Why no talk of Joe Osborn?

[Dave R]

As a newbie, I've been searching through here. I find very little discussion of my favorite bassist, Joe Osborn. Just wondering why.

Is he too "old school"? Are the members here too young to know about Joe? I see lots of discussion about the Joe Osborn bass from Lakland. So his shadow must still be following around...

If you don't know who he is, he was THE studio guy in the '60s and '70s. Joe, Hal Blaine and Larry Knechtel were known as the "Wrecking Crew" and they played on over 200 hit records.

Here are a few tracks that will introduce you to his singular style.

-Simon & Garfunkle, "America" from the Bookends album. My all-time favorite Joe licks.

-Simon & Garfunkle, "Only Living Boy in New York" from the Bridge Over Troubled Water album. Nice bass feature.

-5th Dimension, "Age of Aquarius/Let the Sun Shine In." Dunno the album. A classic bass jam at the end.

-Carpenters, "For All We Know" Dunno which album. I've read interviews where Joe says this is his favorite cut, and it sure shows. Such melodic, harmonic treatment of the standard descending line.

Anybody else here a fan of Joe Osborn?

[Twnty1inRF]

Joe Osborn is definitely Old Skool Cool!!!

I don't know if you've ever checked out basscast but they had an excellent interview and career retrospective on him (sponsored by Lakland):

You can check it out here:
http://basscast.libsyn.com/index.php?post_id=115328

Enjoy...

[DWBass]

I've heard things! I've heard things!

[Dave R]

I don't know if you've ever checked out basscast

Oh, yeah! I heard that interview, and that's actually how I found this forum. It was a great interview.

Last thing I expected was for Joe's voice to sound like a Shreveport hick. But hey, I guess I should've expected it. That's where he was born.

Joe trivia--he never changed his strings during his entire career in LA. All his hits have the same strings being played. He finally changed them when he moved to Nashville. Over 15 years with the same strings.

He also rarely changed hiss bass settings. Almost all his tracks have the same settings, unless he was doing something funky like the fuzz bass on "Save the life of my child."

[DavidRavenMoon]

Originally Posted by Dave R

He also rarely changed hiss bass settings.

He also never used the bridge pickup... always just the neck. And him and Carol Kaye played through a Fender Concert open back guitar amp!

Joe played on some of my favorite songs of my childhood, and although I had no idea who he was until more recently, he was a big influence on me.

[Caca de Kick]

Joe is an amazing player, always laid great lines to complete the song.

The list of songs he's been on seems endless....

[20db pad]

"Too old school" may in fact be the best explanation, along with the observation that JO played in a style and fashion where his parts flowed in the tunes well and didn't stand out an awful lot. He's not a "hero" sort of player like Jamerson was. This doesn't diminish his musicianship - his mastery and concept of bass playing allowed him to play parts that were almost always ensemble based but profound in their perfection for -and role in - the tune.

Long before the advent of the internet, Joe was brought to my attention by an article Anthony Jackson wrote in a magazine whose name I can't recall. I figured anyone who AJ held in such high regard was certainly worth looking into. AJ was right.

Joe has maintained a low profile as far as press and bandwidth go - his name gets metioned more for the Lakland bass than for his accomplishments. His work speaks for itself, and even though he's not a marquee name, bassists who really want to know how to get the job done with style and class will always seek his contributions out.

[Headuardo]

Originally Posted by Dave R

Is he too "old school"?...

Yeah he might be too old school for some of the kids... but that's also probably why I really like him as well... and i'm a relatively young player.

"The Only Living Boy In New York" is one of my favourite melodic lines.

[Dave R]

"The Only Living Boy In New York" is one of my favourite melodic lines.

Then listen to "America" from the Bookends album. That's my favorite Joe line. Absolutely brilliant. And almost all of the song played above the 12th fret.

[pbass2]

Originally Posted by Dave R

Then listen to "America" from the Bookends album. That's my favorite Joe line. Absolutely brilliant. And almost all of the song played above the 12th fret.

Man when he would play in the upper registers, like on some of the Carpenters stuff, he sounded soooooo smooth and soulful. And it never felt like the bottom was missing. I think I need a jazz with flats now . . . .

[62bass]

Originally Posted by Dave R

As a newbie, I've been searching through here. I find very little discussion of my favorite bassist, Joe Osborn. Just wondering why.

Is he too "old school"? Are the members here too young to know about Joe? I see lots of discussion about the Joe Osborn bass from Lakland. So his shadow must still be following around...

If you don't know who he is, he was THE studio guy in the '60s and '70s. Joe, Hal Blaine and Larry Knechtel were known as the "Wrecking Crew" and they played on over 200 hit records.

Here are a few tracks that will introduce you to his singular style.

-Simon & Garfunkle, "America" from the Bookends album. My all-time favorite Joe licks.

-Simon & Garfunkle, "Only Living Boy in New York" from the Bridge Over Troubled Water album. Nice bass feature.

-5th Dimension, "Age of Aquarius/Let the Sun Shine In." Dunno the album. A classic bass jam at the end.

