PDA

View Full Version : Berry Oakley..............



mrmudcat
November 11th, 2009, 01:00 PM
RIP brother,one bad arsed bass player hoping your slinging the tractor today with Duane.


He died less than 3 blocks from brother Duane ,buses and motorcycles dont go well together...............:nope :cry:

11/11/72

peachhead
November 11th, 2009, 06:51 PM
Here's to that sweet bass player, the Hoochie Coochie Man.

oldguy
November 11th, 2009, 07:02 PM
Thanks, Muddy.
Yep, let's remember, and appreciate.
And be thankful, for what they left us in the short time they were here.

sumitomo
November 11th, 2009, 08:20 PM
Amen guys.Sumi:D

NWBasser
November 12th, 2009, 12:56 PM
Oh sad.

A brother bass player gone.

I was just playing along with "Back Where it All Began" yesterday. I'm not sure if it was Berry that played on that one or not, but it has some sweet bass parts.

I've been getting more into ABB music lately and have gained a lot of appreciation for his bass parts. Our band will be playing "One Way Out" for our next gig and I'll dedicate it to Berry.

He was a solid and inventive player with a great feel for the groove. He'll be missed.

mrmudcat
November 12th, 2009, 10:36 PM
Allen Woody on bass for that song I believe brother...........:socool
More on A.W. played with Warren Haynes in govt.mule he is /was another brother of the extended clan who coud jam and died to early.Berry called one/all? his bass guitars? the tractor:happy



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allen_Woody



"The "blond" Tractor started life as a '62 Jazz Bass. Oakley put the Hagstrom Bi-sonic pickup in the neck position and added a route and relocated the stock Jazz neck pickup between the bridge and bridge pickup. Oakley at one time had the Tractor wired for the Bi-sonic pickup to run to one amp and the two Jazz pickups going to another amp, separating the highs and lows. When Berry Duane Oakley, Berry Oakley's son, received the bass in 1989 as a gift from Dickey Betts, who had rescued it from a FL guitar shop, he and Joe Dan Petty rewired the pickups back to series. Shortly before Berry Oakley died from injuries sustained in a motorcycle crash, the neck from his '66 Jazz Bass was swapped onto it. The '62 neck went on to the '66 Jazz body. That bass belonged for a while to Oakley's daughter, Brittany, but she somehow lost possession of it to a former boyfriend who now plays for a famous southern rock outfit. It is believed to be somewhere in the Jacksonville, FL area. The sunburst Tractor that Oakley played was actually the first Tractor. It is believed to be a '68-'69 Jazz Bass. He acquired that bass shortly after the band moved from Jacksonville to Macon in 1969. Pictures exist of that bass in stock form, then with the Bi-sonic pickup in the neck position and one Jazz bridge pickup, then two Jazz pickups at the bridge. The whereabouts of that bass is unknown. Some people claim that the Sunburst bass was sanded and became the blond bass, but if you look closely at the Bi-sonic pickup positions in the two basses, the blond bass shows a tilt in the pickup installation. There were two Tractors, but only one is accounted for, and it belongs to Berry Duane Oakley now. Also, Oakley had a '66 Precision bass that Dickey Betts had after Oakley's passing, and he recently presented it to his bassist in Great Southern, Pedro Arevalo."

NWBasser
November 13th, 2009, 11:44 AM
Wikipedia lists his bass as "The Biker Boy".:thwap


I always knew it was The Tractor.

Oddly, I'm only recently really listening to a lot of their music and really getting into it. I've been so enamored of prog rock for so long that I've been missing out on the good stuff from the south.

I have a whole lot of catching up to do!:dude

I have to admit that Duane's sound was a big influence in getting a Les Paul.

...even if it's an Epiphone one. (Hey, the big $ goes into basses for me!)

hubberjub
November 13th, 2009, 11:51 AM
Berry was an outstanding player. I read an article by Otiel that stated that he wasn't just a bass player, he was a lead bass player because of how melodic he was.