billy sheehan

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en.wikipedia.org http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Billy_Sheehan

Billy Sheehan

This article is about the bass guitarist . For t he Gaelic fo ot ball player, see Billy Sheehan (Gaelic f oot baller) . Forthe Australian rugby union player, see Billy Sheehan (rugby union) .

Billy Sheehan

Background inf ormation

Birth name William Sheehan

Born (1953-03-19) March 19, 1953 (age 60)Buffalo , New York , USA

Genres Hard rock , heavy m etal , jazz f usion , instrumental ro ck , progressive rock

Occupations Musician , songwriter Instruments Bass , guit ar , vocals , harmonica ,

Years act ive 197 0 present

Associatedacts

UFO , David Lee Roth , Mr. Big , Richie Kot zen , Marty Friedman , Tim "Ripper" Owens , Talas , B'z ,Stev e Vai, G3 , Niacin , Gl enn Tipton

Website Billy Sheehan on Myspace

William "Billy" S heeha n (born on March 19, 1953, in Buffalo , New York ) is an American bassist known f or his

work with Talas , Steve Vai , David Lee Roth , Mr. Big , and Niacin . Sheehan has won the "Best Rock Bass Player"readers' poll f rom Guitar Player Magazine f ive times f or his "lead bass" playing style. [1] Sheehan's reperto ireincludes the use of chording, two- handed tapping , right-hand "three-f inger picking " technique and contro lledfeedback .

Career

Early years

Billy Sheehan's f irst electric bass was a Hagstrm FB, which was soon joined by a Precision bass similar to TiBogert 's. Af ter acquiring the Precision bass, he removed the f rets f rom the Hagstr m. Over the years, heheavily modif ied the Precision bass as well, adding a neck pickup and additional support f or the bo lt-on neck,which Sheehan considers its greatest weakness. The neck pickup was added f or what Sheehan ref erred to as"super deep low end" modelled af ter Paul Samwell-Smith o f the Yardbirds . The Gibson EB-0 type pickup in theneck and the o riginal split Precision bass pickup each have their own separate o utput jacks on the bass itself ,allowing for cont rol of the tone via the bass . Sheehan also uses t wo amps to achieve his signature to ne (asdo Chris Squire of Yes and Doug Pinnick of King's X ), one with f ull distortion and notch f iltering to so und moreguitar-like f or solos, and one super-clean fo r the low end of the neck pickup. This bass has been retired, buthe aff ectionately ref ers to it as "The Wife". "Gear article" . Billysheehan.com. Retrieved 2011-08-09. Sheehan'ssignature Yamaha bass is based on t his Bass.

Talas
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Sheehan's f irst f ull-t ime band was Talas, a power t rio with Dave Const antino o n guitar and Paul Varga ondrums. The band played a mixture o f cover so ngs and o riginal material, and all three inst rumentalists alternatedon lead vocals.

Talas was one of Buff alo's most popular local bands f or o ver a decade, arguably attaining cult s tat us whichspread into the northeast US and into Canada. In 1978, Talas released their eponymous debut album, whichgenerated the regional hit s ingle, "See Saw". It was during this time that Sheehan wrote s ome of his most

f amous so ngs, namely "Shy Boy" (later re-recorded with David Lee Rot h), and the complex and f renetic"Addicted to that Rush" (later re-recorded with Mr Big).

In the late 1970s, Sheehan also played in a band called Light Years with drummer Ron Rocco who had earlier played in a band called Black Sheep with Foreigner s inger Lou Gramm in Roches ter, NY. Af ter Sheehan returnedto Talas they opened a show for UFO in Buff alo. This led Sheehan to an asso ciation with guitarist MichaelSchenker and also helped land him the job touring with UFO in 1983.

Talas' f irst national exposure happened in 1980, when they opened t hirty shows f or Van Halen. However,success was elusive, and even as their brand of what came to be known as "glam metal" gained popularity over the next f ew years, Talas remained an unsigned act, due largely to po or management. They independently

released their debut eponymous "Talas" LP on Evenfall Records (reissued by Metal Blade) and then "Sink Your Teeth Into T hat" on Relativity Records.

