Carol Kaye. Artist: Stanley Clarke Album: Rocks, Pebbles & Sand Year: 1980 Bassist: Stanley Clarke. I wasn’t in a rush and put together this collection of songs over the years. more, In this video, Larry Graham does a demo on his Roland AP-7 Jet Phaser. I read and study the Bible on a regular basis and I try to let it influence my life as much as possible and influence everything that I do. He also founded the funk band Graham Central Station and worked with Prince on various records and tours. My mother and I would have regulars who would come to see us quite often. His use of […] LG: Tap dancing came first and that didn’t really last too long! ‘Graham Crackers’ was written to represent Larry Graham’s pioneering bass techniques, and reflects the work that he recorded with his own group, Graham Central Station. What was that all about? LG: Well, Sinbad took several people from the festival and made a tour out of it, mainly Graham Central Station, Earth, Wind & Fire, Tia Marie, himself and one other comedian. It took us into another zone, musically. more. Whereas, flat-wounds produce a slightly different tone, mellower and smoother, something you can hear with a fretless bass. … Watch his hands closely! Towards the end, with the urges of the crowd and everything, I ended up going on and playing with the band and I guess something happened that night. more, This site states that Graham uses a Mu-Tron Octave Divider. We had never played together before, but we had met briefly years ago in passing at a Warner Bros. picnic. We had gotten used to having it and we didn’t really want to go back to just guitar. Graham has said that he was simply trying to create a drum-like sound to flesh out the rhythm in … LG: Thank you, thank you. Here is Funk and Bass Legend Larry Graham performing "Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin)" at the Bass Player Awards in 2011. I’m really happy about it. Arts & Humanities Website. The place was called Relax with Yvonne on that very famous street corner. Sometimes the audience wouldn’t get a chance to react until we would finally stop after several songs in a row. He did an album with Michael Jackson and we did the video for that in Jamaica. Larry Graham is one of the most influential bass players in the world. Larry Graham, he came up in the late '60s doing that. His slap bass playing arrived soon after Larry Graham brought it into the mainstream, and both are considered the "grandfathers" of slap-bass playing. That’s how the style came about, and that’s basically what I was doing from the time I was 15 until I was with Sly & the Family Stone. Playing for half a million people. That’s the most exciting experience I can think of as a musician. The organ was never repaired, so I basically got stuck on the bass. Larry Graham is a living musical legend three times over: as the bassist-singer with Sly & The Family Stone, where his innovative thumping-plucking style of bass playing became tremendously influential; as leader of the hit-making funk group Graham Central Station through the 70’s; and then as a top-selling solo artist in the 80’s.. In an article about the Acoustic 360 written by E.E. Equipboard breaks down the gear, tools, and products used by artists, pros, and influencers in their craft. FBPO: What about the future, Larry? Last I had heard he’d fallen on some hard times. When we got up there and jammed together, it was like we had been playing together forever! In this bass lesson I will show you how to play "Hair" by Larry Graham. Obviously, I write all the time. Overview. We were called the Dell Graham Trio and we did a lot of nightclubs and lounges, mostly in the Bay Area. ... Larry Graham, with Euge Groove. Exclusive conversation with the funk pioneer himself, from Sly & the Family Stone to Graham Central Station and beyond! He heard that I was in town and he invited me over to his aftershow after we both finished playing. FBPO: I understand you also teamed up with Eddie Murphy for a while. Then my mother decided that she wanted to be just a duo, to have me on bass with no drums. I play this a little differently to some of the tabs you’ve seen. I try to carry that feeling over the CD as well, so that it does raise your spirits, so that it does make you feel better. It’s going really well. Probably most bands that were there had never experienced anything like that either. That was a real turning point for me. I kind of liken it to the first time Michael Jordan took off from the free-throw line. Louis Johnson (bassist) - Wikipedia He spent each day practising his bass playing which resulted in his distinct style, citing bassists John Entwistle, Jack Bruce, Larry Graham, and Bill Wyman as early influences. In this video you can see Larry groovin' to his signature Warwick bass. We would play a medley of songs, one song going right into the next. Larry Graham is a famous American singer-songwriter, bass player, and producer, who was born on August 14, 1946.As a person born on this date, Larry Graham is listed in our database as the 73rd most popular celebrity for the day (August 14) and the 157th most popular for the year (1946). In addition to having been the bassist for the ’60s supergroup Sly & the Family Stone, Larry has led his own band, Graham Central Station, for the past forty years. You never stop doing that. LG: I’d like to keep making music, for sure. What kind of Bass Guitars does Larry Graham use? How did you go about putting that band together? it was Graham Central Station, whose leader, the legendary bass player Larry Graham, commented that it was his first time performing at the venue since he appeared as part of Sly & the Family Stone. That didn’t last too long because the organ broke down. Larry’s newest CD, Raise Up, may be