It's amazing watching you two hear Stanley for 1st time. Yes you do need to watch him live. Very unique style from whom I consider the best bass player ever. I was fortunate to see him live as a youngster Sept 28th, 1979 at Hancher Auditorium on the Campus of the Univ of Iowa. I was 19 and had my mind completely blown by him and his band. Great reaction as usual gentleman 👏
Stanley and Jaco Pastorius were both Bass trendsetters with their respective jazz fusion bands. Stanley was in Return To Forever & Jaco was in Weather Report. I was lucky to see both in their heyday & Stanley alone with this band in Philadelphia (he's from Philly, but made it in NYC)
@@vicprovost2561 We were lucky to be born at the musical confluence of many different styles of music growing into new areas/styles. Mile's Bitches Brew had many of the future fusion bands that we enjoyed. Today the genre that seems to be continuing that exploration is the Jam Band scene, where rock, jazz, country, folk, bluegrass & classical can be heard in bands like Umphrey's McGee, Widespread Panic, Railroad Earth, Phish to name only a few.
@@larryg7126 These names made me dust off some of my old jazz rock fusion records, time for Birds of Fire from John McGlaughlin and the Mahavishnu Orchestra. Young listeners have no clue what they missed but the reactors will.
We wore the grooves off this album in high school in the 70s. I still think it's his masterpiece. You should play the whole album. Every song is a gorgeous 10.
Ray Gomez’s guitar solo coming in hot right out of the gate! And then Stanley takes over like only he can. Nobody sounds like him: unique fingering technique, lots of bass chords, some slapping thrown in to change it up. I saw him playing this on a big stand up acoustic bass on the Rite of Strings tour with Jean Luc Ponty and Al DiMeola. Amazing
I saw him live at Toads Place in New Haven CT around 85. Toads was a bar with a stage. We got there 2 hours early and got a table at the stage which was only about 4 feet Blvd the floor. We could put our feet on the stage. Stanley played his bass inches from our faces. Hen he played a flourish his fingers were a blur. His hands are huge. Great night
Stanley rocking the piccolo bass that allowed him to achieve that sound. Also showing off his chops as he is a trained classical bassist. When you see him live he may play his upright bass as much as his electric or piccolo bass. Just an awesome instrumentalist.
I saw SC at the Chestnut Cabaret in Philly in the 80's, where he did a 15 minute version of School Days, while standing on my table. I later got to meet him at Phila College of the Arts, where he taught at a music master class. I was a Photo major, I gave him a bunch of prints from the Chestnut C show, and he signed a bunch of prints for me that I gave to my bass player friends. He talked about music with and Philly after the class and sent me a thank you letter for the photos from his studio. A really nice guy and one of my fav bassists/musicians.
Just suggested this! lol I saw Stanley at The Apollo in 77. Phenominal! He wails on bass...not an easy task. He came out with an upright and the crowd went crazy.
Thank you so much for this. My high school years in the 1970s were devoted to listening to everything that Stanley Clark, Chick Corea, Al Dimeola and Lenny White (a.k.a. Return to Forever, PLEASE listen to some of their stuff off Romantic Warrior) recorded. Around 1976 or so Stanley and Chick played a live show for a very limited, intimate audience at the Fort Harrison hotel in my hometown, Clearwater Florida. We won't get into the circumstances around that show, but if you know you know. Anyway, it was an all acoustic set of absolutely amazing music. You must listen to some of his upright acoustic bass work. I doesn't seem possible that any human hands could have that much strength and speed. I was walking down Ft. Harrison the next day and saw him on the sidewalk. I said, "Are you Stanley Clarke?" He smiled a huge friendly smile and just said yes and shook my hand. His hand was just as huge and powerful looking as I imagined it had to be to play bass the way he did. Thanks again, subscribed on this one.
Stanley put Alembic basses on the map. One of my favorite albums from that Golden era of fusion. Gerry Brown on drums! Saw him in concert on this tour in the 70s....Fantastic! Thanks for reacting!