-Carpenters, "For All We Know" Dunno which album. I've read interviews where Joe says this is his favorite cut, and it sure shows. Such melodic, harmonic treatment of the standard descending line.

Anybody else here a fan of Joe Osborn?

Joe Osborn did play on a lot of hit records and was one of THE studio bass players in the 60s and 70s in LA.

But Joe, Hal Blaine and Larry Knechtel were not known as the "Wrecking Crew" back then. That term was made up much later after the heyday of the studio musician by Hal Blaine when he wrote his book.

I was recording in LA during the late 60s and early 70s. Although Joe Osborn's, Carol Kaye's, Larry Knectel's (who also played some excellent bass sessions) names were often mentioned by engineers and producers to me as examples of bass playing and sound to strive for, the term "Wrecking Crew" was never once mentioned. The name was made up much later by Hal Blaine to help sell his book and the name stuck and has been repeated so many times it's now accepted as truth. Hal Blaine did a lot of mentioning of it himself to help promote it and his book. He was always a good businessman.

Hal Blaine stopped by one session I was recording with the group I was with at the time to talk to our producer for a couple minutes. When he left I asked who he was (he was rather loud and boisterous and I had heard the name but never seen him before) and the producer said "that's Hal Blaine-he does a lot of work on drums". At a later session, during a break, a cartage company arrived and dropped off a set of drums for a session later that day. On the cases was stencilled "Hal Blaine Set # 7". I believe he also owned that cartage company. He was a busy guy and a great rock drummer. But so were many other top studio drummers and other musicians during those days. There was a lot of studio work for the very best players.

Joe Osborne was an excellent player who had a great tone that recorded very well. He was one of my favorites.

[GM60466]

I interviewed Joe Osborn for Vintage Guitar Magazine about 7 years ago. What a great guy, and he hasn't lost his chops. The man's hands are still as fast as lightning.
The story about not changing his strings is true. There was something about his Jazz Bass through that Bandmaster that was magical in tone. There are probably another 100 tunes that Joe never took credit for, but that's the kind of man he is. Check out VG's web site for the full interview.

GM

[Mojo-Man]

:cool
One of the greats.

[JimK]

Originally Posted by Dave R

-5th Dimension, "Age of Aquarius/Let the Sun Shine In." Dunno the album. A classic bass jam at the end.

Age Of Aquarius is the album.

In the last hour, I was re-visiting some Carpenters' stuff ("Superstar" & "Close To You")...as a kid, I listened to this sorta stuff + Sly, The Doors, Santana, Beatles, etc. Anyway, The Carpenters' stuff is so well played & arranged...and her voice. Wow.
Osborn is the epitome of taste.
Talk Bass-er Rob W. used to always mention JO.

Another Old Skool Pop guy from JO's era is Joe Schermie of 3 Dog Night...he gets mentioned even less than JO (if that's possible).
;-)

[Dave R]

I interviewed Joe Osborn for Vintage Guitar Magazine about 7 years ago. What a great guy, and he hasn't lost his chops. The man's hands are still as fast as lightning.

Is that interview available anywhere on the Internet? Back issues of the mag?

I'd love to read it.

But Joe, Hal Blaine and Larry Knechtel were not known as the "Wrecking Crew" back then.

Thanks for setting the record straight, '62Bass.

[Joe Nerve]

Joe Osborne was the real Danny Partridge. One of my first influences. Definitely one of my all time favorite bass players.

[pbass2]

Originally Posted by Joe Nerve

Joe Osborne was the real Danny Partridge. One of my first influences. Definitely one of my all time favorite bass players.

I thought Carol Kaye was the real Danny Partridge?

Anyhow, yeah, "Close to You"---man, what a great example of a bass part perfectly orchestrated for the song.

[Buskman]

Originally Posted by DWBass

I've heard things! I've heard things!

LOL! Nice one!

Yeah, JO is one of those players (like Jameson) that you've heard hundreds of times and might not have even realized it initially. Love his tone, too (Jazz + flats + pick)!

[CamMcIntyre]

I learned a bit about Joe Osborn when i studied [albeit briefly] with Tom Mendel.

Man, the stories Tom would tell about Joe were great. Mainly about how he'd use a pick and his accent.

Joe's playing? The first line of his that i learned was on "Age of Aquarius" for a high school show choir show. At first i looked at it and thought "you gotta be kiddin me"-we rarely played tunes that i thought had a killer groove. That one was awesome. I ended up synthesizing a good chunk of the licks in that line into my own playing. A few of em became "signature" type riffs of mine during high school.

killer player-he's one of those guys where i'd like to take a lesson from him, but probably not even bring a bass. Just talk to him for an hour or so.

[Dave R]

Love his tone, too (Jazz + flats + pick)!

Some other elements of his tone--LaBella strings, and playing in the upper frets. Unless he was playing below a low B, he was above the 7th fret. As I said earlier, almost all of "America" (Simon & Garfunkle) is above the 12 fret.