When I got called to do the session, my assumption was that he was going to Having survived five decades on the road with James Taylor, Phil Collins and just about everyone else on the planet, Lee Sklar is a living legend of the bass guitar. He was another guy that, I saw him once at The Bayou here. But, its got a thousand horsepower small block in it, weighs 1500 pounds. Leland Sklar: Yeah. Ive toured every year since 1970, plus sessions, he nods. What happened was, I had a Precision neck - no body, but the neck was real nice - and we took a template from my '62 Jazz and reshaped the Precision neck into that. And all these YouTube people are going, Holy shit. A prominent bass guitarist, Sklar has contributed to over 2,500 albums as a session musician. As far as the session with Jimmie went, it was that period when my career was getting started, and the association with James Taylor and that singer/songwriter movement that began. The group has toured Japan and released a number of recordings. "It's really not a conscious effort. Right? But, the first time I heard The Beatles, and the different groups that came out of that first wave of English artists, it turned my head around. Rick: Oh, thats true. And when I got in, I assumed I would be playing piano. Leland Sklar: Well, the thing was, I was not a fan of rock n roll, or whatever was going on during that period. "I couldn't function without it. And I figured Id be in bands and itd be a hobby. And the real joy of this project is weve all been side men our entire careers. Seven. Why do you think you became such a 'first-call' bassist for sessions? All the projects, everything else, will find its way at some point. But, orchestrating all of that into bands was really something different and fresh when James and Jackson and Carole, I mean It was that whole period where Poco developed, and the Burrito Brothers,the Eagles, and Crosby, Stills & Nash, and all of that stuff, Buffalo Springfield. And showing the bass parts to the songs that Im doing, likeJackson Browne. It all made sense with that bass.. The drummer, Bugs Pemberton, was English, and he had a friend named John Fishback. When it's just you sitting there, you're restricted by what the guy has on his machine. Sklar's mother already had a baby grand piano in the home. Category: Sports. Believe it. And like, when we finish this up, Im doing a video every day, and telling stories about it. With little label support, however, The Section disbanded in 1978, in favor of more lucrative endeavors. Leland Sklar. The bass uses fanned frets, which result in longer low strings and shorter high strings. Leland Sklar. Over time, the Barefoot Servants became a cult band; the label (Epic) offered little support. And then he retired. They backed other artists, such as Jackson Browne. Who plays bass for Phil Collins? And when it came time for him to do his album, he just thought, What the hell? But what I started into was a world with the James Taylors that led to the Linda Rontadts and Jackson Brownes. World Tour, which ran between February and October 1990, covering 121 dates. Judith is amazing, and we were playing up in the North of England, playing a pub, and thered be 50 people in the place. Until such time as we can actually go back to real venues. They called me - me and Russ Kunkel, the drummer - and we showed up, and Carole King was the piano player. I just started two years ago, because I played for my dogs and cats for about 35 years, and then I came out and I played a couple of festivals, a couple other events. "No. Stream songs including "Rich Girl", "Fair Warning" and more. The Section recorded three rock fusion albums of their own under that name, in 1972, 1973 and 1977. Leland Sklar. We keep threatening to go back and maybe do another project. The style of music doesn't really matter. If anything else, it was fun. Leland Sklar: For a guy thats kind of been counted out. But, got rid of all the low frequency, and then with an amp I play my bass part, so that people can hear them actually sitting on top of the track. But the real tragedy is that we had an incredible momentum going that just, like for everybody else, the pandemic just ground everything to a halt. We're But, youve worked with Jackson Browne a lot, and Linda Ronstadt, and all the sort of with the Laurel Canyon group. "I've got first-generation EMG pickups on it. In redoing the neck, we had to strip the frets off, and we ended up replacing them with mandolin wire, which is very small fret wire. August 31, 2020. They called it Barefoot Servants 2, reminiscent of the line from the Bob Dylan song All Along the Watchtower. "Probably everybody - they all bring something different and unique. In the late '60s, I was in a hard rock band called Wolfgang. Waddy was there, wrote it, co-wrote it, and all that stuff. Or you get them, and you just havent been able to get to them? "When Billy Cobham called me to do Spectrum, I arrived at Electric Lady Studios - there was Billy and Jan Hammer, and the beauty of it was Tommy Bolin. They had no clue how to get a sound or play in time.'