A friend and jazz lover wanted to introduce me to classic jazz in the early 80's with "School Days" via jazz rock. It didn't work out, but I've stuck to jazz rock since that time ;-)). I love the live album "I wanna play for you" with a lot of good musicians like Jeff Beck, George Duke, Steve Gadd, Freddy Hubbard, Stan Getz and many more. Thanks for sharing and best regards from hamburg (germany)
I saw Stanley Clarke with the band Return To Forever . One of the greatest bass players in the world . On this song it's Stanley Clarke (electric bass guitar, piccolo bass guitar, acoustic bass, acoustic piano, vocals, handbells, gong, chimes), Raymond Gomez (electic guitar), David Sancious (keyboards, mini-moog synthesizer, organ, electric guitar) with Gerry Brown drums
Thrilled you guys stepped into Stanley Clarke! This is a jazz fusion classic and Stanley is legendary. Hope to hear more from him and this genre. Peace 🙏🏾
Very cool gentlemen, Stanley is one of the greats. Chris Squire has a solo album called Fish Out Of Water and a song called Lucky Seven is a gem, it's in 7/6. 🙏🍁
Stanley Clark’s so good! You guys really keep picking some of the best stuff and not just the hits or the obvious choices! Just like Zappa, just love hangin with you guys and enjoying great music. The drummer is clean as hell!!!😂
@@AirplayBeats you guys make it easy. Not gonna lie, love music & always loved turning people on to something new, hence, the success of RUclips reactions which makes us music lovers enjoy it over & over again! But, for me, I haven’t watched the OTHERS bcuz you guys obviously get it and r legit!
One of my great joys in life in recent years has been watching people listen to the music I was addicted to back in the day. I cannot even describe how it makes me feel when you guys share a first listen to my favorite music of all time, the stuff I was in love with 40-50 years ago. At that time, there were relatively few people who listened to this. I mean, it was popular amongst those of us who were familiar with it, but it was not the sort of stuff played on very many radio stations, and was not the kind of stuff that was nominated for grammy awards and such.
Now you’re speaking my language. Stanley, Jaco, Marcus Miller, etc turned the bass into a lead instrument for jazz, while Bootsy, Louis Johnson, and my man Larry Graham did the same for funk… and the world is a better place for it.
Great song, & one of the greatest bassists of all-time. Seen Stanley with Return To Forever, amazing show! "Life is Just a Game" off of this album is a cool song, with awesome guitar by Charles Foster 'Icarus' Johnson.
Saw him live way back, in Norfolk VA. The opening group was the Jeff Lorber fusion. "Fusion" was the musical genre popular at that time, Chick Corea, Weather Report, many others.
Saw him live three times - once with Return to Forever. He's so tall an electric bass looks like a toy in his hands and long fingers! He was like Hendrix on bass. To think that when he started he refused to play electric bass!
Saw Stanley Clarke with Al Jarreau live back in college days and was blown away by both Al's singing and Stanley's percussive style of playing the bass. I'd never seen anyone treat the bass that way! It was so cool to sse and hear.
glad to see someone highlighting Stanley Clarke! 2 comments: yes there is someone else playing the back bass while Clarke us the frontman bass. You can see this on some live videos if him playing/jamming with others. Also your comment about this being 4 or 5 songs stitched together, makes me want to recommend (if you haven't already heard/reacted to it) Edgar Winters' "Frankenstein". It literally was 4-5 or more musical pieces stitched together magnetic tape cut and taped). and its a masterpiece! Your reactions and musical analyses are great!
There were a bunch of guys that were all associated with each other musically in this genre, playing on each others albums, playing in the same bands from time to time, etc. John McLaughlin and Mahavishnu Orchestra; Jan Hammer; Jeff Beck; and a whole bunch more. My crew in the day picked up on all of this music in the same sort of way a brush fire spreads. First one little part of it, and then spreading out in every direction. I became familiar with this type of sound starting with Mahavishnu Orchestra. I found this record in a record store one day, and bought it because I was really into astronomy: BETWEEN NOTHINGNESS & ETERNITY ruclips.net/video/YmNkGQm1YE4/видео.html For me and a ever widening group of people in Center City Philadelphia in the 1970s, it started with this recording.
