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The Sweeney......


phil.c60

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As I have a lot of time on my hands, and I am of a certain age, I have been watching re-runs of this seminal police drama on ITV4. Come on George and all that. I have noticed that almost all the incidental music is bass guitar  with a great tone and it really does add a great deal to the visual. Does anyone know who played it? 

Edited by phil.c60
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Thanks for that WOT! Might have known it would be him. He really was everywhere all at once at the time like some omnipresent bass god wasn't he. Following links from that led me to this:

Scroll through to track 51 at 1:51:06 and it's all there! Great tone, lot's of space and feel with minimalist percussion. Time to get playing along!

Edited by phil.c60
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Don't forget the great Dave Richmond and his Burns Bison. His tracks Heavy lead and Nightwatch in particular. He's on loads of KPM and Bruton library stuff as a composer and player and the bass always sounds amazing. 

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2 hours ago, gaz66 said:

Don't forget the great Dave Richmond and his Burns Bison. His tracks Heavy lead and Nightwatch in particular. He's on loads of KPM and Bruton library stuff as a composer and player and the bass always sounds amazing. 

Indeed, he was a great player.

 Dave played on lots of library/production stuff as well TV sessions back in the days of regular Light Entertainment Music.

He comes into shot from around 01:25.

 

Here he is with his Burns Bison...

 

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^^^

The tune started out life on Waterman's solo album before it was used on 'Minder'. Mo Foster played Bass on the Minder session. He has documented this many times, including talking about the Bass he used. A Kramer, I think.

EDIT:

Here is the Basschat interview 'Rich' did with Mo Foster back in 2012.

 

Edited by lowdown
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Dave Richmond is a brilliant bass player, absolutely fantastic. His work with Serge Gainsbourg is especially good:

Yes, I know that at least three different bass players claim to have played on this album, but as far as I know, Dave Richmond is the most likely candidate.

 

 

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Yes, "Melody Nelson" is definitely Dave Richmond. There was a transcription of the track "Cargo Culte" in a bass mag a few years back and Herbie Flowers [ who was usually credited for it ] is quoted saying "I have a well worn copy of the original recording...I can tell his sound and style a mile away. It's him all the way on this masterpiece. " 

Dave is also on some great Scott Walker solo LP's. The track "The old man's back again" is particularly brilliant. As is his playing on the Labi Siffre recording "It must be love."

Nothing sounds like that Burns Bison with a Pick!

I think he is one of the greatest UK bass players and not rated enough these days. 

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On 30/04/2020 at 11:15, lowdown said:

Indeed, he was a great player.

 Dave played on lots of library/production stuff as well TV sessions back in the days of regular Light Entertainment Music.

He comes into shot from around 01:25.

 

I've always loved the bass part on It Must Be Love,  (surely another contender for the Wilton Felder thread). Dave Richmond is an excellent player (is he using a P bass in this clip?) , and I know guys have to make a living, but this Saturday night light entertainment stuff made. and still makes, me cringe! It's what my Dad imagined I'd be doing when I told him I was going to be a professional bass player. He was horrified when I told him I'd joined a Soul band based in Brussels.

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I think it is a P bass and I know what you mean about the light entertainment stuff ! But I imagine for a forty something session musician in the 1980's the Ronnie Hazlehurst gig was a nice steady earner. A gig for life or at least until the death of the bandleader! Shame they didn't do The Two Ronnies theme, that's properly funky.

 

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6 minutes ago, gaz66 said:

I think it is a P bass and I know what you mean about the light entertainment stuff ! But I imagine for a forty something session musician in the 1980's the Ronnie Hazlehurst gig was a nice steady earner. A gig for life or at least until the death of the bandleader! Shame they didn't do The Two Ronnies theme, that's properly funky.

 

Yes, you are right. Those TV Orchestra gigs were steady earners back then.

Actually, that particular Orchestra had a few of the regular musicians from the busy TV and Film session scene at the time.

Agree about The Two Ronnies theme.

Here is the full length version.

 

 

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1 hour ago, chris_b said:

I've always loved the bass part on It Must Be Love,  (surely another contender for the Wilton Felder thread). Dave Richmond is an excellent player (is he using a P bass in this clip?) , and I know guys have to make a living, but this Saturday night light entertainment stuff made. and still makes, me cringe! It's what my Dad imagined I'd be doing when I told him I was going to be a professional bass player. He was horrified when I told him I'd joined a Soul band based in Brussels.

It's usually about this time, in a thread about British session Bassists of the past, who sometimes played with a pick, that Russ Stableford pops up, Chris.

:D

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The early episodes are also fun for seeing Garfield Morgan drifting in and out of the series, before he became the third key member of the cast. 

Morgan used to live in Turnham Green (Chiswick) at the other end of my road, I'd see him all the time walking up to Chiswick High Road. 

In a Dennis Waterman twist, Rula Lenska used to live about 100 yards further up ... they must have been bumping into each other all the time.

 

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