To My Fellow Veteran Session Players..Red, Bill, Brent, etc

[flyingb54]

A few of us on this forum have been very blessed to have worked with alot of famous names, as well as playing on hits, concert tours and TV shows. Bill, Red Brent etc..
I pose this question to them.
"Who would say was your biggest inspiration as a guitarist, as well as in your career as a session player?" Maybe it was someone who took you under there wing, gave you a break..showed a little kindness.
Nobody knows as much as we do, how tight and closed that circle of success is. Who helped you get in?

I believe alot of TDPRIers would be surprised and interested in hearing about the certain unknown players from the past who inspired and helped some of us on to careers.

In a forum like this, we tend to focus on Clarence, Danny G, and a few big high profile names. But there were others, who's names have vanished into the past, but who's inspiration and maybe helping hand, helped many of us old timers get a foot in the door and go on to a life long career.
I think this would make a great read.
Red? Bill? Brent?...Ill start mine in a few minutes.
JB
www.johnbeland.com

[Telemarkman]

John, that would be fantastic !

Always love to hear those stories...... :D

[51mike]

+1 Johnny, I love this sort of stuff.

[flyingb54]

Three guys were responsible for getting me started in the LA session scene back in late 60s.
Dan Dalton was a record producer who had just scored a few pop hits, and he was a hot name in town when I blew in off the street in 67. He spotted me playing at the Troubadour on Monday nights, when they had the open mike night, called the Monday Night Hoot. I was kind of a hired gun at the club, playing my guitar behind various singer / songwriters, who wanted another support guitar behind them onstage, acts like Glen Frey & JD Souther, Kris Kristofferson and others.

Dalton liked me and my playing and signed me to his production company where I began playing on jingles, TV themes and then master recordings alongside of players like James Burton, Hal Blaine, Dick Rossmini and others. Dan then got me a gig playing guitar on the Glen Campbell Show and things really took off from there. Dalton litterally found me as a run away, living in the park in Hollywood. In fact, he had to call my parents and get legal permission forme to work with him LOL.

At the same time, 2 others were instrumental in my rise as a session player.
Larry Murray was the MC of the Troubadour, and a very hot producer as well. His usual guitar stabel included Dick Rossmini & Clarence White. Larry always liked my acoustic playing and started using my on dates, where I began working with a higher calibur of players like Bernie Leadon, David Jackson Buddy Emmons and others. Larry went on to produce me in Swampwater, where we recorded in Nashville and LA working alongside of such legendary session cats as Jimmy Day, Curly Challer, the Blackberries & others.

Finnally, the third was Clarence White. Clarence became a friend of mine when I started Linda Ronstadt's band,Swampwater with Gib Guilbeau, who was Clarence's best friend. Clarence used to throw me sessions that he, for one reason or another, couldn't do.
In town, I was one of maybe three working BBender players who played a variety of acoustics too.
Thru Clarence I started playing with Carol King, Russ Kunkle,
Lee Sklar, Jessie davis, Ry Cooder and many more of the very hip underground A Team of players.
It was a tremendous break for me and put me in a very prestigious position, far and above playing jingles and pop records. Clarence was a prince of a guy, often loaning me various pieces of his gear to do the dates.

All these guys never "had" to help me. They were well established and way out of my league, and I was just some silly kid. But they took the time, lent a hand and helped me on my way. I never ever forgot their help.
I was one lucky guy to have landed inHollywood at a time when people would do that for you.
Golden times.
JB
www.johnbeland.com

[Telemarkman]

Redd, Bill, Brent, etc.(don't know him), I'd love to hear your stories.

And John, all those names you mention, are on my album covers from the 70's. 8)

Didn't know you played with Cooder - I love his earlier stuff.

Thank you again John , for sharing this piece of history with us. :D

[slauson slim]

Dick Rosmini and Jessie Ed Davis......

[El Capitan]

you ever work with Waddy Watchell?
Love his guitar playing.. (and yours too)

[flyingb54]

Although we worked with alot of the same musicians and artists, I never had the chance to work with Waddy. I loved his playing on the Karla Bonnoff albums as well as with Keith Richards.
He's a cool player.
JB
www.johnbeland.com

[getbent]

John,

Any comments on Kenny Edwards, Ed Black, Andrew Gold, Dan Dugmore? JD Souther? Did you know Arnie Moore or Chris Whalen?