Agreed. I associated those musicians together in that time period. I called it Hard Fusion. Billy Cobham, Jean-Luc Ponty, Brand X, Bruford, that sort of thing.
Wow, a little Jazz-Rock-Fusion for this reaction, yeah! Stanley is awesome, saw Return to Forever with Stanley then within a year, another bass player extraordinaire, Jaco Pastorius with Weather Report. These guys followed their own path and came up with new sounds, odd time signatures and lead improvisations that Jimi Hendrix would respect. For more of this genre, try Carlos Santana dueling guitar master John McLaughlin in Love, Devotion, Surrender. A twin guitar nirvana as they race to audio heaven. John's band from those days, the Mahavishnu Orchestra, is also worth checking out, Birds of Fire is just that. Enjoy! 🎵🎸🎤🎹🎶
Dig Ray Gomez' crazy intro lead guitar solo, amazing and unusual note choices, then Stanley's great bass solos really drive it home, the whole tune has this great upbeat, uplifting vibe, a Jazz Rock Fusion classic. It encapsulates the freewheeling High School times when one is young, full of pent up energy.
There are a few people who Stanley Clarke has played with & vice versa, that you might want to check out. Billy Cobham; John McLaughlin; Chick Corea; Jack Bruce;
As must see is Stanley and the also great Larry Graham doing “Sex Machine” live. Two of the preeminent frontmen bassists of the modern eras live collaboration is a wonderful watch.
Ned from Spain to say hey, back in the day when this came out and the previous LP " Stanley Clarke" every aspiring bassist was breaking their fingers trying to play his tunes. Here's the man himself playing with 3 other Jazz fusion giants Billy Cobham on drums, Chick Corea on synth and Jon Luc Ponty on violin. Buckle up fellas and watch out for the asteroids 'cause you're on your way to way out. ruclips.net/video/SDPq1uq5Gxo/видео.html The full award show is up on YT too.
Stanley uses a piccolo bass which is tuned one octave above a standard bass... Chris Squire (YES) used a very thick pick and picked between the bridge and the first pickup to get his sound..
The bass that he was playing was very expensive bass called the Alembic. The average bass player couldn't afford it back then.They starting around $2000 and up in the early 70s. Stanley made it popular. He's got his own Alembic signature bass. Depending on the series,the they go for $16,000 and up. A bass players couldn't afford the Fender back then
There’s a great live version of this with George Duke on keytar, but whilst I love this song the studio version of Lopsy Lu will always be my go-to track for Stanley Clarke. Fantastic groove (don’t know why it’s never been sampled for a hip-hip track), and four top musicians just going ham on their instruments. Great reaction, guys!
Guitar: Raymond Gomez Drums: Gerry Brown Keyboards: David Sancious Brass: Jack Nimitz Brass: Buddy Childers Brass: Lew McCreary Brass: Dalton Smith Brass: Robert Findley Brass: Gary Grant Brass: George Bohanon Brass: William Peterson Brass: Stuart Blumberg Brass: Albert Aarons Producer, Recording Engineer: Ken Scott Assistant Engineer: Jerry Solomon
Clarke play a lot of chords by strumming with his right hand.He strum a lot of fifths,play harmonics.He use his piccolo bass on some of his solos. You gotta check out his 1st album (Stanley Clarke)74
Interesting to hear how Gen Y-Zers react to ground-breaking, instrumental classics. There is a lot of context here that I don't think you guys had, but you still seem to have gotten what this track was all about..and why it has always crossed cultural/age boundaries :-) The context involves Jeff Beck (a very unique rock guitarist, who recently passed away), Tony Williams (a very unique drummer who played with Miles Davis at 18, and passed away in 1997) and how to demonstrate that a bass guitar is a guitar! Lol Jeff, Tony and Stanley are all musicians that brought improvisation (and advanced harmonic/melodic/rhythmic approaches) to the rock idiom. This was a very brave thing to do, given the number of rock and jazz "purists" that existed then...and today. So, "School Days" was a statement that said 1) here's how you play a "rock riff" on a 4-string electric bass, and 2) here's how you use dynamics and phrasing to build up the intensity in a song, as opposed to how rock is typically "loud-all-the-time"!, and 3) here's how you play your part in a way that serves the music, and still "turn heads". Neither Jeff or Tony are playing on this track, but Ray and Gerry are channeling. them well :-)
Is this really the first time you've listened to Stanley Clarke? You guys haven't reacted to any Return to Forever jazz fusion yet? If not PLEASE REACT TO ROMANTIC WARRIORS ALBUM (Clarke, Chick Corea, DiMeola, and Lenny White). Schooldays was one of the first albums I ever bought based solely on the bass playing, as this track got a fair amount of FM radio play. I finally got to see Stanley and Return to Forever twice when they did a few reunion tours in the last 20 years. Awesome hearing that funked up bass live. His hands are huge with long fingers.
