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Oldest recorded bass guitar solo?

#23
It was very likely that Monk Montgomery was the first Electric Bassist in Jazz period solos or not. As the story goes Leo Fender was promoting
the Precision Bass and presented on to Lionel Hampton one, who handed it to Monk and told him to start using it on the band. Monk had been a excellent
DB player, but allowing that Hampton was his boss, he took up the Fender and over time, became the first convert to this new instrument. He played it with
his thumb just like his brother played guitar. There was a "Monk Montgomery" bass method that has transcriptions of several solos he did on recordings. If I can find my copy. The other player that was an early adopter of the Fender Bass was Bob Crankshaw who was using one 1960's. Steve Swallow also adopted EB around that time when someone borrowed his bass and never returned it. :)
 
#24
Dr. Cheese said:
It would make sense for there to be very early Country music featuring bass guitar. Leo Fender was personally a Country fan. Maybe some local California Country acts adopted electric very early?

As for Quincy Jones, it seems he was always forward thinking. I also suspect he is the last person alive from that recording too. He turned 20 that year! Dude has been great a long time!
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According to Jim Roberts' book, " How The Fender Bass Changed The World", a cat named Joel Price was , reportedly, the first guy to buy a P bass in Nashville, and use it at the Grand Ole Opry, in 1952. If any recordings exist from that era, it might feature Joel. Also, according to the book, Monk was not the first guy in NYC to use the Pbass, as Leo took one there himself, in 1952, and gave it Lionel Hampton's bass player at the time, Roy Johnson, who immediately started using it at gigs, and was roundly booed! Again, don't know of any recordings of Roy playing it.
 
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#26
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#28
Ric Vice said:
It was very likely that Monk Montgomery was the first Electric Bassist in Jazz period solos or not. As the story goes Leo Fender was promoting
the Precision Bass and presented on to Lionel Hampton one, who handed it to Monk and told him to start using it on the band. Monk had been a excellent
DB player, but allowing that Hampton was his boss, he took up the Fender and over time, became the first convert to this new instrument. He played it with
his thumb just like his brother played guitar. There was a "Monk Montgomery" bass method that has transcriptions of several solos he did on recordings. If I can find my copy. The other player that was an early adopter of the Fender Bass was Bob Crankshaw who was using one 1960's. Steve Swallow also adopted EB around that time when someone borrowed his bass and never returned it. :)
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He actually handed it to Roy Johnson, first, as he was Lionel's bass player at the time. There was an article in the July 30, 1952, issue of Downbeat, which featured a story about it. Not sure exactly when Monk comes in to the picture, but it was probably soon after.
 
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#30
Dr. Cheese said:
Those are pretty cool! I did not think I would see the earliest TV solo on a Gibson EBO..
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Technically, an EB-1, Gibson's first electric bass, not a well-loved instrument, but seen in Little Richard's band at the time. Obviously the inspiration for Hofner, and later used by Felix Pappalardi in Mountain, and Jack Bruce during the '05 Cream reunion.
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Dr. Cheese said:
It sounds like was recorded after 1966. If that is the case, it is not the first.
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That single was released in January, 1967.

I don't know if this counts(from 1965)as it is still just the bassline, but with everything else dropped out at the end it gets a spotlight...
 
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#32
bobyoung53 said:
It could easily be mistaken for upright bass.
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Yes, that was Leo's entire intent: emulation of the tone of a double bass with the certainty of pitch, or "Precision" with the frets. The emulation comes from using modified upright bass strings, which was all they had, the bakelite bridge saddles, and the weather stripping under the bridge cover as a string damper to emulate the bloom of a pizzicato double bass.
 
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#33
I think a lot of you guys are confusing the first electric bass part on TV with the first electric bass solo.
I loved the Liberace clip where they call the Fender Precision bass "electronic."

Bass solo would be a John Entwhistle like performance. I am not saying he was the first or even that early but bass solos probably didn't make for great TV back in the day. Just like today. LOL
 
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#38
Well if you want to include pre electric bass, you've got to go back a lot earlier than the 50's.
30's for sure, Jimmy Blanton.
There were guys before him, but he really developed "virtuoso" breaks vs more standard feeling stuff.
 
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#40
You'll need someone smarter than I am to tell you who the giants of jazz, country, and bluegrass double bass solos were, but certainly some of those guys, maybe especially the ones who were working without drummers, were putting down killer, fast, crazy bass solos way before the 30's.
 

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