Larry Graham
Encyclopedia
Larry Graham, Jr. is an African American
bass guitar
player, both with the popular and influential psychedelic soul
/funk
band Sly & the Family Stone
, and as the founder and frontman of Graham Central Station
. He is credited with the invention of the slapping
technique, which radically expanded the tonal palette of the bass, although he himself refers to the technique as "Thumpin' and Pluckin'."
Larry Graham is ranked #3 on Digital Dreamdoor's list of "100 Greatest Rock Bass Guitarists of All Time."
band Sly & the Family Stone
from 1966 to 1972. It is said that he pioneered the art of slap-pop playing on the electric bass, in part to provide percussive and rhythmic elements in addition to the notes of the bass line when his mother's band lacked a drummer; the slap of the thumb being used to emulate a bass drum
and the pop of the index or middle finger as a snare drum
. This style has become archetypal of modern funk. Slap-pop playing couples a percussive thumb-slapping technique of the lower strings with an aggressive finger-snap of the higher strings, often in rhythmic alternation. The slap and pop technique incorporates a large ratio of muted or "dead" notes to normal notes, which adds to the rhythmic effect.
This "slap" bass style was later used by such artists as Les Claypool
(of Primus
), Bootsy Collins
, Louis Johnson
, Mark King
, Flea
, Tim Commerford
(of Rage Against The Machine), Peter Hook
, Victor Wooten
, Jonas Hellborg
, Kim Clarke of Defunkt
, Marcus Miller
, Stanley Clarke
, John Norwood Fisher
, P-Nut
, Danny McCormack
, Matt Noveskey
, Dirk Lance, and Pino Palladino
.
After Sly and the Family Stone, Graham formed his own band, Graham Central Station
. The name is a pun on Grand Central Station
, the train station located in the Manhattan
borough of New York City. Graham Central Station had several hits in the 1970s, including "Hair".
In the mid-1970s, Larry Graham worked with Betty Davis
, the second ex-wife of jazz legend Miles Davis
. Betty Davis' band included members of the Tower of Power
horns and the Pointer Sisters
, and she recorded three albums to critical acclaim but limited commercial success.
In 1975, Graham became one of Jehovah's Witnesses
, eventually credited with converting Prince
to the faith. In the early 1980s, Graham recorded five solo albums and had several solo hits on the R&B charts. His biggest hit was "One in a Million You
", a crossover hit, which reached number nine on the Billboard Hot 100
chart in 1980.
He reformed Graham Central Station in the early 1990s and performed with the band for several years during which they released 2 live albums. One was recorded in Japan in 1992, and the other, recorded in London in 1996, had only 1000 copies printed and was exclusively sold at concerts.
In 1999, he recorded a solo album under the name Graham Central Station, GCS 2000
. It was a collaboration between Larry Graham and Prince
. While Graham wrote all the songs, except one co-written by Prince, the album was co-arranged and co-produced by Prince, and most of the instruments and vocals were recorded by both Graham and Prince. Graham also played bass on tours with Prince in 1997-2000. He appeared in Prince's 1998 VHS Beautiful Strange and 1999 DVD Rave Un2 the Year 2000
.
He has appeared with Prince since then at various international venues.
Larry Graham and Graham Central Station performed internationally with a world tour in 2010 and the "Funk Around The World" international tour in 2011.
Graham is the uncle of Canadian rapper and actor Aubrey Graham
(Drake).
Graham is the father of Singer/producer/songwriter Darric Graham
releases.
NPG Records
release:
African American
African Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have at least partial ancestry from any of the native populations of Sub-Saharan Africa and are the direct descendants of enslaved Africans within the boundaries of the present United States...
bass guitar
Bass guitar
The bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
player, both with the popular and influential psychedelic soul
Psychedelic soul
Psychedelic soul, sometimes called black rock, is a sub-genre of soul music, which mixes the characteristics of soul with psychedelic rock...
/funk
Funk
Funk is a music genre that originated in the mid-late 1960s when African American musicians blended soul music, jazz and R&B into a rhythmic, danceable new form of music. Funk de-emphasizes melody and harmony and brings a strong rhythmic groove of electric bass and drums to the foreground...
band Sly & the Family Stone
Sly & the Family Stone
Sly and the Family Stone were an American rock, funk, and soul band from San Francisco, California. Active from 1966 to 1983, the band was pivotal in the development of soul, funk, and psychedelic music...
, and as the founder and frontman of Graham Central Station
Graham Central Station
Graham Central Station is a funk band named after founder Larry Graham . The name is a pun on New York City's Grand Central Terminal, often incorrectly called Grand Central Station....
. He is credited with the invention of the slapping
Slapping
In music, the term slapping is often used to refer to two different playing techniques used on the double bass and on the bass guitar.-Double bass:...
technique, which radically expanded the tonal palette of the bass, although he himself refers to the technique as "Thumpin' and Pluckin'."
