MAY 2017 BUDDY 13
2 0 1 7 T E X A S B A S S T O R N A D O S
The introduction of musicalamplification added a special di-mension for the bassist: presence,that “oomph” you can feel as wellas hear. No longer was the bassistconsigned to the musical shad-ows. This new punch gave thebassist a way to cut through eventhe loudest hot-dogging guitarist.The guitarist might catch your ear,but the bassist can actually touchyou. They can use that presence inmany ways, from a teasing nudgeto an irresistible groove, from asnaky walking bassline to a power-ful window-rattling roar. If theguitarist’s musical contributions arecerebral, those of the bassist arevisceral. The power to generate amusical pulse gives the bass playera sensual role.
Nonetheless, today’s bassist stilllabors in obscurity compared withtheir more glamorous six-stringed(or more) bandmates. Even BUDDY
Texas Tornado honors, which be-gan in 1978, didn’t include bass-ists until 1981 (Dusty Hill andSteve Williams), and since then,most of our Texas Tornado induc-tions have had bassists and guitar-ists in the same issue.
But just as we did in May 1998,BUDDY wants to recognize these bot-tom-line players in their own is-sue. The Lone Star State has pro-duced many notable bassists inevery genre. Congratulations to thenew crop of Buddy Texas Tornadoinductees – may they spank theirplanks– ’til the cows come home.
—Chuck Flores
Jerry AbramsBORN IN KENTUCKY, JERRYAbrams can recall the exact datehe moved to Texas, it was Au-gust 16, 1977. While the moveitself might have been signifi-cant, it may be the fact that it wasthe same day Elvis died thatetched it into his long-termmemory. Abrams has been faith-fully holding down the bottomline for multiple artists over yearsin the Texas Music scene.
Tommy Alverson — both on tourand in the studio; working on fivealbums and spending eight yearson the road. He’s recorded andplayed with numerous Texasstandouts including Ed Burleson,Houston Marchman, Terry Rasorand Amos Staggs.
Since 2012, Abrams has beenthe bass player for Jason Eady, andworked on the April release of hisself-titled album, Jason Eady. It’sthe kind of music perfectly suitedfor Abrams’ playing style and astand-up bass, which is as fluid,melodic and steady as anyone inthe craft.
In the atomic structure of asong, there’s a rhythm section con-tinuously holding the nucleus to-gether. When you start messingwith the nucleus, things get reallybad really quick. Accomplishedbass players like Jerry Abrams havea nuanced understanding of theircraft. Abrams explains, “I enjoy thecreative part of supporting the songfirst and foremost, that’s the mostimportant job of a rhythm section.”
Asked to define his own style,Abrams describes it metaphysically,“I try to channel Bob Moore’s styleof playing upright when it comes tocountry music. I also try to ap-proach the electric bass like I wouldan upright bass by using as manyopen notes and space to let themusic breathe. Melodic musicalbass lines are the most important inmy book.”
Abrams has a pretty stark set upfor both his stage and studio work.Most notable is his 1960 blondeKay upright bass; he also uses acustom Glendale “Dreamcaster”1950’s style P-Bass; a 1973 FenderBlackguard Tele bass; and a silversparkle Danelectro bass. Theplugged-in lows are pushed out ofan Ampeg classic 4x10 and anAmpeg B4 SVT head.
Aram DoroffARAM DOROFF PLAYED HISfirst paying gig when he was 14.His bass guitar heroes were theclassic studio bassists of the ’60sand ’70s – Carol Kaye, Joe Osborn,and of course, Chuck Rainey.
The discipline and versatility ofthese legendary players illustratedto Aram that chops; however im-pressive, are never more importantthan the song itself. Thus, he de-scribed his playing approach —Always serve the song first; Sup-port the artist you’re backing; Lockin with the Drummer; Have bigears and listen to what being playedaround you, Be prepared, learn thematerial.
The inspiration led him to ma-jor in music at Columbus StateUniversity and then to study at theMusicians Institute in Hollywood,CA. As a touring musician he trav-eled much of the US and severalcountries.
“He’s one of the most gifted
bass players I’ve ever played with,”enthused head Stratoblaster andDIGF main man, Jimmy Wallace.
“He is the “official bass player” ofthe Dallas International Guitar Fes-tival. He (along with Mike Gage,DIGF mainstay on drums) backsup everyone who comes in withouttheir band, from Robben FordSonny Landruth, Derek St. Holmes,George Lynch, and on and on. He’ssimply the best!”
“Since becoming the housebassist for the DIGF, I’ve been ableto play a wide variety of musicalstyles on the highest of levels.” Aramsaid. “It’s challenging and requiresa lot of preparation.
