band'.

You beat me to it.

[chris_b]

Russ Stableford was also the bassist on Je T'aime.

[lowdown]

I noticed his son (Glyn Stableford) has been on various forums, trying to gather information on his dads session career.

"Groovin' with Mr Bloe" is another one he played on as well.

 

 

 

[lowdown]

There is a nice little read here regarding 'Everlasting Love'.

Three pages that ended up attracting some notable musicians and family members of Russ Stableford.

 

http://freakytrigger.co.uk/ft/2006/07/the-love-affair-everlasting-love/comment-page-1/#comments

 

[chris_b]

I used to drink in a pub In Chiswick with Warwick Rose, the original bass player with Love Affair. All the stories seem to indicate that they didn't like being a boy band, but the message I got was that they didn't really like each other very much either. By this time Warwick was in a band called Tangerine Peel, another car crash of a band. The singer was Mike Chapman and he was already writing Chapman/Chinn type pop songs for them but they all hated him and his music and just wanted to be a rock band. We all know how that turned out!!

[musicbassman]

1 hour ago, lowdown said:

There is a nice little read here regarding 'Everlasting Love'.

What an interesting read. As ever, the truth is slightly stranger than history chooses to remember.

Maurice (Mo) Bacon, the original drummer actually kept the rights to the 'Love Affair' name and continued to run the band right through the early '70's, although there were no original members remaining.

That's why when Steve Ellis restarted 'his' Love Affair it had to be called 'Steve Ellis Love Affair' to avoid treading on Mo Bacon's rights to the name.

I should know - I played in 'Love Affair' during 1975 and 1976 .

A rather dubious claim to fame, methinks........😏

[drTStingray]

1 hour ago, lowdown said:

There is a nice little read here regarding 'Everlasting Love'.

Three pages that ended up attracting some notable musicians and family members of Russ Stableford.

 

http://freakytrigger.co.uk/ft/2006/07/the-love-affair-everlasting-love/comment-page-1/#comments

 

If you page down to around post 40-60 Herbie Flowers, Steve Ellis, Russ Stableford's son and other family members appear. Very very interesting and goes to show that there's nothing like getting proper info - even Herbie says he hasn't a clue how anyone came up with the idea he played on it - and also interesting he credits Russ with helping him into the business with deps with people like Ray McVay (an orchestra amongst others regularly appearing on the Light Programme (precursor to Radio 2 and pre Radio 1). 

This also reminds me there was a major soul circuit in the Uk in the mid 60s, often doing Motown and Stax covers - there was also a blues/rock thing developing  (Yardbirds, Cream, John Mayall, Alexis Korner) - the latter developed into album culture and 'progressive' of the 67 onwards period which I think created an entire different element of the industry - songs like Everlasting Love continued to populate the singles chart but were joined by Deep Purple and Jethro Tull for instance. 

Edited September 8, 2018 by drTStingray

[drTStingray]

8 minutes ago, musicbassman said:

What an interesting read. As ever, the truth is slightly stranger than history chooses to remember.

Maurice (Mo) Bacon, the original drummer actually kept the rights to the 'Love Affair' name and continued to run the band right through the early '70's, although there were no original members remaining.

That's why when Steve Ellis restarted 'his' Love Affair it had to be called 'Steve Ellis Love Affair' to avoid treading on Mo Bacon's rights to the name.

I should know - I played in 'Love Affair' during 1975 and 1976 .

A rather dubious claim to fame, methinks........😏

Fabulous - that must have been interesting - those singles have nice bass parts. I remember Bringing on back the Good Times as well.  

Edited September 8, 2018 by drTStingray

[casapete]

2 hours ago, chris_b said:

I used to drink in a pub In Chiswick with Warwick Rose, the original bass player with Love Affair. All the stories seem to indicate that they didn't like being a boy band, but the message I got was that they didn't really like each other very much either. By this time Warwick was in a band called Tangerine Peel, another car crash of a band. The singer was Mike Chapman and he was already writing Chapman/Chinn type pop songs for them but they all hated him and his music and just wanted to be a rock band. We all know how that turned out!!

Mike Chapman was in the pub recently where I play every week in my acoustic duo. As well as all the mid 70's pop stuff he co-wrote for Mud, Smokie etc, I never knew he went on to produce Blondie's 'Parallel Lines' album and also co-wrote 'The Best' (Tina Turner / Bonnie Tyler). Wouldn't mind a cut of the royalties for those.....

[drTStingray]

I'm concious we didn't cover folk rock (though Danny Thompson got a mention). Folk rock was quite a crossover genre especially for rock music fans in the 67-69 period. 

Probably the most influential bands were:-

Fairport Convention - bass players were Ashley Hutchings (1967-1969) and Dave Pegg (1969 on). 

Steeleye Span - bass player Ashley Hutchings (founder member of both bands). He left and was replaced by Rick Kemp in 1972 (out of era 😏)

Their bass parts were quite up front in the music and formed quite an important part of the 'rock' element of the folk rock thing. 

Edited September 9, 2018 by drTStingray

[chris_b]

I remember double bass player Brian Brocklehurst (and his Sherlock Holmes pipe) frequently on TV backing folk singers etc back then.