. Stories Behind the Songs: Leland Sklar. He continues: Im involved with Warwick too, and were building one of their Star Basses - the ones that look like an old Framus, with F holes. His work appears on a huge number of albums in a wide variety of musical genres, and although his best-known playing has been alongside James Taylor and Phil Collins, the cult of Sklar extends into pretty much every area of recorded endeavor, from film to stage to stadium and beyond. [4] Originally, the paternal side of the family came from Odessa, Ukraine. And we went in and in a week, we nailed the first album. Thankfully his playing wont be affected - although thats subjective! as he notes. But, the James Taylor thing was a whole new animal. [Laughs], Leland Sklar on bass on Shawn Phillips Bright White. [Album; No Category] But, when Shawn sits down with his guitar, he really can lay out a complete song, the way he plays and does. But, were down there playing like R&B covers and stuff for a bunch of people who had no idea who the hell we even were. His bass playing has appeared on over 2600. Legendary bassist and really cool guy. [13][14] Sometimes he was in five bands at one time, doing all kinds of music, trying to find himself. At one point, the men tried out each others' basses and found they were nearly unable to play the other's instrument: Sklar set his action[43] very high and Entwhistle set his string height very low. Some of the artists caught my attention, that a lot of people may not know. I know you had several albums with Shawn. I dont know anybody else in the business quite like him. The rhythm section on the new album features Leland Sklar (who played with Carole King, James Taylor, and dozens of others) on bass, and Jim Keltner, the go-to drummer for John Lennon, George . Yeah. We were cutting to analog tape. I was the proverbial child prodigy on piano. And eventually, Ill get it back on the street again. Because the offices, even though it was different management, they would all talk to each other and try to book things so that the band could do both. Ill fly in and do a gig and use whatever bass they say they have. I graduated high school in 65, so it must have been 59, 60, somewhere in there. [9] He was sent to Redlands University for a summer course in being a drum major and designing half time shows. Leland Sklar is one of the most prolific Hollywood session bassists from the boom of his career in the '70s until now. To me, the music business really can be like being Peter Pan. I found out he was looking for one, and I was never going to use it, because I just thought it sucked. They were getting ready to do a gig at the Troubadour, and he mentioned to Peter that he'd heard this bass player he really liked. The book will be filled with affectionate portraits, stories and advice from inspiring and creative older couples across the globe. And that really is because theyre covered in autographs, and the autographs are irreplaceable. On stage with Phil Collins during the First Final Farewell tour in 2008. All rights reserved. It can happen. What kind of bass were you playing at the time? [15] Carol Kaye and Bobby West were on bass, Hal Blaine was on drums, and Jim Gordon was the percussionist. Ive been on it now for almost two months, and in the next day or so, Ill hit 100 thousand subscribers. I would say for the most part, Ive worked on maybe about 2,600 albums in my career. So, Ive got a radiator sitting, waiting to be re-cored 400 miles from here. One is inlayed with mother of pearl and the other is abalone. This guy This is pretty unbelievable., Rick: Yeah. Henry seemed like a genuinely really nice guy. It was amazing. And thats really the criteria for all of this. Also, I have two sets of Precision pickups, and I have them where Jazz pickups would've normally gone. At least four tracks were cut, "Magic in the Air," "Bad News," "Little Bird," and "Million Dollar Movie". As a group member, session player, or touring musician, Sklar has lent his talents to well over 2,000 albums. And then I did It was, for me, it culminated with Running on Empty, when we did that. Rick: Okay. I had known Steve before any of this started; Id done his album, and done album projects and live gigs with him. A staple of L.A. studio scene, Sklar put his stamp on music of all genres for over four decades with artists like James Taylor, Reba McEntire, Billy Cobham, Phil Collins, and more. I figured, if I had one note that required a five-string, I'll just bring out a five-string for the whole show. The body is a single block of burled birdseye maple. But, when we started, it was kind of like being a top fuel dragster. Its not one of those reunions where theyre trying to put a band back together, and the guys havent played in 15 or 20 years or trying to get into spandex pants with a 40-inch waist! Sklar recalls the path that led him to become a bass player, and unsurprisingly - given his laissez-faire attitude to gear - it didnt involve any high-quality instruments until some years into his playing career. And, while checking up on his list of credits, I was delighted to see that it was him on bass no some of my favorite albums. Leland: I grew up in a very eclectic house, and