Category Archives: Birthdays

Bassist Richard Davis

Bassist Richard Davis

Bassist Richard DavisApril 15, 1930 – September 6, 2023

The older we get the more we realize that there’s so much we just didn’t know. Or so much we thought we knew, but wasn’t quite the whole story.

If pressed to answer the question, “What is your favorite album?” I will likely respond that there are a few, but Van Morrison’s Astral Weeks is up toward the top if not at the top. It’s as much a nostalgic reason–I was away at school and homesick and the album just was the right thing at the right time–as it’s just great music.

That was in 1969 when my college station’s late night DJ played lots of it.

It was sadly only on September 6, 2023, 54 years later, when I heard two things, that the bassist on Astral Weeks had died and that his name was Richard Davis. I had a name to attach to that beautiful playing.

Astral Weeks influence

And then while listening to, Episode 170 of A History of Rock Music in Five Hundred Songs–the best rock music podcast anywhere [a New Yorker article headline called Andrew Hickey‘s show “A Music Podcast Unlike Any Other”) I discovered that not only was Davis the bassist on that amazing album, he was everywhere and our musical paths had crossed regularly over the decades.

An example? Bruce Springsteen loved Morrison’s Astral Weeks and that love influenced his first album, Greetings from Asbury Park, N.J. How? Davis played double bass on “The Angel.”

He also played with Bonnie Raitt, The Rascals, Spanky & Our Gang, Ruth Brown, Garland Jefferies, Laura Nyro, Biff Rose, Sha Na Na, Loudon Wainwright III, Paul Simon, Van Eaton brothers, Janis Ian, Carly Simon, Melissa Manchester, Elliott Murphy, Billy Cobham, Jaco Patoriouis (!), Essra Mohawk, Judy Collins, Lew Soloff, The Manhattan Transfer, well, you get the idea and that’s just performers that my demographic might be most familiar with.

There are dozens of equally famous (in many cases, more famous) jazz musicians he played with.

Let simply quote his site’s statement: He…recorded a dozen albums as a leader and 3000 recordings and jingles as a sideman.

Or go to the AllMusic site for his very very long list of credits.

Beginnings

Davis was born Chicago but is mother died in childbirth. His NYT obituary stated: …he was adopted by Robert and Elmora Johnson. …exposed to music through the records his mother had collected in her native New Orleans and the hymns Mr. Johnson would sing around the house.

He attended DuSable High School in Chicago, where he studied music under Walter Dyett, who mentored many future jazz stars, and he started playing the bass at 15. As he recalled in a 2013 interview published in the American Federation of Musicians magazine Allegro: “I was just enthralled by the sound. The bass was always in the background and I was a shy kid. So I thought maybe I’d like to be in the background.”

I wonder how often the shy kid becomes the bass player?

While he attended VanderCook College of Music Davis continued to play and make connections. One of those was pianist Don Shirley (think the movie “Green Book)

New York City

In 1954, he and Shirley moved to New York City and performed together until 1956, when Davis began playing with the Sauter-Finegan Orchestra. In 1957, he became part of Sarah Vaughan’s rhythm section, touring and recording with her until 1960

Madison?

Davis left New York in 1977 to take a position as a professor of music and music history at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

In 2011, Davis told OnWisconsin, the university’s alumni magazine,  “I got a call offering me a job at the university in Madison because they didn’t have a bass teacher on campus,”. “I said, ‘Where’s Madison?’ I asked around if anyone had heard of the place because this school kept calling me. Martin Luther King Jr. talked about the importance of teaching others, and I had always wanted to teach young people. I thought maybe it was time.”

He retired from teaching in 2016.

Legacy of Activism

Richard Davis Foundation for Young Bassists

In 1993 Davis established the Richard Davis Foundation for Young Bassists. It states it purpose this way:

The string instrument family has many members, but it is typically the violin, viola and cello that are most familiar to many people. The melodic beauty of these three instruments is often heard thanks to the significant solo repertoire that exists. However, the double (or ‘string’) bass has traditionally been thought of as an accompaniment instrument. As a result its development as a melodic or ‘solo’ instrument has been slow. The instrument, unique is all its features, has an incredibly versatile in range, virtuoso artistry and lyricism, with spectacular visual excitement. Pedagogically and soloistically, the bass has undergone rapid advancement in the last century, however progress for pre college students is still behind due to a number of limiting factors:

As the bass relates to children and their musical development, there are two major inter-related problems limiting their opportunity to explore this instrument and its melodic beauty, thus its virtuosity: Instrument size, availability and cost and availability of training.

Retention Action Project

In 1998 he began the Retention Action Project (RAP) at the University to improve graduation rates for students of color.

