Stanley Clarke

About

From Wikipedia:

Stanley Clarke (born June 30, 1951) is an American jazz musician and composer known for his innovative and influential work on double bass and electric bass as well as for his numerous film and television scores. He is best known for his work with the fusion band Return to Forever, and his role as a bandleader in several trios and ensembles.

Paul McCartney about Stanley Clarke, Guitar Player interview:

I like Stanley Clarke. We only really met once, and just had a bit of fun in Montserrat. And he played on a couple of tracks. I admitted to him, “Hey, I’m trying to steal your licks, man!” He said, “Oh, you’ve got licks of your own.” So, we just had a bit of fun. I decided not to steal his licks after all; he was right. He’s got his style; I’ve got my style. And he’s a great guy.

Paul McCartney

Stanley Clarke about Paul McCartney, from interview with SomethingElseReviews.com, 2012:

NICK DERISO: You mentioned Paul McCartney, with whom you appeared on a couple of projects, 1982’s Tug of War and 1983’s Pipes of Peace. What was that experience like?

STANLEY CLARKE: He’s a beautiful player. Of all of the recordings I’ve played on, those two records are among the most memorable. We went down to this island, and I hung out with Paul for a couple of weeks. I really, really had a lot of fun. He’s a very melodic player. Melody just comes right out of him. That’s only natural for him to play the bass like that. He does it without thinking. He’s a writer who sings songs, so it was only natural when he plays the bass, his lines would be very melodic.

Stanley Clarke about Paul McCartney, Bass Player magazine, July/August 1995:

Paul definitely had an influence on my bass playing, not so much technically, but more with his philosophy of melodic bass liens-especially as I hit my teens and the Beatles’ records became more adventurous. On tracks like ‘Come Together,’ the bass line WAS the song. I’ve always liked that. The only other person I knew of who was doing that was James Jamerson. That was one of the reasons I was inspired to write ‘School Days’: so I could just play the bass lines and people would hear a whole song. I had the honor of being contacted by Paul through George Martin to play on “Tug of War,” and I also appeared on “Pipes of Peace” [both on Capitol]. Paul was very nice. He asked me to show him how to slap. During Pipes we got a groove going in a studio jam, and it ended up making on the album as ‘Hey Hey.’ He graciously gave me a co-writing credit, and it’s still a thrill to see my name next to his above the music in the song book.

Stanley Clarke

Last updated on April 13, 2020