Larry Graham is ranked #3 on Digital Dreamdoor's list of "100 Greatest Rock Bass Guitarists of All Time."
Biography
Graham played bass in the highly successful and influential funkFunk
Funk is a music genre that originated in the mid-late 1960s when African American musicians blended soul music, jazz and R&B into a rhythmic, danceable new form of music. Funk de-emphasizes melody and harmony and brings a strong rhythmic groove of electric bass and drums to the foreground...
band Sly & the Family Stone
Sly & the Family Stone
Sly and the Family Stone were an American rock, funk, and soul band from San Francisco, California. Active from 1966 to 1983, the band was pivotal in the development of soul, funk, and psychedelic music...
from 1966 to 1972. It is said that he pioneered the art of slap-pop playing on the electric bass, in part to provide percussive and rhythmic elements in addition to the notes of the bass line when his mother's band lacked a drummer; the slap of the thumb being used to emulate a bass drum
Bass drum
Bass drums are percussion instruments that can vary in size and are used in several musical genres. Three major types of bass drums can be distinguished. The type usually seen or heard in orchestral, ensemble or concert band music is the orchestral, or concert bass drum . It is the largest drum of...
and the pop of the index or middle finger as a snare drum
Snare drum
The snare drum or side drum is a melodic percussion instrument with strands of snares made of curled metal wire, metal cable, plastic cable, or gut cords stretched across the drumhead, typically the bottom. Pipe and tabor and some military snare drums often have a second set of snares on the bottom...
. This style has become archetypal of modern funk. Slap-pop playing couples a percussive thumb-slapping technique of the lower strings with an aggressive finger-snap of the higher strings, often in rhythmic alternation. The slap and pop technique incorporates a large ratio of muted or "dead" notes to normal notes, which adds to the rhythmic effect.
This "slap" bass style was later used by such artists as Les Claypool
Les Claypool
Leslie Edward "Les" Claypool is an American musician and writer, best known as the lead vocalist and bassist in the band Primus. Claypool's playing style on the electric bass mixes tapping, flamenco-like strumming, whammy bar bends and slapping.Claypool has also self produced and engineered his...
(of Primus
Primus (band)
Primus is an American rock band based in San Francisco, California, currently composed of bassist/vocalist Les Claypool, guitarist Larry "Ler" LaLonde and drummer Jay Lane. Primus originally formed in 1984 with Claypool and guitarist Todd Huth, later joined by Lane, though the latter two departed...
), Bootsy Collins
Bootsy Collins
William Earl "Bootsy" Collins is an American funk bassist, singer, and songwriter.Rising to prominence with James Brown in the late 1960s, and with Parliament-Funkadelic in the '70s, Collins's driving bass guitar and humorous vocals established him as one of the leading names in funk...
, Louis Johnson
Louis Johnson (bassist)
Louis Johnson is an American bass guitarist.Johnson is best known for his group The Brothers Johnson and his session playing on several hit albums of the 1970s and '80s including the "best selling album of all time" Thriller...
, Mark King
Mark King (musician)
Mark King is an English musician. He is most famous for being the lead singer and bassist of the band, Level 42. In the early 1980s King popularized the 1970s-era slap and pop style for playing the bass guitar by incorporating it into pop music.-Early life:King was brought up on the Isle of Wight,...
, Flea
Flea (musician)
Michael Peter Balzary , better known by his stage name Flea, is an Australian-American musician and occasional actor. He is best known as the bassist, co-founding member, and one of the composers of the rock band Red Hot Chili Peppers...
, Tim Commerford
Tim Commerford
Timothy Robert Commerford , also known by his various monikers/stage names is the bassist/backing vocalist for American alternative metal band Rage Against The Machine and the now-defunct supergroup Audioslave.-Biography:Tim Commerford was born on February...
(of Rage Against The Machine), Peter Hook
Peter Hook
Peter Hook is an English bass player, musician and author.He was a co-founder of the post-punk band Joy Division along with Bernard Sumner in the mid-1970s. Following the death of lead singer Ian Curtis, the band reformed as New Order, and Hook played bass with them throughout their career until...
, Victor Wooten
Victor Wooten
Victor Lemonte Wooten is an American bass player, composer, author, and producer, and has been the recipient of five Grammy Awards....
, Jonas Hellborg
Jonas Hellborg
Jonas Hellborg is a Swedish bass guitarist. He has collaborated with John McLaughlin, Ustad Sultan Khan, Fazal Qureshi, Bill Laswell, Shawn Lane, Jens Johansson, Michael Shrieve, V. Selvaganesh, Mattias IA Eklundh and Buckethead....