Center for the Healing of Racism

Bassist Richard Davis

And in 2000 Davis established the Madison chapter of the Center for the Healing of Racism. The Center was founded in 1989 by an ethnically diverse group of individuals who met in Houston, Texas, to discuss the impact of racism. The emphasis was on personal growth, healing, and the exploration of ways to heal racism.

In Conclusion

Perhaps, there is no better way to recognize the talent and legacy of Richard Davis than by quoting  Neil Heinen, editorial director of Madison magazine’s Spectrum:

“As one of the world’s premier bass players, Davis’s music…touched the lives of countless fans, and his teaching…inspired generations of students in the classroom as well as with the Richard Davis Foundation for Young Bassists, Inc., which provides musical instruction for financially challenged youth. While the jazz master and professor could’ve ended his renowned biography there, his passion for social justice, for the healing of racism, …changed the lives of those who have accepted his invitation to open their hearts, minds and spirits to the history and pathology of racism within.”

Guardian obituary, Rolling Stone obituary

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Canadian Bassist Brad Campbell

Canadian Bassist Brad Campbell

October 22, 1945 – November 14, 2019

Canadian Bassist Brad Campell

Brad Campbell played at Woodstock as part of Janis Joplin’s Kozmic Blues Band. Of course, like all musicians, he’d had things happen before and many things following.

Canadian Bassist Brad Campbell

Early on

Among the beautiful gifts these Woodstock Whisperer posts serendipitously  bestow are comments from someone who was at the event the post is on or knew the person the post is about. Below you can read a comment by an Ian Box, but it is such a great background comment that I want to include it in the post itself. Thank you Ian.

Hi. My name is Ian Box. I am the brother of Graeme Box. One correction, in the band’s early years they where called The Shamokins.

I knew Brad from about the age of 10 and I hung out with Brad after he returned from San Francisco for a few years. He still had his Triumph TR6.

I took the B/W picture of Brad wearing the headphones at the top of this article. It was taken shortly after his return in his mom’s basement in Clarkson, now part of Mississauga.

I have alot of fond memories listening to music under headphones in that basement with Brad. He teamed up with my brother Graeme often and they played alot of great music together. Occasionally they let me play acoustic.

Although I was a number of years younger than Brad, it never seemed to bother him. He was quite simply one of the coolest people I have have ever known. I was privileged to watch him play his bass many times. He was in that level of talent not many musicians ever reach.
He was also one of the funniest people I have ever known. Growing up he was close friends with my brother Leigh and Wayne Cooper. To see these 3 guys together often left me in tears from laughing.

He had several jobs during the time I hung out with him. He work at a Steel Mill, was a Baliff for Mississauga and got his license to drive heavy road equipment.

It was a great shock when I learned of his passing. Even though I hadn’t been in contact with him for many years I still think of him as one of my best friends from that time of my life. My most sincere condolences to Linda and her family.

Last Words

Canadian Bassist Brad Campell

Though little known in the US, the first big band Brad Campbell played in was the Canadian band, The Last Words. The original group was comprised of Graeme Box (lead guitar), Ron Guenther (drums) and Brad’s brother Noel Campbell (piano).

According to a Barbed Wire Design article, The Last Words began in Clarkson, Ontario in 1961 as the The Beachcombers.  Began and ended after two gigs.

Then, liking Ronnie Hawkins, they became the Nighthawks.

In 1964 Noel Campbell left the band, but before leaving invited brother Brad to join. Brad played bass.

Now they were The Smamokins band, but that soon changed to The Last Words.

Canadian Bassist Brad Campbell

I Symbolize You

Their first single in 1965, The Laugh’s On Me / She’ll Know How, for RCA Canada received very little air play, but in 1966 they hit the Canadian charts with a Columbia release, I Symbolize You / It Made Me Cry.

In late 1966, they released their last charted single, Give Me Time / Drive A Mini Minor, again on Columbia.

Bill Dureen left the group in 1967 and the remaining members continued with three others until 1968. Next was joining “The Paupers” with Skip Prokop (Lighthouse).

An interesting aside, Albert Grossman managed the Paupers and in early 1967 when Monterey Pop organizers were inviting groups, Grossman pushed to have the Paupers there. They did perform on the festival’s first night, but this was before Campbell was in the group.

Luckily for Brad…

Canadian Bassist Brad Campbell

Janis Joplin

photo by Ian Box

In 1968 he went to New York.

He auditioned for Janis Joplin and she instructed her agent Albert Grossman to hire Brad.