my parents had an extensive record collection, so I was exposed to lots of music in many different styles. So, its pretty impressive. And its all fresh new material. So, we stayed in touch. Sklar has also toured with Lyle Lovett, Peter Asher, Vronique Sanson, Tracy Chapman, Van Dyke Parks, and Judith Owen, among others. Sell Your Used Vehicle, No Matter the Make or Model. Sklar worked again with Collins on the album But Seriously in 1989 and toured with the Seriously, Live! [35], For intimate settings, Sklar uses a Euphonic Audio Doubler amp with an EA cabinet with a single 10" speaker in it (Euphonic Audio Wizzy-110). So, its actually really wonderful to have an entity where were the artists. Its just right now, everythings been impacted by the virus. Visit our corporate site (opens in new tab). He walked up to me and asked if I wanted to try one of his basses. So, I really had to wrap myself around an entire different way of playing, once I started with James. I saw too many people fall victim to booze and drugs, he tells us, and so Ive never done anything like that myself. What, no vat of whiskey before the show like real rockers do? "You have to care about the music. "I had a bass built in 1973 by John Carruthers. He played the bass on James Taylor's One Man Dog, on the early Section albums, and on Billy Cobham's Spectrum. Rick: Yeah. I see guys all the time, they don't listen to playbacks, the minute a track is done they're on their cellphones and doing other things. As always, see you in the shed. Starting when I was going on five years old, I was a classical pianist. Leland Sklar. IM - Legendary Session Musician Embraces the 'Brave New World' With more than 2,600 albums under his belt as a session musicianas well as decades on tour with some of the biggest artists in the music industry and musical contributions to countless Hollywood films and major television showsbassist Leland "Lee" Sklar has guided his career by a simple . As far as the session with Jimmie went, it was that period when my career was getting started, and the association with James Taylor and that singer/songwriter movement that began. They needed a bass player and would he be interested? And Im in the Washington, D.C. area. Were doing a double-neck with a fretted five-string and a fretless four. Besides appearing as the backing band on numerous recordings by artists such as Jackson . The gear we review ranges from the affordable to the upmarket and we maximise the opportunity to evolve our playing with the best teachers on the planet. His mother's family was from Duluth, Minnesota. Van Halen visited Nuno while he was recording Rise, Tom DeLonge's new Starcaster makes its live debut, "If youre overplaying, youre under-listening": Rocco Prestia on 50 years with Tower of Power, Thundercat: People are telling me to turn down, and Im like, No! So you really cant count people out. "In my heart, I feel like I'm 19 years old, back when I started. It was through this connection that Sklar would later work with Post on every one of his TV shows: The Rockford Files, Magnum, P.I., Hill Street Blues, The A-Team, to name a few. I hate it when I look at a show and I see that the bass players got a rack with 10 basses that hes constantly messing with. [6], While at San Fernando Valley State, Sklar played in the orchestra. And then he and I parted ways until 2000. Leland Sklar: Oh, I know Robert very well. GW: You have recorded and played live with more pop music celebrities than most anyone alive. Rick: Yeah. No, I think thats for the near future its going to have to be situations like that, to be able to do anything. They had a bass called the Star Bass II, and we did a couple of them - fretted, fretless, an eight-string. Rock On: Leland Sklar Rages Against The Machine. I just love playing with Russ Kunkel. This philosophy extends to a healthy disrespect for gear obsessives, his comments above about his equipment notwithstanding. He's a legend. Im not one of those converted guitar players who went to bass. That was definitely an inspiration": When Melissa Auf Der Maur went solo, NAMM 2023: Ashdown announces the Studio MiniRig a portable bass head with matching cab inspired by the Beatles PA columns. In various configurations several of the group members were members of Asylum Records The Section, the legendary session players who laid down instrumentation and sometimes backing vocals for Jackson Browne, Warren Zevon for the label, and at other times for various labels for Carole King, James Taylor and many more top artists. John R. Kennedy. [6], Sklar spent five years at San Fernando Valley State, but never graduated, because his own music career would intervene. Special appearance by Steve Bailey. The upper neck is a piccolo bass neck and the other is a standard neck. Sometimes it's other things that make you not want to be there, you detect a lack of focus, or there's drugs involved. "Ive been on the road for 42 years and Ive only broken two strings - and I play really hard!". . And that really changed things for me. Rick: And then Warren Zevon. It all made sense with that bass. 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