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Is Dee Murray a forgotten legend?

#41
Swamp_Ronin said:
By this metric, no bass player would be legendary. I’m typing this at a Whole Foods. If I walked up to 10 people, I’d bet $100 that not one of them would know who James Jameson is.

I would say Murray is a very important player.
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My metric was, I am a bass player and have been for years. I'm not a random person at Whole Foods.

I have heard of James Jamerson, Jaco Pastorius, Stanley Clark, Charles Mingus, Larry Graham, Carol Kay, Lee Sklar, and on and on - but I have not really listened to them, or sought them out, or anything like that. Because I am a bass player that talks to other bass players and am involved in the bass world (such as TalkBass) I have heard of these people and realize they are important to the history of bass players. They are Legends.

Today is the first day I can recall that I've heard the name of Dee Murray. Sounds like he was a very good and influential player. There are lots of great players throughout time that were influential to a lot of people, but they didn't get "legendary" status. I'm asking if Dee Murray was ever considered a Legend.
 
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#43
Dee and Nigel O. were the first two musicians that I really HEARD work as a unit. I know, I know, there were tons of others at the time: Bogart and Appice, Moon and Entwhistle, etc., were on my daily diet, but Murray and Olsen were not the usual “rock and roll” guys and they just stood out as so intelligent and sophisticated relative to most of the other artists I was listening to. Once I heard them, I started listening to musicians behind the frontperson and that lead me from guitar to bass.

Thank you, Dee.
 
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#44
wintremute said:
Never heard of him. Guess I have some homework.

But, since I never heard of him, I have to ask...Was he ever a legend? No disrespect, but I know a LOT of players I never really listened to because of their rep. I can't recall every hearing of this guy. Was he just a really strong player, known in his time, or was he actually LEGENDARY status?
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Lemmy is probably considered "Legendary" solely on fame, and not necessarily a "legendary" bassist. And don't get me wrong, I love me some Motorhead. Having been in an Elton tribute band for a few years, I dug deep into Dee's lines, and they both inspired and challenge me to this day. And a double thumbs-up to the 17-11-70 Album!! That's just three guys tearing up their own road of rock n roll.
 
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#45
wintremute said:
Never heard of him. Guess I have some homework.

But, since I never heard of him, I have to ask...Was he ever a legend? No disrespect, but I know a LOT of players I never really listened to because of their rep. I can't recall every hearing of this guy. Was he just a really strong player, known in his time, or was he actually LEGENDARY status?
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You might not have heard of him, but at some point, somewhere, you heard him. All that earlier Elton John stuff was so pervasive, and broadcast everywhere that you couldn’t escape it for decades.
 
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#47
Adding on...If you listen to Dee's only documented album credit for Amoreena on Tumbleweed Connection, it's easy to imagine the studio magic that led to Madman and the live album. Dee's a great example of the bassist role. You can interpret that he absolutely adds sauce to the compositions and yet is 20' back on stage. Here's to all the countless, quiet statues that laid down a groove and fostered creativity to spring from it. :bassist:
 
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#49
Dee Murray understood flow. Moreover, he knew how to accentuate the stately sensibilities that made EJ’s early music so compelling. ‘Funeral For a Friend/Love Lies Bleeding’ is a tour de force of classic rock bass playing, without ever being showy or distractive. It’s a mini opera in its own right.
 
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#50
Wasn't influenced by him and am not an Elton fan, but he was a very good bassist who recorded some wonderful bass lines.

The early 70's produced some really great bass players. It was a terrific period of evolution from the 60's players which established so much.
 
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#53
Long time Elton John fan (I was a pianist long before I also became a bassist actually), but I’m ashamed to say I never gave him as much credit as he’s probably due.

I heard he owned a G&L L-1000 at some point (found that out when I asked around about famous users when I bought one myself). Does anyone know if that bass was on any Elton records, or was that a bass he maybe just played live for a time?
 
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#54
red_rhino said:
I wish I could give 1000 Likes to that statement. His work on that entire album is just perfect, especially (for me) Love Lies Bleeding. He completely drives that song.
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That track, and Grey Seal from the same album, were both somewhat of a departure from his usual bass sound.
In an absolutely great way, sort of a nod to the prog rock bass sound.
I loved his playing on everything, but those tracks were just amazing to me.
 
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#55
I'm not an Elton fan at all, but I do appreciate Dee's imagination and taste. I think of him as one of those fine bassists, like John Paul Jones, who brought the Jamerson thing into rock music. Not an innovator like Jack Bruce or McCartney... but a fine player.
 
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#56
J Wilson said:
AB-SO-LUTE-LY.

Woodshed the 'MADMAN ACROSS THE WATER' and 'GOODBYE YELLOW BRICK ROAD' albums. Exceptionally thoughtful playing, the perfect complement to Elton and Davey Johnstone, locked up with Nigel Olsson.
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Dee and Nigel only play on one track on MATW, “All The Nasties”. Davey Johnstone plays acoustic guitar on three tracks and mandolin and sitar on one track each. It wasn't until Honky Chateau that Elton was able to use his own band on the studio albums instead of session players.

David Glover and Herbie Flowers played bass on three tracks each and Brian Odgers on one. Roger Pope and Terry Cox played drums on three tracks each and Barry Morgan on one. Calen Quaye played electric guitar on three tracks and Chris Spedding on one (the title track).
 
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#57
brianrost said:
Dee and Nigel only play on one track on MATW, “All The Nasties”. Davey Johnstone plays acoustic guitar on three tracks and mandolin and sitar on one track each. It wasn't until Honky Chateau that Elton was able to use his own band on the studio albums instead of session players.

David Glover and Herbie Flowers played bass on three tracks each and Brian Odgers on one. Roger Pope and Terry Cox played drums on three tracks each and Barry Morgan on one. Calen Quaye played electric guitar on three tracks and Chris Spedding on one (the title track).
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Well, as is often the case, memory is often not born out by the facts.

Thanks for ONE of us getting the players correctly acknowledged.

JW
 
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