Famous bassist encounters...

[tonyp145]

Wow, we're resurrecting this thread after 5 years! My story is a few months ago I was listening to a Dwight Yoakum CD and perusing the liner notes and saw Bass - Taras Podniak. I thought wow, I used to work with a bass player named Taras when I lived in LA in the mid-80s, so I looked him up. Sure enough, same guy, used to call himself Mr. SVT because he hauled that damned 8-10 cab all over LA! So I friended him on Facebook and congratulated him on his career success. It was a nice little reunion.

Oh yeah, I should mention that the store Taras and I worked at was called Valley Arts Guitar in Studio City and a lot of famous musicians came through there like Abe Laboriel, Nathan East. John Doe once came in to buy a set of strings and the guy who waited on him asked for his DL for a check. I told him that wasn't necessary and then struck up a conversation with JD. I was a huge X fan in college. I tried not to be a troll with the regulars like Larry Carlton and Steve Lukather, but JD was a real hero to me and it was the only time I ever saw him in there. He was as you would expect, very nice person.

Anyway, Valley Arts was a cool first gig out of college, something I'd always wanted to try, but the next year I got an office job. I made more money, but I never had as much fun working and haven't met a famous bass player since...

 

[Skeptismo]

I met Bromberg at a UI clinic in the early '90s when he was doing the Peavey gigs. He gave a great clinic, but my buddies and I kept snickering about his leather pants. Only a few of us brought basses, so we didn't get to jam with him...but he did check out my bass, which was a Peavey with a converted fretless neck. I'd removed the Peavey logo, and replaced it with a sticker from an old stereo console..."simulated wood" it said. I remember he got a kick out of that.
His performance opened my eyes to bi-amping, piccolo bass, and solo brilliance. Too bad about the pants though.

 

[consectaneus]

Time for another resurrection...any others stories? I was killing time at a music store before a Joe Satriani concert, and I heard someone playing what sounded like a Bach etude on bass. I followed to where it was coming from, and it was Stu Hamm having his bass worked on by the tech. An adjustment would be made, and Stu would test it by playing something. I generally don't approach such people though, so I didn't meet him.

 

[Sin Nis]

Troy Sanders - columbia mo @ Blue note
Gene Simmons- St joseph @ the mall (ya st joseph shopping mall)
Tom Araya - KC mo- @ one of the venues cant remember
a couple of others not so big

 

[Thuddy Waters]

In about 1993, I worked at a pet store in Glendora, California. Michael Anthony used to occasionally come into the store and I would sell him supplies for his saltwater aquarium.

 

[Jeff Scott]

My first encounter with a famous bassist was on November 15, 1974. A couple of friends and I went to Indianapolis to see Gryphon and Yes (my first Yes concert!). After the show we sauntered over to the Hilton across the street (just in case, ya' know?). Sure enough, the members of Yes walked in the door, and after we got the courage up to go up to them to say hi, Chris invited the three of us up to his room where we talked music, guitar synths (Steve was just starting to experiment with one), America, etc., for over an hour. Chris' generosity left a very big impression on me and my college friends.

I have met quite a few other famous bassists over the years but the memories of Chris will always be first and foremost in my head & heart.

R.I.P Chris.

 

[slagheap]

The only pro bassist I've met is Duck Dunn of the Blues Brothers . . . but he did sign my pickguard!

I've also had encounters with Jack Cassidy, but I never formally met him (shook his hand, etc.).

What, no Glenn Cornick encounters? I'll remedy that...

Sat with Glenn at a bar in Hollywood, early-80's, and we had a nice chat while consuming about 150 beers. I'm sure he told me some juicy stuff about Ian Anderson that I've since forgotten. Also jammed with (OT) Dwight Yoakam (pre-fame) during this period in history, then later borrowed his girlfriend for a few weeks. Fun stuff.

