by Rod Taylor
Let’s face it, if you call yourself a bass player and don’t know and speak the name Chuck Rainey with reverence, then you would be in the minority. The bulk of us have long admired and emulated this pioneer of the bass guitar from the moment we began playing anything that grooved. Indeed, for most of us, that admiration started long before we became bassists. I was just a toddler when Sanford and Son began airing on TV (1972-77), too young to understand what a heart attack was or why my dad laughed so hard when Redd Foxx grabbed his chest and yelled, “I’m coming, Elizabeth.” But I knew I liked the music that played before the show started, and I can’t help but think that the seeds of my career as a bass guitarist were first sown through Chuck’s iconic contribution to that show. Throughout the seventies, I would groove to a host of Chuck Rainey bass lines on TV and radio, and, without a doubt, like many players, my own style is rooted in his.
