Duck Dunn

[stewblack]

Watching this great footage of Otis Redding, in what looks like a school hall, presumambly ending his set. Obviously I've only got eyes for the diminutive Dylan Thomas lookalike on the bass.

I love it when people have a sense of humour on stage, it always makes the gig a happier event. On this you can see him exchange smiles with various members of the band and right at the very end, after someone finally manages to restrain Otis coming back ... again ... who is left shouting 'once more!' as the rest of the band scarper as fast as they can?

Always the bass player. Not just the calmest, the most intelligent and musically knowledgeable, the best looking and the coolest, but also the funniest.

 

[stewblack]

Watch the whole show ..

 

[MrCrane]

It's also available as a DVD. Great footage. The director had obviously never heard of the "keep the cameras off the bassist" rule.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B000UB054U/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

[stewblack]

1 hour ago, MrCrane said:

It's also available as a DVD. Great footage. The director had obviously never heard of the "keep the cameras off the bassist" rule.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B000UB054U/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

Yes! 

[casapete]

Haven't seen this for a while, just superb. A great reminder of what a great band Booker T and the MGs were too, especially Al Jackson as well as DD. Thanks for posting.

[Baxlin]

7 hours ago, casapete said:

Haven't seen this for a while, just superb. A great reminder of what a great band Booker T and the MGs were too, especially Al Jackson as well as DD. Thanks for posting.

^^^^ What a great band.  The brass section would be the Mar-keys, Stax’s “other” house band alongside the MGs. 

if I had to choose one style/genre/label/etc, the Stax stable would be it!  Love it.

Please forgive a personal anecdote -

The line-up of a (can I say two-tone?) band I was in during the 60s was guitar, bass, drums (me) tenor sax, keys, and vocals.  For one concert though, where we stood as the house band for most of the acts, we added alto sax, trombone,2x trumpet, and female BVs.  Inevitably the acts had to decide who was singing which Otis Redding song......

Edited July 14, 2020 by Baxlin

[louisthebass]

One of my bass playing heroes and one of my major influences - remember hearing all those great Soul records when I was little as my brothers were really avid collectors of Stax back in the day.

This book is definitely worth getting:

[fretmeister]

Another vote for the book. It's superb.

[chris_b]

If you strip away the various levels of my bass playing that have been laid down over the last 50 years or so, you'll find Duck Dunn at the bottom, the foundation to everything I play. Sadly I never got to see him live.

[louisthebass]

40 minutes ago, chris_b said:

If you strip away the various levels of my bass playing that have been laid down over the last 50 years or so, you'll find Duck Dunn at the bottom, the foundation to everything I play. Sadly I never got to see him live.

Same here, but I was fortunate enough to see both Dunn and Cropper play live. The Blues Brothers Band did a gig at Hammersmith in about 1988 (I think) and it was great just to see those two legends on stage. Alan Rubin and Lou Marini were in the horn section, Danny Gottlieb was on drums, and Matt "Guitar" Murphy was on guitar. Eddie Floyd was one of the guest vocalists.

Oddly enough, the support band that night was "The Boogie Brothers Band" who were pretty much a Blues Brothers tribute act, but I think they had to be a bit careful about what they played that night...

Edited July 14, 2020 by louisthebass
Information update

[Nail Soup]

13 hours ago, MrCrane said:

The director had obviously never heard of the "keep the cameras off the bassist" rule.

Don't forget subsection B: close-up on bassist during the guitar solo .

[mr4stringz]

9 hours ago, chris_b said:

If you strip away the various levels of my bass playing that have been laid down over the last 50 years or so, you'll find Duck Dunn at the bottom, the foundation to everything I play. Sadly I never got to see him live.

Duck was an amazing player. I was fortunate to see him twice as part of a pseudo MGs backing Neil Young. And I do feel very fortunate indeed to have done so.

