Tag Archives: bass player

Carl Radle

On May 30, 1980, Carl Dean Radle died aged 37. He was musician (bass, guitar) and music producer, best known as the bass player with Derek and the Dominoes. Radle has worked with many influential artists including  Gary Lewis & the Playboys, George Harrison, Joe Cocker, Dave Mason, Delaney and Bonnie, Eric Clapton, Jim Gordon, Duane Allman, Bobby Whitlock, Rita Coolidge, Kris Kristofferson. J. J. Cale, Leon Russell, and Buddy Guy. In 2006, he was posthumously inducted to the “Oklahoma Music Hall of Fame”.

Donald Duck Dunn

On May 13, 2012, Donald “Duck” Dunn died aged 70. He was musician (bass guitar), session musician, record producer, and songwriter, best known  for his 1960’s recordings with Booker T. & the M.G.’s and as a session bassist for “Stax Records”.  He has performed and recorded with big number of famous musicians including Otis Redding, Sam & Dave, Rufus Thomas, Carla Thomas, William Bell, Eddie Floyd, Johnnie Taylor, Albert King, Elvis Presley, Muddy Waters, Freddie King, Jerry Lee Lewis, Eric Clapton, Rod Stewart, Stevie Nicks, Tom Petty and The Blues Brothers Band. In 1992, Dunn was inducted in the “Rock and Roll Hall of Fame” as a member of Booker T. & the M.G.’s. “Bass Player” magazine ranked him at number  40 on its list of “The 100 Greatest Bass Players of All Time”.

John Wetton

On January 31, 2017, John Kenneth Wetton died aged 67. He was singer, musician (bass) and songwriter, best known as founding member and bass player of King Crimson and Asia. He has recorded and performed with Mogul Thrash, Family,  Roxy Music, Uriah Heep, U.K., Jack-Knife, Wishbone Ash, Phenomena, Gordon Haskell, Renaissance, Qango, Brian Eno, Ayreon,Steve Howe, Bill Bruford, Geoff Downes, Larry Norman, Alan White, Billy Sherwood, Peter Banks, Bryan Ferry, Pete Sinfield, Roger Chapman, Duncan Mackay, Atoll, District 97, Ayreon, Eddie Jobson, David Cross and Steve Hackett.  As leader, Wetton released six albums.

Louis Johnson

On May 21, 2015, Louis Johnson died aged 60. He was musician (bass), founding member of funk band the “Brothers Johnson” and one of the most demanded bass players. Johnson performed on Quncy Jones albums “Body Heat” and “Mellow Madness”, Michael Jackson’s “Off the Wall”,  “Thriller” and “Dangerous” and hit songs “Billie Jean” and “Don’t Stop ‘Til You Get Enough”. Johnson also performed on George Benson’s album “Give Me the Night”.

Charles Mingus

On January 5, 1977, Charles Mingus Jr. Died aged 57. He was musician (bass), composer and bandleader, regarded as one of the most creative and influential Jazz artists of all times.

For his work and contribution to the modern music, Mingus has received many awards including:

  • “Guggenheim Fellowship” (1971).
  • Inducted in the “Down Beat Jazz Hall of Fame” (1971).
  • “National Endowment for the Arts” provided grants for a Mingus nonprofit called “Let My Children Hear Music” which cataloged all of Mingus’s works (1988)
  • “The Library of Congress” acquired Mingus’s collected papers in what they described as “the most important acquisition of a manuscript collection relating to jazz in the Library’s history.(1993)]
  • “The United States Postal Service” issued a stamp in his honor (1995).
  • Posthumously awarded the “Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award” (1997)
  • Album “Mingus Dynasty”(1959) inducted in the “Grammy Hall of Fame” (1999)
  • Inducted in the “Jazz at Lincoln Center”, Nesuhi Ertegun “Jazz Hall of Fame” (2005)

Mingus has recorded and performed with some of the most important musicians of the modern music, including: Illinois Jacquet, Dinah Washington, Wilbert Baranco, Ivie Anderson, Lionel Hampton, Red Norvo, Billy Taylor, Oscar Pettiford, Max Roach,  Bud Powell, Paul Bley, Teo Macero, Oscar Pettiford,  Ada Moore,  Charlie Parker, J.J. Johnson, Hazel Scott, John Mehegan,  Thad Jones, John Dennis, Ralph Sharon, Miles Davis, Teddy Charles, The Metronome All-Stars, Jimmy Knepper, Langston Hughes, Duke Ellington, Max Roach and Eric Dolphy.