He joined the Kozmic Blues band in late 1968. He’d eventually join Janis Joplin’s Full Tilt Boogie Band.

A Know Your Bass Player article wrote: To my ears, the Kozmic Blues Band and Full Tilt Boogie Band, with bassist Brad Campbell, were the perfect match to advance Janis’ groundbreaking artistry after she departed Big Brother & The Holding Company.

Throughout I Got Dem Ol’ Kozmic Blues Again Mama (1969), Pearl (1971),  and tracks on the archival In Concert (1972) [Campbell} fortified Ms. Joplin’s forays into soul and rhythm and blues on such classic tracks as “Try,” “Move Over,” “Half Moon,” and “Me and Bobbie McGee” with harmonic and rhythmic passages evocative of the Motown, Stax, and Atlantic Records session masters – who, at the time, were his peers.

Canadian Bassist Brad Campbell

Post Janis

Brad returned to Canada after Janis’s death.

He’d married and begin a family and apparently worked for the courts. 

His 2019 obituary read: Brad Campbell passed away suddenly and peacefully on November 14, 2019. Survived by his loving wife Linda of 45 years. Cherished by his loving daughters; Melissa, Diana and Meredith. As per his wishes cremation has taken place. He will be missed by family and many friends. Brad will also be remembered for his love and passion for music. Donations in Brad’s memory may be made through www.musicounts.ca.

His Discography from the Discogs site.

Canadian Bassist Brad Campbell

Bassist Larry Graham

Bassist Larry Graham

Born ‎August 14, 1946

“I’m gonna add some bottom… so that the dancers just can’t hide!”

Screen grab of Graham from a 2012 concert, Bataclan, Paris

None of us had ever done anything even close to Woodstock. Then, all of a sudden, we had the attention of the world. If you were part of that, it just turned everything around.”

So said bassist Larry Graham in a 2014 interview with George Varga in the San Diego Union-Tribune.

Beaumont, Texas

Larry Graham was born August 14, 1946 in Beaumont, Texas.  From an article in The Watchtower: I was born into a musical family…, my mother’s only son. She [Dell] was a pianist with the church choir, and my father was a jazz guitarist. Soon afterward my family moved to Oakland, California, where I started tap dancing at the age of five. Two years later, I learned the piano under the guidance of my grandmother, who cared for me in those early years.

From the Varga interview:  “My biggest influence was actually my mother’s left hand. Because, before I went to bass, I was playing guitar. And when she would solo, I would play bass lines on my guitar. And when I would solo, she’d play bass lines on piano with her left hand. That’s the way she played anyway, before I started playing with her.  So when I started playing with her, I was influenced by her left-hand bass lines.”

From Episode 175 of Andrew Hickey’s History of Music in 500 Songs podcast: “Dell Graham was a singer and pianist who apparently sounded exactly like Dinah Washington, and whose repertoire was similar to Washington’s — jazz standards and a little classy blues. 

Hickey continues: When the drummer left the band: “The solution he came up with was similar to the way that rockabilly double-bass players had played to compensate for the lack of drums — what was known as “slapback bass”, like we talked about in episodes on Bill Haley and Elvis. But while as we often say “there is no first anything”, as far as anyone is able to tell, Larry Graham was the first person to do it with an electric bass, a slightly different technique with a very different sound.

For slap bass, you have two techniques to get a more percussive sound — you “slap” the string with your thumb, giving a deep booming sound unlike the normal sound you get from plucking a string, or you “pop” it — pulling the string away from the body of the guitar and allowing it to snap back and hit the frets, creating a buzzing tone.

Bassist Larry Graham

Sly

Bassist Larry Graham
Graham is in the back in yellow

His breakout success was with Sly and the Family Stone (1966 – 1972).

Albums with Sly and the Family Stone

  • 1967: A Whole New Thing
  • 1968: Dance to the Music
  • 1968: Life
  • 1969: Stand!
  • 1971: There’s a Riot Goin’ On
  • 1973: Fresh
Bassist Larry Graham

Bass Technique

From that same interview: “By slapping the strings and expertly plucking and popping them with his fingers, he transformed the electric bass, making it as prominent as a guitar and dramatically increasing its rhythmic intensity. By dong so, he laid the foundation for several subsequent generations of bassists, including everyone from Stanley Clarke, Victor Wooten and San Diego’s Nathan East to Les Claypool of Primus, Level 42’s and Mr. Big’s Billy Sheehan.”

Bassist Larry Graham

Witness

In 1973, he met his future wife Tina. Tina’s mom was a Jehovah Witness and asked Tina to be present at her baptism in the Oakland Coliseum. Graham attended and says he’d never seen anything like the gathering before.