Here's a piece you might not otherwise check out. I mentioned checking out Joe Pass in the comments of your Wes Montgomery reaction - this performance features Joe Pass, the great acoustic bassist NHOP, the legendary Oscar Peterson, along with Martin Drew on drums. ruclips.net/video/DuyV3961pj8/видео.html
There's NO ONE like Stanley Clarke. Listening to him for even a few minutes puts your mind up on a totally different plane.
I remember listening to Stanley Clarke back in the day. I need to re visit his music, thanks ! 👍
Hell yeah. Now, Return To Forever, Al Di Meola, Chick Corea, Lenny White. Good stuff. Dixie Dregs. Brand X, etc....
Weather Report.
@@TheRagratus Mahavishnu Orchestra
DIXIE DREGS is a Must... was just listening to "I'm Freaking Out" and "Odyssey" two songs that are off-the-hook...
@@alldayadventures5418 I used to try to play that on the drums as a teenager back then. Rod M.......beast.
Promise made, promise kept!
It's amazing watching you two hear Stanley for 1st time. Yes you do need to watch him live. Very unique style from whom I consider the best bass player ever. I was fortunate to see him live as a youngster Sept 28th, 1979 at Hancher Auditorium on the Campus of the Univ of Iowa. I was 19 and had my mind completely blown by him and his band. Great reaction as usual gentleman 👏
I grew up in CR. Hancher had some great shows! So did the 5 Seasons Center in CR. "Live at the 5"!
Stanley and Jaco Pastorius were both Bass trendsetters with their respective jazz fusion bands. Stanley was in Return To Forever & Jaco was in Weather Report. I was lucky to see both in their heyday & Stanley alone with this band in Philadelphia (he's from Philly, but made it in NYC)
I was very fortunate to see both bands in the 70s with these brilliant bass players, nice to hear this again!
@@vicprovost2561 We were lucky to be born at the musical confluence of many different styles of music growing into new areas/styles. Mile's Bitches Brew had many of the future fusion bands that we enjoyed. Today the genre that seems to be continuing that exploration is the Jam Band scene, where rock, jazz, country, folk, bluegrass & classical can be heard in bands like Umphrey's McGee, Widespread Panic, Railroad Earth, Phish to name only a few.
Got to see both, long ago in Philly, for less than $10 a ticket, in small clubs and theaters
I miss those days.
@@larryg7126 These names made me dust off some of my old jazz rock fusion records, time for Birds of Fire from John McGlaughlin and the Mahavishnu Orchestra. Young listeners have no clue what they missed but the reactors will.
@@michaelhogan6770 Me too. 4 hours of Hot Tuna for $3.50 in 1975, we won't see those days ever again.
TheGreatest, the bass anthem.
The most important bass song and player of our times. Stanley’s bass solo liberated the bass and bass players.
Maybe the best bass player ever! If you want to see him live with other masters, check out Return To Forever live.
All timer master of his craft .
Saw him in '76 .
Always surrounded by Top Shelf Maestros .
This was the bass solo that turned my music world upside down when I was in highschool.
I was in high school when I saw Stanley Clark with Billy Cobham on the drums...blew me away
We wore the grooves off this album in high school in the 70s. I still think it's his masterpiece. You should play the whole album. Every song is a gorgeous 10.
We wore the shit out of this album
Agreed saw him live at The Apollo in 77
Yall blow me away. I love Stanley Clarke.
