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"Walk On The Wild Side" Bassist Herbie Flowers Dead At 86
Stereogum
“Walk On The Wild Side” Bassist Herbie Flowers Dead At 86
Evening Standard/Hulton Archive/Getty Images
News September 9, 2024 10:27 AM By Abby Jones
Herbie Flowers, the prolific English bassist known for creating the famous riff in Lou Reed’s “Walk On The Wild Side,” has died, the BBC reports. He was 86.
Born in Middlesex, England, Flowers began his musical training on the tuba, which he played in the Royal Air Force band. By the time he completed his military service, bass guitar had become his primary instrument, and he began performing in a number of Dixieland jazz and bebop bands. He soon built a reputation as a session bass player. In 1969, he co-founded the pop band Blue Mink, whose song “Melting Pot” reached #3 on the UK singles chart. He also went on to perform with the hard rock band Rumplestiltskin, the blues group CCS, and the final lineup of T. Rex, performing on their last album Dandy In The Underworld (1977).
But Flowers’ most famous contribution to music came in 1972, when he came up with the dual portamento basslines on Reed’s “Walk On The Wild Side.” On the recording, he performs the hook on both upright bass and a fretless Fender; in a 2005 interview, he said that he thought to overlay the two instruments because as a session musician, he would be paid twice for playing two instruments on the same track. Rolling Stone crowned “Walk On The Wild Side” one of the 500 Greatest Songs Of All Time, and it was inducted into the Grammy Hall Of Fame in 2015. Flowers’ bassline was sampled on songs like A Tribe Called Quest’s “Can I Kick It?” and Marky Mark & The Funky Bunch’s “Wildside.”
Throughout his career, Flowers went on to record with a long list of musical legends, including Elton John, David Bowie, Harry Nilsson, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, Ringo Starr, Roger Daltrey, Bryan Ferry, Albert Hammond, David Essex, and many more. He is estimated to have played bass on over 500 hit recordings. Hear some of them below.
Abby Jones
Editor
@abbyfjones_
“Walk On The Wild Side” Bassist Herbie Flowers Dead At 86
Evening Standard/Hulton Archive/Getty Images
News September 9, 2024 10:27 AM By Abby Jones
Herbie Flowers, the prolific English bassist known for creating the famous riff in Lou Reed’s “Walk On The Wild Side,” has died, the BBC reports. He was 86.
Born in Middlesex, England, Flowers began his musical training on the tuba, which he played in the Royal Air Force band. By the time he completed his military service, bass guitar had become his primary instrument, and he began performing in a number of Dixieland jazz and bebop bands. He soon built a reputation as a session bass player. In 1969, he co-founded the pop band Blue Mink, whose song “Melting Pot” reached #3 on the UK singles chart. He also went on to perform with the hard rock band Rumplestiltskin, the blues group CCS, and the final lineup of T. Rex, performing on their last album Dandy In The Underworld (1977).
But Flowers’ most famous contribution to music came in 1972, when he came up with the dual portamento basslines on Reed’s “Walk On The Wild Side.” On the recording, he performs the hook on both upright bass and a fretless Fender; in a 2005 interview, he said that he thought to overlay the two instruments because as a session musician, he would be paid twice for playing two instruments on the same track. Rolling Stone crowned “Walk On The Wild Side” one of the 500 Greatest Songs Of All Time, and it was inducted into the Grammy Hall Of Fame in 2015. Flowers’ bassline was sampled on songs like A Tribe Called Quest’s “Can I Kick It?” and Marky Mark & The Funky Bunch’s “Wildside.”
Throughout his career, Flowers went on to record with a long list of musical legends, including Elton John, David Bowie, Harry Nilsson, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, Ringo Starr, Roger Daltrey, Bryan Ferry, Albert Hammond, David Essex, and many more. He is estimated to have played bass on over 500 hit recordings. Hear some of them below.
Abby Jones
Editor
@abbyfjones_