More book progress

bassduke49 · Post by **bassduke49** » Fri Mar 30, 2012 8:00 pm

Today I had a very pleasant phone interview with James Kirkland, an electric bass pioneer who played both upright and electric bass for Ricky Nelson and James Reeves. I had written to him back in December 2010, but never heard back. Through an old Myspace page on Kirkland, the page owner, Sheree Homer, contacted me last night with a phone number for him. Kirkland is now 78 years old, and except for a few rare appearances, has not been in the "music business" since he left Nashville in the early 1960s. The reason I tried to find him is that he is likely the first bass player to appear on stage and TV with a Rickenbacker bass. James recalls that the one that he had was a "brown sunburst" and that he received it as a promotional instrument from "Mr. Hall" sometime in 1958 along with Ricky Nelson receiving a Rick acoustic guitar (which Kirkland described as "just like a Martin"). I have a couple of copy photos from RIC showing Kirkland with this bass, and the shot in Nelson's band is black & white; the revelation of the bass being "brown sunburst" is great! Wish I could find a color photo of him with that.

Kirkland later signed on with Jim Reeves and the Blueboys, and there are several shots of the band with an all Rickenbacker lineup, all painted powder blue (which we call "Blue Boy" after Reeves band. Even the Rickenbacker amps had light blue fabric grilles. He told me that his brown sunburst bass was "repainted in Nashville" so that it could be included in the Blueboys color scheme. Kirkland lays claim to being the first bassist to use an electric bass on stage of the Grand ol' Opry! And it was his Rickenbacker!

Shortly after working with Reeves, Kirkland became fed up with the "music business" and walked away. He left his Rickenbacker and amplifier in Reeves' basement, and of course Reeves died soon after, and the disposition of Kirkland's bass is a mystery. "I didn't care about it then, I just wanted to get away from Nashville. But I wish I had it back now. It was the best bass I ever played. That old horseshoe pickup had a great sound. I've got a '60s Jazz Bass and I love it, but it is nothing like that old Rick. That was the best one."

I have also received photos of Stu Cook's Rickenbacker 4001, the one he posed with on the cover of Creedence Clearwater Revival's "Bayou Country" album. I also now have great shots of Chris Brubeck using his fretless 4001, and Andy Lewis with his 4004. I have also received a recent high-resolution shot of Chris Squire playing his familiar bass, Amy Humphrey with her Jetglo 4003, Lifehouse's Bryce Soderberg with both Fireglo and Blueburst 4003, and a rising Rick bass star, Marlon Deppen of Seattle's "Alabaster" playing his Red w/BT 4003. The book is gaining in population!

cjj · Post by **cjj** » Fri Mar 30, 2012 8:15 pm

Wow, great stuff!

coolingitdown · Post by **coolingitdown** » Fri Mar 30, 2012 8:34 pm

Great stuff, Paul!

I can't wait to get my hands on the book!

8mileshigher · Post by **8mileshigher** » Fri Mar 30, 2012 8:42 pm

That's an interesting bit of first Bass history ...

johnallg · Post by **johnallg** » Fri Mar 30, 2012 9:40 pm

bassduke49 wrote:Kirkland lays claim to being the first bassist to use an electric bass on stage of the Grand ol' Opry! And it was his Rickenbacker!

Now THAT is an important historical fact.

I'd dare say 99.99% of all people asked would have said Fender....

MaplegloMatt · Post by **MaplegloMatt** » Fri Mar 30, 2012 10:32 pm

Thanks for all of that great info....I can't wait for the book!

jps · Post by **jps** » Sat Mar 31, 2012 12:49 am

johnallg wrote:
bassduke49 wrote:Kirkland lays claim to being the first bassist to use an electric bass on stage of the Grand ol' Opry! And it was his Rickenbacker!
Now THAT is an important historical fact. I'd dare say 99.99% of all people asked would have said Fender....

Totally!

jps · Post by **jps** » Sat Mar 31, 2012 12:50 am

Excellent news, Paul!

cassius987 · Post by **cassius987** » Sat Mar 31, 2012 1:37 am

Paul, great work! Good job getting the interview and digging up some neat history.

May I humbly suggest you look for some photos of Paul d'Amour to add to your impressive pile of names and photos, with his modified 4001CS? I feel he is a big if somewhat under-appreciated contributor to modern Rickenbassdom. Undertow is the reason I even know what a Rickenbacker is. I'm glad you're trying to cover a lot of ~~basses~~ bases and not just paying attention to the most obvious names among Ric bass players.

Please also consider finding some photo documentation of Squarepusher with his 4001. I know I've seen at least one photo. The best example of it I know of is in this song (really kicks in at the 1-minute mark):

aerome · Post by **aerome** » Sat Mar 31, 2012 7:29 am

Great work, Paul. You're sure whetting the appetites of many a RICer. Like so many have said, can't wait for the book.

coolingitdown · Post by **coolingitdown** » Sat Mar 31, 2012 11:37 am

johnallg wrote:
bassduke49 wrote:Kirkland lays claim to being the first bassist to use an electric bass on stage of the Grand ol' Opry! And it was his Rickenbacker!
Now THAT is an important historical fact. I'd dare say 99.99% of all people asked would have said Fender....

Well of course they would have said that. Everyone knows you can't play country on a Rick!

cassius987 · Post by **cassius987** » Sat Mar 31, 2012 12:18 pm

coolingitdown wrote:
johnallg wrote:
bassduke49 wrote:Kirkland lays claim to being the first bassist to use an electric bass on stage of the Grand ol' Opry! And it was his Rickenbacker!
Now THAT is an important historical fact. I'd dare say 99.99% of all people asked would have said Fender....
Well of course they would have said that. Everyone knows you can't play country on a Rick!

I think I might have contributed to that rumor. I was freelancing on a country gig once and the bandleader sent me the wrong song name in advance... he wrote "Ham Bone" instead of "Trambone". So I was never able to figure it out like the rest of the set and the first couple times through the head I just had to cover my ears and hope for the best. Still got a standing o at the end though... That's saying something when the average age in the crowd was probably 60. YES barely pulled that off when I saw them in St. Louis a couple of years ago!

RobRick · Post by **RobRick** » Sat Mar 31, 2012 3:35 pm

Another suggestion: contact Rick Nielsen and Tom Petersson of Cheap Trick, I know they have some cool, even rare Ricks in their collections. Tom used a Rick 4001 on ALL SHOOK UP, the Cheap Trick LP they recorded with Beatles producer George Martin and engineer Geoff Emerick.

VRICKY63 · Post by **VRICKY63** » Sat Mar 31, 2012 4:00 pm

Book...........Book.............I want the BOOK!!!!!!!

jps · Post by **jps** » Sat Mar 31, 2012 4:43 pm

VRICKY63 wrote:Book...........Book.............I want the BOOK!!!!!!!

Patience, young grasswalker, er, Skyhopper, uh, whoever!

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