Bass Player Great Rhythm Sections Part 1

U N IT E D

WE

STAND

around

continued

and said, 'That's

be-where

we played it. A I got that real delayed and four,

and that

& AI J a c k s o n lr.

BE A

rs,

There's never delivered

DE E P been

the goods

P OC KE T S section

that

less fuss and more

wallop than the team of Donald

"Duck"

.o f great drummers,

for

Dunn

but Al was one of a kind. I've

never worked with anybody else who could come dose to duplicating

Jackson

a rhythm. with

room

what he could do." -Jim

the late '60s and early '70s Dunn and

worked

recordings,

their

magic

induding

and "I Can't Turn

on hundreds

Otis Redding's

You Loose,"

"Hold On, I'm Cornin'"

Essential ReCordings

"Respect"

The Compl et e St ax! Vnl t Si ngl es , 195 9~ 1988, Atlantic.Atlantic Bl ue s, 7947-1914, Atla.~tic. Booker 1. &.· the MG 's:

Sam & Dave's

Rh yl hm&

and "Soul Man," Albert

Th e Ve l}' Be st of Bu uk er T. & th, ~ MG's,

King's "BornUnder

Jones and guitarist

"Hip-Hug-Her" and "Soul Limbo." BookerT, &

The Vel }' B~s t of OtisR edding;

the MG's split up in 1972, and plans to reunite

Best (J f S a m & Gave, Rhi no. Wil so n Pick et t:

three years later ended when jackson

was fatally

Greatest

E

A

made

up the .house

Duck and Al

ban d at Stax Records

in

Memphis during the heyday of '60s soul. Whether tracking MG's

funky instrumentals

or backing

lip such headliners

J

A

= 112

:

grooves where fe d always reigned S1)preme.

.

II

...

'''When I started playing with the MG(s, it was

Jackson

with

.had the secret to that.groove=-that the delayed feel. Ifthere's

I

)

times. He

.(-

I

)

I

)

(-

The verse patte rn of "In the Midnight

ing; it comes from what A I used to tell me: lust

eighth-note

.wait on :twa.'"

.swing-the

IN other words; delay the' second

U

I

big pocket with

any secret to my play-

)

··

~ I

··

:

in Memphis, and

enjoyed seeing him play plentyof

Til e Vel} '

W i/ san Picket t' s

H m , Atlan!i~,

...

~

AI

lr.," Duck recalled in De cemb er '94 . "He

wa s th e most respected drummer thad

room

R h i ~O , Ot is Heddi ng:

,R h i ~O , S a m & [lave:

as Otis

lineup laid down dozens of hip-shaking

just a-treat to be in the, same

a Bad Sign," and MG'sgems

& the

Sam & Dave, this for-

Redding, Wilson Pickett.or midable

as Booker T.

Roberts

of

and A I Jackson Jr. Along with organist Booker T . Steve Cropper,

great

Duck says things have

never been quite the same. "I've played with a lot

feel on two

gave me a little

to play," During

BHAYEB

rhythm partnerships-and

and for .som e of the little jumps Ili ke

syncopation

Du c k Du n n

shot. His death marked the end of one.ofrhe

where the beat should

the arms get thrown .' So that's where

plaeement perfect

U

(--

I

(-

to lt, right? But listen to the way Duck's

Hour": Nothing

me$hes with AI's delayed feel on two and tour 10gi ve the tune Its slinky

backdrop

for Wilson Piekett's

urgent vocal ..

beat just enough to give the groove a relaxed, laidback feel withoutlosing

any forward motion. Doing

it right is a lot harder

than itsounds,

as careful

J ~

c

132

study o f just about any MG's groove proves. It gets even trickier when

yo u throw in some of the. sub-

..

:

-

,

-I-

-H~

'tle variations that mark Dunn and Jackson's greatest tracks-c-like Wilsonl'ickett's

"In the Midnight

Hour;"

1965,

which they recorded.in

"That

one-really

.us," Duck.noted

,>

+

J .J J J J J J J

opened. up the pocket

in his '94 interview.

for

JJJJJJJJ

:

:

"[Famed,

Atlantic Records producer 1 Jerry Wexler started

On "Time Is Tight,

telling us .abo ut't his 'je rk' dan ce tha t

deadly a(:(:uraey while AI use$ erisp eighth·notes

Jar

ill New

42

York. He started

!lASS

PLAYER

?'

throwing

J UNE

W;]9

po Pu-

his arms

'I 9,'li8

subllepush.

n

a 1,969 MG'Sinstrun'lental,

Duck doubles

Steve Cropper's

on the dosed

hi~hat 10 ueate

guitar

line with

a strong but

excesses he embodied

on- and offstage-ended

the union that will forever be hailed as rock's most original rhythm

section.