He and Tina began Bible study and visited various Jehovah Witness congregations while on tour. He and Tina were baptized at the district convention in Oakland in July 1975.

Graham would later introduce the religion to Prince. He became a Jehovah’s Witness later in life, and according to Graham, that helped shape Prince’s music as well as his lifestyle.

Graham said that Prince would knock on doors, talk with visitors at his studio-compound Paisley Park in suburban Minneapolis and even share his faith with small groups after a show,

“That brought him joy. That brought him real happiness,” Graham said in an interview with The Associated Press.

Graham Central Station

After Sly [from the QG Enterprise page]: [Graham]…went on to produce a Funk band called “Hot Chocolate”, which he eventually joined and renamed “Graham Central Station”. The original lineup included guitarist David “Dynamite” Vega, organist Robert “Butch” Sam, keyboardist Hershall “Happiness” Kennedy, vocalist/percussionist Patryce “Choc’let” Banks, and drummer Willie “Wild” Sparks. The group used the funk foundation that Graham had established with “Sly and the Family Stone” and sweetened it with various layers of soul, blues and other styles – a magical combination that scored the band a Grammy nomination in 1974 for Best New Artist. Graham Central Station released a string of seven albums throughout the 70’s. Their debut album, a self-titled effort released in 1974, proved highly successful, launching a minor pop hit with “Can You Handle It“. 

He reformed Graham Central Station in the early 1990s and performed with the band for several years. Graham and Graham Central Station performed internationally with a world tour in 2010 and the “Funk Around The World” international tour in 2011.

Graham Central Station albums

  • Graham Central Station (Warner Bros., 1974)
  • Release Yourself (Warner Bros., 1974)
  • Ain’t No ‘Bout-A-Doubt It (Warner Bros., 1975)
  • Mirror (Warner Bros., 1976)
  • Now Do U Wanta Dance (Warner Bros., 1977)
  • My Radio Sure Sounds Good to Me (Warner Bros., 1978)
  • Star Walk (Warner Bros., 1979)
  • Live in Japan (1992)
  • Live in London (1996)
  • Back by Popular Demand (1998)
  • The Best of Larry Graham and Graham Central Station, Vol. 1 (Warner Bros., 1996)
  • Raise Up (2012)
Bassist Larry Graham

Prince

In 1998, he recorded a solo album under the name Graham Central Station, GCS 2000. It was a collaboration between Larry Graham and Prince.

While Graham wrote all the songs, except one co-written by Prince, the album was co-arranged and co-produced by Prince, and most of the instruments and vocals were recorded by both Graham and Prince. Graham also played bass on tours with Prince from 1997 to 2000. He appeared in Prince’s 1998 VHS Beautiful Strange and 1999 DVD Rave Un2 the Year 2000.

When Prince died in 2016, Minnetonka, Minnesota’s Jehovah’s Witnesses Kingdom Hall held a memorial service for him – “Brother Nelson” as his fellow congregants knew him – Sunday at the church where he worshiped.

At the service, Graham spoke about Prince and their shared faith. [RS article]

Bassist Larry Graham

Credits

All Music has a very long list of his credits. Among the names (in addition to Prince, Sly, and Graham Central are:  Betty Davis (the second ex-wife of jazz legend Miles Davis), George Tyson, the Oak Ridge Boys. Aretha Franklin, Stanley Clarke, George Benson, Stanley Jordan, Little Anthony and the Imperials, Mahalia Jackson, Frankie Lanine, Eddie Murphy, Santana, Chaka Khan, Luther Allison, Government Mule, Billy Preston, Shania Twain,  Kanye West, as well as many many others.

Bassist Larry Graham

Solo

Graham recorded five solo albums and had several solo hits on the R&B charts. His biggest hit was “One in a Million You”, a crossover hit, which reached No. 9 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in 1980.

Solo albums [all Warner Bros. releases]

  • 1980: One in a Million You
  • 1981: Just Be My Lady
  • 1982: Sooner or Later
  • 1983: Victory
  • 1985: Fired Up
Bassist Larry Graham

Hall of Fame

A 1993 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee as a member of Sly & The Family Stone

Bassist Larry Graham

Check out this live concert. Amazing energy!

Bassist Larry Graham

Drake

Most Woodstock fans might not recognize the name Drake, but he is, as described by Wikipedia, “…a Canadian rapper, singer, songwriter, and actor [as well as an]… influential figure in contemporary popular music, Drake has been credited with popularizing singing and R&B sensibilities in hip hop artists.

Drake has been nominated for many and won several awards, mainly related to hip-hop.

And Larry Graham is Drake’s uncle.