, Kim Clarke of Defunkt
Defunkt
Defunkt is a musical group founded by trombonist/singer Joseph Bowie 1978 in New York, United States, and still active. Their music touches on elements of punk rock, funk and jazz....
, Marcus Miller
Marcus Miller
Marcus Miller is an American jazz composer, producer, and multi-instrumentalist. Miller is best known as a bassist, working with trumpeter Miles Davis, singer Luther Vandross, and saxophonist David Sanborn, as well as maintaining a prolific solo career...
, Stanley Clarke
Stanley Clarke
Stanley Clarke is an American jazz musician and composer known for his innovative and influential work on double bass and electric bass guitar as well as for his numerous film and television scores...
, John Norwood Fisher
John Norwood Fisher
John Norwood Fisher is the bass player and founder for the band Fishbone. Fisher has played bass in the band throughout its history, even as other members have departed and returned...
, P-Nut
P-Nut
Aaron Charles Wills , is an American musician, bassist for band 311, and music producer / bassist for band Hollows Follow.- Background :...
, Danny McCormack
Danny McCormack
Danny McCormack is a British singer and bassist.-Biography:He became the bass player in The Wildhearts in 1991 and soon relocated to London with the band, enjoying success during their commercial peak, before splitting up in 1998...
, Matt Noveskey
Matt Noveskey
William Matthew "Matt" Noveskey is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, guitarist, and bassist, best known for his work with the bands Blue October and machines.-Early life:...
, Dirk Lance, and Pino Palladino
Pino Palladino
Pino Palladino is a Welsh bass guitarist who gained fame playing primarily rock and roll, blues rock, and rhythm and blues music, although he has been lauded for his ability to play most genres of popular music, including jazz, neo soul, and funk...
.
After Sly and the Family Stone, Graham formed his own band, Graham Central Station
Graham Central Station
Graham Central Station is a funk band named after founder Larry Graham . The name is a pun on New York City's Grand Central Terminal, often incorrectly called Grand Central Station....
. The name is a pun on Grand Central Station
Grand Central Terminal
Grand Central Terminal —often incorrectly called Grand Central Station, or shortened to simply Grand Central—is a terminal station at 42nd Street and Park Avenue in Midtown Manhattan in New York City, United States...
, the train station located in the Manhattan
Manhattan
Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...
borough of New York City. Graham Central Station had several hits in the 1970s, including "Hair".
In the mid-1970s, Larry Graham worked with Betty Davis
Betty Davis
Betty Davis is an American funk, rock and soul singer. She was also Miles Davis's second wife.- Background :She worked as a model, appearing in photo spreads in Seventeen, Ebony and Glamour...
, the second ex-wife of jazz legend Miles Davis
Miles Davis
Miles Dewey Davis III was an American jazz musician, trumpeter, bandleader, and composer. Widely considered one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century, Miles Davis was, with his musical groups, at the forefront of several major developments in jazz music, including bebop, cool jazz,...
. Betty Davis' band included members of the Tower of Power
Tower of Power
Tower of Power is an American R&B-based horn section and band, originating in Oakland, California, that has been performing for over 43 years. They are best known for their funky soul sound highlighted by a powerful horn section...
horns and the Pointer Sisters
Pointer Sisters
The Pointer Sisters are an American pop/R&B recording act from Oakland, California that achieved mainstream success during the 1970s and 1980s. Spanning over three decades, their repertoire has included such diverse genres as pop, disco, jazz, bebop, blues, soul, funk, dance, country and rock.The...
, and she recorded three albums to critical acclaim but limited commercial success.
In 1975, Graham became one of Jehovah's Witnesses
Jehovah's Witnesses
Jehovah's Witnesses is a millenarian restorationist Christian denomination with nontrinitarian beliefs distinct from mainstream Christianity. The religion reports worldwide membership of over 7 million adherents involved in evangelism, convention attendance of over 12 million, and annual...
, eventually credited with converting Prince
Prince (musician)
Prince Rogers Nelson , often known simply as Prince, is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and actor. Prince has produced ten platinum albums and thirty Top 40 singles during his career. Prince founded his own recording studio and label; writing, self-producing and playing most, or all, of...
to the faith. In the early 1980s, Graham recorded five solo albums and had several solo hits on the R&B charts. His biggest hit was "One in a Million You
One in a Million You
"One in a Million You" is a 1980 single by Larry Graham, former bass player for Sly & the Family Stone and frontman for Graham Central Station. The ballad crossed over to the top ten on the Billboard Hot 100 pop chart, peaking at number nine in the summer of 1980 and hit number one on the R&B...
", a crossover hit, which reached number nine on the Billboard Hot 100
Billboard Hot 100
The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...
chart in 1980.
