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Big John Wallace

ffutterman

ffutterman

Talentless Bass Enthusiast
May 7, 2010
1,006
130
Philadelphia
#1
I don't think there's enough talk on here about John Wallace, the bassist for Harry Chapin. He put down some really slick and sometimes onomatopoetic lines, and is generally woefully under appreciated. On top of that, he also did some great backup singing.

Some samples of his better stuff:

Danceband on the Titanic
 
#2
Big John is great. I grew up listening to a lot of Harry. It was always playing in the house when I was growing up. Saw him live a ton of times. And yes John is a great singer too.

Dance Band on the Titanic was Neil Jason on bass however.
 
#3
(reviving thread!)

Big John is a superb bass player!! I have a Harry Chapin Tribute gig coming up this week with Harry's original drummer Howie Fields (Howie played on all albums/songs/tours) and had learn about 16 Chapin tunes. Wow! Just great lines throughout. It was not easy to learn all his parts! He's like Lee Sklar, Jamerson, and McCartney all rolled into one. And what a singer! Great tone too. Love Big John!
 
#6
jazzman64 said:
From the pictures I have seen, it looks as if he is using an Alembic bass.
Click to expand...
I thought so too but none of the video from then was of quality to be sure.
Then I remembered all those Harry Chapin shows I went to and how friendly they were to we folk in the audience. So I reached out to the band and sure enough he replied that it was an Alembic. Although he loved them he plays Fenders now because the Alembic is too heavy.
 
#7
Charlie28711 said:
I thought so too but none of the video from then was of quality to be sure.
Then I remembered all those Harry Chapin shows I went to and how friendly they were to we folk in the audience. So I reached out to the band and sure enough he replied that it was an Alembic. Although he loved them he plays Fenders now because the Alembic is too heavy.
Click to expand...
Yep! Now he plays a Jazz bass, 5 string I believe, with a nice natural finish!
 
#8
How did you contact the band? I wonder what strings he uses?
Charlie28711 said:
I thought so too but none of the video from then was of quality to be sure.
Then I remembered all those Harry Chapin shows I went to and how friendly they were to we folk in the audience. So I reached out to the band and sure enough he replied that it was an Alembic. Although he loved them he plays Fenders now because the Alembic is too heavy.
Click to expand...
 

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