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08-08-2004, 09:20 PM
| | Registered User | | Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: Texas | |  Skylark of The Doobie Brothers
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I recently purchased the dvd The Doobie Brothers - Rockin' Down the Highway and like it a lot. The bass player by the name of Skylark played an Alembic and really tied the sound together. I haven't been able to find any information on this guy anywhere. Anyone ever heard of him?   |
08-09-2004, 02:40 AM
| | Registered User | | Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: Netherlands | | | There is indeed surprisingly little known about the man's past musical exploits. I got his autograph earlier this year after the show in Amsterdam, he seems a very private guy but he was the only one who came out after the gig to meet the die-hard fans (I have met the Doobs after a US show though).
He is a worthy successor of Tiran Porter, also a very good bass player in my opinion and one of my sources of inspiration when I started out on four strings. Skylark plays a flashy 4-string Alembic with LED's in the fretboard. I'll try and see what I can come up with on this guy.
Steven |
08-09-2004, 04:10 AM
| | Registered User
Endorsing Artist: Spector Basses & Cort Basses | | Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: Surrey, England | | Skylark was born in the Netherlands (son of a GI and a dutch woman I believe).
He wrote 'System Of Survival' for Earth, Wind & Fire and filled in with them on occasion I believe... 
He plays Alembic & Lakland basses through Trace Elliott heads & cabs.
He's huge! Around 6ft 6" tall! 
He's a supernice guy!  |
08-09-2004, 06:14 AM
| | Registered User | | Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: Netherlands | | | [quote=cetera]Skylark was born in the Netherlands (son of a GI and a dutch woman I believe).QUOTE]
and I thought the Doobies came to Holland in 2004 (for the first time in more than 20 years) just to thank me for my repeated attendance of their gigs in the US. I'm shattered.
Steven |
08-10-2004, 09:37 PM
|  | C'mon man! | | Join Date: Dec 1999 Location: Hawaii | | I've met him a number of times, great guy and great player! He's been with the Doobies over ten years. He makes his Laklands look like ukulele's The Doobies always had great replacement bassist after Tiran left....the first was Willie Weeks.
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Aloha, Jerry
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08-11-2004, 03:57 AM
| | Registered User
Endorsing Artist: Spector Basses & Cort Basses | | Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: Surrey, England | | Quote: |
Originally Posted by jerry The Doobies always had great replacement bassist after Tiran left....the first was Willie Weeks. | They certainly did..... but Tiran was and still is THE man! Hugely underrated as a player and tasteful in his bass composition and delivery.... |
08-11-2004, 09:45 PM
| | Registered User | | Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: Texas | | | Going back to the Rockin' Down the Highway dvd, I'm just so impressed at Sky's live tone and I think one of the marks of a great bassist is making the playing look effortless whether it's popping and slapping to just plain thumping along. I'd like to know find out about his rig and setup. |
08-11-2004, 09:59 PM
| | C'mon man! | | Join Date: Dec 1999 Location: Hawaii | | | When the Doobies play out here, Skylark just uses whatever backline the sound company has and his Lakland.......he just has great tone. He also sings backup, and they all use in ear monitors.
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Aloha, Jerry
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08-12-2004, 03:43 AM
| | Registered User
Endorsing Artist: Spector Basses & Cort Basses | | Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: Surrey, England | | Quote: |
Originally Posted by Spector_Ray I'd like to know find out about his rig and setup. | See my above post... |
08-12-2004, 12:40 PM
| | Registered User | | Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: metro detroit, michigan | | | I saw them in Detroit about two years ago. I thought the FOH guy forgot to put the bass in the mix...then when Skylark did his long solo during "Long Train Runnin" you could hear just how thin his tone was. His playing is top-notch, but I think his tone sucked. BTW...he was playing the illuminated Alembic. |
08-12-2004, 01:00 PM
| | Registered User
Endorsing Artist: Ibanez basses and Promethean amp | | Join Date: Apr 2000 Location: Atlanta | | Whoa! I thought Skylark's real name was Tiran! They're 2 different people?!
