Donald “Duck” Dunn Archives - Page 2

Since the news of Donald “Duck” Dunn’s passing this morning, I’ve been watching a lot of videos featuring the bass legend. It was hard to pick one to share on this day… so much great music. Here’s Dunn with Booker T & the MG’s performing “Green Onions” live in 1967, during the Stax/Volt Revue Live In Norway show. This concert...

Legendary bassist Donald “Duck” Dunn has died in Tokyo early this morning, following a night of shows at the Tokyo Blue Note. According to reports, Dunn passed away in his sleep. The bassist, who was 70 years old, was a member of Booker T. and the M.G.’s and session bassist for Stax Records. He was also a member of the...

After reading the previous column in this two-part series, I’m hoping you’ve had a chance to check out some music featuring the playing of Willie Dixon and Duck Dunn. Their old school approaches to playing blues compliments the players they accompanied and reflects how novel full-band blues recordings were in the 1950’s and ’60’s. Early on, blues recordings typically only...

One of the common bonds between a lot of us bass players is that we learned how to play by ear. Unlike other instruments, such as the clarinet or piano, we didn’t start out by taking private lessons, nor did we play in the fourth grade orchestra at school. Instead, we heard songs on the radio with cool bass lines...