R&R HOF Member Donald "Duck" Dunn Dead at 70

[tr...@iwvisp.com]

Unconfirmed but from several reliable sources...

From Wiki:
Donald "Duck" Dunn (November 24, 1941-May 13, 2012) was an American
bass guitarist, record producer, and songwriter. Dunn was notable for
his 1960s recordings with Booker T. & the M.G.'s and as a session
bassist for Stax Records, which specialized in blues and gospel-
infused southern soul and Memphis soul music styles. Dunn also
performed on recordings with The Blues Brothers, Muddy Waters, Freddie
King, Albert King, Neil Young, Jerry Lee Lewis, Eric Clapton, Tom
Petty, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Wilson Pickett, Sam & Dave, Guy
Sebastian, Rod Stewart, Bob Dylan, Roy Buchanan and Arthur Conley.

Bio from his websire:
As a member of Rock'n'Roll Hall Of Famers Booker T. & The MGs, Donald
"Duck" Dunn was house bass player at the legendary Soul/R'n'B label,
Stax, where his meaty playing helped define one of the most
distinctive and enduring sounds in popular music. Among the timeless
recordings Dunn held down the bottom end of, are Respect, Dock Of The
Bay and I've Been Loving You Too Long, by Otis Redding, Wilson
Pickett's In The Midnight Hour, and Hold On I'm Coming by Sam and
Dave, not to mention sessions with Neil Young, Eric Clapton and Jerry
Lee Lewis.

Dunn kept the classic Stax sound alive and kicking as part of The
Blues Brothers Band. Originally hand picked by John Belushi and Dan
Aykroyd - the Jake and Elwood characters in cult film, The Blues
Brothers.

"I like to keep things spontaneous," said Dunn of their live show.
"That's my way of playing. Even though we were playing the same songs
every night I like to think I can change it a little bit and use my
input or creativity or whatever in any way that makes the band feel
better. If I make the band smile, I make everybody smile."

Born in Memphis in late November, 1941, Dunn was given his nickname by
his father as the two watched a Donald Duck cartoon on TV. "It was
just one of those things that stuck," he recalls. "Most of my school
friends and even a few of my teachers called me Duck."

Although a grandfather he never knew played fiddle, there was no music
in Duck's immediate family. "My father was a candy maker. He made
peppermints and hard candies. He didn't want me to go into the music
industry. He thought I would become a drug addict and die. Most
parents in those days thought music was a pastime; something you did
as a hobby, not a profession." Duck tried to conform: "I worked for my
dad in the candy factory for a while. I also had a job with an
electrical company repairing long range air raid sirens." In his
heart, though, Dunn always knew where his talents lay. I picked up a
ukulele when I was about 10 and I started playing bass when I was 16.
I tried the guitar but it had two strings too many. It was just too
complicated, man! Plus, I grew up with Steve Cropper. There were so
many good guitar players another one wasn't needed. What was needed
was a bass. I mostly learned just by listening to records. I don't
know how to explain it but I knew if I could do it, I'd be good at it!
My first bass was a new Kay, one of the cheaper models."

And, of course, it was slightly less than Duck wanted. Smiling at the
memory, he adds: "When I used to look in the music store windows and
see the Fenders hanging there, I was like a kid at Christmas. The Kay
was fine but you knew if you could get your hands on a Fender you
would do better. I bought my first Fender in '58 and I still have it
at home. I lost it once and I got it back," he pauses. "It's a
Precision, with a maple neck. I just always took it for granted, never
worried about the setting or action. It was a Fender, man, I didn't
care!"

Influenced by blues and R&B stars like BB King and Ray Charles, Dunn
and Cropper formed their first band, The Royal Spades, in high school.
"The name came from poker; a royal spade flush," explains Duck. "We
played anything from Jerry Lee Lewis and Little Richard to Chuck Berry
and Bo Diddley stuff. We were a white band trying to play rhythm and
blues music, kinda the first in Memphis to do that. We used to play
for, like, five dollars and a few free beers. It was just a joy to
play."

The Royal Spades evolved into the Mar-Keys, who had a hit with Last
Night soon after Dunn graduated from high school. Cropper subsequently
left the band to become a full-time session musician at the Stax
studio. He urged Dunn to follow him and the two became part of Booker
T's MGs, which in turn become the house band at Stax.

"I would have liked to have been on the road more but the record
company wanted us in the studio. Man, we were recording almost a hit a
day for a while there. But I never knew how popular that music was
until I came to England with Otis Redding in 1967." He adds with a
chuckle: "I think most of the English people thought I was a pick-up
bass player. Without being racist they probably thought that being
affiliated with that music, Donald 'Duck' Dunn was black!"