Non-bassist wise, I've shot pool and played ping-pong with Jeff Goldblum (throttled him in both, haven't seen him since) and shared a few Fosters with Mel Gibson. Had Kim Cattrall in my lap while sharing Thanksgiving dinner with her and her date Jerry Casale (of Devo). Alas, I was an entertainment writer here in Los Angeles, so I guess that stuff doesn't count.

Great thread, TBers!!

Glen Cornick was a huge bass influence on me back in the day.

 

[slagheap]

1. victor wooten- a few times, i appreciate him so much because he is that unbelievably good, but yet so HUMBLE! he is more than happy to share his knowledge with you too.

2. rocco prestia- one of my favorites, as him and paul jackson (who i was also fortunate enough to meet) are the funkiest non-slapping bass players on planet earth IMO. rocco was funny as hell. he always seems like he's havin' a good time, can't wait to see him at the end of this month (again).

3. les claypool- with all the monstrously technical bastards i listen to nowadays, les is still one of my all-time favorite bassists for his completely LEFT of LEFT field music. i went to a show about 4 HOURS EARLY (what a nerd), but it paid off because with all the crew flying in and out of the venue, suddenly i looked up to see les standing on the sidewalk, a few feet from me. yeah, needless to say, i jumped all over that one with my primus memorabilia! he was very nice, but we didn't talk long. i like collecting autographs of my favorite players, but read about most of the stuff i would want to ask them.

4. chuck rainey- that was one of the coolest encounters because he was so friendly. he got a kick out of this pic i had massively enlarged for his autograph. then i asked him about his solo works and where i could get them and he told me when they opened the doors of the venue, to locate him through this and that and ended up giving me one of his own copies he had on him! what an honor, little did i know, with the months of trying to special order that cd, it would be delivered to me (for free), by chuck rainey himself!

5. (the woulda',shoulda',coulda' encounter)
BOOTZILLA!!!! ARRRRRRRRRGGGG!!! okay, so i was at the EMP (experience music project) grand opening concerts in seattle to see beck and i see this big crew walking towards us all pimped out in their rockstar getups at the show. sho' 'nuff, its bootsy comin' at me, even rockin' some toned-down star glasses. granted he's just a human and all, i couldn't help it. LIKE A WANKER, I FROZE UP! my wife was crackin' up! somebody stopped him in front of me and they were talkin' and i was just standing there goin', "uuuuhhh...casper....but...uhhhh......what's the name of this town?.." yeah, wish that money to see beck was spent on a little ticket to see JAMES BROWN AND BOOTSY COLLINS, later that week, (chris farley voice; "SON OF A...")

Re Paul Jackson & Rocco - you are SO right. I saw Headhunters twice during their heyday - SCARY!

 

[Basshappi]

Met Rudy Sarzo last Saturday night along with Pat Travers and Carmine Appice. They were all guest players at my friend CD release gig. Pat played on the album and Barry Sparks played all the bass tracks but was unavailable for the show so Rudy agreed to play. He is a very pleasant person and according to my friend, one of the nicest guys you could hope to meet or work with.

 

[BurnOut]

I met Bootsy and his brother Catfish at a greatest hits promo, left work early when I found out about it, back when I played guitar, I had a white Kramer I wanted his autograph on, he joked about me bringing him a guitar for a gift, Catfish jammed on it for a few, they were all super nice, gave me a big P University promo poster (love that album), and signed my guitar and other stuff

 

[malthumb]

Since this old thread got revived, I can do an update on one of these...

I've had 7 encounters and a near miss that fit this thread. In chronological order....

1) Way back in '79 my college's student union brought in Jeff Lorber Fusion. Danny Wilson was their bassist. He isn't what you'd call famous but at that time he was one of my 4 or 5 favorites. Listen to the "Water Sign" album and you'll understand.

2) In the early '90's I went to see The Clarke - Duke Project at the Fox in Detroit. I scored 2nd row seats. For much of the concert, the seats directly in front of us were empty. Stanley Clarke stood on the seats in front of us and totally freaked out on a solo. More on this one later.

3) In '99 I was at the Southfield, Mi. Guitar Center wankin' away on a Warwick Thumb. This guy sits on the stool next to me and just totally goes off on a Conklin GT7. It was Fred Hammond. I quickly went back to playing scales.