He reformed Graham Central Station in the early 1990s and performed with the band for several years during which they released 2 live albums. One was recorded in Japan in 1992, and the other, recorded in London in 1996, had only 1000 copies printed and was exclusively sold at concerts.
In 1999, he recorded a solo album under the name Graham Central Station, GCS 2000
GCS 2000
GCS 2000 is a studio album by funk group Graham Central Station released on July 21, 1998, on NPG Records. It wastheir first new album in America since 1979's Star Walk.-Background:...
. It was a collaboration between Larry Graham and Prince
Prince (musician)
Prince Rogers Nelson , often known simply as Prince, is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and actor. Prince has produced ten platinum albums and thirty Top 40 singles during his career. Prince founded his own recording studio and label; writing, self-producing and playing most, or all, of...
. While Graham wrote all the songs, except one co-written by Prince, the album was co-arranged and co-produced by Prince, and most of the instruments and vocals were recorded by both Graham and Prince. Graham also played bass on tours with Prince in 1997-2000. He appeared in Prince's 1998 VHS Beautiful Strange and 1999 DVD Rave Un2 the Year 2000
Rave Un2 the Year 2000
Rave Un2 the Year 2000 is a 2000 direct to video film of Prince in concert. Although taped earlier in December, 1999, the concert was originally broadcast via Pay-per-view on New Year's Eve, 1999 The concert features several notable cover versions, and some Prince's biggest hits...
.
He has appeared with Prince since then at various international venues.
Larry Graham and Graham Central Station performed internationally with a world tour in 2010 and the "Funk Around The World" international tour in 2011.
Graham is the uncle of Canadian rapper and actor Aubrey Graham
Drake (entertainer)
Aubrey Drake Graham , who records under the mononym Drake, is a Canadian recording artist and actor. He originally became known for playing Jimmy Brooks on the television series Degrassi: The Next Generation....
(Drake).
Graham is the father of Singer/producer/songwriter Darric Graham
with Graham Central Station
- Graham Central Station 1974, Warner Bros.
- Release Yourself 1974, Warner Bros.
- Ain't No 'Bout-A-Doubt It 1975, Warner Bros.
- Mirror 1976, Warner Bros.
- Now Do U Wanta Dance 1977, Warner Bros.
- My Radio Sure Sounds Good to Me 1978, Warner Bros.
- Star Walk 1979, Warner Bros.
- Live In Japan, 1992
- Live In London, 1996
- Back By Popular Demand 1998
- The Best of Larry Graham and Graham Central Station, Vol. 1 1996, Warner Bros.
Solo albums
All Warner Bros.Warner Bros. Records
Warner Bros. Records Inc. is an American record label. It was the foundation label of the present-day Warner Music Group, and now operates as a wholly owned subsidiary of that corporation. It maintains a close relationship with its former parent, Warner Bros. Pictures, although the two companies...
releases.
- 1980: One in a Million You
- 1981: Just Be My Lady
- 1982: Sooner or Later
- 1983: Victory
- 1985: Fired Up
NPG Records
NPG Records
NPG Records is the current active record label owned by Prince, founded in 1993 to release his music after Paisley Park Records. Paisley Park was shut down by Warner Bros. Records in 1993. Warner Bros. distributed one NPG release in 1995, The Gold Experience. "NPG" is short for "New Power...
release:
- 1999: GCS2000 (as Graham Central Station)
Singles
| Year | Title | Album | U.S. Hot 100 Billboard Hot 100 The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday... |
U.S. R&B Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, is a chart released weekly by Billboard in the United States.The chart, initiated in 1942, is used to track the success of popular music songs in urban, or primarily African American, venues. Dominated over the years at various times by jazz, rhythm and blues, doo-wop, soul,... |
UK Singles Chart UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ... |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1980 | "One in a Million You One in a Million You "One in a Million You" is a 1980 single by Larry Graham, former bass player for Sly & the Family Stone and frontman for Graham Central Station. The ballad crossed over to the top ten on the Billboard Hot 100 pop chart, peaking at number nine in the summer of 1980 and hit number one on the R&B... " |
One in a Million You | 9 | 1 | |
| 1980 | "When We Get Married" | One in a Million You | 76 | 9 | |
| 1981 | "Guess Who" | Just Be My Lady | 69 | ||
| 1981 | "Just Be My Lady" | Just Be My Lady | 67 | 4 | |
| 1982 | "Don't Stop When You're Hot"/ "Sooner or Later Sooner or Later (Larry Graham song) "Sooner or Later" is an electro-boogie song recorded by American funk guitarist, singer-songwriter and music producer Larry Graham. The song, written and produced by Larry Graham, was released in 1982 by Warner Bros. Records... " |
Sooner or Later | 102 110 |
16 27 |
54 |
| 1983 | "I Never Forget Your Eyes" | Victory | 34 |