Seeking to take Talas f urther t han just regional success , Sheehan ref ormed Talas with anot her drummer (MarkMiller), guitarist (Mitch Perry, also lat er of Heaven), and a dedicated vocalist, Phil Naro, with whom in the late1970s Sheehan had previously worked in his side project (the Billy Sheehan Band). Talas would release onlyone more album, Live Speed on Ice. Af ter Mitch Perry lef t the band, he was replaced by Johnny Angel, whoplayed guitar with them fo r t heir 1985/86 US tour o pening f or Yngwie Malmsteen's Rising Force. There was af ourt h Talas record, tent atively titled "Lights, Camera, Action" to be issued o n Gold Mountain/A&M, but it never got past the demo st age due to Sheehan leaving to join David Lee Roth's so lo band. Talas did brief ly cont inueon under Phil Naro sans Sheehan, enlisting Jimmy Degrasso on drums, Al Pitrelli on guitar, Bruno Ravel on bass

and Gary Bivona on keyboards but by this t ime Talas was dead Ravel formed Danger Danger.

In the early 1980s, Sheehan became involved with t he prot o- thrash metal band Thrasher, during this t ime heshared the s tage with f uture Anthrax guitarist Dan Spitz. His involvement with Thrasher did not last long but hedid play on 2 so ngs f rom the self -t itled LP, which has not been released on CD to dat e.

David Lee Rot h band

See David Lee Roth .

Mr. Big

See Mr. Big .

2000-present

In January 2009 Billy Sheehan reunited with his old Mr Big band members: Eric Martin , Paul Gilbert and PatTorpey f or a reunion tour in Japan. In April 2009 Sheehan's third so lo album, Holy Cow! , produced by SimoneSello , was released by Mascot Records . The album f eatures gues t appearances f rom Paul Gilbert, ZZ Top 'sBilly Gibbons and King's X bassist Doug Pinnick . Gilbert has stated in an interview that his amicablecollaboration with Billy on Holy Cow! , recorded prior to January, was likely a factor in the decision to reunite Mr Big.[2] Mr. Big is still together and their new album What If... produced by Kevin Shirley [3] was released December
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15, 2010 in Japan, and January 21, 2011 in Europe. It was released February 8, 2011 in the U.S.

Sheehan reunited with his f ellow Talas bandmates f or a reunion concert at t he Hard Rock Caf e in NiagaraFalls, New York on July 28, 2012. [4]

Sheehan, along with Mike Port noy and Richie Kotzen , recorded the debut album f or t heir new band The WineryDogs in August 2012. The album is slat ed f or a May 2013 release in Japan. [5] [6] [7]

Personal lifeSheehan has been an act ive member of the Church of Scientology since 1971 [8] and appeared on the s treetof f ering to def end it during Project Chanology .[9]

Partial discography

With Talas

With Thrasher

1985: Burning at the Speed of Light

Tony MacAlpine

1986: Edge of Insanity

David Lee Roth

1986: Eat 'Em and Smile

1988: Skyscraper

Greg Howe

1988: Greg Howe (album)

Mr. Big

Niacin

With Explorer's Club

1998: Age of Impact

Solo

Terry Bozzio and Billy Sheehan

2002: Nine Short Films

See also

References
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1. ^ "Sheehan's Bio o n his Of f icial Site" . Billysheehan.com. Retrieved 2011-08- 09.

2. ^ "Paul Gilbert : 'People Really Didn't Think That You Could Be A Musician'" . Ultimate-guitar.com. Retrieved2011-08-09.

3. ^ "MR. BIG Begins Recording New Album" . Roadrunnerrecords.com. Retrieved 2011-08-09.

4. ^ Gallivan, Seamus (July 29, 2012). Reunited Talas, The Road push it into st ratosphere in double bill . ThBuffalo News . Retrieved July 29, 2012.