[flyingb54]

Andrew is a very talented musician, who is directly responsible for Linda's major pop success thru his fantastic arranging skills on "Youre No Good" and "When Will I Be Loved". Kenny Edwards has been a staple in the folk rock circle of LA for years as a sideman. I don't know much about any of Kenny's solo work, other than the fact he's been visible on the road with Linda as well as Carla Bonnoff.

Edwards and Gold, along withBonnoff & Wendy Waldman were in this little folk group called Bryndle, a relatively onscure group in LA at the time (60's) . Their website claims differently. Individually, I remember them hanging around the Troubadour, but not as any band called Bryndle. I thnk they were popular at another club in LA called McCabes.

Bonnoff and Waldman are very talented writers. Bonnoff, an exceptional writer. In the 80's, Waldman tried to score as a Nashville producer, but nothing much happened. Gold had a hit and major TV theme to his credit, but thats all I know about him. I'm sure he went on to accomplish quite more over the years. Last I heard he was in a Byrds tribute band.

I had the chance to play with he and Kenny in Linda's band soon after they recorded You're No Good. At the time, I found both he and Kenny Edwards very distant and a bit full of ego, and thus, to Linda's surprise, I turned down the gig...I believe it was 1975. No regrets at all. We were all young then, very successful and full of cockiness. I was no different.
Andrew Gold kind of faded away after Linda's hits changed direction. Too bad, cause he was a very talented guy who did some great work with her.
JB
www.johnbeland.com

[flyingb54]

(Dont mean to hog this thread)
Yes, I did alot of work with JD in the late 60's and 70's. Together with Glen Frey, (as Longbranch & Pennywhistle) we played a number of clubs throughout the LA area.
You can see a rare pic of us on my website.

I also worked with JD on many sessions inthe early 70's, including Larry Murray's solo album for Verve in 1971.
We were very good friends, and both he and Glen were two of the greatest duo's I had ever heard since the Everly Brothers. Those two guys could harmonize to a firecracker. It was no surprise they scored amazing success. We all knew how good they were..years before the Eagles came to be.
I had a ball playing guitar with them. 2 jumbo Gibsons and my Guild F50, and some of the greatest harmony singing you could ever imagine. Lots of great music....Mega fun and exciting. We all knew we were going somewhere.
JB
www.johnbeland.com

[Guitarzan]

John B:

For clarification of the order of several profund events in musical history that may interest the rest of the guys here, I have a few of questions:

Were Frey and Souther in a recording deal with Jimmy Bowen's Amos label at the time you were playing with them?

Were you recording in sessions with Bowen or Mike Post in LA in the late 60's or early 70's?

Did you form Swampwater after Glen, Don, Randy et al left Rondstat to form The Eagles?


I was flipping around on TV the other night and saw some TV show with the initial credits being flashed and the music was done by Mike Post. He's still at it after all these years and many shows since the Rockford Files theme. Surprisingly, Jimmy Bowen has apparently remained retired, and I have not heard anything out of him.

[getbent]

John, Thanks for your memories on this stuff... I was pretty young back then (13-14) and my sister and her husband worked for a radio station (KHJ) and she worked at a couple different studios and just loved watching some of those guys play etc.. huge influences on me.. going to Lucy's El Adobe etc late at night as a kid... There is a great story about "you're no good" and the solo that Andrew played on it... that Linda had gone home and Andrew, a huge beatles fan who hated those 'witch woman' 'evil ways' type songs (1m 4M 57) decided to record a beatles era solo... Linda hated it but Peter Asher and John Boylan loved it and so it was kept and is a fairly well respected solo and does have a lot of 'george' in it. I wrote Andrew not too long ago about the "heatwave" solo and how he created his unique sound (the twangy wire choir) and here was his response for anyone who wants to try it... I don't have the same compressors, but I have been able to approximate it... anyway, from Andrew

It was, as a lot of my solos were back then, riect through the board. A 60's strat, going through a diewxr box, into the board, and through 2 ureii1176 compressors for maximum sustain...also a tiny bit of slapback echo set around 200 ms or so but keep it JUST audible. It builds up in 6 tracks otherwise)....and each of the notes were doubled, making it a 6 guitar, solo (2 X 3 parts). The guitar was either on the treble pickup, or the treble and middle pickup out of phase setting (on most modern starts they have 5 position switch but back then, we had to balance the toggle between the two). Also, it was a slide solo, too, not regular picking and fingering...and then it was mixed with the melody on one side, and the harmonies on the other...which I haven't done since...for some reason....so...there you have it. Good Luck.

