Larry Graham, Jr. (born August 14, 1946 in Beaumont, Texas) is an American baritone singer, musician, songwriter, and record producer. He is best known as both the bass player in 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'."
Biography Graham played bass in the highly successful and influential funk band Sly & the Family Stone from 1967 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 bassline when his mother's band lacked a drummer (*see below); 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 archetypical 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 'ghost' tones) to normal notes, which adds to the rhythmic effect.
This "Slap" bass style was later used by such artists as Les Claypool, Bootsy Collins, Louis Johnson, Mark King, Flea, Victor Wooten, Marcus Miller, Stanley Clarke, John Norwood Fisher, P-Nut, Danny McCormack, Matt Noveskey and Dirk Lance.
Upon the Family Stone's disintegration due to lead singer Sly Stone's drug addiction, 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 former second 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[1]. In the early 1980s, Graham recorded five solo albums and had several solo hits. His biggest hit was "One in a Million, You", which reached number 9 on the Billboard chart in 1980.
He reformed Graham Central Station in the early 1990's 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 was recorded in London in 1996 (this last one had only 1000 copies printed and was exclusively sold at concerts).
In 1998, he recorded another solo album under the name Graham Central Station. The album, called GCS 2000, was actually a collaboration between Larry Graham & Prince: while Graham wrote all the songs (except for one which was 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 & Prince. Graham also toured with Prince as his bassist in 1997-2000. He appeared in Prince's 1998 vhs Beautiful Strange and Prince's 1999 dvd Rave un2 the year 2000.
In 2007 he was invited to play in Minneapolis with the reformed Sly & the Family Stone, but declined because he was out of town. He did, however, appear onstage in Minneapolis on July 8th, 2007 with Prince at First Avenue.
Actually, Larry himself says in a video that he invented this technique when he played with his mother. The bass pedals on the organ stopped working, and they didn't have the money to fix it, so he picked up a bass guitar and started playing around with it to fill in the bottom. The standard playing technique was uncomfortable and unnatural to him, so he came up with his own style of playing, and the rest is history. (updated 02/02/08)
In actuality, his thumping came as a necessity because he and his mother lost their drummer in their group. So to make up for not having the kick drum back beat and the percussion, Larry would thump and pluck the strings to give the sound some beat. This inevitably led to his distinctive sound that has been adapted by so many bassists the world over.
Discography
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, WEA Star Walk 1979, Warner Bros. Live In Japan, 1992 Live In London, 1996 The Best of Larry Graham and Graham Central Station, Vol. 1 1996, Warner Bros. The Jam: The Larry Graham & Graham Central Station Anthology 2001, Rhino Greatest Hits 2003, Rhino Flashback
Solo Albums All Warner Bros. releases. 1980: One in a Million You 1981: Just Be My Lady 1982: Sooner or Later 1983: Victory 1985: Fired Up NPG Records release 1999: GCS2000
Singles Year Title Album US Hot 100 US R&B UK Chart 1980 "One in a Million You" 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 "Sooner or Later"/ "Don't Stop When You're Hot" Sooner or Later 27 16 1983 "I Never Forget Your Eyes" Victory 34
GRAHAM CENTRAL STATION
Graham Central Station was a funk band named after founder Larry Graham (formerly of Sly & the Family Stone) and is a pun on New York City's Grand Central Station.
The band's origins date from when Santana guitarist Neal Schon formed the band Azteca along with Larry Graham (bass guitar) and Gregg Errico (drums), both from Sly & the Family Stone, and Peter Sears (keyboards), from Hot Tuna and Jefferson Starship. Santana bass guitar player Tom Rutley would move into to the bass spot with Azteca. That band, like Santana with heavy Latin influences, would eventually morph into Graham Central Station, while Schon would find Journey.
Graham Central Station's biggest hit was "Your Love", which charted at number 9 in 1975. The group also integrated gospel music into their repertoire, and played with the dichotomy between the funk/rock star image and the "sanctified" gospel group image. Some of their recordings feature the Tower of Power horn section. Personnel Larry Graham: vocals, bass, guitar, clavinet, organ, piano, drums, percussion Patryce Banks: vocals, electric funk box, tambourine Hershall Kennedy: vocals, clavinet, trumpet Robert Sam: vocals, piano, organ David Vega: vocals, guitar Willie Sparks: vocals, drums P. CaboOse: tenor saxophone Milt Holland: percussion Lenny Williams: vocals Freddie Stone: guitar Noel Closson: Drums (Former band member)
Discography Graham Central Station 1973, Warner Bros. Records Release Yourself 1974, Warner Bros. Records Ain't No 'Bout-A-Doubt It 1975, Warner Bros. Records Mirror 1976, Warner Bros. Records Now Do U Wanta Dance 1977, Warner Bros. Records My Radio Sure Sounds Good to Me 1978, WEA Star Walk 1979, Warner Bros. Records Live In Japan '92 1992, Star Maker Records / manufactured by PIA Corporation & Edoya Records Inc. ( Tokyo,Japan ) The Best of Larry Graham and Graham Central Station, Vol. 1 1996, Warner Bros. Records Graham Central Station 2000 1998, NPG (produced with the artist formerly known as Prince) The Jam: The Larry Graham & Graham Central Station Anthology 2001, Rhino Greatest Hits 2003, Rhino Flashback
