Bass Players in the Late 60s

[casapete]

Blimey, forgot ELP! They were massive when I was at school - 'Pictures at an exhibition'. Yes were also popular with my mates, along with bands like Jethro Tull, King Crimson, Budgie and Camel and obviously Pink Floyd. All of which didn't capture my imagination at all of course 😄

[EssentialTension]

46 minutes ago, bazzbass said:

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

Also, if you listen to JPJ before Led Zeppelin, when he was a session player, he often sounds like an LA bassist such as Kaye or Osborn.

When asked about the influence of Motown, JPJ is quoted as saying:

"Yeah we [JPJ and Bonham] were both huge Motown and Stax fans and general soul music fans, James Brown fans. Which is one of the reasons why I've always said that Zeppelin was one of the few bands to 'swing'. We actually had a groove in those days. People used to come to our shows and dance, which was great. To see all the women dancing, it was really brilliant. You didn't necessarily see that at a Black Sabbath show or whatever. So we were different in that way. We were a groovy band. We used all our black pop music influences as a key to the rock that went over the top. I mean rock 'n' roll comes from black music anyway, it's a mixture of rhythm 'n' blues and country." http://www.globalbass.com/archives/mar2002/john_paul_jones.htm

Of course, Led Zeppelin, as a whole, were also strongly influenced by American blues, by British folk, and by world music more generally.

[bazzbass]

wow thanks for posting that,I'm pretty sure that is what I read ages ago.

JPJ and Jimmy Page played together on a LOT of the 60s British hits

I mean a LOT, like maybe 60%, 75% or more iirc

[EssentialTension]

11 hours ago, drTStingray said:

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. 

I think reggae and other earlier Jamaican genres, e.g. ska, are more but not solely influenced, especially in the bass, from New Orleans early R&B, e.g. Fats Domino, but also from upright jazz players, as many of the original ska bassists were themselves upright players, as was Jamerson. They would certainly have been hearing Motown etc on the radio and I expect were playing some of it. Of course, mento, the Jamaican variant of 'calypso' would also be an influence.

As for metal, I really know pretty much nothing about it.

[drTStingray]

Reggae was something quite different - as you say from Jamaican origins and clearly associated with that culture - rock steady being a Caribbean origin. I grew up with it to an extent in the 70s and the whole feel and technique was completely different from for instance, R and B. Emphasised by demonstrably incorrect attempts to play it by even the most famous artists of the era. 

However I was involved with Jamaican musicians in the 70s who were totally soul music fans/ players - there was a programme on BBC Radio called Soul Club which had live bands - early 70s - I never heard them play reggae at all!! 

Edited September 12, 2018 by drTStingray

[timmo]

On 07/09/2018 at 19:48, scrumpymike said:

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.

I see Eric Haydock died yesterday

 

[steantval]

Tony Reeves - Colosseum.