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Stanley Clark plays Rickenbacker with RTF
- Thread starter Upfromthesky
- Start date
Yes but probably more related to their being involved in Scientology. I think Chick was into it and maybe Stanley too.
Oh yes! I should have thought of that! Clarke was an active Scientologist back in the day. I don't know if he still is or not.
L Ron Hubbard wrote sci fi type books though so I guess it all goes together. Vulcan Worlds etc.
I remember reading a L. Ron Hubbard story or two Sci-Fi pulp reprints when I was a kid.
After the "Musicmagic" tour, Stanley ditched Scientology altogether.
I saw an Austin City limits with the Headhunters in 74 or 75 and RTF was opening for them. The only reason I checked it out was Bobby Lamm the keys player from Chicago had recommended the Headhunters. Up until then the Bass players I loved were, Chris Squire, Jack Bruce, and Peter Cetera. I had never heard any real Jazz except maybe in passing, but Bobby Lamm said Herbie Hancock was cool so I tuned in. Clarke was playing his Ric then, I heard it and became an instant fusion, later Jazz fiend. I had never heard any one play bass like that. I wore holes in the grooves of "Where have I known you Before".
An interview with Stanley in Vintage Guitar Magazine.
"My first electric bass was a Kent. I think it cost $20 at a five-and-dime store, where it was actually a high-priced item! There was like an organ, a Kent guitar, and the bass. My mother got it for me, and I didn't even have a case. It was real raw, man! I started playing with a guy at school, Steve Sykes, whose family owned a funeral parlor. He was just starting to drive, so our band, Blues Demonstration, drove to gigs in a hearse."
"After that, I got a Gibson EB-O with black strings on it, I don't know what they were, but they sounded dull, man. I played it in early Return to Forever, too, until Rick Turner came to a gig in San Francisco and politely said, "You're a really good player, but your sound sucks." Said it just like that! I was like, "Who the hell is this guy?" But, me and Lenny White, the drummer, talked to him more. We appreciated that he was so bold. Eventually, he said, "I have something…" and he went to his car and brought back one of the first Alembic basses. I played that thing, and it was like night and day; I could actually hear the notes I was playing. So, we gathered a bunch of money… Rick wasn't there to sell it, but we were aggressive. I think we gave him $1,600, which was a lot of money at that time. He said, "Man, this cost me two grand to make." (laughs) And it was such a great addition to Return to Forever. It changed our sound because the low-end up and everything was very clear. I was in heaven, man."
That relationship became very strong…
Yeah, and I still play Alembic basses. They've allowed me to play the things I envision, which was difficult on those early Gibson basses because I just couldn't hear it.
On [Return to Forever's] Hymn of the Seventh Galaxy, I used a Gibson except on one tune, "Theme to the Mother Ship."
One bass I found, before the Alembic, was a Dan Armstrong I borrowed from someone… [Mahavishnu Orchestra bassist] Rick Laird, I think. It was really, really clean, after playing it I thought, "Man, if I could just get a clean bass." Then, the Alembic came to me.
Stanley Clarke | Vintage Guitar® magazine
"My first electric bass was a Kent. I think it cost $20 at a five-and-dime store, where it was actually a high-priced item! There was like an organ, a Kent guitar, and the bass. My mother got it for me, and I didn't even have a case. It was real raw, man! I started playing with a guy at school, Steve Sykes, whose family owned a funeral parlor. He was just starting to drive, so our band, Blues Demonstration, drove to gigs in a hearse."
"After that, I got a Gibson EB-O with black strings on it, I don't know what they were, but they sounded dull, man. I played it in early Return to Forever, too, until Rick Turner came to a gig in San Francisco and politely said, "You're a really good player, but your sound sucks." Said it just like that! I was like, "Who the hell is this guy?" But, me and Lenny White, the drummer, talked to him more. We appreciated that he was so bold. Eventually, he said, "I have something…" and he went to his car and brought back one of the first Alembic basses. I played that thing, and it was like night and day; I could actually hear the notes I was playing. So, we gathered a bunch of money… Rick wasn't there to sell it, but we were aggressive. I think we gave him $1,600, which was a lot of money at that time. He said, "Man, this cost me two grand to make." (laughs) And it was such a great addition to Return to Forever. It changed our sound because the low-end up and everything was very clear. I was in heaven, man."
That relationship became very strong…
Yeah, and I still play Alembic basses. They've allowed me to play the things I envision, which was difficult on those early Gibson basses because I just couldn't hear it.
On [Return to Forever's] Hymn of the Seventh Galaxy, I used a Gibson except on one tune, "Theme to the Mother Ship."
One bass I found, before the Alembic, was a Dan Armstrong I borrowed from someone… [Mahavishnu Orchestra bassist] Rick Laird, I think. It was really, really clean, after playing it I thought, "Man, if I could just get a clean bass." Then, the Alembic came to me.
Stanley Clarke | Vintage Guitar® magazine
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I actually like his dark overdriven tone on "Hymn Of The Seventh Galaxy" and also the Ric 4000 tone. Maybe he used it for that Musikladen show only because he doesn't mention it at the interview at all.
I've always thought that it sounded like a mortally wounded woolly mammoth.
I like his Alembic tone.
Compared to the hi-fi sound of the Alembic that is quite a good description.
I find the Alembic too clean but then again I'm not too fond of his solo albums or later RTF either. The Alembic definitely worked for him and his playing style, no doubt about that.
The dirty dark sound brings some unexpected heaviness to the band (Bill Connors great tone helps too).
Has anybody seen any photos of Clarke playing a Gibson EB-0? I've only found him with the EB-2.
