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Famous bassist encounters...

#141
bassjigga said:
Not sure what we're considering "famous" here, but if you want to meet the big time virtuoso bass players it's really not all that hard. You can go to any bass day/convention/clinic kind of thing and they're usually nice people who will sit around and talk with you. I've met Michael Manring, Trip Wamsley, Mike Dimin, Norm Stockton. They may not be as famous as guys like Flea or Les Claypool, but who cares they're better players and easier to get to!
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Totally agreed! When I started this thread (over a year ago!!) I should have worded it a bit differently...

I've met Flea, he seemed bored and stand-offish, but when I met Chuck Rainey at NAMM he was totally cool and humble. Ditto Dave Pomeroy, who I've spoken to on three occasions now. The first time he spoke to me for over an hour, and I guess it made enough of an impression that he recognized me the next two times. And those two have played on a hundred times the albums that Flea's been on. I think studio guys just get noticed less often, so they still appreciate it when they do. :)
 
#143
Not a famous bassist, but a bass story...
I working a club at the Jersey shore (inna '70s) and the owner asked if I'd back up an act coming in. I said sure, and got to play several sets with Chuck Berry. He's wacked, but it was a lot of fun.
 
#144
Last week I went to a heritage festival in Northern to see The doors (of the 21st century) and Vanilla fudge play. First I'd like to say that both these bands made a great performance.

Anyways, later that night at the motel I go out for a walk to get some fresh air and I see this guy who looks familiar in the parking lot. I get closer and it turns out to be none other then Tim Bogert of vanilla fudge. Their tour bus was parked next to the motel and they were leaving in half an hour for Montreal. I "shot the ****" with him a bit. Really nice guy and great player.
 
#146
I met Doug Pinnick (and actually all of King's X) after their show at the Sawmill/Green Room in Seaside, NJ. Very nice guys. I asked Doug about their cool album art - he said the "Ear Candy" cover by the great Alton Kelley cost a fortune. Ty Tabor (guitarist) told me he was responsible for all the different tunings (guitar players, hmmph!). Anyway, I kick myself for not asking them about the whole "King's X" "christian" thing. I never thought of their music as anything but questioning organized religion, not proclaiming it. :confused:

I also met the bassist for P.O.D. in an awkward moment outside the Electric Factory in Philly after seeing them open for Primus' Antipop tour. I went to the side entrance to meet Les and have him sign my mint condition copy of Bass Player magazine with him on the cover, but when I get there the members of POD were hanging out talking to folks - not like they're huge now, but this was right before they hit "big." Their bassist was a nice guy and I noticed he played with his fingers on stage, BUT I HAD NOTHING TO SAY TO HIM. Talk about awkward silence. I eventually showed him the Bass Player issue I was carrying and asked him to sign it. So he signs the back where Victor Wooten is (ADA ad) and he signs, what I thought was his autograph. I didn't get to meet Les because my driver wanted to get home (the nitrous tanks had run dry ;) ). So I looked at the autograph later only to see he wrote "pod bassist."

Whatever hahaha!

I also met the late Gov't Mule bassist Allen Woody several times - got an autographed set list from him when they played the TLA in Philly. Seemed like a nice guy, though didn't say much.
 
#147
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I met David Roe in Nashville a while back... lots of stories and gig-wealth he gained while playing with the man in black.
 
#148
ive met [not all bassists]:
john entwistle=cool and very nice.
aerosmith-suprisingly down to earth
ronnie lane-nice . he was ina wheel chair and i had some stuff for him to sign. i thought better of it but he insisted.
ian mclagan-super cool and ronnies band mate.
rick price-georgia satellites- my hero, my friend and the best i've ever heard
rick richards-see rick price
mike nesmith-wow that was just really cool
pete townshend- J E R K
little steven- i was beyond nervous but he talked with me and my friend for like an hour befor he went on.
lee rocker= super cool and great bassist. never balks at autographing stuff.
nils lofgren-truly one of the best
robbie krieger- drunk but nice
dave edmunds-seriously cool
joe walsh-super cool
todd rundgren- odd but cool
bo diddley- hung out with him for about 2 hrs in his hotel room. a friend of mine is very close to him so....i can die happy. i have a great story about him if anyone wants me to tell. it will make you laugh out loud. he is the best and i was honored to have had the oppotunity to meet with him.
 
#149
Had the pleasure of meeting:

John Patitucci: After a Chick Corea Elektric Band gig (1990), super nice guy!

Jimmy Johnson: Saw him MANY times playing at this little venue in Venice CA called The Comeback Inn with guitarist Wayne Johnson, saw him a couple times with Holdsworth too and more recently with Oz Noy at the Baked Potato in N Hollywood. After the last set, I went up and thanked Jimmy for making a nearly 2000 mile plane flight VERY worthwhile, he laughed and said, Man, you're crazy", to which I replied, No, I'm on vacation." :D

At NEARFEST: Had Tony Levin sign my festival program (he and the CGT just played and were on a tight schedule. At NF 2003, had most of the Anglagard band (from Sweden) in stitches when I asked them to autograph the base of a plastic and very realistic looking Great Horned Owl.
 
