Album Session Players
Album - Full recording info etc…
Steve Via
Born:
June 6th 1960. Long Island, USA
PiL:
Lead Guitar
Bio:
Already a well respected 'heavy-rock' guitarist, Vai was hired in autumn
1985 as a session musician by producer Bill Laswell to play lead guitar
on 'Album'. Vai plays guitar on all tracks. The basic tracks had already
been recorded at Power Station Studios and Quad Recording Studios. Vai
added lead and solos at Electric Lady Studios.
Vai: "Bill Laswell, the producer, called and I flew in and out
of New York from Alcatrazz shows to cut the parts. I basically did all
the guitar parts in two days... Some of the material I'd never heard
and just went in and started playing on it. At the end, Johnny Lydon
came in and liked it. "
Vai considers 'Album' to be
some of his best work; appreciating the musical freedom he received. He
still refers to it as "a brilliant record". Lydon was
also a fan of Vai's guitar work on the album calling it "magnificent"
and applauding it for its "energy".
Classically trained, Vai is known as one of the technically best guitarists
in the business. He
formed his first serious band Axis in 1978 and played for Frank Zappa
(1980-82 & 1985-86). His
first solo album 'Flex-Able' was released in 1984. Vai has also played
with the likes of Alcatrazz (1985), David Lee Roth (1985-87) and Whitesnake
(1990).
Vai continues to release solo albums; and also owns the recording and publishing company Favored Nations. His 2003 compilation 'Archives Vol. 4 CD' included 'Home' and 'Ease'.
External Links:
Steve Via - Official website
Bernie Worrell
Born:
April 19th 1944. Long Beach, New Jersey, USA
PiL:
Keyboards
Bio:
A previous Laswell collaborator, before playing on 'Album' Worrell had
also played keyboards on Time Zone: 'World Destruction' and The Golden
Palominos 'The Animal Speaks': both of course featuring John Lydon.
Worrell's parts for 'Album' were recorded at Quad Recording Studios.
He plays on the tracks 'FFF', 'Fishing', 'Round' and 'Home'.
A well respected funk keyboardist and pianist Bernie "The Wizard"
Worrell was a founder member of the hugely influential Parliament-Funkadelic
playing on fifty-plus albums, and is regarded as one of the most sampled
musicians ever. In 1997 he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall
of Fame for his work with Parliament.
Still an in-demand session man, Worrell has worked with the likes of
The Pretenders, Talking Heads, Soul Asylum and Keith Richards. As
well as numerous Bill Laswell projects, including Ginger Baker's 'Middle
Passage' (1992); which also featured Jah Wobble. Worrell continues with
several solo activities: including Bernie Worrell and The WOO Warriors,
Colonel Claypool's Bucket of Bernie Brains, and SociaLybrium.
External Links:
Bernie Worrell - Official website
Ginger Baker
Born:
August 19th 1939. Lewisham, London, England
PiL:
Drums
Bio:
Back in 1981 'NME' printed an April Fool's joke that the drummer-less
PiL were set to enlist the help of legendary Cream drummer Ginger
Baker. A journalistic hoax that actually came
true six years later, when Bill
Laswell coaxed him out of retirement to be one of the drummers on 'Album'.
Baker plays on the tracks 'Fishing', 'Round', 'Bags' and 'Ease'.
Although sceptical at first, John Lydon was won over by Baker's approach
and the end product: "He just goes in and does
it, no pretentiousness". Baker's
drum parts were recorded at Power Station Studios. Roger Trilling (Laswell
cohort): "First we recorded drums, with (engineer) Jason Corsaro,
in the Power Station and its huge concrete resounding garage.
Then we moved over to Quad, for bass, keyboards and rhythm
guitar."
Heavily influenced by jazz in his youth, Baker would go
on to form Cream along with Eric Clapton and Jack Bruce in 1966. After
their split in the late 60s Baker spent several years in Africa, particularly
Nigeria, working on ideas of how traditional West African rhythms could
fuse with rock music. He is now widely acknowledged as one of the pioneers
in bringing 'world music' to the mainstream. In the 70s Baker had several
solo projects before retiring in 1982 to reportedly run a "drum
school in the hills of Italy".
After a jokey comment by Lydon that he wanted Baker as drummer on 'Album',
Bill Laswell – completely taken by the idea – made a personal pilgrimage
to Italy to track him down and bring him back to New York. Laswell and
Baker would develop a close bond and collaborate on a number of projects
over the years; including Baker's solo album 'Middle Passage' in 1992;
which also featured Jah Wobble.
