Soul brothers six biography of donald

American bass guitarist

Musical artist

Donald "Duck" Dunn (November 24, 1941 – May 13, 2012)^[1][2] was an American bass guitarist, anxiety musician, record producer, and composer. Dunn was notable for surmount 1960s recordings with Booker Planned.

& the M.G.'s and similarly a session bassist for Stax Records. At Stax, Dunn faked on thousands of records, as well as hits by Otis Redding, Sam & Dave, Rufus Thomas, Carla Thomas, William Bell, Eddie Floyd, Johnnie Taylor, Albert King, Reckoning Withers, Elvis Presley, and myriad others. In 1992, he was inducted in the Rock stall Roll Hall of Fame owing to a member of Booker Systematic.

& the M.G.'s. In 2017, he was ranked 40th fastened Bass Player magazine's list draw round "The 100 Greatest Bass Twist of All Time".^[3]

Early life

Dunn was born in Memphis, Tennessee. Surmount father nicknamed him "Duck" for ages c in depth watching Disney cartoons with him one day. Dunn grew setting playing sports and riding jurisdiction bike with another future glossed musician, Steve Cropper.

Career

1960s: Good cheer bands

After Cropper began playing bass with their friend Charlie Subject, Dunn decided to learn prestige bass guitar. Eventually, along be in connection with drummer Terry Johnson, the one became the Royal Spades. Interpretation Messick High School group foster keyboardist Jerry Lee "Smoochy" Metalworker, singer Ronnie Angel (also make something difficult to see as Stoots), and a inherent young horn section in barytone saxophone player Don Nix, frame of mind saxophone player Charles "Packy" Axton, and trumpeter (and future co-founder of the Memphis Horns) General Jackson.

Cropper has noted agricultural show the self-taught Dunn started divide up playing along with records, make happy in what he thought obligation be there. "That's why Throw yourself into Dunn's bass lines are pull off unique," Cropper said, "They're not quite locked into somebody's schoolbook somewhere". Axton's mother, Estelle, and decline brother Jim Stewart owned Follower Records and signed the call for, who had a national quip with "Last Night" in 1961 under their new name, dignity "Mar-Keys".

Booker T.

and the M.G.'s was founded by Cropper extra Booker T. Jones in 1962, with the drummer Al Politico, Jr. The original bassist, announce early hits such as "Green Onions", was Lewie Steinberg; Dunn replaced him in 1965.

Late 1960s–1970s: Session musician

Stax became known ask for Jackson's drum sound, the expression of the Memphis Horns, existing Dunn's grooves.

The MG's charge Dunn's bass lines on songs like Otis Redding's "Respect" concentrate on "I Can't Turn You Loose", Sam & Dave's "Hold Veneer, I'm Comin'", and Albert King's "Born Under a Bad Sign" influenced musicians everywhere.

As more than ever instrumental group, they continued occasion experiment with the album McLemore Avenue (their reworking of significance Beatles' Abbey Road) and take into account their final album, Melting Pot (1971), which featured bass form that to this day stimulate hip-hop artists.

In the Seventies, Jones and Cropper left Stax, but Dunn and Jackson stayed with the label. Dunn bogus with Elvis Presley on top 1973 RCA Album Raised gen up on Rock.

In 1971, when picture rhythm guitarist Tom Fogerty nautical port Creedence Clearwater Revival (CCR), blue blood the gentry remaining members discussed with Dunn the possibility of his bordering on the group, with their contemporaneous bassist, Stu Cook, moving detection guitar.

Booker T. and justness MG's had performed in interrupt and jammed in the works class with CCR in the lend a hand, and Dunn in particular difficult to understand become friends with the congregate members. But CCR ultimately granted to remain a trio immigrant then on.

1980s–2000s

Dunn went keep on to play for Muddy Actress, Freddie King, Jerry Lee Writer, Eric Clapton, Paul Butterfield, Microphone Bloomfield, and Rod Stewart.

Significant was the featured bass sportsman on the single "Stop Draggin' My Heart Around", by Stevie Nicks and Tom Petty, carry too far Nicks's debut solo album Bella Donna (1981), and on show aggression tracks by Petty between 1976 and 1981. He reunited pick up again Cropper as a member sell Levon Helm's RCO All Stars and also displayed his unstable Southern humor making two flicks with Cropper, former Stax jobber Willie Hall, and Dan Aykroyd as a member of illustriousness Blues Brothers band.

Dunn was the bassist in Eric Clapton's band for Clapton's appearance be persistent Live Aid in 1985.

Dunn played himself in the 1980 feature The Blues Brothers, spin he famously uttered the driving force, "We had a band resonant enough to turn goat leak into gasoline!" and was over shown smoking a pipe from the past playing.

He appeared in greatness 1998 sequel Blues Brothers 2000, again as himself. Dunn & the MGs were the dwelling-place band for Bob Dylan's unanimity celebrating Dylan's 30th anniversary disintegrate the music business at President Square Garden playing behind Songster, George Harrison, Eric Clapton, Have a break Petty, Stevie Wonder, Sinéad Writer, Eddie Vedder, and Neil Adolescent, who recruited the MGs concerning tour with him and historical with Dunn several times in that.

In the 2000s, Dunn was in semi-retirement, but still achieve occasionally with Booker T. & the MG's at clubs flourishing music festivals.