5. ^ Port noy, Mike. "MP Studio Diary f or Port noy/Sheehan/Kot zen ses sions - Day 1" . Retrieved 11 April2013.

6. ^ Port noy, Mike. "MP Studio Diary fo r Portno y/Sheehan/Koten sess ions - Day 14" . Retrieved 11 April2013.

7. ^ "THE WINERY DOGS: Of f icial Logo, Band Phot o Unveiled" . BLABBERMOUTH.NET. Retrieved 11 April2013.

8. ^ "~The Complete Package~" . Global Bass online. Retrieved 2008-02-28.

9. ^ Scientolo gy: Billy Sheehan Interview 1/4 on YouTube

External linksOf f icial website

Billy's solo with Mr Big

HardRadio.com interview by Joey Vera with Billy Sheehan Part 1

HardRadio.com interview by Joey Vera with Billy Sheehan Part 2

Interview with Billy Sheehan..., 8/01/2009

Extens ive CD collection published by o r with participation of Billy Sheehan - cont inuously updated

[show ]David Lee Roth

Former guitarists

Former bassists

Former drummersGregg Bissonette

Ron Wikso

Ray Luzier

Pat Torpey

Jimmy DeGrasso

Former keyboardistsBrett Tuggle
http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Brett_Tuggle&action=edit&redlink=1http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jimmy_DeGrassohttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pat_Torpeyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ray_Luzierhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gregg_Bissonettehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Lee_Rothhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Billy_Sheehan#http://www.billysheehancollection.com/http://www.bass-musician-magazine.com/General/bass-musician-magazine-detail.asp?year=2009&month=8&article-id=317801407http://www.hardradio.com/shockwaves/sheehan2.htmlhttp://www.hardradio.com/shockwaves/sheehan1.htmlhttp://mrbigband.info/?id=video&cat=solo&pos=billy_solohttp://myspace.com/billysheehanhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/YouTubehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQZxv1kdrvYhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Billy_Sheehan#cite_ref-9http://www.globalbass.com/archives/oct2001/billy_sheehan.htmhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Billy_Sheehan#cite_ref-8http://www.blabbermouth.net/news.aspx?mode=Article&newsitemID=187862http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Billy_Sheehan#cite_ref-7http://www.mikeportnoy.com/forum/fb.ashx?m=2785902http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Billy_Sheehan#cite_ref-6http://www.mikeportnoy.com/forum/tm.aspx?high&m=2780180&mpage=1#2783837http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Billy_Sheehan#cite_ref-5http://www.buffalonews.com/entertainment/gusto/music/concert-reviews/article972432.ecehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Billy_Sheehan#cite_ref-4http://www.roadrunnerrecords.com/blabbermouth.net/news.aspx?mode=Article&newsitemID=146635http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Billy_Sheehan#cite_ref-3http://www.ultimate-guitar.com/interviews/hit_the_lights/paul_gilbert_people_really_didnt_think_that_you_could_be_a_musician.htmlhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Billy_Sheehan#cite_ref-2http://billysheehan.com/bio.htmlhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Billy_Sheehan#cite_ref-1


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EPsCrazy from the Heat

Albums

CompilationsThe Best

Songs

Related articles

[show ]

Mr. Big

Richie Kotz en

Studio albums

Live albums

Compilation albums

Singles

Related articles

[show ]UFO

Studio albums

Live albums

Compilations
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UFO_(band)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Billy_Sheehan#http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richie_Kotzenhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mr._Big_(band)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Billy_Sheehan#http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Best_(David_Lee_Roth_album)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crazy_from_the_Heat


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Related articlesDiscography

[show ]Explorers Club

Studio albums Age of Impact

Raising the Mammoth

Persondata

Name Sheehan, Billy

Alternative names

Short description American musician

Date of birth March 19, 1953

Place of birth Buffalo , New York , USA

Date of death

Place of death
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billy sheehan

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