Thursday, April 17, 2008

Graham Maby : Bassist Galore


Good afternoon, bass fans! A dozen or so years ago when They Might Be Giants changed from a duo to a band I attribute a large part of their success to incorporating a bass player named Graham Maby into the mix. This Maby guy was someone I had never heard of and though I had yet to recognize my bass-inclination this guys bass parts were so distinctive that they demanded your attention. Just like the music of They Might Be Giants it was playful yet intelligent and always inventive (much like the bass inventions of Tim Chandler, but that's another post). After too few albums he was replaced by an inferior bassist and I unfortunately didn't spend much time trying to track him down.

However I recently found he is the long-time bassist for Joe Jackson, the guy responsible for a silly video I remember from the early 80s of a guy stuffing his maw with baked beans on an MTV so young it did nothing but play videos. Run on! And the bean-guy looked suspiciously like the adult version of schoolmate Chad Hanefeld, who may or may not currently be a lawyer. Coincidence? I think not.

So the point is there is no point except that I've tracked down Graham Maby. The album at the library, Night And Day has the bass mixed so low it's nearly indiscernable, but such was the recording practices of the day. Hats off to Graham Maby!


Not that video which may be a figment of my imagination...

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