Newly-discovered love of Trevor Bolder's playing

[bassbiscuits]

Apologies for being so late to the party on this one (about 47 years late...) but I've recently started learning Bowie's Hunky Dory album ahead of a tribute gig I'm playing at in January.

What a great bassist Trevor Bolder is! So much of what he plays isn't what I'd expect him to play, and I've had to learn some sections one note at a time thru headphones (Quicksand for a start!)

Excellent stuff tho. Way ahead of its time. But you all already know that. It's just me who is just waking up to Bowie's music.

Sorry to have taken so long....

Just got to learn the stuff now - luckily I'll be playing my short scale Japanese Mustang will hopefully give me a nod in the right direction tonewise.

[gary mac]

Yes Trevor was a class act. 

[yorks5stringer]

I saw a Bowie tribute a couple of months ago and was struck at the time how simple sounding yet tricky some of TB's basslines were: almost Jamerson-like in that there were subtle differences on every verse.

[thebigyin]

1 hour ago, gary mac said:

Yes Trevor was a class act. 

He sure was.....RIP

[bassbiscuits]

3 hours ago, yorks5stringer said:

I saw a Bowie tribute a couple of months ago and was struck at the time how simple sounding yet tricky some of TB's basslines were: almost Jamerson-like in that there were subtle differences on every verse.

Absolutely. I spent last night listening thru a load of tunes, sketching out the main sequences and arrangements and busking along to get the hang of them. 

But today I listened to them all again on the bus ride to work and they are full of little phrases and runs that just bring it all to life. 

He doesn't spend much time on his low E string at all - the majority of stuff seems an octave up and creating really melodic lines rather than my own usual approach of relying on volume and power and vamping away on some root notes.

Ive really warmed to his approach tho and feel like it's time well spent retracing his steps for a couple of weeks until I've got the songs down. 

[miles'tone]

Thanks for the heads up regarding all of the above. Sounds like he's the perfect new vein I need to mine! 👍

[Shambo]

One of my absolute favourite bass players

[Beedster]

Absolutely

[silverfoxnik]

17 hours ago, bassbiscuits said:

Apologies for being so late to the party on this one (about 47 years late...) but I've recently started learning Bowie's Hunky Dory album ahead of a tribute gig I'm playing at in January.

What a great bassist Trevor Bolder is! So much of what he plays isn't what I'd expect him to play, and I've had to learn some sections one note at a time thru headphones (Quicksand for a start!)

Excellent stuff tho. Way ahead of its time. But you all already know that. It's just me who is just waking up to Bowie's music.

Sorry to have taken so long....

Just got to learn the stuff now - luckily I'll be playing my short scale Japanese Mustang will hopefully give me a nod in the right direction tonewise.

Being a long-time fan of Trevor Bolder, it's great to see this post recognising his bass playing and his musicality.

I grew up in the early 1970s listening to his playing, along with other melodic bassists around at the time like Dennis Dunaway (Alice Cooper), and it definitely shaped my idea of what the bass player could contribute melodically as well as rhythmically to a great song.

Later on, as my musical knowledge and tastes broadened out, I got to discover McCartney, Entwhistle, and James Jameson for example, who were absolute masters of melodic bass playing that not only carried the song rhythmically, but added a melodic sensibility too..

Of course, there are countless other great melodic bass players out there - some of whom I've heard, some I've not, and many more I don't even know about  - but for my particular bass playing journey, it all started with Trevor Bolder.

[petebassist]

@bassbiscuits Inspiring stuff, gonna listen again and check this out, as I haven't listened focused on the bass before. I've got all my Bowie albums in an old 1970s album box that I call "the Vault" :-) 

 

[Steve Browning]

Dennis Dunnaway - great player. The bass line in School's Out is not difficult but moves the song along brilliantly.

[KevB]

Not just Bowie, some good lines with Uriah Heep too.

[Cosmo Valdemar]

19 hours ago, bassbiscuits said:

Apologies for being so late to the party on this one (about 47 years late...) but I've recently started learning Bowie's Hunky Dory album ahead of a tribute gig I'm playing at in January.

What a great bassist Trevor Bolder is! So much of what he plays isn't what I'd expect him to play, and I've had to learn some sections one note at a time thru headphones (Quicksand for a start!)

