Stone Love Bass Odyssey
June 5, 2020 10:07 PM   Subscribe

John Taylor, bassist for Duran Duran, has been working during lockdown. He recently did a reddit AMA, he has an Instagram channel in which he chats with other musicians [I am not an Instagram member but I did look at the summary page available to me], and he has a YouTube "bass tutorial" channel Stone Love Bass Odyssey which so far has covered Girls On Film, Planet Earth, and Rio.

Taylor is widely regarded as one of the best bass players. He's not a good teacher, but just watching him work his craft is amazing.
posted by hippybear (15 comments total) 30 users marked this as a favorite
 
I will also refer you to this previously which is specifically about the construction of Rio as a track. During which John Taylor (there were 3 Taylors in Duran Duran, none related) gets more kudos than possibly imagined. And all well deserved.
posted by hippybear at 10:16 PM on June 5, 2020 [2 favorites]


It’s a great series, and far deeper than one might originally suppose.
posted by Capt. Renault at 10:39 PM on June 5, 2020


I appreciate what you’re doing, but in the year 2020 I feel like any FPP starting with the name of a person involved in anything I like should include a big NOT DEAD disclaimer right at the start

also this is a good post, but my blood pressure
posted by DoctorFedora at 11:25 PM on June 5, 2020 [8 favorites]


My friend Angie had pictures of John Taylor from floor to ceiling on her bedroom walls.

And yeah, my heart had a similar reaction to DoctorFedora's.
posted by The Underpants Monster at 12:02 AM on June 6, 2020


Well, he did get the 'rona, so it's good to see him at work.
posted by NemesisVex at 12:22 AM on June 6, 2020


This is awesome and amazing - thanks for posting, love how he goes into making music tracks.
posted by unearthed at 12:28 AM on June 6, 2020


Not much aware of him as such, but he really comes off as a pleasant, intelligent, thoughtful, helpful, person. Even his body language is charming. The wall of books doesn't hurt that impression.
posted by StickyCarpet at 5:49 AM on June 6, 2020 [1 favorite]


That has been a great series.John Taylor was a huge influence on me as a bass players, so this has been a lot of fun to watch. I'm impressed at how much he remembers about early versions of the songs, and that's really the key here. He's able to show how the songs evolved. It's also nice to see him give enthusiastic credit to other members of the band for their parts.

Their first two albums are so good, showing obvious influences and input from each member. John Taylor's funk and disco influences locking in with Roger Taylor's super tight drumming, Nick Rhodes's synth atmospheres, and Andy Taylor's more rock-oriented guitar all blending really well together behind Simon LeBon's unique thing. There were a lot of bands riding the new wave, uh, wave in the early 80s, with lots of emphasis on fashion and videos. And while Duran Duran certainly had all that, they were also far more sophisticated than any other band in the same boat.
posted by jonathanhughes at 5:50 AM on June 6, 2020 [4 favorites]


The videos seem great; as a non-musician it is always interesting to see songs broken down and reassembled like that. Is it mentioned anywhere if the name of his youtube series is a homage to the Stone Love sound system, or is it a reference to a Duran Duran lyric or something like that?
posted by Dip Flash at 7:43 AM on June 6, 2020


Oh yes...I definitely had the Duran Duran poster in my bedroom and John was always my dream member! I still love the song Girls on Film and I actually got chills when he started playing version 3 in the tutorial. I think their stuff has held up so well. Thanks for posting.
posted by victoriab at 9:13 AM on June 6, 2020 [1 favorite]


Rio was one of my go-to bass riffs. Though his hands look a lot more relaxed than mine.
posted by RobotVoodooPower at 12:21 PM on June 6, 2020


I just got my first bass (first musical instrument) a couple days ago and the availability of his tutorials was one of the things that made me think 'oh what the heck, why not'. And I had posters of him all over my walls as a pre-teen, too. I've been trying to have hair that cool my whole life.
posted by taterpie at 6:55 PM on June 6, 2020 [2 favorites]


He was always my favorite member of Duran Duran, and I'm delighted to see that he is still doing really cool things.
posted by rednikki at 3:15 AM on June 7, 2020


BBC has a great show called "Mark Kermode's Secrets of Cinema." Clearly they need to hire John Taylor for "John Taylor's Secrets of Pop Music." He is funny and charming and explains things so that even me, a music ignoramus, can understand them. (And yes, I did just comment a minute ago. But I hadn't yet watched the video and honestly didn't expect to like it so much.)
posted by rednikki at 3:32 AM on June 7, 2020


there were 3 Taylors in Duran Duran, none related

You could say their music was Taylor made.
posted by MartinWisse at 1:27 AM on June 8, 2020 [1 favorite]


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