My skills as a chart writer havedefinitely improved, as has my ear.”
His instruments of choice:Fender Jazz and Precision Basses,Music man Stingray bass and Vin-tage Bluesman basses. His endorse-ments are with Vintage Bluesmanand Aguilar Amplification
Ed GrundyED GRUNDY’S MUSICAL CA-reer spans some 54 years andbegan in his seventh grade bandplaying snare drum. He soontook up 6-string guitar under theguidance of his cousin Nick Tay-lor and continued until he was asa bassist.
In 1965 they became TheCrowd. They also performed at“Teen A GoGo” and other KFJZsponsored local events. The Crowd
was signed by Capital Records andreleased “Mary Ann Regrets.”
In 1967 the band added LeePickens and Stevie Hill. This lineup continued until discovered byGrand Funk Railroad producerTerry Knight, became Bloodrockand signed by Capital Records.
Bloodrock released seven stu-dio albums, a double live album,several compilation projects and17 singles. The second album,Bloodrock II, contained the hit“DOA” and was certified Gold; sell-ing more than 500,000 copies.
After the Live release, JimRutledge and Lee Pickens left topursue solo careers. The groupadded Warren Ham to a line upconsisting of Stevie Hill, Nick Tay-lor, Rick Cobb and Ed Grundy.The group recorded three more
studio albums with Bill Ham andMatt Betton eventually replacingTaylor and Cobb.
Grundy co-produced the lastthree Bloodrock albums along withPeter Granet and Bob Pickering.Grundy’s songwriting credits in-clude writing or co-writing 14tracks on Bloodrock’s first 4 al-bums.
After Bloodrock, Ed Grundytook a break from music to pursuea career as a registered respiratorytherapist; eventually earning aMaster’s degree and teaching at ElCentro College.
He never strayed far from mu-sic, playing bass in local bands orparticipating in jam sessions orbenefits in DFW area clubs. In 2005Bloodrock reunited for a reunionconcert to benefit keyboardist StevieHill who was stricken with leuke-mia. For the past seven yearsGrundy was a member of Will OCreek. Grundy recently joined TheMark Ballew Band. The veteranlineup features Mark Ballew, BobbieEpps, Shelley Hall, Mark Lawrenceand Randy Rietz. The band is cur-rently in rehearsal preparing tosupport the release of Mark Ballew’snew CD Casual Glance, later thisyear.
Grundy’s primary bass is a 4string Schecter Stiletto. He alsoplays a Strenberger 6 string bass.His amp is Mark II Bass AMP withone 4x10 and one 1x15 cabs. Heobtained one an Acoustic 360 rigshe played with Bloodrock and is inthe process of restoring it now.
“Cadillac” JohnsonSINCE 1964, MICHAEL“Cadillac” Johnson has been lay-ing down the groove for some ofthe finest bands in Texas. Born inHouston, he began playing gui-tar at age 10, but at 14 switchedto bass and began playing pro-fessionally. In 1969, he playedbass for ZZ Top. It was his friendBilly Gibbons who bestowed hisnickname by introducing himonstage as “The Cadillac of BassPlayers”.
Moving to Fort Worth in 1973,Cadillac joined Lou Ann Barton inher first band Rockola. He found ahome of backing up Robert Ealey athis New Bluebird Nite Club. (Hecontinued performing with Ealeyuntil his death in 2006). At theBluebird, he met Freddie Cisnerosand they formed The Blasting Caps.
In 2002, he was ordained andbegan a ministry focused on help-ing those battling addiction. In2010 Johnson released a Gospel/Blues CD with his band The Rev-elators titled Knee Bone Station
Johnson has played for andshared stages with Lightnin ’Hopkins, Johnny Winter, AlanHaynes, Chuck Berry, Bo Diddley,Stevie Ray Vaughan, JimmieVaughan, Kim Wilson, DoyleBramhall Sr, Omar Dykes, RaySharpe, Holland K Smith, BuddyWhittington, Johnny Reno, GuthrieKennard, Buddy Guy, BB King,Albert Collins, Cornell DuPree andmany more. He currently plays forThe Dylan Bishop Band.
He remains a fixture of the DFWBlues scene. Not one to rest on thelaurels of his extraordinary career,his motto remains “The Best Is YetTo Come.”
Billy Gibbons said “CadillacJohnson is part of our collective
conscience of influences along withthe Vaughan brothers Jimmy andStevie, Doyle Bramhall I & II, RedPharaoh, Doug Sahm, Johnny Win-ter, The Fabulous Thunderbirdsand B.B. King.”
