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10-21-2011, 11:00 AM
| | | | Essential Joe Osborn?
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I'm putting together a playlist of what "bassists in the know" regard as essential Joe Osborn and would appreciate suggestions before I audition the whole list of Top 40 hits on which he played. I have quite a few songs in my collection, as I'm sure most of us do, but before I run up my iTunes bill I'd like to know what those more knowledgeable than myself think. I don't care if it's really soft pop, as it's all about the basslines and their creativity within the structure of the songs. Thanks to all. |
10-21-2011, 11:12 AM
| | | | Aquarius/Let The Sunshine In (Fifth Dimension) is certainly Osborns best known work...but to me it's his consistancy and recognizable tone that makes him the great bassist he is. Some of the Gary Lewis & The Playboys stuff is classic Osborn...clean simple lines...songs like Green Grass and Everybody Loves A Clown, etc...shows what the contribution of bass should be in creating a hit record. Even a tune like The Mamas & Papas...Monday Monday...simple supportive line...but those glissy slides near the end must have resulted from a producer asking Joe to..."give me a little something here"...and as always...Osborn delivered. Osborne, Hal Blaine, Tommy Tedesco, and Larry Knechtel worked in sync as well as any rhythm ensemble in pop music history...perhaps not the musical embodiment of a project like Funk Brothers tracks...but the necessary supportive element which exemplified the pop music sound to emerge from Los Angeles in the 60's and 70's.
Last edited by SoCal1 : 10-21-2011 at 11:20 AM.
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10-21-2011, 12:20 PM
| | Registered User | | Join Date: May 2010 Location: Chicago area | | | re: Joe Osborn on the Gary Lewis recordings
Another great bass player, Carl Radle was a member of The Gary Lewis & the Playboys band for a time. |
10-21-2011, 12:32 PM
| | | Quote: |
Originally Posted by jbednarski Another great bass player, Carl Radle was a member of The Gary Lewis & the Playboys band for a time. |
I'm sure Gary found himself some very good players to perform with...but so far as recording sessions...it was the "Masters"...in this case, The Wrecking Crew with Joe Osborn on bass. |
10-21-2011, 01:35 PM
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I setup & repair guitars & basses | | Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: Kensington, Ca | | Quote:
Originally Posted by Mikhail  I'm putting together a playlist of what "bassists in the know" regard as essential Joe Osborn and would appreciate suggestions before I audition the whole list of Top 40 hits on which he played. I have quite a few songs in my collection, as I'm sure most of us do, but before I run up my iTunes bill I'd like to know what those more knowledgeable than myself think. I don't care if it's really soft pop, as it's all about the basslines and their creativity within the structure of the songs. Thanks to all. | "I Saw Her Again Last Night", Mamas & Papas, "Everything That Touches You Is Love", Association, spring to mind.
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10-21-2011, 01:42 PM
| | Registered User | | Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: Twixt a rock and a hard place | | | Only Living Boy in New York from Simon and Garfunkel is my favorite. I think he plays the bass on some America stuff like Ventura Highway, IIRC. |
10-21-2011, 01:43 PM
| | | | Funny story...during an early Wrecking Crew session for The Association...the bands members walked out on the studio floor and tried to get the musicians to sign an agreement that they would never divulge that it was really not The Association playing on their tracks. The Crew members told them to get lost, and threatened to walk out of the session if such nonsense contunued. They stayed after The Association relented. |
10-21-2011, 01:45 PM
| | Registered User | | Join Date: May 2008 Location: Sioux Falls, SD | | | Scott McKenzie "San Francisco" is a JO classic.
"For All We Know" by the Carpenters is chock-full of JO's delicious slides and other tasty tidbits, as well. |
10-21-2011, 01:57 PM
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Brand Manager, Brubaker Brute Series Basses | | Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: Asbury Park, NJ | | | Early Ricky Nelson. That is what brought him to LALAland to begin with and what got him the signature J Bass. Its also a great showing of early bass players who were unknown but not lost in the mix.
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10-21-2011, 02:01 PM
| | Registered User | | Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: Twixt a rock and a hard place | | | How early? Is Osborne playing on Nelson's version of Waitin' in School? Killer tune that one! Or are you talking more like "Garden Party" era stuff?
Last edited by N.F.A. : 10-21-2011 at 02:04 PM.
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10-21-2011, 02:31 PM
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Originally Posted by TRichardsbass Early Ricky Nelson. That is what brought him to LALAland to begin with and what got him the signature J Bass. Its also a great showing of early bass players who were unknown but not lost in the mix. | When Fender originally offered Joe an endorsement bass based on his early work with Nelson...Osborn thought he was getting a P Bass...but they sent him a J Bass instead. Joe tried it and liked the narrower neck and kept it.
I don't think Joe was still with Nelson during the Garden Party days.
Osborn left Los Angeles for Nashville due to the fact that he was in the enviable position of getting TOO many session calls in L.A. and wanted a more relaxing lifestyle. In Nashville he worked with some of the top Country Music stars of the day. When that became too busy, he semi retired to his native Louisiana.
Last edited by SoCal1 : 10-21-2011 at 02:41 PM.
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