Vernie Robbins (Mr. Big Stuff, Groove Me)

[burk48237]

After reacquainting myself with Groove Me I had to find out who laid down those deep grooves. The guys name was Vernie Robbins, our own Woodchuck says he died of cancer about 6 years ago. He was part of the rhythm section at Malaco records in Jackson MS. The other big hit he had with Malaco was "Mr Big Stuff" by Jean King. He also played on Paul Simons "There goes Rhymin Simon", where he is credited as part of the Muscle shoals rhythm section with Bob Crenshaw.

Here's a blurb in Mix mag:

The band on the ultrafunky, slightly reggaeish “Groove Me” consisted of Quezergue on Hammond B-3 (miked top and bottom on the Leslie, says Stephenson, who engineered with Couch); Jerry Puckett on guitar (a single mic on his amp); Vernie Robbins on bass (a mic on the amp mixed with the direct signal — Muscle Shoals-style); James Stroud — now a successful Nashville producer — substituting for Malaco's regular session drummer; and the Chimneyville Brass, a loose group of the hottest local horn players. The drum miking scheme was also derived from Muscle Shoals, Stephenson notes: “They would use a 67 about 18 or 20 inches above the snare drum, put one mic in the bass drum and a couple of other mics on the top, like a KM-84, and that was about it. You had to be a fairly attentive drummer to play that setup, because there was that big fat Neumann sitting right there in front of you, but it sounded great. Roger Hawkins [of the Muscle Shoals rhythm section] is a real master working with that setup.” In all, the session for “Groove Me” was just five tracks of instruments (drums and horns were on one track each) and Floyd's vocal on a sixth track.

http://mixonline.com/recording/inter...floyds_groove/

http://homeofthegroove.blogspot.com/...his-prime.html

http://homeofthegroove.blogspot.com/...ight-says.html

[jerry]

Thanks for the links! I've long admired those basslines but never knew the name behind them, classics!

[JimK]

Yeah, very cool links.
(Although I'm wondering why/how Kool & The Gang's "Celebration" is listed as 1969).

"Groove Me" is about the best lesson for someone just getting into R&B, space & groove.

[MikeBass]

We did a cover of Mr. Big Stuff at church a while back.
That bass line was sweet. Albeit we changed it up a bit, but the original was cool.
You can see the video here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nxjAd1IJheY

[jerry]

I feel bad I didn't recognize Vernie Robbins name. I'm a liner note junkie from way back, but I admit my copy of Groove Me is on the Atlantic Records box set, a great collection but a little short on bass player info.

[JimK]

Yeah, Jerry...I'm surprised, too.

BTW, speaking of box sets...have you seen those Motown Singles Boxes?! Man, I wish I had an extra $500 laying around!
I did plunk down $30 at iTunes for some of the deeper cuts from those sets. There's a couple of Monk Montgomery "singles" from the 1969 box set.

[jerry]

Originally Posted by JimK

Yeah, Jerry...I'm surprised, too.

BTW, speaking of box sets...have you seen those Motown Singles Boxes?! Man, I wish I had an extra $500 laying around!
I did plunk down $30 at iTunes for some of the deeper cuts from those sets. There's a couple of Monk Montgomery "singles" from the 1969 box set.

There is a Chess Singles box coming up this month that also has my wallets attention........there is always something. I could probably play a Fodera if I stopped buying CDs.[not that my crappy playing deserves one]