4) In 2000, Stanley Clarke was selling off a ton of his gear. I bought what I believe is the bass he was playing in my Encounter #2. Got to speak with him on the phone for a bit. Cool guy. Funny as heck.

5 & 6) In the summer of 2002, I attended the Smooth Jazz Fest outside of Detroit. Fourplay is one of my favorite groups, ever. I met Gerald Veasley and Nathan East. Got both of them to sign my Hanewinckel. They were both impressed with the quality of the Hanewinckel. Harvey Mason kept telling Nathan not to sign it 'cause it wasn't a Yamaha Nathan East bass. Thankfully he was just kidding.

7) July 4th 2002 The Brothers Johnson (another of my all time favorite groups) played a festival in downtown Detroit. Being the dork that I can be sometimes, I lugged my 13 lb Alembic 5 string in it's 5 lb gig bag to the festival in 90 degree plus heat. Got to hang out in the tent afterward with George and Louis. Louis thumped my bass a little bit. Both he and George signed the back of it with a Sharpie. Sad to say their signatures have completely rubbed off.

Near miss: Stanley Clarke played the Magic Bag in Ferndale (Detroit) last year. I contacted him and his agent after I bought my tickets. He remembered me from having bought the bass. When I talked to his manager on the phone, he said Stanley would be okay with meeting with me backstage after the concert. The site management was having no part of it. Seemed about 2 dozen people minimum had some special reason they were supposed to get backstage, so they let nobody back there. His manager did find me and he and I talked briefly. He was trying to arrange for me to speak with Stanley on the bus, but that didn't work out. Oh well.

That's about it. I gotta meet a coupla VW's to complete my experience....Verdine White & Victor Wooten.

Peace,

James

So I missed Stanley at the Magic BAG, but now, let's talk Magic STICK... My youngest son played the bass that I bought from Stanley Clarke at a benefit at the Magic Stick.

Amazingly Average - Song 1 - YouTube

• malthumb
• Dec 3, 2014

Teenage band AmaZINGly AverAGE covering a Led Zeppelin song. Event: Go!Affirmations Fall Bash...

Then, a year and a half later, Stanley played a gig at the Magic Stick. I was supposed to go with my youngest son. But then I had to go on a business trip, so I would miss the concert. Gave my ticket to his bass teacher Lamont Johnson, (another talented professional bass player...look up Brainstorm). And after the concert, this happened.

So he was able to tell Stanley that he had played one of Stanley's old basses on the same stage, a year and a half before Stanley did. How cool is that?

 

[crucislancer]

Jack Blades from Night Ranger/Damn Yankees is perhaps the most famous bass player I have talked to. He lives in the area, or at least he was in the 90's. I met him twice, the first time at Round Table Pizza, where I was working, in 1990 or 1991, not sure which. It was not long after I saw Damn Yankees at Arco Arena opening for Bad Company. Anyway, he was there with his son, who just had a little league baseball game. We chatted real quick as I didn't want to take his time away from his son. The second time was about 3-4 years later, I was selling gear at a local musician's flea market and he stopped by to have a look at a bass I was selling. He didn't buy it LOL

 

[phillybass101]

I don't just meet them. I network and some of them know me as a player or have heard me play. They're just Folks, just like us. I am friends with the one and only Al "The Burner" Turner. Very nice but a truly serious Musician. Don't do the Fanboy thang. Just communicate and hang when we can. I'm also friends with Tom Barney and Rodney Skeet Curtis. Just to name a few. Man I hate name dropping. I'm gonna hit and quit this post.

 

[zontar]

The names might not mean a lot to many of you--but I still consider them famous.

First was Jim Clench who is mostly known for being with April Wine (& he was also in BTO)
I met him at a product demo/clinic where he provided bass parts for a guitar company showing off their new guitars & basses.
It wasn't that heavily attended, so my friend & I had a good chance to speak with him & ask questions--he was cool. Nice Guy.