Excellent stuff tho. Way ahead of its time. But you all already know that. It's just me who is just waking up to Bowie's music.

Sorry to have taken so long....

Just got to learn the stuff now - luckily I'll be playing my short scale Japanese Mustang will hopefully give me a nod in the right direction tonewise.

Agreed. John, I'm Only Dancing was the first full song I learnt to play on bass - only because it happened to be transcribed in the bass magazine I had just bought. An important song for me, still love it.

[4000]

1 hour ago, KevB said:

Not just Bowie, some good lines with Uriah Heep too.

Saw him with Heep in 1980. Great player.

[steantval]

Also did a short stint with Wishbone Ash in the early eighties.

[martthebass]

23 minutes ago, 4000 said:

Saw him with Heep in 1980. Great player.

The Heep tour in 1980! Saw them at Sheffield City Hall on a Snowy Sunday night.  One of the best concerts I ever attended - didn't realise it was TB on bass.

[Lozz196]

Our old producer worked with Trevor Bolder, apparently he used lighter gauge strings in order to be able to put more bass into the sound, without the boom. Quite interesting I thought.

[spectoremg]

7 hours ago, Steve Browning said:

Dennis Dunnaway - great player. The bass line in School's Out is not difficult but moves the song along brilliantly.

I listen to School's Out and Billion Dollar Babies regularly and his bass work is very enjoyable.

[spectoremg]

4 hours ago, Cosmo Valdemar said:

Agreed. John, I'm Only Dancing was the first full song I learnt to play on bass - only because it happened to be transcribed in the bass magazine I had just bought. An important song for me, still love it.

That's a fantastic bass part.

[spectoremg]

No argument here. Mick and Woody were no slouches either. Pity Bowie didn't tell them when he let them go (allegedly).

[ezbass]

7 hours ago, silverfoxnik said:

Being a long-time fan of Trevor Bolder, it's great to see this post recognising his bass playing and his musicality.

I grew up in the early 1970s listening to his playing, along with other melodic bassists around at the time like Dennis Dunaway (Alice Cooper), and it definitely shaped my idea of what the bass player could contribute melodically as well as rhythmically to a great song.

The late 60s and early 70s certainly gave us some great players and I’d add Davey Johnstone to make up an incredible threesome from that era.

[silverfoxnik]

11 minutes ago, spectoremg said:

I listen to School's Out and Billion Dollar Babies regularly and his bass work is very enjoyable.

Almost the whole of the School's Out album is built around the bass lines.. His work on 'Halo of Flies' on the Killer album is equally brilliant IMO.

Got to agree also with the mention above of the bass line in 'John, I'm Only Dancing' - absolutely brilliant!

@ezbass - yes, absolutely agree with you about Davey Johnstone.. very, very fine, melodic playing. Mind you, he had some beautiful songs to work with...  😊

[spongebob]

Forgot until I saw this, saw Uriah Heep in early 1991. Perhaps their era of their lowest ebb....they'd released an absolutely appalling record, 'Different World' recently. Remember it, as I had the misfortune to buy it ahead ahead of the gig! 

Either way, my friend and myself thoroughly enjoyed the show. It was loads of early 70s material, we were too young at the time, but loved that stuff on record. 

For a 'down' band, they played their bits off. TB great the whole time. Lesson learned. 

Edited November 21, 2018 by spongebob

[casapete]

Just slightly OT, there is a great production coming up next year about the life of Mick Ronson entitled 'Turn and face the Strange', with loads of Spiders references and songs. The band includes musicians who were involved in Hull band 'The Rats' which Mick was in, and goes on to tell the story of how he met David Bowie, along with Trevor and Woody. More details here - https://www.hulltruck.co.uk/whats-on/drama/turn-face-the-strange/?fbclid=IwAR3Yc8c5hVh5hzsbGfUE3b03YPnXBpnPfFX6k5FfNSESPnA46Z7_TZEscks

Bass duties are handled ably by local legend John Bentley, ex-Squeeze. I've already seen this show twice, and it is excellent.

[Barking Spiders]

Bowie always had a knack for getting fine bassists on his albums. Never a fan of pre Station stuff but I always liked the basslines . George Murray was great on DB's best albums (IMO) from S to S through to Scary Monsters