Simple Minds Bassist 81 - 92

[Correlli]

I'll looking for more info about Simple Minds basssist from 1981 to 92.

I am a huge fan of Simple Minds, and alot basslines they wrote was quite innovative I think.

Some favorite tunes include:
- Sanctiy Yourself
- Waterfront (best root note bassline of all time)
- Promised You a Miracle
- See the Light

Thanks for your replies.

[jerry]

John Giblin did a lot of Simple Minds work in the 80's, I also have him on a Brand X album as well.......great fretless player!!

[The Mock Turtle Regulator]

Simple Minds' bassists have been;

Derek Forbes 1979-1985 and 1996-1998

John Giblin 1985-1988

Malcolm Foster 1988-1996

Eddie Duffy 1999-present


- Sanctify Yourself -John Giblin

- Waterfront (best root note bassline of all time)- Derek Forbes (it's actually several basslines- the open D and fretless lines overdubbed)

- Promised You a Miracle- Derek Forbes

- See the Light- Malcolm Foster


see the Derek Forbes/Tony Butler thread (also has info on Malcolm Foster);

Big Country's Tony Butler/ Simple Minds' Derek Forbes

[Correlli]

Thanks for the info guys. Made my day

I'm a big fan of Big Country too.

Scotland produced some amazing talent!

[Rowdy-88]

oh, can't forget The American! You have to love that basic slap rhythm. I sure do love Simple Minds. It's a shame not many other 21 year olds are into New Wave music from the 80's. I can't get enough of it though, they're such a talented band. I picked up a live DVD of theirs the other day, and it totally blew me away. They were so tight as a band, and their stage presence (especially Kerr) is phenomenal!

[Matt Dean]

I love the simple minds too... great bass lines.

[the low one]

Loved Simple Minds since Love Song, I Travel, The American, Glittering Prize etc etc. In fact everything Derek Forbes played on sounded great.

Saw them recently with Eddie Duffy on bass and they still sounded good, and nice to see Eddie playing Forbes bass lines fairly faithfully, apart from the slap on Big Sleep which he played with a pick. No Simple Minds bass played has attempted to slap it since Forbes as far as I know

Duffy looked to be using P basses but didn’t play any songs needing a fretless. I’ve found a video on Youtube of them playing King Is White from New Gold Dream recently and he looked to be playing a fretless jazz style bass. Anyone know any more about what fretless he uses?

[Jamie_Funk]

Originally Posted by the low one

Loved Simple Minds since Love Song, I Travel, The American, Glittering Prize etc etc. In fact everything Derek Forbes played on sounded great.

Saw them recently with Eddie Duffy on bass and they still sounded good, and nice to see Eddie playing Forbes bass lines fairly faithfully, apart from the slap on Big Sleep which he played with a pick. No Simple Minds bass played has attempted to slap it since Forbes as far as I know

Duffy looked to be using P basses but didn’t play any songs needing a fretless. I’ve found a video on Youtube of them playing King Is White from New Gold Dream recently and he looked to be playing a fretless jazz style bass. Anyone know any more about what fretless he uses?

Weird that no one but Forbes slapped Big Sleep? One of the first slap lines I learned starting out as a NEW WAVE teen in the 80s....great line and feel (quite smooth for slap), but not incredibly hard to slap......

Derek's playing was the best thing about that band IMO....after he left, my interest in them waned...

J

[the low one]

Originally Posted by Jamie_Funk

Derek's playing was the best thing about that band IMO....after he left, my interest in them waned...

J

Agree 100 %, though I do think the latest guy, Eddie Duffy, make a good fist of the old songs, apart from Big Sleep, and that may be because it's the way he's told to play it I guess.

[Rhythm Vision]

Originally Posted by The Mock Turtle Regulator

Simple Minds' bassists have been;

Derek Forbes 1979-1985 and 1996-1998

John Giblin 1985-1988

Malcolm Foster 1988-1996

Eddie Duffy 1999-present


- Sanctify Yourself -John Giblin

- Waterfront (best root note bassline of all time)- Derek Forbes (it's actually several basslines- the open D and fretless lines overdubbed)

- Promised You a Miracle- Derek Forbes

- See the Light- Malcolm Foster


see the Derek Forbes/Tony Butler thread (also has info on Malcolm Foster);

Big Country's Tony Butler/ Simple Minds' Derek Forbes - TalkBass Forums

They had been working on the OUAT album when Derek got sacked. As 'Sanctify' was the last song written for the album it was almost certainly Giblin.

Originally Posted by Rowdy-88

oh, can't forget The American! You have to love that basic slap rhythm. I sure do love Simple Minds. It's a shame not many other 21 year olds are into New Wave music from the 80's. I can't get enough of it though, they're such a talented band. I picked up a live DVD of theirs the other day, and it totally blew me away. They were so tight as a band, and their stage presence (especially Kerr) is phenomenal!

Here is a live performance of 'The American' from 6/24/84 in Dortmund.
YouTube - Simple Minds - The American, Dortmund 24.06.1984, Live, High Quality

Originally Posted by Jamie_Funk

Weird that no one but Forbes slapped Big Sleep? One of the first slap lines I learned starting out as a NEW WAVE teen in the 80s....great line and feel (quite smooth for slap), but not incredibly hard to slap......

Derek's playing was the best thing about that band IMO....after he left, my interest in them waned...

J

His basslines were very much in the forefront because he was firstly a lead guitarist.

Here he is recently playing "I Travel" while under the influence...

YouTube - Simple Minds I Travel correct bassline

And "Colors Fly & Catherine Wheels".
YouTube - Colours Fly and Catherine Wheel


By the way, Ged Grimes is the new bassist