Great you're hitting Stanley Clarke! Legendary bassist.
"Desert Song" is the, real, hidden gem, on: School Days.
[Just Stanley Clarke and John McLaughlin ..."servin' "...🤘🤘]
Stanley Clarke and Jeff Beck.....
Ray Gomez’s guitar solo coming in hot right out of the gate! And then Stanley takes over like only he can. Nobody sounds like him: unique fingering technique, lots of bass chords, some slapping thrown in to change it up. I saw him playing this on a big stand up acoustic bass on the Rite of Strings tour with Jean Luc Ponty and Al DiMeola. Amazing
Damn, that bass combined with those drum fills are phenomenal!
I saw him live at Toads Place in New Haven CT around 85. Toads was a bar with a stage. We got there 2 hours early and got a table at the stage which was only about 4 feet Blvd the floor. We could put our feet on the stage. Stanley played his bass inches from our faces. Hen he played a flourish his fingers were a blur. His hands are huge. Great night
Stanley rocking the piccolo bass that allowed him to achieve that sound. Also showing off his chops as he is a trained classical bassist. When you see him live he may play his upright bass as much as his electric or piccolo bass. Just an awesome instrumentalist.
Hell yeah!! I discovered Stanley in 1978. I was one of the few white cats Jamming SC in Iowa I'm sure!!! LOL. Great memories!!!
Stanley Clarke is an amazing performer to see live. Both Electric and upright bass. His upright bass skills are phenomenal.
Stanley solo releases or with Return to Forever, a master class on the bass...❤...still going strong!
Damn....that's a groove.
I saw SC at the Chestnut Cabaret in Philly in the 80's, where he did a 15 minute version of School Days, while standing on my table.
I later got to meet him at Phila College of the Arts, where he taught at a music master class.
I was a Photo major, I gave him a bunch of prints from the Chestnut C show, and he signed a bunch of prints for me that I gave to my bass player friends.
He talked about music with and Philly after the class and sent me a thank you letter for the photos from his studio.
A really nice guy and one of my fav bassists/musicians.
An exception to the rule. A true virtuoso.
Discovered Stanley on " Romantic Warrior " by Return to Forever. Jazz fusion, really funky and clever. Next stop.
I love that album ❤
Just suggested this! lol I saw Stanley at The Apollo in 77. Phenominal! He wails on bass...not an easy task. He came out with an upright and the crowd went crazy.
Vulcan Princess from his self titled 1974 LP is still in my head all these yrs later. The man’s limitless.
Tomorrow princess
Y'all taking me way back...to my school daze! Haven't heard this in years.🎶🎸
Saw Stanley & George in Manchester England in the 80’s high on the music and weed pure class
Thank you so much for this. My high school years in the 1970s were devoted to listening to everything that Stanley Clark, Chick Corea, Al Dimeola and Lenny White (a.k.a. Return to Forever, PLEASE listen to some of their stuff off Romantic Warrior) recorded. Around 1976 or so Stanley and Chick played a live show for a very limited, intimate audience at the Fort Harrison hotel in my hometown, Clearwater Florida. We won't get into the circumstances around that show, but if you know you know. Anyway, it was an all acoustic set of absolutely amazing music. You must listen to some of his upright acoustic bass work. I doesn't seem possible that any human hands could have that much strength and speed. I was walking down Ft. Harrison the next day and saw him on the sidewalk. I said, "Are you Stanley Clarke?" He smiled a huge friendly smile and just said yes and shook my hand. His hand was just as huge and powerful looking as I imagined it had to be to play bass the way he did. Thanks again, subscribed on this one.
Stanley put Alembic basses on the map. One of my favorite albums from that Golden era of fusion. Gerry Brown on drums! Saw him in concert on this tour in the 70s....Fantastic!
Thanks for reacting!
Stanley Clarke teamed up with Jeff Beck on Rock and Roll Jelly from the same period. Two masters of their respective crafts.
Stanley is one of my all-time favorite bassist!!!! Along with Chris Squire of Yes!!!
Stanley Clarke and Jeff Beck did some amazing music together.