Cadillac Johnson currently usesGenz Benz Streamliner 900 ampalong with Aguilar 410 cabs. Hiselectric basses are 1962 Kay Hol-low body and a 1992 Dan ElectroReissue both with black nylonstrings, Fender 1951 Bass Reissue (’92 Jap) with LaBella JamesJamerson Flatwound Strings, up-right Bass is a 1941 Kay M-1 withLenzner Gut Strings, with RealistLifeLine pickup and a Fishman ProPlatinum EQ.
Patrick Smith“MUSIC IS MY LIFE. I SPENDevery day playing, teaching, do-ing studio work, rehearsing, orworking on music in some otherway. I have a bunch of camerasand I make videos for the bandsthat I play with and people hireme to work with their bands aswell. I also play drums in a rockband named BadKid and we arecurrently working on an album.”
Hardly the words of an under-achiever.
Patrick Smith started out as gui-tar player, but after five frustratingyears looking for the ‘right’ bassplayer, he took over the bass chairhimself.
“A lot of people that go fromone instrument to the other saythat the previous influenced thecurrent. In my situation it was theopposite,” he explained. “The moreI learned about bass the better I gotat guitar. Bass came more naturallyfor me, and in turn it made theguitar make more sense.”
After making the ‘switch,’Patrick has kept himself busy, con-stantly exploring, learning andimmersing himself in all thingsmusic. His is a combination of hu-mility, quiet confidence, a genuinepassion for music and a seeminglyboundless energy and joy. It’s notjust his onstage appearance, theway he tosses his incredibly longlocks back feverishly; it’s also the
TRADITIONALLY, THE ROLE OF THE BASS-Tist has been to support and to glue togetherTthe divergent elements of a musical group.Bridging the gap between beat and melody, thebassist reinforces the rhythmic underpinnings ofthe band’s sound, while at the same time fleshingout songs musically, whether by pushing the root ofthe chord, choosing the right harmonic voicing, orby coming up with the ideal bassline.
Buddy Bass Texas Tornados announcedCongratulations to the Class of 2017 Buddy Texas Tornados of Bass
visceral approach to his job asbassman, attacking the blues formswith a more muscular, insistentgroove.
After an intense two-year stintwith Lance Lopez, Patrick is nowhandlingthe blues chores as a full-time member of Jim Suhler & Mon-key Beat. They are currently book-ing a European tour for this Au-gust.
Smith currently has three elec-tric basses (and an upright and twoacoustic). His 1978 P Bass, a mid’80s Japanese Squier Jazz Bass, anda 2014 Gibson EB Bass. He addedthat they all sound so different thatsometimes uses a different one songto song. “My P Bass has a thick andheavy tone, the Jazz Bass is poppierand excellent for funky stuff, andthe Gibson has a tone that allows itto just kind of stay out of the way ofthe other instruments. Also, theGibson is a 5 string so it becomesmy default for certain genres, likecountry music or playing atchurch.”
Bill WhitbeckBill Whitbeck was born in Wash-ington D.C. in 1956 but movedto La Porte, Texas in 1960. Billstarted playing trombone in sixthgrade, but switched to electricbass in eighth grade when all hisbuddies were playing six strings.
He played in various bandsaround the Gulf Coast area until1976 when he moved to SanMarcos, Tx to play in a countrydancehall band. Bill states that helearned a lot about music playingCheatham Street Warehouse in SanMarcos and Gruene Hall. He alsolearned a lot hanging with the Acein the Hole band, featuring GeorgeStrait. In 1995, he auditioned for ajob playing bass for Robert EarlKeen and was hired for the job.
His musical influences includeMcCartney, Jamerson, Jaco, GarryTallent and many others. He seeshis role in Robert Earl Keen’s bandas support for the singer and thesong and an alliance with the drum-mer.
He’s played on all Keen’s recordssince then, starting with the #2Live Dinner album. That would bea total of twelve albums. He’s mostlyrecorded with a 1983 Fender Pre-cision bass, 1966 Hofner andEnglehardt upright. For live shows,he favors a Jerry Jones copy of aDanelectro Longhorn. Whitbeckhas performed with Steve Marriott,John Lee Hooker, Flaco Jimenez,and George Strait. He has co-writ-ten with Robert Keen, RodneyHayden, The Greencards, FredEaglesmith and others.
A recent highlight for BillWhitbeck, was playing in the Aus-tin City Limits house band duringtheir Hall of Fame induction ofBonnie Raitt, Kris Kristofferson andB.B. King. ■
For many years, Abrams hasbeen the steady bass presence for
Jerry Abrams
Aram Doroff
Ed Grundy
Bill Whitbeck
Patrick Smith
Cadillac Johnson
