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Louis Johnson basses and bass mods
- Thread starter Muziekschuur
- Start date
My biggest issue is that the man doesn't get credit for being an overall great musician!
His slap was out of this world, but the man also played all the right notes
to enhance a song!
Example of Mr. Johnson playing all the right notes!
His slap was out of this world, but the man also played all the right notes
to enhance a song!
Example of Mr. Johnson playing all the right notes!
SirMjac28
Patiently Waiting For The Next British Invasion
I remember when Strawberry Letter first came out I heard it on AM radio my jaw dropped all I could say was " What the h*ll is he doing to that bass to make it sound like that? I miss those days so much going to the record store and just getting lost.
DIZZAMN!!! I never heard that track before! What is it, when was it recorded, and how can I get?!?!
LOL. I'm in the library listening to this track on my headphones at KSU and I'm so "HYPED" people are looking at me like I'm disturbed something'! Thanks for the post, Dude!
Actually, the Stingray showed up on maybe 2 tracks on the "Right On Time" album. ("Runnin' For Your Lovin''' and "Right On Time", 1977).
It's the soundtrack for Insterstate:76, it's a very old vehicular combat game made by Activision.
The Interstate '76 soundtrack was composed by Arion Salazar who would later achieve fame as a founding member of Third Eye Blind. The music was performed under the name "Bullmark" with Salazar on bass, Santana-alumni Tom Coster on keyboards, and Bryan Mantia, who among his performing credits previously played with Primus and Guns N' Roses, on drums. The soundtrack recreated the funk sound of 70's film and television theme music. Some are sly variations of popular 70's funk tracks, such as "Never Get Outta The Car"'s pastiche of The Brothers Johnson's 1976 hit "Get The Funk Out Ma Face." The soundtrack was recorded using vintage instruments and recording technology in order to as closely reproduce this sound as possible. Activision released a separate official soundtrack CD which contained all tracks from the game and unreleased tracks from the recording sessions. Versions of the background music tracks can also be found on the game play disc as redbook audio.
Also, is the point on the track at 2:52 is the double thumping technique? Or did Louis Johnson had a similar technique for that?
Louis did his Jamerson thing right there. He was very underrated for his melodic playing. I think that is one thing that operated him from Larry Graham.
I used to think I was a drummer when I was a kid. Had made a pretty decent reputation around the city as an up-and-coming player. I went to a concert in late '76 as a 14 yr-old where the Brothers were the opening act, I don't recall now who the headliners were because Louis & George practically took my head off. I recall I had just received a brand new Pearl Drum Set (like the one Peter Criss from KISS played) from my folks for which I had begged for over a year. The night I came home from that show I was asking for a bass!! My head was spinning for days after that. My first bass was a hand-me-down Fender P copy the same color as the 1 Louis has on the "Look Out For #1" cover that I played for several yrs until i was finally able to cop my own sunburst, maple-neck Stingray. Life-changing experience.
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Yes, you hear what I'm hearing!
I agree with your Louis Johnson - Larry Graham analogy!
I remember asking for stuff, and my parents could not quite give me what I wanted. I was grateful, once I got a job, GAS kicked in!
The Brothers Johnson and Earth, Wind, and Fire, were the two huge Seventies Funk acts I never saw live. I can imagine that Louis threw down when you saw him!
When looking for my first bass,I originally wanted an Alembic.
Because of Stanley Clarke.
But after finding out how much they cost
,I started looking at a Stingray.Because of Louis.
But the local music store didn't have them.
But they did have the Sabre.
I bought a 1979"Walnut"MM Sabre with a maple fingerboard as my first bass for $600.00
When looking for my first bass,I originally wanted an Alembic.
Because of Stanley Clarke.
But after finding out how much they cost
Because of Louis.
But the local music store didn't have them.
But they did have the Sabre.
I bought a 1979"Walnut"MM Sabre with a maple fingerboard as my first bass for $600.00
Ah, 1970s prices, my old Rickenbacker was $445 new!