Rock and Roll Jelly and Hello Jeff
A friend and jazz lover wanted to introduce me to classic jazz in the early 80's with "School Days" via jazz rock. It didn't work out, but I've stuck to jazz rock since that time ;-)). I love the live album "I wanna play for you" with a lot of good musicians like Jeff Beck, George Duke, Steve Gadd, Freddy Hubbard, Stan Getz and many more. Thanks for sharing and best regards from hamburg (germany)
I saw Stanley Clarke with the band Return To Forever . One of the greatest bass players in the world . On this song it's Stanley Clarke (electric bass guitar, piccolo bass guitar, acoustic bass, acoustic piano, vocals, handbells, gong, chimes), Raymond Gomez (electic guitar), David Sancious (keyboards, mini-moog synthesizer, organ, electric guitar) with Gerry Brown drums
Geez, I didn't even know Sancious was on keys on this track! That's another rabbit hole they could go down.
I wore this album out back in the day
Thrilled you guys stepped into Stanley Clarke! This is a jazz fusion classic and Stanley is legendary. Hope to hear more from him and this genre. Peace 🙏🏾
That syncopated drum fill was sick
Very cool gentlemen, Stanley is one of the greats. Chris Squire has a solo album called Fish Out Of Water and a song called Lucky Seven is a gem, it's in 7/6. 🙏🍁
With Bill Buford and Mel Collins from King Crimson
Wow, love this, Goove
Clarke would take over a stage just like the bass player for YES
The whole album is one of the greatest
Stanley Clark’s so good! You guys really keep picking some of the best stuff and not just the hits or the obvious choices! Just like Zappa, just love hangin with you guys and enjoying great music. The drummer is clean as hell!!!😂
Thanks for hangin with us!!
@@AirplayBeats you guys make it easy. Not gonna lie, love music & always loved turning people on to something new, hence, the success of RUclips reactions which makes us music lovers enjoy it over & over again! But, for me, I haven’t watched the OTHERS bcuz you guys obviously get it and r legit!
Glad to see you guys covering some jazz and Brazilian stuff.
My favorite Stanley Clarke compositions are "Vulcan Worlds" and "Butterfly Dreams".
One of my great joys in life in recent years has been watching people listen to the music I was addicted to back in the day.
I cannot even describe how it makes me feel when you guys share a first listen to my favorite music of all time, the stuff I was in love with 40-50 years ago. At that time, there were relatively few people who listened to this. I mean, it was popular amongst those of us who were familiar with it, but it was not the sort of stuff played on very many radio stations, and was not the kind of stuff that was nominated for grammy awards and such.
Now you’re speaking my language. Stanley, Jaco, Marcus Miller, etc turned the bass into a lead instrument for jazz, while Bootsy, Louis Johnson, and my man Larry Graham did the same for funk… and the world is a better place for it.
Incredible album.
Stanley Clarke is a BAD A$$ Dude
He's also an upright bassist.I saw him live back 77 at the Scope Coliseum in Norfolk,Va.. He was in the band(Return To Forever)
Great song, & one of the greatest bassists of all-time. Seen Stanley with Return To Forever, amazing show! "Life is Just a Game" off of this album is a cool song, with awesome guitar by Charles Foster 'Icarus' Johnson.
I remember Stanley as being the first to be a main forefront bass soloist..
Stanly Clark is top 10 Bass Players. Kills it with Return to Forever...
One of my idols. Also he helped popularize piccolo bass
Saw him live way back, in Norfolk VA. The opening group was the Jeff Lorber fusion. "Fusion" was the musical genre popular at that time, Chick Corea, Weather Report, many others.
If you're going down the fusion rabbit hole, please check out Black Market by Weather Report. The entire album is amazing.
I hope you enjoyed your journey into "Stanleyland", and that you make further trips there in the future.
Saw him live three times - once with Return to Forever. He's so tall an electric bass looks like a toy in his hands and long fingers! He was like Hendrix on bass. To think that when he started he refused to play electric bass!
Saw Stanley Clarke with Al Jarreau live back in college days and was blown away by both Al's singing and Stanley's percussive style of playing the bass. I'd never seen anyone treat the bass that way! It was so cool to sse and hear.