purchased here: Groove monster talks about growing up in the hotbed of Ohio-bred funk, plus his 18…, Distinguished jazz bassist talks about starting out on trumpet, how Jaco and James Jamerson influenced…, Bass legend tells all about his Rhythm Intensive project, Xotic basses and working with Larry…, Funky groover describes his longstanding gig with Scott Henderson, Xotic basses and growing up as…, Co-founder of mega-popular bass amp and speaker cabinet company tells FBPO the whole story behind…, The Family Stone bassist helps keep the legend of Sly alive (with some surprising words…, Your email address will not be published. The teenage Larry Graham was merely following his ears; bass guitarists ever since have been following Larry Graham and his unique approach to playing a bass guitar. What were you trying to say? LG: It came about out of necessity. He was heavily influenced by Graham Central Station and then he went back and got into some Sly & the Family Stone. FBPO: I like it, too. LG: Right on the corner! After doing that tour for a while, my family was living in Jamaica for seven years, but we were getting ready to move back to the States, to California, but we ended up moving to Minnesota instead, so then we became best friends and then like family. I started taking piano lessons at a very young age and I did that for years. LG: Well, I really like it. He said he wasn’t going to play any more, so he gave it to me and I taught myself how to play. "Because, before I went to bass, I was playing guitar. Cracking The Detroit Code – The 30 Day Challenge I’d like to keep sharing the gift that’s been given to me, keep sharing it with other people, whether it be on an album or live, because I really enjoy both. We called her Chocolate, so we called the group Hot Chocolate. 80-20 Bass – What Is 80-20 Bass? Roundwound strings are the choice for a bright attack and classic slap bass sound. Graham Central Station was a showcase for the revolutionary pop-and-slap bass guitar of Larry Graham, an alumnus of Sly & the Family Stone largely responsible for originating the percussive groove which typified the progressive funk sound of the '70s. That story you just told me? On this show. You’ve got your funky bass playing, your sexy crooning, your great horn parts and all that stuff! Basses ’88 Spector NS-5, ’97 Spector NS-5, ’66 Fender Jazz Bass, ’74 Fender Mustang Bass, Mark Hatcher acoustic bass guitar Strings Dean Markley 2639 Super Rounds (.045, .065, .080, .105, .128); Rotosound RS88LD Tru Bass Black Nylon (.065, .075, .100, .115) They’re all out of Oakland, California, which is my original home. FBPO: You did quite a bit of work with Prince too. I rented it because I figured that as soon as the organ was repaired, I would go back to my guitar because that was my first love. You must have been asked a million times in your career, but is that how it all came about? Larry Graham is an American musician.He was born on August 14, 1946 (74 years old) . Required fields are marked *, Copyright document.write(new Date().getFullYear()); , Notehead MediaGroup, LLC. FBPO: And you were with that band for how long? Up to that point, we had never heard the roar of half a million people shouting their approval of what they’d just heard. LG: It took us into a whole other musical zone because we had never experienced anything close to that. This lady used to come in and, we found this story out later, but she’d come in and hear my mother and me, but she was also a fan of Sly’s, who was a pretty popular disc jockey at the time. In a few short years, Larry found himself as the bassist in one of the sixties’ most innovative bands, Sly & The Family Stone. Some people will grab a good album or something that they really like to lift their spirits up. FBPO: How does it feel to have five hundred thousand people roaring their approval for you? Meet Larry Graham from the Sly and the Family Stone. I just played it the way it was necessary for me to do. And Larry Graham, of course, who was like a father figure." What I didn’t know that night is that he was basically raised on my music. We started rehearsing and then doing gigs around the Bay and then we put out our first record. He is also the frontman and founder of the band Graham Central Station, but all of his efforts have helped put … He wasn’t doing comedy or anything. It was a musical group. I was intending to be the writer and producer of the group. We really didn’t get that rush of adrenaline coming from the crowd until we stopped that first medley. LG: I haven’t been able to keep up with him but I’ve been able to keep up with most of the band members. But that didn’t happen. I wasn’t trying to invent something new. About. The piece features an aggressively performed bass part which features a powerful slap groove and many of Larry’s preferred phrasing techniques such as vibrato, trills, and shakes. When I was 11, my father, who was a guitarist, gave me his guitar. When: 4 p.m. Sunday. We don’t have any weirdness going on. I pop the first D to E – mainly because when you watch Larry Graham play this live, I think this is what he’s doing. LG: Well, Eddie put together a group called Psychedelic Psoul and did a tour and did some gigs in the United States. I was playing guitar and she was on piano and we had a drummer. What kind of Effects Pedals does Larry Graham use? It’s intended to raise you up. Tim Fletcher investigates… Larry Graham first became known as the bassist for one of the iconic bands of the late 1960s, Sly and […] Save gear to your wishlist and see the best price. What kind of Gear & Equipment does Larry Graham use? You might not see everything they paint, but they never stop painting. He was the big guy for slapping and popping. I went and rented a St. George