James Taylor

monroe55 · #1 12-14-2009, 06:42 PM

Who played bass with James Taylor?(Popular tunes) I'm learnin some JT songs for a band and man, is that bass player fun to listen to. So soft and smoove. One of those "Says so much with so little" styles of playin that only comes with pure soul. I know no matter how hard I try Im gonna overplay these songs when I play them...I aint got no soul. Im lame. I wish I sounded like this dude.

basmartin · #2 12-14-2009, 06:56 PM

Jimmy Johnson has played with James for the last decade or so. Before Jimmy, Lee Sklar played with James for some time. Jimmy is great, check out his playing with Allan Holdsworth and Michael Landau also.

**JxBass** · #3 12-14-2009, 07:26 PM

I saw Jimmy Johnson with James Taylor. Smooth is the word. I can still picture him playing mostly with his eyes closed and a slight smile on his face - he and the bass were one.

4001 · #4 12-14-2009, 10:05 PM

Jimmy is the man!

Killer tone.

jerry · #5 12-15-2009, 04:03 AM

Sklar played most of the classic Taylor recordings, but Jimmy Johnson's work on those same songs off of the live Taylor album is sublime! You can't go wrong with either versions and they are a masterclass in basslines that serve the songs while still being very inventive. You can see why both of these guys work....a LOT!

JimK · #6 12-15-2009, 04:59 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jerry

You can see why both of these guys work....a LOT!

Sklar definitely...there was a time when Johnson was scarce, IMO.
That said, a little less obvious Johnson album for me would be Billy Childs' His April Touch.

One thing I recall about a long-past Sklar interview (in Guitar Player?) that I found somewhat amusing-
Sklar said one of his early practice things would be to play along with a record...at a faster rpm.
Those old enough to remember: Turntables had 4 speeds...16, 33 1/3, 45 & 78.
I recall Sklar saying practicing "I Saw Her Standing There" (I assume an LP at 45rpm? 78rpm would be ridiculous) at the faster speed & then going back to the normal speed...it would seem like hours between each note.

Blake Bass · #7 12-15-2009, 06:37 AM

Check out the DVD "James Taylor Live at the Beacon Theatre". Jimmy Johnson plays on it and sounds amazing!

**JxBass** · #8 12-15-2009, 06:50 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JxBass

I saw Jimmy Johnson with James Taylor. Smooth is the word. I can still picture him playing mostly with his eyes closed and a slight smile on his face - he and the bass were one.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Blake Bass

Check out the DVD "James Taylor Live at the Beacon Theatre". Jimmy Johnson plays on it and sounds amazing!

The Beacon Theatre is where I saw Jimmy with James Taylor

He was playing his 5 string (of course) through 2x10s.

monroe55 · #9 12-15-2009, 11:58 AM

Upright or electric?

**JxBass** · #10 12-15-2009, 12:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by monroe55

Upright or electric?

When I saw Jimmie it was electric only.

Eminentbass · #11 12-15-2009, 01:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Blake Bass

Check out the DVD "James Taylor Live at the Beacon Theatre". Jimmy Johnson plays on it and sounds amazing!

You took the words right out of my mouth. His tone is amazing and while his playing is the definition of supportive, every once in a while he throws in a beautiful, melodic fill that reminds the listener that he's there.

So Low Bass · #12 12-15-2009, 01:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by monroe55

Who played bass with James Taylor?(Popular tunes) I'm learnin some JT songs for a band and man, is that bass player fun to listen to. So soft and smoove. One of those "Says so much with so little" styles of playin that only comes with pure soul. I know no matter how hard I try Im gonna overplay these songs when I play them...I aint got no soul. Im lame. I wish I sounded like this dude.

General rule of thumb: JT's more recent live cds are Jimmy Johnson. He's on Eric Clapton's Dallas Crossroads too. Joe Walsh plays on the set.

You'd better have one heck of a drummer in your band too!

groovenut57 · #13 12-15-2009, 03:00 PM

Here's James Taylor's all-time classic...

With Lee Sklar:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BL8NNTNmPT4

With Jimmy Johnson:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wngudRTCe1Y

These guys are two of the reasons why I play the bass today!

monroe55 · #14 12-16-2009, 05:20 AM

Whoa. Those clips were sweet. Thamks. Sklar looks like a retired hells angel. How many pickups does that bass have in it? I thought i counted at least 5. Do i need 5 pickups to sound that good?

JimK · #15 12-16-2009, 05:25 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by So Low Bass

General rule of thumb: JT's more recent live cds are Jimmy Johnson. He's on Eric Clapton's Dallas Crossroads too. Joe Walsh plays on the set.

You'd better have one heck of a drummer in your band too!

Of course...when you got access to Carlos Vega (RIP), Steven Ferrone, etc.

Another couple of Jimmy Johnson albums not mentioned too often around here-
Chad Wackerman's Forty Reasons & The View.

monroe55 · #16 12-16-2009, 05:27 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by So Low Bass

General rule of thumb: JT's more recent live cds are Jimmy Johnson. He's on Eric Clapton's Dallas Crossroads too. Joe Walsh plays on the set.

You'd better have one heck of a drummer in your band too!

I checked out your youtube site. Thats a sweet sounding bass set up you got. Great playing too. I love Fenders but im kind of green when it comes to pickups and technical stuff with instruments. What is in that bass of yours???

JimK · #17 12-16-2009, 05:28 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by monroe55

Whoa. Those clips were sweet. Thamks. Sklar looks like a retired hells angel. How many pickups does that bass have in it? I thought i counted at least 5. Do i need 5 pickups to sound that good?

He's had "that look" since the '70s!
I cannot see the bass you're talking about here...one thing cool Sklar did was to reverse the pickups on his P-bass ("neck" PUP for the D/G strings..."bridge" PUP for the E/A strings).

Check out Sklar's band...the Barefoot Servants.

**ExaltBass** · #18 12-16-2009, 05:34 AM

If you want to hear Jimmy Johnson as leader, check out any of the Flim and The BBs (Jazz) recordings... some amazing playing on there.

groovenut57 · #19 12-16-2009, 07:38 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by monroe55

Sklar looks like a retired hells angel. How many pickups does that bass have in it? I thought i counted at least 5. Do i need 5 pickups to sound that good?

Here's the picture of the bass you're talking about.
As you can see, only two pickups (dual, flipped-around P pu's).
And if you look closely, you can see it has "Harley-Davidson" on it.

JTE · #20 12-16-2009, 09:04 AM

Leland's main bass for years has been that bass in groovenut57's post. An after-market body, a Precision neck shaved down to Jazz dimensions, early EMG P pick-ups reversed so the bass strings coils are closer to the bridge than a standard P, and passive V/V/T.

He's also used a lot of other stuff, including being an early Steinberger player, there's a current Dingwall Sklar signature I saw on-line last night, and Yamaha (it's a Yamaha BB on Taylor's "Your Smilin' Face", Sklar's self-admitted favorite track).

Skar hooked up with Taylor via Danny Kortchmar (a/ka/ "Kootch") after the "Sweet Baby James" album took off. Kootch, Sklar, Craige Doerge and Russ Kunkle were James' band for ages- and they did a lot of the Southern California singer-songwriter gigs. They're all over Linda Rondstadt, Carole King, Jackson Browne, etc. Find a copy of the "pie" album by The Section. It's those four musicians playing instrumental stuff ranging from some Mahavishnu-like fusion to a VERY cool instrumental of "Dock Of The Bay".

Sklar is amazing- who else plays with Billy Cobham, Carol King, Reba McEntire, George Jones, Phil Collins, and John Butcher?

John