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The Latest Breaking News from Larry Graham

“They’re both amazing guitarists, but Jeff Beck let you take liberties”: Rhonda Smith had been on call with Prince for more than a decade when she told the Purple One she was busy with Jeff Beck

Session ace Rhonda Smith on how her 10-year stint with Prince came to a close

Guitar World

“I wasn’t interested in learning the ‘correct’ style of playing bass. I was going back to guitar”: Larry Graham explains how his unorthodox six-string style invented slap bass

How the father of slap bass drove the world’s grooviest band

Guitar World

“I wrote that bassline when I was 16. I saw this dude slapping the hell out of a bass at a music store – the tumblers clicked in my head. I took a bus home, picked up my bass, and I was doing it!” Fishbone’s Norwood Fisher names his 10 best basslines

The most iconic bass riffs in Fishbone’s catalog, according to Norwood Fisher himself

Guitar World

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“Prince picked up my bass – but it was tuned to Eb, so he just found one note that worked and he stayed on it the entire song”: Raphael Saadiq on playing with Prince, D'Angelo and the “dead” 1962 Fender that put the vintage in Instant Vintage

The Tony! Toni! Toné! trailblazer created a whole new rhythm section style on his 2002 solo debut

Guitar World

“I’ve heard Jimmy Page liked my attention to detail. So do the work, kids – it pays off!” From Joe Perry to Sheryl Crow, Audley Freed has played with the greats – but nothing beats jamming with Jimmy as part of the Black Crowes

The Gov’t Mule, Joe Perry and Jakob Dylan collaborator has come a long way since starting out on a “magnetic” toy guitar

Guitar World

“How does the vocal melody fit the chords? It kind of… doesn’t”: A music professor breaks down the “song of the summer“, Sabrina Carpenter's Espresso

We put this "finely engineered product of the pop machine" under the musical microscope

MusicRadar

“I came up with slap bass out of necessity. I was basically trying to play drums on the bass”: Larry Graham recounts the birth of “thumpin’ and pluckin’”

Few bassists can stake a claim to inventing slap bass more than Sly and the Family Stone’s Larry Graham

Guitar World

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The 20 greatest slap bass songs of all time

These masterful slap basslines chart the evolution of the quintessential bass technique, from Larry Graham to today's YouTube heroes

Guitar World

“We had it in about two takes. The funk was there as soon as we hit it”: Watch Louis 'thunder thumbs' Johnson slap a classic bass solo on the Brothers Johnson’s Stomp!

Johnson used a Music Man StingRay (which he helped design), and strung it with new D’Addario roundwounds

Guitar World

“The whole track is driven by the bassline!” How “Ready” Freddie Washington conceived the dance-funk classic that later became a massive hit as Will Smith's Men In Black

The story of Patrice Rushen’s Forget Me Nots, the song that became more famous as the theme from the Will Smith and Tommy Lee film Men in Black and was sampled by George Michael

Guitar World

‘I never lived a life I didn’t want to live’: Sly Stone on addiction, ageing and changing music for ever

The immeasurably influential, infamously erratic soul star has written an unlikely autobiography. In a rare interview, Stone opens up on drugs, feuds and his treasure trove of unreleased tracks

The Guardian - UK

"Like wrestling an octopus": How to play bass like Les Claypool

Even if you're not playing double-stops tapped on a fretless 6-string bass there’s still a lot you can learn from Primus frontman Les Claypool. We asked him to break down some of his craziest basslines...

Guitar World

When TM Stevens met James Brown: “I said, ‘One day I'm going to play with you!’ He said, ‘Don't do it! Stay in school!’”

TM Stevens on meeting the Godfather of Soul and the bass players that helped shape his sound

Guitar World

When Bootsy Collins met Larry Graham: “He handed me his bass, and I said, ‘Don't even try it. You play the bass, and I'll just watch’”

Why did funk legend Bootsy Collins refuse to jam with the godfather of slap bass?

Guitar World

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Guitar World

Primus's Les Claypool names 7 bassists who shaped his sound

The alt-rock innovator on "one of the most underrated bass players ever", who he sees as the instrument's Jimi Hendrix and that time a low-end hero "f**king kicked my ass" in a jam

Guitar World

Larry Graham on when you really need to use a 5-string bass

The godfather of slap bass says “I actually love playing a 5-string for other artists, but not for live shows”

Newcastle Herald

Get your eyes and ears ready for the king of the bass

'You're going to hear things you've never heard before.'

Guitar World

"If you’re overplaying, you’re under-listening": Rocco Prestia on 50 years with Tower of Power

From the archive: in our last in-depth interview with Rocco Prestia he looked back over his five decades with Tower Of Power

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The Guardian - UK

Sly Stone’s greatest songs – ranked!

As Stone turns 80 this week, we appraise the best of his songs, from wildly exuberant funk-pop hits to claustrophobic tracks made amid huge personal and social turmoil

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