[lowdown]

3 minutes ago, chris_b said:

I remember double bass player Brian Brocklehurst (and his Sherlock Holmes pipe) frequently on TV backing folk singers etc back then.

 

Ah, the Pipe!!

Apparently he used to make his way to gigs in London on his bike, with his Double Bass strapped to his back. 

I know he backed various Folk singers and showbiz personalities, but he was a terrific Jazz player. He was certainly a well liked character and musician.

[bassace]

4 hours ago, lowdown said:

 

Ah, the Pipe!!

Apparently he used to make his way to gigs in London on his bike, with his Double Bass strapped to his back. 

I know he backed various Folk singers and showbiz personalities, but he was a terrific Jazz player. He was certainly a well liked character and musician.

Yes great jazzer. He could solo round the fingerboard quite rapidly. Used to come across him often when he played with the Humph band. Another great DB character was Johnny Hawksworth with the Ted Heath Orch. Any early pioneer of amplified double bass,  before BGs took hold. He used Ted Wallace amplification.

[Austin7]

On 07/09/2018 at 14:34, alexa3020 said:

I see someone mention jimi Hendrix bass players Noel redding and billy cox.

my favourite bass playing on any Hendrix track is have you ever been to electric lady land. I love the playing on that track and I think that was Hendrix playing bass

Jack Casady played on "Voodoo Chile."  Noel Redding played on five tracks.  Jimi Hendrix played on all the rest of the album, including "Have You Ever Been to Electric Ladyland."  My favorite Hendrix bass-playing track, though, is probably "All Along the Watchtower."  

Edited September 10, 2018 by Austin7

[drTStingray]

On 6 September 2018 at 07:58, bassace said:

Don’t forget Jim Fielder of Blood Sweat and Tears. And the bloke behind the Tops (Jameson? I’m no expert) was rated too. 

And yes, MM was the guvnor mag. NME was pretty rubbish in those days. Musos read Crescendo, I got a mention in 1967.

And who could forget (we did....) Hugh Hopper of Soft Machine - early jazz rock - Canterbury sound bands are often associated with the 70s - Egg with the rather excellent Mont Campbell on bass, introduced me to the intricacies of 9/8 time signature!! Probably after 1969 though!! 

[drTStingray]

I am very keen for someone to explain to me the link between Carol Kaye, Joe Osborn, the Motown bassists and genres such as reggae and metal. That they are/were good players and played on and influenced pop music is undeniable, and Motown clearly influenced subsequent R and B, I really struggle to see their significance, other than playing bass guitar to some of these other genres. 

[Dad3353]

8 hours ago, drTStingray said:

I am very keen for someone to explain to me the link...

I'm not sure that it works like that. There's no genealogical tree; things evolve with different folks, at different times, in different places. There are fuzzy lines between some, and maybe a bit more distinct with others, but it's a bit like looking for a connection between the kangaroo and the chimpanzee. Both, probably, distant cousins as being land animals, with common ancestry back to fishes and protozoa, but without a traceable path that one could map on the wall, I think. Does it make a huge difference, anyway..? Why those particular folks (giants in their own field and time, maybe...), and not Berlioz or Mozart, for instance..? There is more to modern music than even those players, and more still than simply bass. Some may well come up with suggestions, but I reckon they'd be tenuous at best.
Just my tuppence-worth. 

[bazzbass]

On ‎06‎/‎09‎/‎2018 at 10:52, casapete said:

Sorry, but have to disagree about Motown bassists lacking excitement compared with rock bassists. As a young teenager at the time, the sound of ‘Bernadette’ and other Motown gems coming down the corridor from my older brother’s Fidelity record player was enough to convince me to give stuff like Black Sabbath and Led Zep etc the elbow for good. All my mates were into heavy rock at the time, and Motown wasn’t considered hip at all, which somehow made it even more special for me. Soon as I started playing bass I certainly didn’t want to be Geezer Butler that’s for sure. 

you DO know you can like Led Zep AND motown don't you?

 

In FACT, listen to JPJ and you can tell James Jamerson was a big influence. No coincidence their initials start and end the same hehe

[casapete]

10 minutes ago, bazzbass said:

you DO know you can like Led Zep AND motown don't you?

 

In FACT, listen to JPJ and you can tell James Jamerson was a big influence. No coincidence their initials start and end the same hehe

LOL! Of course I know that now, but my early teens self didn’t! . At school you were either into ‘heavy stuff’ (Sabbath, Led Zep, Uriah Heep etc) or girl’s stuff ( Soul / Motown / pop ), so I think I was viewed with suspicion by some of my mates. Early Wishbone Ash and maybe Deep Purple were about as far as I got down that route, and although having quite a varied taste in music now, I still don’t really do ‘Rawk’. Am sure this is something to do with the bass, all those 8ths hammering away under screaming angry vocals maybe....😆

[bazzbass]

ooh yeah I get that hehe

 

In my high school years in the 70s, you either loved Yes, or Emerson Lake and Palmer.

Two warring factions,we argued endlessly about how great our band was and how much their band sucked.

I secretly liked both hehe but Yes were my favourites