This has been one of my favorite albums since about 1980! My favorite cut is probably Desert Song
glad to see someone highlighting Stanley Clarke! 2 comments: yes there is someone else playing the back bass while Clarke us the frontman bass. You can see this on some live videos if him playing/jamming with others. Also your comment about this being 4 or 5 songs stitched together, makes me want to recommend (if you haven't already heard/reacted to it) Edgar Winters' "Frankenstein". It literally was 4-5 or more musical pieces stitched together magnetic tape cut and taped). and its a masterpiece! Your reactions and musical analyses are great!
Great live version of Mr. Clarke on Old Grey Whistle Test playing School Days with the legend George Duke on Keytar, check it out!
Dope ass album cover indeed nvr heard this thanks for the rec
Return To Forever!!
His bass solos are so percussive
This is a great candidate for a full album listen! Think about it.
SO Bad ASS 🔥🔥🔥
Great choice. 👍
Stanley is amazing. You should check out Return to Forever - Romantic Warrior. In my opinion its some of his best playing
Crazy slap tech wow 🔥
You guys are hitting the essentials! Stanley is a master.
I wonder what its like hearing Stanley play Eruption on his bass?
There were a bunch of guys that were all associated with each other musically in this genre, playing on each others albums, playing in the same bands from time to time, etc.
John McLaughlin and Mahavishnu Orchestra; Jan Hammer; Jeff Beck; and a whole bunch more.
My crew in the day picked up on all of this music in the same sort of way a brush fire spreads. First one little part of it, and then spreading out in every direction.
I became familiar with this type of sound starting with Mahavishnu Orchestra. I found this record in a record store one day, and bought it because I was really into astronomy: BETWEEN NOTHINGNESS & ETERNITY
ruclips.net/video/YmNkGQm1YE4/видео.html
For me and a ever widening group of people in Center City Philadelphia in the 1970s, it started with this recording.
Agreed. I associated those musicians together in that time period. I called it Hard Fusion. Billy Cobham, Jean-Luc Ponty, Brand X, Bruford, that sort of thing.
Man, have y'all been going through my album collection?
Wow, a little Jazz-Rock-Fusion for this reaction, yeah! Stanley is awesome, saw Return to Forever with Stanley then within a year, another bass player extraordinaire, Jaco Pastorius with Weather Report. These guys followed their own path and came up with new sounds, odd time signatures and lead improvisations that Jimi Hendrix would respect. For more of this genre, try Carlos Santana dueling guitar master John McLaughlin in Love, Devotion, Surrender. A twin guitar nirvana as they race to audio heaven. John's band from those days, the Mahavishnu Orchestra, is also worth checking out, Birds of Fire is just that. Enjoy! 🎵🎸🎤🎹🎶
Dig Ray Gomez' crazy intro lead guitar solo, amazing and unusual note choices, then Stanley's great bass solos really drive it home, the whole tune has this great upbeat, uplifting vibe, a Jazz Rock Fusion classic. It encapsulates the freewheeling High School times when one is young, full of pent up energy.
There are a few people who Stanley Clarke has played with & vice versa, that you might want to check out. Billy Cobham; John McLaughlin; Chick Corea; Jack Bruce;
As must see is Stanley and the also great Larry Graham doing “Sex Machine” live. Two of the preeminent frontmen bassists of the modern eras live collaboration is a wonderful watch.
Ned from Spain to say hey, back in the day when this came out and the previous LP " Stanley Clarke" every aspiring bassist was breaking their fingers trying to play his tunes. Here's the man himself playing with 3 other Jazz fusion giants Billy Cobham on drums, Chick Corea on synth and Jon Luc Ponty on violin. Buckle up fellas and watch out for the asteroids 'cause you're on your way to way out. ruclips.net/video/SDPq1uq5Gxo/видео.html The full award show is up on YT too.
Stanley uses a piccolo bass which is tuned one octave above a standard bass... Chris Squire (YES) used a very thick pick and picked between the bridge and the first pickup to get his sound..
check out Victor Wooten bass solo with Béla Fleck & The Original Flecktones - "Sinister Minister" - Mountain Jam VII - 6/3/11 video
Love this tune! Ray Gomez Kicked It!!
