Almost each musician who performs well-liked music – be it soul, R&B, pop, or the others – has been influenced by Donald “Duck” Dunn. And definitely, each one that has listened to a radio since 1961 has heard his taking part in.

The revered bassist, who handed away in Could of 2012, offered the groove on a number of the most revered hits within the heyday of ’60s soul/R&B/pop, together with Otis Redding’s “Dock Of The Bay” and “Respect,” Wilson Pickett’s “Midnight Hour,” and Sam & Dave’s “Maintain On, I’m Coming.” Past hit singles, his resume consists of stints backing Eric Clapton, John Fogerty, J.J. Cale, Albert King, Muddy Waters, Rod Stewart, Levon Helm, Bob Dylan, Tony Joe White, Freddie King, Elvis Presley, Neil Younger, and Jerry Lee Lewis.

After his childhood associates Steve Cropper and Charlie Freeman began spending much less time taking part in baseball with him and extra time taking part in guitars collectively, Dunn grabbed a bass; his first was a Kay electrical he ran via a Silvertone amp. Earlier than lengthy, nevertheless, he upgraded to one of many Fenders he oogled within the window of a music retailer in his residence city of Memphis. A fan of Hank Ballard, Ray Charles, the 5 Royales and the like, he was self-taught, and took to taking part in with relative ease. Whereas in highschool, the three younger males, together with drummer Terry Johnson, shaped The Royal Spades. Shortly after graduating, they had been signed to a neighborhood file label, for which they modified the band’s title to The Mar-Keys and recorded the 1961 hit “Final Evening.” Shortly after, Dunn left the band when he was requested to hitch the massive band fronted by saxophonist Ben Department. In ’62, he was recruited by Cropper to play within the Stax Information rhythm part and in addition turned a member of Booker T. & the MG’s.

Modest about his talents, Dunn used his Fender to develop a tone and magnificence unprecedented within the days of the “doghouse” upright. Clear and articulate, his strategy redefined the function of the bass; the place the upright was used primarily to render “strolling” traces, Dunn and different electrical gamers modified pop music by adopting a more-syncopated fashion, extra akin to a second/complementary rhythm guitar. His kind utilized an id to the music the band made because it backed varied Stax Information artists, with a really feel many musicians at this time equate merely with doing it proper. And whatever the music or whether or not it had him taking part in within the pocket, simply “on high” of, or simply behind the beat, there was a bodily component to Dunn’s fashion, utilized with pronounced physique English.

By way of most of his profession, Dunn performed a ’58 Precision that turned his trademark. Completed in sunburst and with an anodized pickguard, via the a long time, it took on varied accoutrements that set it aside, visually.

“There are locations within the physique and pickguard the place dad dug out wooden or wore down the metallic of the pickguard,” stated Dunn’s son, Jeff, who now cares for his father’s devices. “The spherical sticker is the Gort character from The Day The Earth Stood Nonetheless, which was adopted by Creedence Clearwater Revival as backstage passes. He utilized the Duck sticker years in the past. The Blues Brothers sticker went on within the early ’80s.”

Dunn had retired the bass for worry some kind of misfortune would befall it at a gig or on the highway – however there have been exceptions. “Neil Younger did persuade him to take it on tour, as Neil promised the techs would take care of it,” stated Jeff. The instrument was really his second Precision; in previous images, he’s seen with one with a rosewood fretboard. “That one, the story goes, went down within the aircraft crash with Otis Redding, as dad had loaned it to Otis’ bassist.”

Dunn’s first amp of selection for studio work was an Ampeg B-15, however, “The one I actually needed – which everyone needed – was a (Fender) Bassman,” he instructed VG’s Willie Moseley in a 2006 interview. “And I bought a piggyback model, however I by no means favored it a lot. In ’67, I bought a Kustom tuck-and-roll.”

Dunn’s diverse profession included working with guitarists Mike Bloomfield, Duane Allman, Clapton, and he was there when John Belushi and Dan Ackroyd took a “Saturday Evening Dwell” skit and transformed it to a legit musical act and have movie – The Blue Brothers. Although the skit (which employed the present’s home band) was farcical in nature, the group (which included Dunn and Cropper) produced severe renditions of blues songs and had a serious hit in ’78 with its cowl of Sam & Dave’s “Soul Man.”

“I used to be sort of hesitant to do [The Blues Brothers], however my spouse talked me into it, and aside from Booker’s band, that’s the most-fun band I’ve ever been in,” Dunn stated in ’06.

From 1983 to ’86, Dunn backed Clapton stay and within the studio for 2 albums, Cash and Cigarettes and Behind the Solar.

“In fact, many devices got here and went over time,” Jeff Dunn stated of his father’s gear. “If he had held on to all of them, there would have been 30 devices in his assortment. A couple of I bear in mind had been a Rickenbacker 4001, a Gibson Grabber, and all of the basses in Onerous Rock Cafes throughout the globe.”

Dunn died whereas touring with Stax! Dwell, a bundle that includes Eddie Floyd and the MG’s, which additionally included longtime pal and bandmate, Cropper.

1) Fender Duck Dunn signature bass with serial quantity 0001. He performed this within the movie Blues Brothers 2000.
2) Dunn performed this ’66 Fender Precision onscreen through the Vacation Inn/Murph and the Magitones scene within the 1980 movie The Blues Brothers. The phrase “Demo” is stamped on the again of its physique and on the unique neck, which Dunn later changed with a Jazz Bass neck. The instrument served as the idea for Dunn’s Fender signature mannequin and impressed the later Lakland fashions.
3) During the last a number of years, Dunn principally performed this Lakland signature mannequin. “It has his favourite Labella flatwounds and can stay precisely as is,” stated Jeff Dunn. “He performed it solely hours earlier than he handed; it was nonetheless in tune once we bought it again from Japan, the place he performed his final present.”
4) The prototype Dunn signature mannequin by Lakland.
5) This Gibson Thunderbird was a present to Dunn from Cliff Williams, bassist for AC/DC.
6) This closely inlaid customized bass was a present to Dunn from Steve Cropper. “It’s one thing I do know Duck would by no means purchase for himself – he simply wasn’t into fancy stuff. So I bought it for him. I had been a PRS Dragon, which on the time was round $25,000 – only a bit out of my worth vary (laughs)! However this jogged my memory of it.” Jeff Dunn remembers that his dad usually sat with it at residence. “It performs nice and has an lively EQ,” he stated.
7) Dunn obtained this Travis Bean within the ’70s as a present from Steve Cropper.

This text initially appeared in VG April 2013 subject. All copyrights are by the creator and Classic Guitar journal. Unauthorized replication or use is strictly prohibited.