Any big Mark Sandman fans?

SpawnofHastur · #1 06-22-2009, 09:35 AM

Man, I absolutely love Mark Sandman, and may he rest in peace. This guy was the grooviest bassist I've ever heard, EVER. There isn't, to me, a funk bassist that can touch the grooves that Sandman got.

Anyone else here a fan of the late, great Mark Sandman and his two-string bass?

JimmyM · #2 06-22-2009, 01:36 PM

Morphine got a little old to me after a couple songs, but Mark Sandman was a talented guy with a very unique style. Shame he had to take the name of his band so seriously that he died from it.

SpawnofHastur · #3 06-22-2009, 01:47 PM

He had heart problems before he started the smack; being stabbed in the chest while being a cabbie will to that. The reason he got onto the smack was that both his brothers got killed.

As to the bandname, well, he actually denied it being about the drug- he meant it to be about Morpheus, but I'm willing to accept doubt on that stand.

ol' Mark was the reason I became a bass player. He's the guy who showed me that simple, melodic basslines could carry a song.

BassXgirl · #4 06-23-2009, 12:40 AM

I absolutely LOVE Morphine. (The band!)
What better way to satisfy a love of low frequencies than with a band of baritone sax, Mark's prominant 2 string bass, and his baritone voice. Morphine is pure low frequency heaven for me. No kidding.

Mark was a little under appreciated by a lot of bassists.

I wish I was able to see them live.

nothumb · #5 06-23-2009, 12:44 AM

great band, took a unique idea and really ran with it. great mix of bass playing and vocals.

62bass · #6 06-23-2009, 04:57 AM

I thought it was an interesting approach to music. But it got old for me too. Just too depressing, song after song. He wasn't much of a bass player but he certainly sounded different.

dalkowski · #7 06-23-2009, 05:09 AM

Sandman is missed around here.

Don't know if any of you ever heard "Treat Her Right," his fine band pre-Morphine. Good stuff -- more straight-ahead blues, but something of a Morphine preview.

I listen to Morphine and hear the sum of the parts, not just Sandman's bass. The sound, to me, is terrific. Maybe a little goes a long way (I can't listen to them for 3 hours straight), but they were utterly unique, conceptually speaking. Doesn't hurt that "Buena" showed up on the S/T of an episode of "Homicide: Life on the Street," one of the greatest cop shows ever, bar none.

Love him as a bassist or not, MS was a true creator. He was also a talented visual artist and an integral part of a very, very vibrant Cambridge/Boston scene in the 90s.

#8 06-23-2009, 05:14 AM

I'm a fan, your post reminds me I haven't listened to Morphine for a while.

"I wish I was able to see them live."
+1

threshar · #9 06-23-2009, 06:38 AM

Count me in. I quite enjoy morphine.

Buena is probably my favorite tune by them.
Followed closely by early to bed. It is just one note my the things they do with it..

SpawnofHastur · #10 06-23-2009, 06:50 AM

"I listen to Morphine and hear the sum of the parts, not just Sandman's bass."

Well, ain't that what a good bassist is supposed to do? To act as the mixing agent that gets the rest of the band to sound excellent? Technical skill be damned, because Sandman was excellent at get the rest of the band to fit together in the pocket.

For me, the best example of what I'm talking about is 'Super Sex'. A bassline largely made up of alternating octaves of A which manages to sound grooving and perfect for the song?

To me, that's a better bassist than any shred-monkey.

**Jerose** · #11 06-23-2009, 07:00 AM

I haven't found a thing he's done that I haven't loved. He's my favorite all around musician.

El Beardo · #12 06-23-2009, 07:01 AM

Morphine was a really cool and unique band with some killer grooves. Shame about Mark but at least he left doing what he loved. Dana Colley(sax) and Billy Conway(drums) have a new band now called Twinemen, pretty cool stuff.

gribuski · #13 06-28-2009, 11:20 AM

I'm a gigantic fan...they actually turned me into a fan of songs (from jamming). I listened to primarily jambands and avant-jazz, but something about their tunes pointed me down the road to tuneville. One of my all-time faves.

Quote:

Originally Posted by JimmyM

Morphine got a little old to me after a couple songs, but Mark Sandman was a talented guy with a very unique style. Shame he had to take the name of his band so seriously that he died from it.

This isn't true. There's no suspicion of drugs or anything involved. Every article or obit I've read shows no indication of that. Just a heart attack @ 46 - it happens.

The band isn't even named after the drug, it's Morphine as in "relating to Morpheus" the Greek God of Dreams.

SpawnofHastur · #14 06-28-2009, 11:48 AM

And, like I said above, he almost had a knife in the heart when he was working as a cabby.

He DID do some drugs, but that's kinda because his two brothers died.

Mr 600 · #15 07-07-2009, 01:54 PM

What a great tone and unique playing style! No one grooves like that. Couple it with baritone sax, and nothing even resembles Morphine.

SpawnofHastur · #16 07-07-2009, 06:43 PM

*high fives*

loendmaestro · #17 07-07-2009, 08:24 PM

When I met him after a show I told him that I enjoyed his playing so much that it made me want to quit the bass.

He wrote "Don't quit.....Mark Sandman" on my CD.

That guy was so unique & so awesome.

SpawnofHastur · #18 07-07-2009, 09:20 PM

I wish I had the honour to have met the man.

He was amazing, one of the true patron saints of groove.

BassXgirl · #19 07-07-2009, 10:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by loendmaestro

He wrote "Don't quit.....Mark Sandman" on my CD.

This is so cool.

BassBrass · #20 07-15-2009, 01:32 PM

I live in Boston and saw Morphene many times, probably the best being outside the Middle East club in Central Square Cambridge during a street fair. He came to see a band I was in...but I didn't know who he was yet. I did shake Dana Colley's hand (years later at the same street fair) and thanked him for the wonderful listening experiences. My No.1 band for hearing low the sounds of WOOD!
Gee, Sandman and Mouradian mentioned in threads today. Feels like old home week.