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There's a reason why women love us bass players.The tone is like Barry White's voice, and the strings are thick like Ron Jeremy's...well, you get the point.
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08-12-2004, 01:35 PM
| | Registered User | | Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: Hernando, Mississippi | | Quote: |
Originally Posted by cetera Skylark was born in the Netherlands (son of a GI and a dutch woman I believe).
He wrote 'System Of Survival' for Earth, Wind & Fire and filled in with them on occasion I believe...
He plays Alembic & Lakland basses through Trace Elliott heads & cabs.
He's huge! Around 6ft 6" tall!
He's a supernice guy! | I saw them several months back at the Grand casino in Tunica, Mississippi. If it was Skylark that was playing with them, he was playing through Mesa Boogie cabs. The whole band was.
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Romance therapist and author of “The 60 Second Lovemaking Experience.”
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08-13-2004, 04:31 AM
| | Registered User
Endorsing Artist: Spector Basses & Cort Basses | | Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: Surrey, England | | Quote: |
Originally Posted by Woodchuck Whoa! I thought Skylark's real name was Tiran! They're 2 different people?! | Er.... yes! 
'Tiran Porter' was the Doobie Brothers bassist from 1972 (Toulouse St album) - early 80's. The last album he played on was 'One Step Closer' but he left before the tour for that album. 'Willie Weeks' replaced him on that tour and the Farewell Tour.
'Tiran Porter' rejoined in the late 80's for the reunion albums 'Cycles' & 'Brotherhood' but then left again. 'John Cowan' from 'New Grass Revival' took over bass duties through the mid nineties and then left to be replaced by 'Skylark'.
I agree about Skylark's bass tone... he needs more roundness and low end to his sound....but then what do you expect from an Alembic into a Trace Elliott?!  
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Proud SPECTOR endorsee - 16 Spectors! Also, now a CORT endorsee.
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11-02-2010, 12:32 PM
|  | Registered User | | Join Date: May 2008 Location: Little Rock, Arkansas | | And it seems in the endless cycle of musical chairs, John Cowan is back... |
07-16-2011, 08:27 AM
| | | | Bass Tone
From my experience if a sound engineer has an ear for a powerful kick drum and guitars,the bass gets left out of the mix to a degree.I use Fender Jazz basses along with an Ampeg SVT 8/10.Depending on who is running sound on a given night,I get left out in the cold when it comes to certain frequencies being left out in the mix.I like to listen to The Doobies live at The Wolf Trap and of course the recorded DVD has been heavily mixed down to be well enhanced from the studio.Skylark's bass hits beautifully in the DVD.My point is if the live audio isn't on point for each instrument then something will suffer for the listener.His stage tone is probably killer.Getting it to the listener is another story left to the sound engineer.
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"Still Living In The 80's"
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07-25-2011, 12:01 AM
| | Registered User | | Join Date: May 2011 Location: Tampa Fl | | | I saw them a couple of years ago in an outdoor concert. They had the best live sound I ever heard. They sounded hi-def with no speakers on the stage. The must be one expensive PA system they have. They made the warm ups BOC and Blackfoot sound like amatuers. I would love to know how they did that - it sounded like they were blasting their CD through a Bose |
07-28-2011, 12:20 AM
| | Registered User | | Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Omaha, NE and Columbus, OH | | | ^^ We saw them at an outdoor concert in Omaha quite a few years ago and they sounded just like they were playing their CD's thru the PA system. They played along the banks of the Missouri river and they altered the words of the song Black Water from Mississippi to Missouri...got the crowd going. They wouldn't be playing there this year - that park is under about 10 feet of "black water". |
11-04-2011, 10:35 PM
|  | Supporting Member | | Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: Northern California | | Quote:
Originally Posted by videomagician  And it seems in the endless cycle of musical chairs, John Cowan is back... | I think Skylark had a stroke.
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11-04-2011, 10:38 PM
| | C'mon man! | | Join Date: Dec 1999 Location: Hawaii | | Quote:
Originally Posted by noeinstein I think Skylark had a stroke. | He did.
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Aloha, Jerry
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