Bowie's Bassists - Tony Visconti

[RhysP]

2 hours ago, dmccombe7 said:

I've always been a Trevor Bolder fan so i'm a bit biased towards that era of Bowie.

Always thought Man Who Sold as having a completely different vibe (that i really liked) from his other albums of that era.

I've heard Gail and Tony Visconti on seperate non Bowie vids and was very impressed by them.

Afraid i drifted away from Bowie as he moved in 80's and didnt return to his albums until Blackstar. I liked occasional singles from albums but just couldn't get ito the albums. 

Dave 

I only really like a few of his albums & that tends to be largely because of Eno's involvement.

Saw him live on the Glass Spider tour & it's one of the worst gigs I've ever been to.

[Japhet]

I guess I'm a bit 'old school', but nothing really tops Trevor Bolder for me. He was a huge driver for me to start playing bass and the line he plays on Lady Grinning Soul is, in my humble opinion, utterly sublime.

Edited November 13, 2021 by Japhet

[Velarian]

37 minutes ago, hiram.k.hackenbacker said:

The track ‘Magical’ was written about her relationship with DB.

Thanks, I didn’t know that. That track is my favourite on the album. Her voice is outstanding!

[hiram.k.hackenbacker]

9 minutes ago, Velarian said:

Thanks, I didn’t know that. That track is my favourite on the album. Her voice is outstanding!

There is a video on You Tube of that song with lots of great Bowie clips.

[fleabag]

I'm a bit partial to Herbie Flowers,  and apart from the famous Lou Reed ' Walk on the Wild Side '  Flowers has been on a gazillion other tracks including Bowie of course.

 

Just a few appearences of Flowers on Bowie tracks include   Rebel Rebel,   Man Who Sold The World,  Diamond Dogs  etc.  His track record is awesome

 

https://www.allmusic.com/artist/herbie-flowers-mn0000677415/credits?1636809404356

 

And then there's  GA Dorsey.    Brilliant of course.

 

 

 

[Old Man Riva]

1 hour ago, Japhet said:

I guess I'm a bit 'old school', but nothing really tops Trevor Bolder for me. He was a huge driver for me to start playing bass and the line he plays on Lady Grinning Soul is, in my humble opinion, utterly sublime.

His playing on the whole album is right up there, for me.

 

It’s an album that I absolutely love and part of the reason for that is the diversity of the material. His playing on each track, whatever style, adds so much to what are already wonderful pieces of music.

 

It’s an album I’d point any aspiring bass player towards as a piece of work that one could learn so much from, in terms of bass playing (choice of notes, phrasing etc). Ditto Herbie Flowers on David Live… 

[hiram.k.hackenbacker]

2 hours ago, fleabag said:

I'm a bit partial to Herbie Flowers,  and apart from the famous Lou Reed ' Walk on the Wild Side '  Flowers has been on a gazillion other tracks including Bowie of course.

 

Just a few appearences of Flowers on Bowie tracks include   Rebel Rebel,   Man Who Sold The World,  Diamond Dogs  etc.  His track record is awesome

 

https://www.allmusic.com/artist/herbie-flowers-mn0000677415/credits?1636809404356

 

And then there's  GA Dorsey.    Brilliant of course.

 

 

 

 

Great version, but I also quite like this stripped back version. Nice re-imagining of the famous ascending line by Gail. He did a similar thing with Andy Warhol in the late 90's.

 

 

[hiram.k.hackenbacker]

Maybe not stripped back, but certainly re-imagined....

 

 

[hiram.k.hackenbacker]

I've seen various iteration of this opening song from this tour, but this one is still my favourite.

 

Rockpalast '96. The guy was so damned cool. Sitting on a chair at a desk with his back to the crowd enjoying his band doing their thing. Great opening tune.

 

 

[dmccombe7]

3 hours ago, fleabag said:

I'm a bit partial to Herbie Flowers,  and apart from the famous Lou Reed ' Walk on the Wild Side '  Flowers has been on a gazillion other tracks including Bowie of course.

 

Just a few appearences of Flowers on Bowie tracks include   Rebel Rebel,   Man Who Sold The World,  Diamond Dogs  etc.  His track record is awesome

 

https://www.allmusic.com/artist/herbie-flowers-mn0000677415/credits?1636809404356

 

And then there's  GA Dorsey.    Brilliant of course.

 

 

 

That's the bass player i was thinking off and not Tony Visconti. Definitely an amazing player.

