The bass guy from Blind Melon

Human Bass · #1 05-17-2008, 07:22 PM

He must be one of the most underrated ever! Because i've never heard of him but every BM song i hear has great basslines.

let me check his name...

His name is Brad Smith. But even in Wikipedia his name is in red, meaning there is no article about him.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=ElXPGFThjwk

http://youtube.com/watch?v=gplLq43OIGs

Not just great playing, but the dude has an awesome tone!

bradjonesbass · #2 05-17-2008, 08:28 PM

I've always liked his playing. I was glad to see Blind Melon got back together. I always wondered why he never hooked up with anybody else after Shannon died. I suppose his death probably made it difficult to play for a while.

jerry · #3 05-17-2008, 11:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bradjonesbass

I've always liked his playing. I was glad to see Blind Melon got back together. I always wondered why he never hooked up with anybody else after Shannon died. I suppose his death probably made it difficult to play for a while.

He had a band with the guitar player from Blind Melon and the original drummer from Pearl Jam for awhile. They were called Unified Theory, I have the CD around here somewhere, I dug it! Great player!

6stringbassist · #4 05-18-2008, 01:47 PM

Didn't I read in BP that he died recently ?.

jollygiantchris · #5 05-19-2008, 01:17 AM

Blind Melon was an awesome band. Does anyone know what gear that guy used he had great tone.

HashbrownCOBM · #6 05-19-2008, 08:13 PM

He's still alive. He was doing a lot of producing for the past 13 years too. They were just down here about three weeks ago (NW Arkansas) and I was two people away from getting in before the fockin sold out. Glad I drove 45 minutes to get back in my car and drive home. I was really bummed because in 95' two weeks before shannon died they came to First Ave in minneapolis and I missed that show too. But I just figured I'd go check them the next time they came to town. Oooooops.

NCorder · #7 05-20-2008, 08:38 PM

Believe it or not, my band was lucky enough to get the opening slot for BM at Bogarts in Cincinnati on May 30th. I'll try to peek at his gear and report back to what he is using live nowadays. Guy has some killer tones, thats for sure!

olaff421 · #8 05-20-2008, 08:49 PM

I actually met him a few years back. I was at a little dive bar next to MTSU for some local death metal crap (bored with nothing better to do.) I started talking to this dude, and he said he was the bass player for BM. I was never a huge fan so never really paid any attention to what anyone, except for that wierd little bumblebee girl, really looked like before I changed the channel.

A few weeks later when Comedy Central would play SNL in the middle of the day, they played the one with BM performing on it. Sure enough it was THAT guy! After I realized that he wasn't full of crap, like so many people are around here - especially when it comes to music - I dug out his telephone number that he gave me at the bar. We talked on the phone a few times but that was about it. I wanted to get together and jam around a little.

He was a really cool dude. Really down to earth. I could also tell that he was still pretty upset about Shannon's death. I don't think he was really doing much with music when I met him.

On a side note, besides all the really crappy, muddy, too loud death metal I heard that night, I did here a pretty kicka$$ death metal version of 'Too Many Puppies.' It wasn't quite the same, but it was the best thing I heard that night.

bass-shy · #9 05-25-2008, 09:17 PM

I just saw Blind Melon on Thursday night in Flint, Mi.. He was playing a Fender Jazz that looked like the finish was stripped off through an Ampeg rig. Great tone and great show. The new singer really does a great job! He's not trying to be Shannon Hoon, just picking up where he left off. I'd love to hear some new albums from them.

etherealme · #10 07-16-2011, 06:54 PM

Amazon.com: For My Friends: Blind Melon: Music
&
Amazon.com: Unified Theory: Unified Theory: Music

Brad Smith is an incredible bass player. Very melodic with lots of groove with a solid round tone. Very underrated player, but then again, so is every other member of blind melon.
He's most often seen with a Gibson Les Paul recording bass and playing live, a super worn jazz bass through an Ampeg svt 4 pro with a custom loaded 6 or 8x10 cab.

jmorbita · #11 07-30-2011, 04:43 PM

bringing this back up, becasuse last night I saw Blind Melon live in Buenos Aires... awesome show!! Really great, I might say one of the best bands I've seen live. the guys really know what they're doing.

And Brad's tone was superb.
He's still playing a fender jazz in natural finish through an ampeg rig.
What brought my attention is that his jazz has a p/j configuration, I guess that must be cusom made.

awesome show, awesome band, and an awesome tone!