Bass Guitars / Players / Influences / Music

These Are My Bass Guitars

Left to right: 1985 Hohner"Jack" Headless, Fender Squire Jazz 5 Deluxe, Precision Bass(EMG), Fender Squier Jazz 4(Affinity)The above instruments are kept in a vault in a castle surrounded by a moat with crocodiles, electrified barbed wire fences and land mines in a far-off distant land where they live happily ever after.

My Influences

Mark King (LEVEL 42)

This is the man who made me want to play the bass, picking up my first bass guitar when I was 12 years old although I could'nt even try to master his technique until I'd been playing for 3 years-such is the acuracy needed to sound well.

The longtime frontman for the British funk-pop group Level 42, Mark King was born in Cowes, England, on October 20, 1958. A onetime drummer, upon co-founding Level 42 in 1980 he moved to the bass, honing a distinctive thumb-slapping technique which became an integral element of the group's sound. From their self-titled 1981 debut onward the quartet enjoyed considerable success at home, and in 1984 King took time out to record his debut solo album, Influences. After Level 42's international popularity peaked in 1986 with the hit "Something About You," the band released a series of subsequent LPs before disbanding in late 1994, leaving King to resume his solo activities. The album One Man followed four years later.

Abraham Laboriel (Session Player)

Abraham Laboriel, Sr. (b. July 17, 1947) is a Mexican bassist who has played on over 3,000 recordings and soundtracks. Guitar Player Magazine described him as: "the most widely used session bassist of our time". Laboriel is the father of drummer Abe Laboriel Jr. Laboriel was born in Mexico City. Originally a classically trained guitarist, he switched to bass guitar while studying at the Berklee School of Music. Henry Mancini encouraged Laboriel to move to Los Angeles, California and pursue a career in music. Since then, he has worked with artists as diverse as Donald Fagen, Lee Ritenour, Larry Carlton, Dave Grusin, Andy Pratt, Stevie Wonder, Barbra Streisand, Al Jarreau, Billy Cobham, Dolly Parton, Elton John, Ray Charles, Madonna, Paul Simon, Keith Green, Alvaro Lopez and Res-Q Band, Lisa Loeb, Quincy Jones, Russ Taff, Engelbert Humperdinck, Ron Kenoly, Rabito, Crystal Lewis, Chris Isaak, and Michael Jackson.

Billy Sheehan (Talas,UFO,Mr Big,David Lee Roth)

This guy is a total nutter! His technique is so tricky but once you crack the basics its a blast to do. Sheehan has won Guitar Player Magazine's "Best Rock Bass Player" readers' poll five times for his "lead bass" playing style. Guitar Player has likened his soloing on the four-string instrument to Eddie Van Halen's on the six-string guitar. Sheehan's repertoire includes the use of chording, two-handed tapping and controlled feedback. However, Sheehan is also noted as a steady "true" bassist, fulfilling the traditional supportive role of the electric bass in the rock idiom.

Guy Pratt (Pink Floyd)

Pratt is best known for his work as a session player. He has worked with Pink Floyd, Kirsty MacColl, The Smiths, Lemon Jelly, The Orb, All Saints, Icehouse, Madonna, Stephen Duffy, Robbie Robertson, Roxy Music, Michael Jackson, Gary Moore, A.R. Rahman,Womack & Womack, Coverdale Page and Toy Matinee. He is a member of The Transit Kings with Alex Paterson (of The Orb), Jimmy Cauty (of The KLF) and Dominic Beken. Cauty and Pratt also released "I Wanna 1-2-1 With You" as Solid Gold Chartbusters. Since 2006 Guy Pratt has been playing bass for Bryan Ferry and is currently accompanying him on his solo tour throughout Europe. With his session background Guy masters all of the techniques on the Bass, He is a great player to follow if you are looking to encompass all styles into your playing , meat and potatoes, slap , pleckwork, chording etc etc i could go on check him out!!

John Taylor (Duran Duran, Powerstation)

John Taylor is one of the revolutionary Bass players of the late 70's and 80's merging Disco, Punk, and Pop Bass lines leading to Duran Duran's ground breaking sound. Excellent fun to play and you can bounce round a bit as well lol. Taylor played with Duran Duran and its changing lineups from its founding in 1978 until 1997, when he left to pursue a solo recording and film career. He made a dozen solo releases (albums, EPs, and video projects) through his company "Trust The Process" in the next four years, had a lead role in the movie Sugar Town, and made appearances in half a dozen other film projects. He rejoined Duran Duran for a full reunion of the original five members of the group in 2001.

Phil Lynott (Thin Lizzy)

"The Rocker" as he was known possesed a unique talent both vocally and with his song writing. His Bass playing goes without saying. He openly admited that he fitted a mirrored scratchplate to his Fender P-Bass so he could shine the reflected light onto women in the audience who he liked lol. In the mid 1960s, Lynott began singing in his first band, the Black Eagles. Around this time, he befriended Brian Downey. After a short stint in Brush Shiels' Skid Row with Gary Moore, Phil formed Thin Lizzy around 1969 in Dublin. He was inspired by Jimi Hendrix as an example of how a black man could be successful fronting a hard rock band. Lynott was the main songwriter for Thin Lizzy, as well as the lead singer and bassist. Their first top ten hit was in 1973, with the traditional Irish song "Whiskey in the Jar".In 1978, he was featured in Jeff Wayne's Musical Version of The War of the Worlds, singing and speaking the role of The Parson.

Herbie Flowers (Sky, War of the Worlds, Trex)

Herbie or "the Herbster" as i call him has played on over 500 hits over the years (a true Bass veteran). Very much a "Meat and potatoes" Bass player he is an excellent anchorman to follow in the bass playing world. (born Brian Keith Flowers, 19 May 1938, in Isleworth, Middlesex) is an English studio musician specialising in bass guitar, double-bass and tuba, who came to prominence performing with David Bowie and Elton John, and then later Lou Reed. It is his bass that opens Reed's "Walk on the Wild Side" and underpins Bowie's "Space Oddity" as well as the Harry Nilsson song "Jump into the Fire" . He also played bass on Jeff Wayne's Musical Version of The War of the Worlds. In 1969 Flowers co-founded the group Blue Mink and played on their song "Melting Pot", which reached #3 in the UK Singles Chart. He was a member of CCS, and later featured in a mid-1970s line-up of T. Rex. In 1979 he became a co-founder of the band Sky, which had considerable success in the United Kingdom

Bootsy Collins(James Brown, Parliment, Funkadelic)

Much has been written about the pivotal contributions of William "Bootsy Collins" to James Brown's JB's and George Clinton's P-Funk legacy. As a young bassist in 1970, Bootsy helped redefine Brown's music and as a composer/arranger/musician he played one role after another on the majority of Clinton's most memorable records. But this story -the story Of Bootsy's Rubber Band turns the tables, for it's James Brown (unwittingly) and George Clinton (calculatingly) who play the supporting roles.

"I DONT CARE AS LONG AS ITS FUNKY"