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#152
Ray Brown
Steve Swallow
Eddie Gomez
Richard Davis
Dave Holland
Jaco Pastorius
Jeff Berlin
and maybe more... I'll try to think...

I almost met John Pattitucci... we played on the same record (I did all the electric bass, he played upright on one track), but we weren't in the studio at the same time. Apparently, he was a great guy, though.
 
#153
I met Billy Gould (Faith No More bassist) the day before a FNM gig in '97. It was on the Skytrain (Vancouver's above ground rapid transit). I had just read an interview with him and Roddy Bottum (keyboardist) in Keyboard Magazine and it had mentioned that they had 3 singers over the years.

I know of Mike Patton and Chuck, but I had only heard a rumour as to the original first singer. I figured that Billy would be getting off in one stop, as it would be the stop for the venue they were playing at. I'm a fanatic FNM fan, so he was/is a big influence on me. I have about 30 seconds to say anything to him and the first thing that pops in my head is the desire to confirm/deny the rumour, so I asked him...

"Is it true that Courtenay Love used to be your singer?"

To which he replied "Yup"

I then blurted out "What were you thinking?"

He laughed and said "We were kids man, we didn't know"

And then got up and disembarked. I could have asked him anything, including showing him the tattoo on the back of my right calf, which is the flamedrop graphic from the cover of their "Real Thing" album, but no, I asked that dumb question. He seemed like a nice guy though.
 
#154
In Chronological order:
Stu Hamm- At a clinic. Seemed like he wanted to get out of there.
Doug Wimbish-Someone asked him what model Trace Elliott he used, and he said "I don't know, whatever they send me!"
Victor Wooten-I'm not even a die-hard fan, but couln't pass it up. Very humble.
Alex Webster -Handshake like a vice-grip!
Christian McBride -Way cool. Told me to learn every bassline Paul Chambers ever recorded. My boss tried to hit on him so I hung out with his drummer Terreon Gulley.
Louis Johnson-When I worked at GC. Rumor has it he heard me playing after we met, and he told a salesman "that guy's pretty good" but I don't believe it.
Larry Graham -Twice! I even talked to him about bass-synth pedals. The guy who pioneered bass through effects, and I'm talking to him about effects!
Melvin Gibbs-Very dignified and polite.
Tony Grey -Gave me his email and we corresponded for a while.
Honorable Mention for interviewing Stanley Clarke on the phone for my dad's newspaper.
 
#155
Ive met Wooten at a GC clinic, I got him to sign an empty package of Daddarios( I wonder how much that will go for on ebay...)


I talked to him for about 10 minutes, Cause the clinic was basically over and he was walking around. Hes a real nice guy, But compared to me (6'3'') Hes short as hell! But the coolest thing is, I took one of his straps!!! He had used it to play on a Red P bass special, And he left it, So I was tlaking to one of the GC guys (my friend as well) and he asked if I wanted it, He said he didnt dig brown and he gave it to me. I wouldnt of cared if it had the homosexual flag colors on it (no offense to anyone who is gay on here), I would of rocked it, Just for the sake of knowing Mr Wooten used it.
 
#156
I've met several but the most memorable was Doug Wimbish in 2003. My sister bought me Living Colour tickets for my college graduation. If anyone asks who my favorite band is, in a instant, I'll tell them Living Colour.

Anyway, I bring my bass with me hoping to get it signed. The show was over and my sister and I are just standing there talking about the show. I told her it would be awesome if Doug could sign some stuff for me. One of the stage hands was packing stuff up so I told my sister to talk to him (girls have a better chance of getting stuff signed). So, she hands him a bunch of CDs and other stuff and asked if Doug could sign them. He took it all back stage and and got the whole band to sign everything.

So, when it comes back my sister asks "Hey, my bother brought his bass. Is there anyway you can take it back and have Doug sign it?".. The stage hand leaves and comes back. He says "Meet me by the gate in 15 minutes". So I run to my car, get my bass, and we sit there any way. We see the stage hand come out and someone following him. It was dark and couldnt see who it was. When they got closer, I noticed it was Doug Wimbish (if you couldnt tell, is a HUGE inspiration for me). I handed him my bass, he signed it and said "You treat her good and she'll treat you good (my bass that is)" and handed it back to me.

It was a great night for me.

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#159
malthumb said:
I've had 7 encounters and a near miss that fit this thread. In chronological order....

That's about it. I gotta meet a coupla VW's to complete my experience....Verdine White & Victor Wooten.
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You know, I'm from Detroit, I actually met Verdine White in Detroit.......Met him along with Phillip Bailey at Fishbones in Greektown. Cool thing was, they gave us free front row tickets to the concert that night where Tina Marie and Larry Graham also performed.....He even gave me backstage passes to chill with him afterwards.........He's a cool guy.
 

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