External Links:
Ginger Baker - Wikipedia
Nicky Skopelitis
Born:
USA
PiL:
Guitar
Bio:
Another previous Laswell collaborator, before playing on 'Album' Skopelitis
had played guitar on the Time Zone: 'World Destruction' single with
John Lydon and Afrika Bambaataa. His guitars for 'Album' were recorded
at Quad Recording Studios. Skopelitis plays on the tracks 'FFF', 'Rise',
'Fishing', 'Round' and 'Home'.
Skopelitis later contributed to Jah Wobble's 'Heaven And Earth' album
(1995). He'd previously played with Wobble – again via the
Laswell connection – on his own 'Ekstasis' (1993) and 'Wake
Up and Dream' (1998) albums.
Skopelitis has worked with Bill Laswell since 1983, playing on records by the likes of Bambaataa, The Golden Palaminos and Ginger Baker. He also has his own "Psychedelic Trance" ensemble Ekstasis; with various musicians from the Laswell fold.
External Links:
Innerhythmic Records - Official website
Ryuichi Sakamoto
Born:
January 17th 1952. Tokyo, Japan
PiL:
Synthesiser
Bio:
A well respected session player Sakamoto was hired in autumn 1985 by
producer Bill Laswell to play Fairlight CMI synthesiser on 'Album'.
His parts were recorded at Quad Recording Studios. Sakamoto plays on
the tracks 'Rise', 'Fishing', 'Bags' and 'Ease'.
A classically trained composer Sakamoto formed the Yellow Magic Orchestra
with Haruomi Hosono and Yukihiro Takahashi in Tokyo 1978; receiving international
success in 1980 with the single 'Computer Game'. He went onto become one
of the most in-demand session players of the 80s and 90s; playing with
the likes of Iggy Pop, Brian Wilson, David Sylvian and Robbie Robertson.
Sakamoto has released various solo albums to critical acclaim; featuring a mix of western pop with traditional music from Japan, the Middle East and Africa. He is also a successful film composer; and actor, with the likes of 'Merry Christmas Mr Lawrence' and 'The Last Emperor' among his credits. Sakamoto continues to record, compose and act. John Lydon later jokingly referred to him one of his "cast off's".
External Links:
Ryuichi Sakamoto - Official website
Tony Williams
Born:
December 12th 1945. Chicago, USA
Died:
February 23rd 1997
PiL:
Drums
Bio:
Williams was hired in autumn 1985 as a session musician by producer Bill
Laswell to play drums on 'Album'. His parts were recorded at Power
Station Studios. He plays on the tracks 'FFF', 'Rise' and 'Home'.
Raised in Boston, Williams had been playing drums since the age of 10.
A respected jazz drummer he played with the likes of Miles Davis and John
McLaughlin; among many others.
Williams lived, and taught drums, in the San Francisco Bay Area until his death in 1997 – aged 52 – from a heart attack following routine gall bladder surgery. One of his final recordings was with Bill Laswell's Arcana.
External Links:
Tony Williams - Wikipedia
Jonas Hellborg
Born:
June 7th 1958. Gothenborg, Sweden
PiL:
Bass
Bio:
Another previous Laswell collaborator Hellborg was hired in autumn 1985
to lay down bass parts for 'Ease' at Quad Recording Studios.
Laswell and Hellborg first worked together when Laswell invited him to play on Deadline's 'Down by Law' back in 1984. He would continue to work regularly with Laswell and cohorts; later founding Greenpoint Studios in New York (1990) along with Laswell. He also appeared on Ginger Baker's 'Middle Passage' album (1992); which also featured Jah Wobble.
A self-taught bassist, with roots in jazz and punk, Hellborg moved from Sweden to New York in 1981; then to London in 1982. A long time admirer of jazz guitarist John McLaughlin; he would later become a member of his Mahavishnu Orchestra (1983-88). Hellborg still tours and records with a variety of artists.
External Links:
Jonas Hellborg - Official website
Malachi Favors
Born:
August 22nd 1937. Lexington, Mississippi, USA
Died:
January 30th 2004
PiL:
Acoustic Bass
Bio:
Favors was hired in autumn 1985 as a session musician by producer Bill
Laswell to play acoustic bass on 'Album'. His parts were recorded
at Quad Recording Studios. He plays on the tracks 'Fishing', 'Bags'
and 'Ease'.