I don't mean to derail the thread,but I am reminded of something.I remember asking for stuff, and my parents could not quite give me what I wanted. I was grateful, once I got a job, GAS kicked in!
The Brothers Johnson and Earth, Wind, and Fire, were the two huge Seventies Funk acts I never saw live. I can imagine that Louis threw down when you saw him!
Back in 1980 a group of my friends told me,after the fact,about the recent Brothers Johnson concert that they went to.
WITHOUT INVITING ME!
I remember he had a Valley Arts (?) bass that you could press on the controls and they would recess down into the body.
Shortly after "Thriller" came out, there was a blurb about him in the Yamaha dealer newsletter (I managed a guitar store from '77 - '88) where talked about using his Yamaha BB on "Billie Jean"- said they tried several of his basses but as soon as they tried the Yamaha, they knew it was ther right one for that track.
When looking for my first bass,I originally wanted an Alembic.
Because of Stanley Clarke.
But after finding out how much they cost
Because of Louis.
But the local music store didn't have them.
But they did have the Sabre.
I bought a 1979"Walnut"MM Sabre with a maple fingerboard as my first bass for $600.00
Some funny parallels....
- I originally wanted an Alembic because of seeing Lequient Jobe play "Car Wash" on his at a Rose Royce concert. My knowledge of Stanley Clarke and Louis Johnson using Alembics came later.
- The first bass I bought with my own $$ was a 1979 Walnut MM Sabre with a maple fingerboard. $700
- I went into my local music store looking for a natural color Stingray, because of Louis, but they didn't have one.
- They had a silver Stingray and two Sabres. I played all of them and left with the Walnut Sabre
- Alembics were the first active basses
- Music Man were the first production active basses
- Now I own two Alembics, one signed by Stanley Clarke, the other signed by both of the Brothers Johnson (but those signatures wiped away soon after
) - I also own two Music Man basses, a Sabre and a Stingray, both late '70s
They were never your friends, so you should dump them. Good friends let you know when the Brothers Johnson are in concert!
I remember asking for stuff, and my parents could not quite give me what I wanted. I was grateful, once I got a job, GAS kicked in!
The Brothers Johnson and Earth, Wind, and Fire, were the two huge Seventies Funk acts I never saw live. I can imagine that Louis threw down when you saw him!
I saw ALL of the major bands in the '70's! Saw EWF probably 8 times between '74 & '82. Their shows more like an event than just a concert. Saw The Bros Johnson probably 6-7 times from '76 to '81. T.O.P., Chic, Con Funk Shun, Slave, Pleasure, Cameo, Sun, Narada Michael Walden, P-Funk, Bootsy, Brick, Rufus, Graham Central Station, Mother's Finest.....All the prominent bands of that era. It was "my thing" as a kid. Probably the "Golden Era" of the electric bass coming to the fore. Great exposure for me at the time.
I suppose I was pretty fortunate as a kid. I didn't have many toys but because my folks were musically inclined i was more likely than not to get what I asked for musically. However, the incident after seeing "The Brothers" live and asking for a bass after my set of Pearl drums had just arrived didn't go over very well at the house!! My pops' response when he overheard me talking about wanting a bass with my mom..........."the next instrument you get will be the one YOU buy!!!!" So i actually went 4 years after that to get my 1st bass. As college freshman I had a roommate who played bass. He was from N.J. and had a copy of a P-bass, the exact same color and neck as the one on the "Look Out For #1" cover. A few months into that 1st semester he saw a Yamaha BB in a music store we were in and later called his folks for the $$ to get it. The next day he came walking into the dorm w/ his Yamaha and actually 'gave' me his P-Bass! It was ON from there! My social life went away. I practiced ALL the time! I only put that bass down to eat, shower, crap, or go to class. By the fall of my sophomore year I was playing in 2 bands (country-western & r&b) doing club dates several nights per wk.
