Tommy Cogbill - damn!

[pbass2]

Been on bit of a spending spree with nice pricey remastered vinyl of my faves. Just got the 1/2 speed Abbey Road remastering of Dusty Springfield/Dusty in Memphis.
Cogbill is so good it's ridiculous. So groovy and deep, super melodic, and the epitome of the "Fender Bass" sound. Damn tasty and highly recommended.

 

[Gene Machine]

Aretha Franklin Lady Soul is also fantastic if you haven’t heard it.

 

[bobyoung53]

Cogbill is one of my favorites.

Bass Players to Know: Tommy Cogbill



He played the studio version of this tune:

 

[jnewmark]

He also played on Suspicious Minds, one of my favorite bass parts to play.

 

[Michedelic]

He also played on Suspicious Minds, one of my favorite bass parts to play.

If you’re referring to the Elvis version, that was Mike Leech:
Services Set For Recording Session Great Mike Leech - MusicRow.com
I’ve seen a listing for both, but perhaps Cogbill was on the original by Mark James(who composed it).

 

[jnewmark]

If you’re referring to the Elvis version, that was Mike Leech:
Services Set For Recording Session Great Mike Leech - MusicRow.com
I’ve seen a listing for both, but perhaps Cogbill was on the original by Mark James(who composed it).

Huh. He is also listed as being on " Dusty In Memphis ".

 

[Slough Feg Bass]

oh yeah, I say Tommy Cogbill to some of my musician friends, and they are like, "who the heck is that?" but once you turn them on to it, it's a game changer. man had some soul.

 

[jerry]

Huh. He is also listed as being on " Dusty In Memphis ".

Leach is just listed on conga for Land Of Make Believe in the liner notes.

 

[dougjwray]

Leech played on "Sweet Caroline", from what I remember.
OK... back to Tommy Cogbill!

 

[pbass2]

Cogbill did play guitar as well - isn't he on some 70's Elvis stuff on the geetar?

 

[pbass2]

oh yeah, I say Tommy Cogbill to some of my musician friends, and they are like, "who the heck is that?" but once you turn them on to it, it's a game changer. man had some soul.

His playing on some of the Dusty in Memphis stuff is actually kinda...busy. Lots of movement, really interesting arrangements to his parts. But not a single gratuitous note. So good.

 

[bobyoung53]

Leech played on "Sweet Caroline", from what I remember.
OK... back to Tommy Cogbill!

Cogbill produced that coincidentally.

 

[bobyoung53]

His playing on some of the Dusty in Memphis stuff is actually kinda...busy. Lots of movement, really interesting arrangements to his parts. But not a single gratuitous note. So good.

He was a busy player but he was so good he got away with it and for me anyway, actually improved a lot of stuff he played on.

 

[pbass2]

He was a busy player but he was so good he got away with it and for me anyway, actually improved a lot of stuff he played on.

His bass parts really help "tell the story", which is something you certainly don't hear a lot of these days!

 

[bobyoung53]

His bass parts really help "tell the story", which is something you certainly don't hear a lot of these days!

I'm happy to see a thread about Cogbill, you don't hear many players discuss him, he died young, 39 years ago. He's one of those guys that I loved when I was a kid and never knew who he was kind of like Jamerson, I actually like Cogbill better, liked his sound better.

 

[pbass2]

I'm happy to see a thread about Cogbill, you don't hear many players discuss him, he died young, 39 years ago. He's one of those guys that I loved when I was a kid and never knew who he was kind of like Jamerson, I actually like Cogbill better, liked his sound better.

I'm with you, I also prefer his playing to Jamerson, Babbit, etc--of course they're all awesome, but Cogbill has this way he orchestrates his parts that is unique to him, and pretty adventurous. And to me, his sound on Dusty in Memphis is how a bass is "supposed" to sound!

 

[bobyoung53]

I'm with you, I also prefer his playing to Jamerson, Babbit, etc--of course they're all awesome, but Cogbill has this way he orchestrates his parts that is unique to him, and pretty adventurous. And to me, his sound on Dusty in Memphis is how a bass is "supposed" to sound!

I never thought of Babbitt as being a top echelon player, I thought of him as kind of a fill in for Jamerson, until I realized this was Babbitt.

 

[Alivefor5]

Good read on Wikipedia. Credited with many tunes I had no idea he played on, especially the Aretha tunes Respect and Think.

Tommy Cogbill - Wikipedia

 

[bass4more]

There is a great Cogbill playlist on Spotify that I like to turn people on to. The first response is always "Who's Tommy Cogbill?" and they the listen to the playlist and are like "Damn, I've known this dude my whole life!"

 

[pbass2]

There is a great Cogbill playlist on Spotify that I like to turn people on to. The first response is always "Who's Tommy Cogbill?" and they the listen to the playlist and are like "Damn, I've known this dude my whole life!"

Nice! Gonna check that out! I found a Klaus Voormann one the other day. Nice to see people digging deep into this stuff.