bass from this place in California. Putting the bottom end into The Wrecking Crew, Carol Kaye played the indelible parts on … It was like we all knew that something had just happened there and it ended up being my band, with me just replacing the bass player. I just haven’t really been able to keep in touch with Sly, though. Following the release of the record, we went and did some U.S. dates and then some dates in Europe. FBPO: What would you be if you were not a bass player? Larry Graham is one of the most influential bass players in the world. To make the move cleanly can be quite tricky, so definitely practice this a fair bit at a lower tempo. FBPO: It’s great to see you still actively recording and touring. October 1, 2012. He was just sticking to music. FBPO: You’ve got to have at least one really good Sly Stone story you can share with us. So we were playing at this club in San Francisco on the corner of Haight and Ashbury…. When asked how he got the idea that he could do that with the bass guitar, Graham shared that it actually began when he was just around 14 or 15 years old. Larry Graham, Jr. (Beaumont, Texas, 14 augustus 1946) is een Amerikaans basgitarist, baritonzanger, componist en platenproducer.Hij is het best bekend als de bassist van Sly & the Family Stone en als de oprichter en voorman van Graham Central Station.Graham wordt gezien als de uitvinder van de slapping-techniek, wat ervoor zorgde dat het toonbereik van de basgitaar radicaal werd uitgebreid. The band, since they all live very close to one another, are all good friends as well, so everyone gets along really well. ... was slide Stone So she found that he was gonna start a band right And so she said you gotta go down and hear this base player His name is Larry Graham. 5 Best Bass Strings: Choice Wires to Bring the Bass, Follow artists like Larry Graham and get inspired by their gear. Bradman from Bassplayer.... more, Your own site has accepted proof that he used this. Larry Graham Jr. is an American bass guitar player both with the popular and influential psychedelic soul/funk band Sly and the Family Stone and as the founder and frontman of Graham Central Station. Or perhaps a jazz player favoring a warmer and smoother sound. So she found out that he was going to be starting a band and she took it upon herself to start calling him down to the station and telling him that there was this bass player down there and he had to hear this bass player. And Rose (Stone), too. Larry Graham - GCS Click HERE to see the video 12-28-2010 Prince picked one of his musical inspirations as the opening act. LG: Oh, the best one was Woodstock! Larry Graham is generally credited as inventing slap bass guitar. FBPO: Do you still keep in touch with Sly? LG: I’m really into the Scriptures. WB101 – Why I Had To Learn To “Walk” On The Bass…. Plus, we played at night, so you really couldn’t see all the people. last year. Exclusive interview with FBPO’s Jon Liebman What kind of Amplifiers does Larry Graham use? LG: In the beginning, it was really built around the girl vocalist, Patrice Banks. So that’s how that relationship started. FBPO: Regarding the technique most of us know as “slapping” — I believe you call it “thumping” and “plucking” — there’s a sense that maybe the story had gotten glorified over the years, but the more I talk to you and the more I get to know you, the more apparent it becomes that it hasn’t been glorified at all! When you listen to it, it’ll make you feel better, just like we do at our shows. That makes it fun to tour when it’s like that. It doesn’t get any better than that! It was through Sly & the Family Stone that my style of playing became popular. In addition to having been the bassist for the ’60s supergroup Sly & the Family Stone, Larry has led his own band, Graham Central Station, for the past forty years. You’ve already contributed so much to the music world and to our culture, not the least of which was for bass players! LG: Thank you! I’m always being creative, but of all the things that I wrote and really liked, the things that worked together and fit together to make the complete story, that’s what this collection of songs is. I didn’t really think I was, actually. One night they were doing a gig at this nightclub in San Francisco called Bimbo’s and I knew the music well that the band was playing because I wrote and arranged a bunch of it. I just took my time. BY MARCUS BLAKE A few months ago, Larry Graham returned to … We did the Montreux Jazz Festival… That’s basically what that was. Photos by Erich Francois (with the exception of photo of Larry with Jon Liebman). When my mother and I started working together—she was a pianist and vocalist, as well—I was just about 15. I read that before you ever picked up a bass, you were into tap dancing, you played the drums and all kinds of other interesting stuff. https://www.guitarworld.com/features/the-40-best-basslines-of-all-time How did you get involved in that? In fact, for the show we did in Aruba, the Sinbad HBO special, Jerry and Cynthia and Rose were on that show with me. more. Larry Graham Slap Bass Technique… Larry Graham is widely accepted to be the originator of the slap bass technique, but what prompted him to start a whole new style of bass playing? more. The soul/funk legend and bass pioneer talks about his career—which has included working with Sly, of course, not to mention Prince—going all the way back the ‘60s and up to the present with his new record. Practice this a little differently to some of it will get you down you did quite a bit of with... You haven ’ t get any better than that able to keep music... Couldn ’ t really think I was, actually touch with Sly, though, Patrice Banks ’! 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