Second--Roy Montroy (Glenn Kaiser Bad & Resurrection Band)--the guy has written some cool riffs. I met him in a fan area at a blues festival--got his autograph & a picture w/him as well. It was cool.
Got to listen in as others asked questions.

Third was Felipe Gomez (Bass Invaders)--He was doing a clinic that wasn't well attended as the store hosting it didn't send out much in the way of promotion.
I found out about it by accident--so lots of time to talk with him--before, durign & after the clinic--and to try his 6 string fanned fret bass. (It was a Dingwall)
Not as tricky as I thought--but to play it like he did would have been tricky.

 

[getbent]

I was fortunate to bump into a lot of heavy hitters when I was touring, most everyone was cool and friendly.

• Will Lee - ran into him in the Phoenix airport. He was playing locally with the Fab Faux, I was on my way to a gig in Anchorage. Super nice to chat to.
• Jah Wobble - wrote him up for TimeOut Chicago and wrangled my way backstage. The very definition of "affable bloke".
• Fred Thomas (the JB's)
• Mike Dirnt (Green Day) - came out and saw my band at SXSW a few times. Super down to earth and an all around great guy
• Chuck Rainey - had a lesson with him in Chicago, had him sign his picture in my copy of "Standing in the Shadows of Motown" book.
• Joe Lally (Fugazi) - wrote him up for TimeOut Chicago, nice guy, very low key
• Aston "Family Man" Barrett - opened for the Wailers at Summerfest in Milwaukee
• Gabe Roth & Nick Movshon (Daptone)
• Chris Wood (MMW)
• Wil-Dog (Ozomatli)

 

[LBS-bass]

Well, don't shoot me for this. 1975 or '76 ish. I was in high school and my boyfriend and I traveled to Pennsylvania to see Peter Gabriel on his first solo tour. This little-known band called Weather Report was the opening act.

Yeah, we knew them and we knew Jaco's talent already by that point. Show was great and during the break between acts we went out to the lobby, where we discovered all those guys were just hanging out. So we went up and talked to them. I got to shake Jaco's hand and tell him I really enjoyed what he did. We already knew he was special but didn't realize at that time just how many of our heroes were lending an enormous influence to the shape of music yet to come. That was an exciting time to be interested in new music.

 

[LBS-bass]

I was fortunate to bump into a lot of heavy hitters when I was touring, most everyone was cool and friendly.

• Chuck Rainey - had a lesson with him in Chicago, had him sign his picture in my copy of "Standing in the Shadows of Motown" book.

One of my biggest heroes!

 

[Billyzoom]

Ok , here's a potentially new idea for a thread...

If you've met a famous bassist, share the experience.

I've met a few, but the coolest (both the experience AND the player) was Chuck Rainey.

I'm at winter NAMM around '95, checking out the amps at the Ampeg booth. It's about a half hour after the show started and the hall is pretty empty still. I notice that someone is standing next to me admiring the gear, look up... Chuck Freakin' Rainey! I extend my hand and say "Chuck Rainey! I have to shake the hand of my idol!" (doesn't it suck trying to think of something clever to say when you meet a celeb/your idol?). He couldn't have been cooler! He laughed, thanked me humbly, and went on to ask me if I played, talk about gear, etc. for a good 20 minutes. I'll never forget it. Truly inspiring to meet a guy of that stature with no attitude about him at all.

Great post!

 

[seamus bass]

Took lessons from Sean hurley in high school. Cooked for Stanley Clarke when he played at my work. John myung at a guitar clinic in Boston(super chill guy). I bought/own a 4x10 cabinet off lonnie motley (great guy to talk with).

 

[P. Aaron]

If I haven;t mentioned it before, I met and knew quite well, Michael Davis from the MC5. HE used to rehearse with Destroy All Monsters at a House we rented. DAM also featured Ron Ashton of the Stooges. We got along quite well and had turntable wars at the various parties and drunken Rolling Stones singalongs.

Those 2 guys taught us youngsters A LOT about gigging.