Graham Central Station
Mirror
(Warner/Collectibles, 1976)

Surfing YouTube recently, I stumbled upon a clip that had nothing to do with clever kitties, but was instead an instructional video featuring bassist Larry Graham as he attempts to slow down his playing for the aspiring and then laughs at those mere mortals and lets it rip. Let’s just say his speed alone gives Yngwie a run for his money, plus Larry’s heart seems in a better place.

Bassists don’t get much cooler than Larry Graham. Sure there was James Jamerson, untouchable Motown session guy, and later Jaco Pastorious, cocaine-fueled jazz wanker. But who single-handedly devised slap bass and thus created the two-headed beast of Flea and Les Claypool? It was Graham. I’m not sure how much I like the slap thing when done by other bassists. It can certainly pique the cheese factor. It’s a touchy decision: to slap or not to slap? Bootsy Collins elaborated and simply smacked, but for me slapbass is a singular Graham phenomenon. He gets it right.

In “Dance to the Music” by Sly and the Family Stone, Larry stated his career mission with baritone voice, “I’m gonna add some bottom so that the dancers just won’t hide,” and then Larry’s simple, steady groove kicks in and takes the song to the next level. After the Stone conquered all they could, Larry was on to a whole new thing: Graham Central Station.

In the Station, there was no Sly Stone to order Larry around, so guess who governs every song? BASS! Guess who bows to the bass? Guitar and keys. Without bass these tunes would fall flat on their face.

I found 1976’s Mirror for a dollar buried under the debris of Eagles and Wham! records. Remember Time’s 2006 person of the year: You? Well, that’s actually very unoriginal because this album also has its own plastic mirror on the cover so you can stare at your bad self. Anyway, I was like, one dollar and a mirror? Sold.

So I took the thing home and I put it on. It didn’t disappoint. Then lines like “it sure ain’t Jesus Christ, he came to save your life” started creeping into the explosive bass-off, and I wondered if I wasn’t hearing things. Eventually, I accepted that I was in the middle of a Jehovah’s Witness funk record and not only that, I fuckin’ dug it. I turned the record cover over and was confronted by “Save Me”, where Larry rants about Armageddon and the Bible. This is the winner of the bunch—a fat, fat song where he keeps upping the ante, adding all kinds of fills to an already over-the-top bassline—a knockout beyond mere technique.

Personally, I believe A Love Supreme did for Christian music what Jim Morrison did for indecent exposure, namely, made these things, against all odds, awesome. So I can proudly hang this Mirror on the wall. Besides, the Holy Ghost is co-composer here. In fact, I’ll take it one more step. I think Larry’s right on as he cries, “Don’t run to politics, they’re full of Tricky Dick / The Devil uses them to get his kicks / It’s going to come to an end, my friend / ‘Cause Satan can’t win.”

Watch: Funk Original Pt. 3 [at youtube.com]

Like this article? DIGG it and sign up for our RSS feed!