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On this day, May 19, 1938, bassist Herbie Flowers was born.
Herbie Flowers
Flowers in 2013
Background information
Birth name: Brian Keith Flowers
Born: 19 May 1938 (age 84); Isleworth, Middlesex, England
Occupation(s): Musician
Instrument(s): Electric bass, double bass, tuba
Years active: 1956–present
Brian Keith "Herbie" Flowers (born 19 May 1938) is an English musician specialising in electric bass, double bass and tuba. He is noted as a member of Blue Mink, T. Rex and Sky.
Flowers has contributed to recordings by Elton John (Tumbleweed Connection, Madman Across the Water), Camel (tuba on Nude), David Bowie (Space Oddity, Diamond Dogs), Lou Reed ( Transformer, including the prominent bass line of "Walk on the Wild Side" ), Melanie (Candles in the Rain),Roy Harper (Bullinamingvase), David Essex (Rock On), Al Kooper (New York City (You're a Woman)), Bryan Ferry (The Bride Stripped Bare), Harry Nilsson (Nilsson Schmilsson, Son of Schmilsson), Cat Stevens (New Masters, Foreigner), Paul McCartney (Give My Regards to Broad Street), George Harrison (Somewhere in England, Gone Troppo, Brainwashed) and Ringo Starr (Stop and Smell the Roses). He also played bass on Jeff Wayne's Musical Version of The War of the Worlds.
By the end of the 1970s, Flowers had played bass on an estimated 500 hit recordings.
Life and career
Flowers was born in Isleworth, Middlesex, England. He began his musical training in 1956 when conscripted into the Royal Air Force, electing at first to serve for nine years as a bandsman playing tuba. He took up double bass as a second instrument to secure his "junior technician" stripe and later moved to electric bass. After completing his military service he passed through the line-ups of several Dixieland jazz bands in the early 1960s, then discovered modern jazz. In 1965 he was engaged as a bandsman on the ocean liner Queen Elizabeth. After hearing an electric bass at a New York nightclub, he acquired his own solid-body electric instrument, a Lake Placid Blue 1960 Fender Jazz Bass that he purchased from Manny's Music in New York City for $79.
{snip}
Flowers in 2013
Background information
Birth name: Brian Keith Flowers
Born: 19 May 1938 (age 84); Isleworth, Middlesex, England
Occupation(s): Musician
Instrument(s): Electric bass, double bass, tuba
Years active: 1956–present
Brian Keith "Herbie" Flowers (born 19 May 1938) is an English musician specialising in electric bass, double bass and tuba. He is noted as a member of Blue Mink, T. Rex and Sky.
Flowers has contributed to recordings by Elton John (Tumbleweed Connection, Madman Across the Water), Camel (tuba on Nude), David Bowie (Space Oddity, Diamond Dogs), Lou Reed ( Transformer, including the prominent bass line of "Walk on the Wild Side" ), Melanie (Candles in the Rain),Roy Harper (Bullinamingvase), David Essex (Rock On), Al Kooper (New York City (You're a Woman)), Bryan Ferry (The Bride Stripped Bare), Harry Nilsson (Nilsson Schmilsson, Son of Schmilsson), Cat Stevens (New Masters, Foreigner), Paul McCartney (Give My Regards to Broad Street), George Harrison (Somewhere in England, Gone Troppo, Brainwashed) and Ringo Starr (Stop and Smell the Roses). He also played bass on Jeff Wayne's Musical Version of The War of the Worlds.
By the end of the 1970s, Flowers had played bass on an estimated 500 hit recordings.
Life and career
Flowers was born in Isleworth, Middlesex, England. He began his musical training in 1956 when conscripted into the Royal Air Force, electing at first to serve for nine years as a bandsman playing tuba. He took up double bass as a second instrument to secure his "junior technician" stripe and later moved to electric bass. After completing his military service he passed through the line-ups of several Dixieland jazz bands in the early 1960s, then discovered modern jazz. In 1965 he was engaged as a bandsman on the ocean liner Queen Elizabeth. After hearing an electric bass at a New York nightclub, he acquired his own solid-body electric instrument, a Lake Placid Blue 1960 Fender Jazz Bass that he purchased from Manny's Music in New York City for $79.
{snip}