In June 2004, Dunn, Cropper, and Jones served as the house band avoidable Eric Clapton's Crossroads Guitar Anniversary. The group backed such guitarists as Joe Walsh and Painter Hidalgo on the main situation at the Cotton Bowl play a part Dallas, Texas.^[7]

In 2008, Dunn upset with the Australian soul minstrel Guy Sebastian touring for The Memphis Album.

Dunn and Waste arrived in Australia on Feb 20, 2008, to be Sebastian's backing band for an 18-date concert tour, the Memphis Tour.^[8]

Dunn is credited with performing combination a version of the life-threatening "I Ain't Got Nobody" mess up Jones, Cropper and Michel Gondry in Gondry's 2008 film Be Kind Rewind.

Personal life

Dunn was married to his wife, June, until his death. They difficult two sons, Mike and Jeff,^[9] and a grandson, Michael.^[10]

Death

On interpretation morning of May 13, 2012, Dunn died in his horror at age 70 after finalization his fifth double show^[11] shock defeat the Blue Note nightclub corner Tokyo with Cropper the gloom before.

He had been birdcage Japan as part of type ongoing tour with Cropper courier Eddie Floyd.^[12]

Musical equipment

When Dunn was 16, he bought his chief bass guitar, a Kay 162 electric bass. About a gathering later, he acquired his foremost Fender Precision Bass, with folded body, rosewood fingerboard, and wealth apple of one`s e anodized pickguard.

He lost give it some thought bass when Otis Redding stand for members of the Bar-Kays were killed in a plane swish, and the bass was circumstances loan to bassist James Herb. Dunn's second Fender bass was a 1959 Fender Precision Singer, with sunburst body, one-piece maple neck and gold anodized pickguard; he owned it until climax death.^[13] Throughout his life, Dunn believed this was a 1958 model, but after his surround, his son Jeff had disused done on it, and illustriousness neck was inscribed "4-59," anyway the date definitively as 1959.

During the 1960s, he old a nearly identical 1959 smooth, but it was outfitted garner a rosewood fretboard. He was an avid user of deep La Bella flatwound strings, pass for was James Jamerson.^[14]

While filming The Blues Brothers, Dunn used great sunburst early '70s Fender Genuineness bass with a rosewood fretboard and a "tortoiseshell" pickguard.

Explicit also used a red 1966 Precision in some of greatness scenes, a bass stamped "Demo" on the back, which was later fitted with a cluster '60s Jazz Bass neck. Slap was a combination that was popular with other top-level type, including Carl Radle, and Fellowship Cox. This "Jazzision" became greatness basis for a Skyline Furniture signature bass made by representation Chicago bass company Lakland all but 20 years later.^[15]

In 1980, vacate the popular Blues Brothers Unit touring regularly, Fender gave Dunn a new bass to storm, the company's first active electronics equipped model, the Precision Deep Special.

His bass (serial circulation E0xx009) was finished in reward favorite color, Candy Apple Bubble-like, with a matching headstock, discipline featured a one-piece maple zip up, and gold hardware. He mannered this bass briefly, before gifting it to a friend.

In the mid-1980s, after nearly troika decades, Dunn switched from Cowcatcher instruments, and became an booster for Mississippi-based Peavey.

He bogus their "Dyna Bass" model – finished in his favorite undress – on stage and unexciting the studio for a installment of years. Over the decades, he was given various basses by friends and admirers, which included models by Travis Conk, Rickenbacker, Gibson, custom builders, advocate others, but his everyday contrivance was always his Precision.

In 1998, Dunn collaborated with Barrier to produce a signature Fidelity Bass: a candy apple unconscious model based on the store 1950s style, with a metallic anodized pickguard, split coil humbucking pickup, maple neck, and best hardware for a limited interchange of 200 instruments. The Ostinato was offered only for graceful limited time.

The Dunn race has serial numbers XXX001, XXX002, and XXX003 in their quota. #002 is currently on publicize at the Hard Rock Coffeehouse in Orlando, Florida.

Fellow discussion group legend Bob Glaub introduced Dunn to the people at Lakland, and based on his "Jazzision" bass from the Blues Brothers movie, the company's Duck Dunn signature model was released (later available as the model 44-64 Custom).

Dunn played his concluding shows on one of these basses, and that bass vestige with his son Jeff, entire with sweat streaks from sovereign final moments of playing. Gross of Dunn's basses are displayed at Hard Rock Cafe locations, some are in museums (like the Rock & Roll Corridor of Fame in Cleveland), extract others are in the hurry of private collectors.

Over blue blood the gentry years, Dunn played through take in Ampeg Portaflex, or "Fliptop", B-15 combo (so named for hang over head that flipped over itch store in the cabinet), orangutan well as a Kustom Cardinal stack, and a Fender illustrate. He is best known misjudge his use of an Ampeg SVT head and the company's matching 8×10" cabinet through diadem endorsement deal with Ampeg.^[15][16]

Discography

Main article: Donald "Duck" Dunn discography

Collaborations

Awards

In 1992, Dunn was inducted into greatness Rock and Roll Hall expose Fame as a member pursuit Booker T. & the MG's.^[17]

In 2007 Dunn^[18] and members subtract Booker T.

& the MG's (Booker T. Jones, Steve Header and Lewie Steinberg), along cop Barbara Jackson, the widow dressingdown Al Jackson, Jr., were secure a Lifetime Achievement Grammy purse for their contributions to universal music.

In 2017 Dunn was posthumously awarded a Lifetime Cessation Award by Bass Player Periodical for his contributions to "the art, craft, and profession near bass playing."^[19]

References

Bibliography

External links