Edited July 14, 2020 by mr4stringz

[casapete]

29 minutes ago, mr4stringz said:

Duck was an amazing player. I was fortunate to see him twice as part of a pseudo MGs backing Neil Young twice. And I feel very fortunate indeed to have done so.

Saw him with Eric Clapton's band, mid 1980's. Wish I'd caught him with the MG's but I'd have been too young. ( Not very often I can use that one!)

[Buzzy]

Duck was one of the reasons I started playing bass.

Saw him a few times with the M.Gs and Blues Bros band.

Got to meet him and shake his hand at an M.Gs reunion gig.

Got my ticket signed, which is framed on my wall 

[stewblack]

Thanks for the book endorsement, wasn't sure if I would like it, I'll get it now. 

DD seems to me the epitome of how a seemingly simple bass line can make a song. 

[chris_b]

5 minutes ago, stewblack said:

DD seems to me the epitome of how a seemingly simple bass line can make a song. 

Have a listen to the other bass players working in the various studios in the southern states; Tommy Cogbill at Fame, Mike Leech at American, David Hood at Muscle Shoals and Vernie Robbins and George Allen at Malaco, and all the other guys. They were fantastic exponents of the "less is more" school of bass playing.

[louisthebass]

31 minutes ago, chris_b said:

Have a listen to the other bass players working in the various studios in the southern states; Tommy Cogbill at Fame, Mike Leech at American, David Hood at Muscle Shoals and Vernie Robbins and George Allen at Malaco, and all the other guys. They were fantastic exponents of the "less is more" school of bass playing.

I'd probably throw in Jerry Jemmott and Norbert Putnam into that mix as well. I think JJ did sessions at Criteria in Miami and NP was also at Fame? Leroy Hodges is another one as well - he's on some of Al Lee's classic tracks.

[chris_b]

2 hours ago, louisthebass said:

I'd probably throw in Jerry Jemmott and Norbert Putnam into that mix as well. I think JJ did sessions at Criteria in Miami and NP was also at Fame? Leroy Hodges is another one as well - he's on some of Al Lee's classic tracks.

Good call. I forgot JJ and Norbert. The Hodges brothers were the session guys for Willie Mitchell's Hi Studios. They were on Al Green, Ann Peebles, Syl Johnson etc etc records.

[Stub Mandrel]

Love the way Booker T. Jones uses the key clicks on the Hammond for percussive effect. Slap keyboard 😉

[yorks5stringer]

Fun Fact: Donald was not the original bassist with the MG's , that was Louie Steinberg who played on Green Onions, their first hit.

[Len_derby]

8 minutes ago, yorks5stringer said:

Fun Fact: Donald was not the original bassist with the MG's , that was Louie Steinberg who played on Green Onions, their first hit.

Indeed. There’s an interesting interview with Steve Cropper in the current issue of Mojo. He says ‘(Booker) ..wasn’t able to get along with Lewie Steinberg very well.’ Sounds like there’s an intriguing back-story there!

[Geek99]

14 hours ago, Baxlin said:

^^^^ What a great band.  The brass section would be the Mar-keys, Stax’s “other” house band alongside the MGs. 

if I had to choose one style/genre/label/etc, the Stax stable would be it!  Love it.

Please forgive a personal anecdote -

The line-up of a (can I say two-tone?) band I was in during the 60s was guitar, bass, drums (me) tenor sax, keys, and vocals.  For one concert though, where we stood as the house band for most of the acts, we added alto sax, trombone,2x trumpet, and female BVs.  Inevitably the acts had to decide who was singing which Otis Redding song......

Read the book, the mar-keys were a complete band, maybe you mean the brass section from the mar-keys

[louisthebass]

This thread would not be complete without this:

 

[louisthebass]

Duck toting a Jazz Bass with The Mar-Keys:

 

[chris_b]

The Mar-keys were a bunch of school kids, including Duck Dunn and Steve Cropper. They made a record, Last Night, which we did in my school band.

I thought the Bar-Kays were Otis Redding's touring band.