A jazz bassist since the age of 15, Favors moved to Chicago and became a member of The Art Ensemble Of Chicago. Through his work with Chicago's Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians (AACM) he is now considered one of jazz's greatest talents.
Favors was famed for his eccentric behaviour; he often used a third name Maghostut (an African word meaning "I'm your host") and was known to claim he had lived for 43,000 years! He was also known to paint his face African-style to "blend in with the spirits in the music." Favors died of pancreatic cancer aged 67.
External Links:
Malachi Favors - Wikipedia
Shankar
Born:
April 26th 1950. Madras, India
PiL:
Violin
Bio:
Lakshminarayana Shankar (to give him his full name) (and not to be confused
with Beatles collaborator Ravi Shankar) was hired by Bill Laswell
to play electric violin on 'Album'. Shankar's parts were recorded
at Quad Recording Studios. He plays on the tracks 'Rise' and 'Round'.
Apparently John Lydon and Shankar hit it off and would often spend hours talking about different styles of folk music; especially Irish. Lydon later called his work on 'Album' "absolutely excellent".
Growing up in Sri Lanka Shankar got his first violin at the age of five. He moved to the USA in 1969 to teach Indian music at University; where he met jazz musicians such as Ornette Coleman, Jimmy Garrison, and John McLaughlin. He later started his own band The Epidemics; who's debut was produced by Frank Zappa in 1979.
Although working mostly within jazz, Shankar has flirted with more mainstream acts such as Talking Heads, Peter Gabriel, Echo and the Bunnymen, The Pretenders and Van Morrison. Since 'Album' he has continued to work periodically with Bill Laswell; and is still an in-demand musician.
External Links:
Shankar - Wikipedia
Bernard Fowler
Born:
New York, USA
PiL:
Backing Vocals
Bio:
Another previous Laswell collaborator Fowler was hired in autumn 1985
to sing backing vocals on 'Album'. He is credited with backing vocals
on all tracks. His vocal parts were recorded at RPM Studios.
Fowler has worked on various Laswell projects over the years including
Tackhead (along with Doug Wimbush of On-U-Sound fame); and has also
sung with experimental New York composer Philip Glass and The Rolling
Stones (including many solo projects). He is probably best known for
his work with the electro Peach Boys in the early 80s; and is still
an in-demand session vocalist. He released his first solo album 'Friends
With Privileges' in 2006.
External Links:
Bernard Fowler - Official website
Steve Turre
Born:
September 12th 1948. Omaha, Nebraska, USA
PiL:
Conch Shells & Didjeridu
Bio:
Williams was hired in autumn 1985 as a session musician by producer Bill
Laswell. His conch shells and didjeridu parts on 'Ease' were recorded
at Quad Recording Studios.
Roger Trilling (Laswell cohort):
"[During the recording] I would give John bulletins as we drank beer
in bars. 'Today Steve Turre blew into conch shells', 'tomorrow a Didjeridu'.
John grew wary, restive, even aggravated…"
A respected jazz musician, Turre has played trombone with the likes
of Art Blakey, Ray Charles and Woody Shaw since the 60s. However, he
is probably best known for his mastery of sea shells as musical instruments.
As well as collaborating with a variety of artists he has also released
several solo albums.
External Links:
Steve Turre - Official website
Ayib Dieng
Born:
Senegal, Africa
PiL:
Chatan
Bio:
Another previous Laswell collaborator Dieng was hired in autumn 1985 to
play chatan on 'Round'. His parts were recorded at Quad Recording Studios.
Mainly known as a drummer and percussionist, Dieng has worked on various Laswell projects since 1984 including Nicky Skopelitis 'Ekstasis' album (1993) and Ginger Baker's 'Middle Passage' album (1992); both of which featured Jah Wobble. He also later played on Wobble's 'Heaven And Earth' album (1995).
Dieng has collaborated with a variety of respected artists, such as Bob Marley, Brian Eno and Yoko Ono. He also released the solo album 'Rhythmagick' in 1997.
External Links:
Ayib Dieng - Wikipedia
Steve Vai © unknown
Bernie Worrell © unknown
Ginger Baker © unknown
Nicky Skopelitis © unknown
Ryuichi Sakamoto © unknown
Tony Williams © unknown
Jonas Hellborg © unknown
Malachi Favors © unknown
Shankar © unknown
Bernard Fowler © unknown
Steve Turre © unknown
Ayib Dieng © unknown