Most recognizable session musician?

m_dejean

I nominate Chuck Rainey.
I can always pick this guy out in the rhythm section, jazz, r'n'b, rock, whatever.
Never fails. His sound is so distinct, dynamic 16th notes and subtle slapping.



Ron Carter, Idris Muhammad, Bernard Purdie are others that come to mind.

Who do you nominate?

Jimster

Marcus Miller.
Steve Gadd.
Larry Carlton.

magpaul

Hal Blaine

stratasphere

David T. Walker
Harvey Mason
Steve Cropper
Al Jackson
James Gadson
The Bar-Kays(numerous Stax projects)
Little Beaver(damn near all the T.K. projects)

4YearGraduate

Carol Kaye

Cosmophonic

J i m s t e r said:

Steve Gadd.

faux_rillz

m_dejean said:

Bernard Purdie

No, no: part of his genius is the wild diversity of his sound!

Are you familiar with his studio project, "The Beatles"?

staxwax

Cornell Dupree

Big_Stacks

Hey,

I would list these folks as well:

-Joe Sample.
-Wilton Felder.
-Michael (RIP) and Randy Brecker.
-Greg Phillinganes.
-Michael Boddicker.
-David Foster.
-Jeff Porcaro (RIP).
-Steve Khan.
-John Robinson.
-Louis Johnson.
-Marcus Miller.

Peace,

Big Stacks from Kakalak

Beatnicholas

Donald "Duck" Dunn

onetet

stratasphere said:

Al Jackson

The single most recognizable to my ears.

Horseleech

If the Meters can be counted as a session band (numerous backing gigs), then I say Zigaboo Modeliste

fishmongerfunk

4YearGraduate said:

Carol Kaye

batmon

Michael Brecker

mrmatthew

Matt Chamberlin

Unherd

I came in this thread to say Carol Kaye, but having read it through, I think I actually gotta go with Al Jackson. His sound is so distinct, so familiar and comforting, its like going home.

Breez

faux_rillz said:

m_dejean said:

Bernard Purdie

No, no: part of his genius is the wild diversity of his sound!

Are you familiar with his studio project, "The Beatles"?

I totally agree!! He was known & very respected for his diversity. He could play & sound like he was the OG drummer of everyone he played for. That was the main thing Jerry Wexler loved about him.

stratasphere

I don't know how I forgot to mention these.

Paul Humphries
Paul Jackson
Alphonse Mouzon
Wilbert Longmire
Ralph McDonald
Earl Palmer

pickwick33

Hi Rhythm Section
Rhodes, Chalmers & Rhodes
Charlie McCoy (most harmonica you hear on country records from the sixties and seventies is Charlie)
Joe South
Floyd Cramer
Sweet Inspirations
Allen Toussaint
Blossoms (even when they were trying to "sound white" you could pick them out)

I started to say the Motown house band, but then it dawned on me that that's them playing on John Lee Hooker's "Boom Boom," and they sound nothing like they do on 1960's hits by the Supremes, Miracles, Tempts, etc.

willie_fugal

great thread. all these names keep reminding about how much i love all the great session players, often more than actual touring band players.

NOLA session dudes that extremely recognizable to me: Zigaboo, Leo Nocentelli, James Black on drums, of course Earl Palmer. maybe Huey "Piano" Smith?

other folks: is it fair to name jazz dudes? Airto. Lee Morgan; Art Blakey, Paul Chambers, McCoy Tyner, Wayne Shorter, Jimmy Smith, Steve Gadd, Coltrane, Grant fuckin Green all day.

Mjukis

faux_rillz said:

m_dejean said:

Bernard Purdie

No, no: part of his genius is the wild diversity of his sound!

Are you familiar with his studio project, "The Beatles"?

What's the real deal about these claims Purdie's made? Did he really "fix" Beatles/Sly records by playing over them? I kinda think it sounds like him on Slys "Trip to your heart", plus it sort of sounds like there's two drum tracks.

I would fully except a natural born promoter like Purdie to wildly embellish these kinds of stories though - if not make a thing or two up completely.

Still one of the best drummers - and one of the most recognizable.

disco_che

Can't believe nobody mentioned Eric Gale so far. Not sayin' I'm a big fan of his guitar sound but it's instantly recognisable.

m_dejean

pickwick33 said:

Hi Rhythm Section
Rhodes, Chalmers & Rhodes
Charlie McCoy (most harmonica you hear on country records from the sixties and seventies is Charlie)
Joe South
Floyd Cramer
Sweet Inspirations
Allen Toussaint
Blossoms (even when they were trying to "sound white" you could pick them out)

I started to say the Motown house band, but then it dawned on me that that's them playing on John Lee Hooker's "Boom Boom," and they sound nothing like they do on 1960's hits by the Supremes, Miracles, Tempts, etc.

I knew you'd come with some interesting choices. One tends to forget the backing vocal groups like The Blossoms and The Sweet Inspirations.

And speaking of Motown, James Jamerson definitely stands out.

DocMcCoy

I know a lot of people hate his playing, but I'd be willing to bet that if I played any of you a record with him on it, you'd recognise David Sanborn immediately.

pickwick33

What???s the real deal about these claims Purdie???s made? Did he really ???fix??? Beatles/Sly records by playing over them?

The real story I've heard - which logically makes more sense - is that he did drum overdubs on "Ain't She Sweet," which came out in the States on Atco (1964). Pete Best was the drummer with the Beatles when it was recorded (1961). I understand they brought in Purdie to update a three-year-old recording with a beefed-up "twist" tempo.

Of course, leave it to Purdie to "beef up" the story to make it sound like he's on all the records.

(And leave it to Soul Strut to touch on this topic on Ringo Starr's birthday yesterday!)