Pretty fun when some things are demystified.... and I thought he mostly played Les Pauls!

[flyingb54]

Glen and JD were signed to Amos when I was playing with them on occasion. Tom Thacker produced their one and only album. They recorded the album using Burton, Jim Gordon, Doug Kershaw, Joe Osborne and a cast of plent. The neat thing about that album was that it was all recorded live in the studio.
Swampwater was Linda's first solo band. Formed in late 69 by Gib, myself along with Eric White (later replaced by Thad Maxwell) and Stan Pratt. We recorded 2 albums for Starday King (now rereleased and available on Amazon) and RCA. We recorded in New Mexico, Hollywood and Nashville in 70 & 71. We can also be heard behind Linda on Celebration-Big Sur Festival 1970, now also available on CD. We can also be seen behind Linda on reruns of the Johnny Cash Show & Mike Douglas Show.
Swampwater later became Arlo Guthrie's band, working with him on City Of New Orleans and touring America in 72. Thats around when the Eagles hooked up behing Linda. However, they "weren't" the Eagles then..just various players who eventually formed the Eagles as we know them.
Jimmy Bowen is still semi active. Im in touch with him still. He just finished Haggards last album.
JB
www.johnbeland.com

[bluetele54]

...before I moved to Mendo,it was the 3 Kings,Buddy Guy,Little Milton,and the saturday country music shows that KTVU channel 2 had on...But,in Mendo,it was Joel Scott Hill,Chris Ethridge,Gene Clark,and Gene Parsons...Gene had Clarence's Vibrolux-Reverb,and I had a chance to play my ' 54 Tele through it,as well as one of the b-benders he had in his shop at the time...this was in 1974...I'll never forget the time GP handed me a beat up old Martin and had me play(as best I could) some rhythm for him as he played banjo...after a while,when we stopped,he quietly said,"I havn't done that since Clarence died",it became rather silent...I remember hearing the Byrds with Gene,Clarence,Skip and Roger,as they headlined the Fillmore West the first time I ever went to the venue...I already knew about Clarence,and I was excited to hear him!!!...I also met Gib when he came north to Mendo,as he was also a good friend of Gene's(met Clarence's brother too,but I forget his name)...Joel Scott Hill was very supportive of me as well,and he recorded a record called "LA Getaway" with Chris and John Barbata...Booker T lived there too!!!...it was a very heady time for this,then,19 year old kid playing Tele and harmonica with all of these experienced hands...I met them when they were playing at an outdoor concert in Boonville,and I had my harps,so when I heard them play "Bring it to Jerome",I knew the harp part,as I had the record...thank God the mic was live,and when Joel looked over and smiled,I was in!!!...never'll forget that moment...then,there was Gene Clark...rest his soul...Hey JB,did you ever play on any of Gib's solo records???...I have 3 of them...this subject made me think of so many good memories...

[getbent]

Cool stuff on the Mendocino scene... I love that area! saw a great hippie band there many years ago at a street fair... wish I could remember more about it...

John, how about Richard Bowden... was he in some of the linda R bands? Did he have a bender back then, I know that in later years (I saw him once in NashVegas) he used one, but did he have an early one?

[flyingb54]

I'm probably on his solo records. We did tons of stuff together back then. If you throw me some titles I can be more precise. I know that he's featured some Swampwater cuts on his albums..Im on all those.