I that was Ron Brown
The bass that he was playing was very expensive bass called the Alembic. The average bass player couldn't afford it back then.They starting around $2000 and up in the early 70s. Stanley made it popular. He's got his own Alembic signature bass. Depending on the series,the they go for $16,000 and up. A bass players couldn't afford the Fender back then
There’s a great live version of this with George Duke on keytar, but whilst I love this song the studio version of Lopsy Lu will always be my go-to track for Stanley Clarke. Fantastic groove (don’t know why it’s never been sampled for a hip-hip track), and four top musicians just going ham on their instruments.
Great reaction, guys!
Agreed, there’s just something about “Lopsy Lu!”
Have you guys listened to Return To Forever? Because that’s where this is headed. Vulcan Worlds would be a good place to start imo.
Back in the day,if you were a bass player,it very challenging to learn some Clarke and Jaco Pastorius
Stanley is a genius. Check out his tune “Lopsy Lu.”
Guitar: Raymond Gomez
Drums: Gerry Brown
Keyboards: David Sancious
Brass: Jack Nimitz
Brass: Buddy Childers
Brass: Lew McCreary
Brass: Dalton Smith
Brass: Robert Findley
Brass: Gary Grant
Brass: George Bohanon
Brass: William Peterson
Brass: Stuart Blumberg
Brass: Albert Aarons
Producer, Recording Engineer: Ken Scott
Assistant Engineer: Jerry Solomon
The drummer on this track is Gerry Brown. Look him up, he has huge credentials.
Clarke play a lot of chords by strumming with his right hand.He strum a lot of fifths,play harmonics.He use his piccolo bass on some of his solos. You gotta check out his 1st album (Stanley Clarke)74
Purchased this album in the late 70s. Mr. Clarke can play. And it's my understanding he was playing a PICCOLO bass guitar. Look it up.
Jeff Beck and Stanley Clark live, the song Lopsy Lu is amazing...check it out
Drummer is Ron Brown from philly..very underrated 😂
David Sanciuos is playing the Bass Moog synthesizer
Interesting to hear how Gen Y-Zers react to ground-breaking, instrumental classics. There is a lot of context here that I don't think you guys had, but you still seem to have gotten what this track was all about..and why it has always crossed cultural/age boundaries :-)
The context involves Jeff Beck (a very unique rock guitarist, who recently passed away), Tony Williams (a very unique drummer who played with Miles Davis at 18, and passed away in 1997) and how to demonstrate that a bass guitar is a guitar! Lol Jeff, Tony and Stanley are all musicians that brought improvisation (and advanced harmonic/melodic/rhythmic approaches) to the rock idiom. This was a very brave thing to do, given the number of rock and jazz "purists" that existed then...and today. So, "School Days" was a statement that said 1) here's how you play a "rock riff" on a 4-string electric bass, and 2) here's how you use dynamics and phrasing to build up the intensity in a song, as opposed to how rock is typically "loud-all-the-time"!, and 3) here's how you play your part in a way that serves the music, and still "turn heads". Neither Jeff or Tony are playing on this track, but Ray and Gerry are channeling. them well :-)
Life is just a game is fire on this album
Is this really the first time you've listened to Stanley Clarke? You guys haven't reacted to any Return to Forever jazz fusion yet? If not PLEASE REACT TO ROMANTIC WARRIORS ALBUM (Clarke, Chick Corea, DiMeola, and Lenny White). Schooldays was one of the first albums I ever bought based solely on the bass playing, as this track got a fair amount of FM radio play.
I finally got to see Stanley and Return to Forever twice when they did a few reunion tours in the last 20 years. Awesome hearing that funked up bass live. His hands are huge with long fingers.
Here's a piece you might not otherwise check out. I mentioned checking out Joe Pass in the comments of your Wes Montgomery reaction - this performance features Joe Pass, the great acoustic bassist NHOP, the legendary Oscar Peterson, along with Martin Drew on drums.
ruclips.net/video/DuyV3961pj8/видео.html