Dan was THE call guy for bass work in Seattle during the 1970's and '80's. I used him on my Banjo King album, along with Norm Durkee (the first-call guy for keyboards at the time) and Chris Leighton on drums. Chris is still on the Seattle scene - haven't heard about Dan and Norm for awhile.
The first album I recorded with The Kingston Trio was a live recording and it went straight to 2-track with no follow-up studio enhancement (other than mastering.) Bob Shane brought in Frank Sanchez to play hand drums on stage with us that day, and he was fun to work with. He'd played percussion with The New Kingston Trio during that era and he was hot. Shortly after he did that session with us he joined the Gypsy Kings for awhile.
I can't speak with authority on who may have played on early Bros. 4 albums. But one of my favorite KT stories is the one about George Grove spending weeks working out the banjo licks on "Desert Pete". After he finally had it down pat, Shane informed him that what he was hearing on the original recording was Glen Campbell flat-picking a 6-string banjo.
I've done a lot of studio work myself over the years, playing guitar, banjo, ukulele, bass, harmonica, musical saw...you name it. I was in Norm Durkee's stable of musicians for awhile doing radio and TV commercials in Seattle. As a matter of fact, my gig with The Brothers Four came about as a result of studio work I was doing for Jerry Dennon in Seattle.
My first experience in the studio was while I was attending UCLA. I was the only plectrum banjo player on campus and I was hired to play some tracks for a film producer. And my initial gig with the Hudson brothers was as an arranger and studio musician on a session they did in LA. The producer (Jim Bailey, a friend of mine from Medford) had hired members of the Lawrence Welk Orchestra to do some sweetening for a Hudson session (the group was The New Yorkers at the time) and I wrote the arrangements and directed the session. I don't remember who all was on that session other than Buddy Merrill, who was Welk's main guitar guy for many years. I was kind of awed working with - and directing - someone whom I'd watched on TV for years.
Having just moved back to Medford, I haven't had a chance to get hooked up with the recording scene here. I've heard about some good studios in the area, but I haven't yet taken time to get out and meet people here.
One thing I'll say on this subject is that doing studio work is quite different than live performance. On stage if you play a bad note it goes by and is forgotten within seconds (short of a train wreck, that is). In the studio you have the opportunity, within budgetary limitations, to play it until you get it right. Altho an ideal studio musician is a one-take guy.
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