Essential Recordings Meat y Bea ty Bi g & Bou nc y, Li veat

(a ll on MeA)

Next, Ouadrapheni

lee ds , Who' s

a.

J oe Os bo rn & Hal Bl ai ne CA L IF o n NI A GROO V I N' They didn't have a trademark base studio, or a distinctly no classic rhythm topping

groove,

regional

a home-

sound-but

section played on more chart-

hits across

more

styles than

the Los

Angeles team 0001' Osborn and Hal Blaine. Along with keyboardist industry

Larry Knechtel, they became the

section during the so-called "California

drums for the Who." later In the same interview,

John

Entwi

M A X IM U M

st l e

ROCK

& Kei t h Moon

ROll

&

sections. defined

sound

as definitively

of a band

growth

of his legendary stage setup, "Sometimes

I use the

on my left for sticks and drinks

two tom-toms

Few rock rhythm John Entwistle

Keith was pressed about the unchecked

the overall

and towels," he said.

as the Who's

and Keith Moon.

("1 can make

an y band sound like the Who!" Entwistle boasted

From their earliest days together, and

Moon

set their

sounds-s-and

sights

rhythms-of

Entwistle

on changing rock.

the

The frantic,

climax of "My Generation"

is a prime

in April '96.) But the 1964 pairing of the Ox and

triplet-based

Moonie

example of their ability to carve a hard-charging

wasn't

musicians

exactly

one

playing

as one"

Instead,

Entwistle's

soaring,

Moon's

anarchic

rumble

of those kinds

co-foils for Pete Townshend's

riffs and pop-smart The intent

of things.

trebly

evolved

Jines and

into perfect

anthemic

behind

guitarist

guitar

choruses. Entwistle's

and Moon

groove out of seeming chaos. The manic Moon could keep straight

lead/rhythm

patterns), frenzied

essentially

was never

time (although

eschewed rock's standard

he regularly

kick-snare-kick-snare

and when he did maintain

he set Entwistle

style is dear enough: Townshendwas a rhythm

"two

the groove

free to fly. Check out the duo's

interplay

on 1970's Live at Le eds and

197L's Who 's Nex t.

the

Moon's

1978 death-s-the

result of the very

Hal Blaine & Joe Osbom

(with sticks)

world's greatest timekeeper,

someone

so

J ~ 190

had to

both

lead

way

and

the nail

things down. A s for Moon's inimitable style-a

blazing

combination

of eighth-note

kick

grooves,

scattershot triplets, and stick-twirling flashwho knows where it ·camefrom? "I'm the best Keith Moon-type drummer in the world," was the only explanation

-r

he could ever offer.

would get very frustrated

couldn't

play

hi-hat

cymbals,"

Entwistle

because

at all, just told Chris

Keith

a mess

of

"Like a drum kit falling downstairs": matching

EntwlsUe

holds together

the "My Generation"

dimax

by

Mo~'s ·furiOus triplets nearly note-for-note.

Swing feel

J

= 144

Jisi in a 1989

Drums &Drumming interview. had to play simpler

"So I sometimes bass parts to hold it all

Ifhe came out of a drum break out of

together.

time, I'd have to set a new time orlook at his bassdrum foot to see what the hell he was doing. I mean, at times it could sound. like a drum

kit

falling downstairs." For his part, Moon was always brutally

candid

aspirations

about his .playing. "I've no real

to be a great drummer,"

he admitted

to Me lod y Ma ke r in 1972. "I just want to play

Beneath -"gain,"

Townshend's Entwistle's

some cool walking

relentless,

syncopated

chattering eighths

ARP synth groove

playoff

Moon's

on the epic "Won't

relatively

straight

rhythms

Get Fooled and set up

fills.

J U N E

I ~ 9 S

"

BA SS PLAYER

43