What else does he remember of that visit? "Otis would follow Sam and
Dave and he would peak through the curtain during their set, worried
as he could be, to see if he could outdo Sam and Dave. I used to watch
him do that every night! Before that tour, though, we were all in
admiration of Motown. We were thinking why don't our records sound
like Motown? Now we listen to them and they hold up real well today."

Like many recognisable sounds from Sun to Motown, the Stax sound
evolved by happy accident from a blend of musicians who worked well
together. "Everyone contributed," remembers Duck. "Sometimes, if I
couldn't find something to play maybe Booker found the bass line. Or
maybe Steve Cropper. It was a real family-orientated company. No one
had any particular ego. We were a
real team."

In many instances, plenty of song riffs and rhythms famously emerged
from spontaneous jam sessions on the play-out of the previous
recording. "When we came to the fade-outs, almost everyone would
change their rhythm or the notes they were playing. That was the fun
part of it. When we got to the end we all knew we could relax and do
what we wanted to do."

In common with most musicians from that era, the people who created
the Stax sound came away with less money than they deserved. "I always
look back and say I should have made more," sighs Duck, slowly. "It
should have been more lucrative, but it wasn't. We were cheated a
little bit. But with the music and what I learned... it doesn't
matter. I have no regrets."

One session that stands out for Dunn was backing Jerry Lee Lewis on
his early '70s soul slanted album, Southern Roots. The sessions have
passed into rock lore as a four day drug-soaked party with hangers-on
passing out on the studio floor and the world and his wife sitting in.

"It was just craziness!" concurs Duck. "All it needed was Keith
Richard! One song I particularly remember was When A Man Loves A
Woman. If you listen to that record, he's incredible. And that was one
take. Jerry Lee is crazy, he's outrageous, but I think he's the best
rock'n'roller that ever lived."

Dunn's greatest pleasure, however, came from the music he created with
the MGs. Dunn joined the MGs when bassist Lewis Steinberg left the
band after having scored a million seller with the instrumental Green
Onions in 1962. The MGs continued to hit the charts well into the
'70s. Among their biggest successes were Hang 'Em High and Time Is
Tight, both from movie soundtracks, also Soul Limbo, a Caribbean-
styled number later to become very familiar as the cowbell-intro'd
theme tune of the BBC's test cricket coverage.

When Booker T. disbanded the MGs and left Memphis for California, Dunn
and drummer Al Jackson, Jr., kept the band's name afloat with an
album, MG's, although it was released to little interest. In autumn
1975, Jackson was shot dead when he disturbed an intruder in his home.
The incident left a deep impression on Dunn, who today opines: "I
think the gun issue is the biggest issue. When I came to England in
1967 and saw the bobbies, as they used to call them, with no
firearms... That's the way it should be. I'm really a firm believer in
no guns."

1977 saw the first of several reunions of Booker T. Jones, Dunn and
Cropper and the band recorded two more albums during the next 20
years, eventually receiving a Lifetime Achievement Award at the 1995
Rhythm & Blues Pioneer Awards. Since his appearance in the hit 1980
movie The Blues Brothers, Dunn has also been part of popular R'n'B
revue, The Blues Brothers Band, which also featured Steve Cropper. Of
his lifelong musical relationship with Cropper, Dunn says: "Steve and
I are like married people. I can look at him and know what he'll order
for dinner. We don't hang out as much as we used to. I moved to
Florida and he moved to Nashville. We used to play a lot of golf
together and we've kind of separated. But when we play music together
we both know where we're going."

A new chapter in Duck's life began in 2005 as he celebrated the
arrival of his first grandchild, Michael in October.

Though semi-retired Duck continues to do shows with Booker T & the MGs
at clubs and music festivals around the U.S.

In 2007 Duck and Booker T. & the MGs members Lewie Steinberg, Booker
T. Jones, Steve Cropper, and wife of deceased member Al Jackson -
Barbara, were awarded a Lifetime Achievement Grammy during a Special
Merit Awards Ceremony in Los Angeles.

Ray Arthur

[tr...@iwvisp.com]

From www.ultimateclassicrock.com...

Donald “Duck” Dunn, who played on hundreds of rock and soul classics
as the bassist for Booker T. and the MGs, and later as a session
player, passed away Sunday morning at the age of 70. Steve Cropper,
the MGs guitarist, broke the news on his Facebook page at
approximately 12:30AM Eastern time.

“Today I lost my best friend, the World has lost the best guy and bass
player to ever live,” Cropper, his lifelong friend, wrote. “Duck Dunn
died in his sleep Sunday morning May 13 in Tokyo Japan after finishing
2 shows at the Blue Note Night Club.”


Ray Arthur