Dave

[dmccombe7]

4 hours ago, RhysP said:

I only really like a few of his albums & that tends to be largely because of Eno's involvement.

Saw him live on the Glass Spider tour & it's one of the worst gigs I've ever been to.

Was at the Sunderland gig on Glass Spider Tour with Peter Frampton on guitar and Big Country doing the support slot.

Big Country were the highlight for me but thought Bowie did ok as far as i can remember.

Dave

[RhysP]

29 minutes ago, dmccombe7 said:

Was at the Sunderland gig on Glass Spider Tour with Peter Frampton on guitar and Big Country doing the support slot.

Big Country were the highlight for me but thought Bowie did ok as far as i can remember.

Dave

I saw them in Cardiff. Big Country & The Screaming Blue Messiahs were superb. Bowie was very much a triumph of style over content IMO.

I saw Peter Gabriel in Birmingham a week later & that gig was everything that the Bowie one wasn't.

[Old Man Riva]

3 hours ago, hiram.k.hackenbacker said:

I've seen various iteration of this opening song from this tour, but this one is still my favourite.

 

Rockpalast '96. The guy was so damned cool. Sitting on a chair at a desk with his back to the crowd enjoying his band doing their thing. Great opening tune.

 

 

One of the (many) things I loved about Bowie was his open approach to his own music, where he often chose to reinterpret his songs depending on his mood, the situation and/or the musicians he had with him at the time.

 

The above LBIA is a great case in point. A much ‘harder’ version than, say, the more ‘polished’ opener to the Serious Moonlight gigs. I think it was his approach to the musicians that allowed for this - putting together the right musicians for a specific project by allowing them to play with their own personality - a band with Reeves Gabrels and Mike Garson in would never sound the same as one with Carlos Alomar and Dave Lebolt.  
 

He was brilliant at choosing the right musicians… 

[The fasting showman]

I like all of Bowie's bassists but if I had to choose it would be George Murray, which ties in with Visconti and the great Low / Scary Monsters era. If the link attaches here's George wielding a plectrum and a Travis Bean, the rhythm section feel is incredible

[RhysP]

11 hours ago, The fasting showman said:

I like all of Bowie's bassists but if I had to choose it would be George Murray, which ties in with Visconti and the great Low / Scary Monsters era. If the link attaches here's George wielding a plectrum and a Travis Bean, the rhythm section feel is incredible

That band is just awesome.

[obi 2 kenobi]

22 minutes ago, RhysP said:

That band is just awesome.

Peak Bowie for me. 
 

read an interview with Dennis Davis where he said that Adrian Belew was the best lead guitarist he played with. 
 

[The fasting showman]

1 hour ago, RhysP said:

That band is just awesome.

The mix of musical backgrounds is incredible; members of George Benson's band, Hawkwind, George McRae's band, Utopia, Frank Zappa's band. All bringing their musicality to Bowie's writing. It's funny when he grins at his band, and I get the same thing from Joni Mitchell on the Shadows and light stuff with Jaco, Metheny, Alias and co, it's like he's basking in the glory of the musos he has had the good fortune and taste to put together on the same stage. And the willingness to let them shine.

[RhysP]

44 minutes ago, obi 2 kenobi said:

Peak Bowie for me. 
 

read an interview with Dennis Davis where he said that Adrian Belew was the best lead guitarist he played with. 
 

It was Belew's involvement, along with Roger Powell (Todd Rundgren's Utopia) & Simon House (Hawkwind), that made me check out the "Stage" album.

[hiram.k.hackenbacker]

1 hour ago, obi 2 kenobi said:

Peak Bowie for me. 
 

read an interview with Dennis Davis where he said that Adrian Belew was the best lead guitarist he played with. 
 

I’m a big fan of Belew, but he had a nightmare at the last Bowie Celebration I went to. He was clearly winging it and failing.

[lonestar]

On 09/11/2021 at 21:50, Jonesy said:

 

Ta very much for that, I'll check Blackstar out in more detail as well as his Glasto set.

 

 

Her vocals are out of this world! I checked out a few versions of Under Pressure on YT and didn't realise she could sing like that too.

 

 

Check out her solo album 

gail ann dorsey i used to be

 

Great singing writing and playing 

[Jonesy]

After going through loads of live albums on Spotify and YouTube I think i've nailed my favourite Bowie era/band. Like others have said in this thread, it's the late 70's around the Berlin trilogy for me. Outstanding stuff and a massive thank you to everyone for their suggestions. Although it's not up there with Stage or  Welcome to the blackout, there is this live performance on YT that is worth a watch....