Richard Bowden was actually with Linda when he and Don Henley had a band together, before the Eagles. I believe their band name was Shilo.
Richard is a great guy, and funny as anyone I have ever known. He's also a tremendous musician who worked with me when the Burritos had their country hits.
Richard was with Linda in between Swampwater and what was to be The Eagles.
JB
www.johnbeland.com

[flyingb54]

Nope..I dont recall him ever having a bender, as he played a Les Paul every time I saw him.
JB
www.johnbeland.com

[Guitarzan]

Originally Posted by flyingb54

Richard Bowden was actually with Linda when he and Don Henley had a band together, before the Eagles. I believe their band name was Shilo.
Richard is a great guy, and funny as anyone I have ever known. He's also a tremendous musician who worked with me when the Burritos had their country hits.
Richard was with Linda in between Swampwater and what was to be The Eagles.
JB
www.johnbeland.com

Interesting how the guys mentioned in this thread crossed paths so many times in California and ended up going on to bigger things. Jim Ed Norman is the name I've known from Shiloh most prominently after Don Henley.

[Bill Hullett]

OK John....You asked!

When i first came to Nashville (1978) I knew absolutley no one....period....and I moved here exclusively to become a session guy. (WOW....I was naieve) I tried all over town to try and get appointments asking people to hire me (probably the worst way to "try and make it") No one would give me the time of day....By chance I went to Possum Hollar (a club that George Jones owned....torn down loooong ago) and Pete Drake was playing there (a very rare live gig for him) raising money for a childrens home or something....

I said that a mutual friend from Calif. (Larry Black) had told me to say "hello" if I saw him....(Larry hadn't really said that, but if Larry would have known I was gonna run into Pete , he would have asked me to say hi) (( No harm , no fowl....right???)) So I told Pete why I was here and he said to come see him the next day...

He listened to work I had done in Calif and said that he had no session work for me but that I could hang around his studio and watch and learn...( this proved to be an education that no amount of $$$ could have ever bought me) after about a year of hanging out he hired me on a Pepsi Jingle and after that he hired me on everything he produced until his death in '88.. Along the way all the A team guys warmed up to me (maybe because of Pete) and all treated me way nicer than I ever deserved .....and eventually I started working all over town....

Some of the kindest to me were Reggie Young, Jimmy Capps, Ray Edenton, Pig Robbins, Pete Wade, Charlie McCoy Lloyd Green & Bob Moore....These were all my heros from years of reading Nashville session credits.......I thought that I was the most blessed guy in the world ( and really probably was!)

I always said that if I won the lottery I would move to Nashville, buy a studio and hang out with all the session guys........Its funny . I never won the lottery per say......but I wound up doing exacly that! and now some of my dearest friends are my heros too!!! Its very wierd when I write it down, because it sounds too wild to be true,

I think back to those times and have seen people come to town, play circles around me and many others...and not get any where near the breaks that I did....

It seems in hind sight that there was a small window of opportunity , coupled with being the right age, being in the right place at the right time , having a good idea what was expected of me , Knowing and loving country music, and most of all ....downright Blessings from God , that gave me my opportunities....For that I am greatful every day!!!!!!

Thanks for asking.....

Bill Hullett

[getbent]

Interesting how the guys mentioned in this thread crossed paths so many times in California and ended up going on to bigger things. Jim Ed Norman is the name I've known from Shiloh most prominently after Don Henley.

I believe that Jim Ed was a college or childhood buddy of Don Henley's... as were the Bowden Brothers... When I try to piece some of this together there are so many parts of country/rock that tie back to Ricky Nelson it is amazing... Randy Meisner, Mike Nesmith, John Boylan.... I've not made any conclusions because I was too young to know how that all came together, but I am fascinated to this day by all the offshoots and how much of it came from california and LA and the influence of the Ash Grove, Buck, Merle, The bars in Downey, Long Beach etc... I remember going to see Michael Murphey at the Palomino in about 1975 (great fake id--> I think my buddy and I saw the Phil Woods Quartet the next night down in Hermosa Beach at the Lighthouse... and saw him shoot up in the bathroom) anyway, Byron Berline was playing fiddle and Sam Broussard was playing guitar and I think Dan Dugmore was on steel.. wow, what a show! Dan Dugmore has had an amazing career playing with scads of bands in the 70's, 80's and now still getting tons of work (it appears) in Nashville today...

Bill Hullets post is amazing too.... I'd love to have a video of a Reggie Young talking about his playing and seeing some of it.... I fell in love with his playing on a JJ Cale album and his riff on suspicious minds and the late 70's merle haggard stuff, Dobie Gray's solo stuff... just inspired... Anymore anyone could share about Reggie or Mac Gayden, or guys we should know about, I'd love to hear it.