Session musicians are largely unsung heroes, hired guns who travel from recording session to recording session. The history books arguably downplay their contributions for the most part, aside from a few interviews here and there. For example, take Guy Pratt - heard the name? Heard the names Pink Floyd, Madonna, Michael Jackson, Elton John or Bryan Ferry then? They're just several of many who Pratt has sessioned for, the whole list too much to document over the course of one interview. Pratt has even won a Grammy, and has been nominated for two Ivor Novello Awards. So if the name doesn't a bell, then it certainly should.
The son of songwriter / actor
Mike Pratt, bassist
Guy Pratt's initial break as a musician came at the age of nineteen, having been asked to join Australian act
Icehouse, who supported
David Bowie on several dates as part of 1983 "
Serious Moonlight" tour.
Pratt went on to session on material by the likes of
Robert Palmer,
Bryan Ferry and
Womack & Womack, even briefly being a part of
The Smiths. In 1987 however,
Pratt's most prolific break occurred: touring with
Pink Floyd as part of the group's 1987 "
Delicate Sound Of Thunder" world tour. Decamping to LA after thirteen months on the road, there he played bass on
Madonna's "
Like A Prayer", and later on, playing bass on
Michael Jackson's "
Earth Song".
Eventually returning to London, Guy Pratt has played on many records, including those by: Tom Jones, Sophie Ellis Bextor, Iggy Pop, The Pretenders, Ronan Keating, Electronic, Echo & the Bunnymen, Lemon Jelly, The Orb, Natalie Imbruglia, All Saints, Bond, and Elton John. Touring has seen the man pair up with the likes of Coverdale and Page, The Power Station and Gary Moore, as well taking part in Pink Floyd's 1994 "Pulse" tour, and playing on "The Division Bell" that same year. In the songwriting department, meanwhile, Pratt has scored hits with artists such as Robert Palmer, The Orb, Fat Les, Jimmy Nail, Marianne Faithful, and Debbie Harry. In short, Pratt has been there, and done that. Such escapades have been chronicled in the book "My Bass And Other Animals", published in May 2007 through Orion.
On the weekend of October 24th and 25th, Pratt will appear at the 2009 Manson's Guitar Show at the Riverside Leisure Centre in Exeter, UK. Others due to appear include: Bernie Marsden, Mark Chadwick, Frank Turner, Steve Fairclough, Dario Cortese, Chris George Band, Stuart Clayton, Jas Morris, Alex Hutchings, Ellen Miller, Gavin Wilson, and Aziz Ibrahim.
On October 17th at 10:00 GMT, Hit The Lights' Robert Gray telephoned Guy Pratt to discuss his work as part of Pink Floyd, as well as other topics.
Guy Pratt: Hello?
UG: Hello. Is this Guy?
It is, yes.
This is Robert Gray from Ultimate-Guitar.com.
Oh, hi there.
How are you Guy?
I'm good, thank you.
Would it be alright if I began the interview?
Yeah, sure.
"My vague idea was to start a band, but I just never got around to it because I kept getting asked to do things that I really fancied doing."
My father gave me my first bass guitar, and that was actually the last thing he gave me - the last present he gave me was my first bass guitar, and a copy of 'Dark Side of the Moon'.
That's quite coincidental, considering what came later on.
Exactly, yes. That's the point. So yeah, he was a songwriter as well. He was Lionel Bart's partner, and wrote all of Tommy Steele's songs back in the fifties. He was always very encouraging of me doing music.
Prior to then, you were a graphic designer, so was your father influential in your eventual decision to pursue music?
Yes, he was, yeah. As I said, he gave me my first bass guitar.
Did you listen to songs he had written, and want to follow in his footsteps then?
No, it wasn't really that so much. Not really. He was just very encouraging of my love of music. The only music of his I really knew were songs like "The Little White Bull" by Tommy Steele.
In your early career, were there any groups you particularly wanted to follow in the footsteps of? Obviously, Pink Floyd is one, but were there any other groups from that time?
The first band I fell in love with was The Who, really. That's actually what made me want to become a musician, although funnily enough, it wasn't John Entwistle's bass playing. It was the standard bands; it was The Who, Led Zeppelin, and The Rolling Stones. I then fell in love with bands like Little Feat, and then of course punk happened.
Was your love of The Who partly due to the group's live presence?
It was just the intent, the whole thing of the intent. I'd never heard anyone mean anything that much, which is quite funny, because what I ended up being was actually quite different, being a hired musician.
Once you were given a bass guitar by your father, where did things go from there? What early bands were you a part of?
I was in a punk band called The Lillettes, and then my first gigging band really was this mod revival band called Speedball.
You had your first break when you joined an Australian band called Icehouse, who supported David Bowie during his 'Serious Moonlight' tour in '83.
Yes. That was actually when I started doing music for a living, but I'd done quite a few things before that. I'd played for Sylvain Sylvain from the New York Dolls, and then there was this English band called Funkapolitan. Also, I co-founded Brilliant with Youth (Martin Glover) when he left Killing Joke, and then there was Icehouse.
What was it like to support David Bowie?
It was amazing, although that was actually only a few gigs. The main aspect of working with Icehouse was the fact I went and did huge tours of Australia. I went all over Australia at the age of nineteen, which was fantastic. With David Bowie, we did Milton Keynes, and various stadiums in Europe, which were basically half empty when we played (laughs).
Did you ever get to meet David Bowie backstage?
Oh yes, yeah, yeah. He was very nice, and friendly.
You were a part of Icehouse for quite some time, and eventually, your services were used by the likes of Robert Palmer and so on.
When we did the David Bowie tour, we also did a load of festivals travelling around Germany, and Robert Palmer was on the bill. I met him, and for some reason, he invited me out to Nassau. We ended up writing together, and playing together. That's actually a relationship that carried on all the way till he died, and then I played with Bryan Ferry, and Womack & Womack. I did all sorts of things. I don't really know how it all happened. One thing lead to another, and then I ended up with Pink Floyd.
Would you say that's how your career developed? Just bumping into one person, and then another person? That things all happened by chance?
Absolutely - all by chance. I never had any conscious plan, or anything. My vague idea was to start a band, but I just never got around to it because I kept getting asked to do things that I really fancied doing.
Obviously, your known as a session musician. Is never making it big with a group of your own one of your regrets?
Slightly, although it'd be slightly selfish of me to complain. I can hardly really complain about the life I've had, and to be honest, I've had plenty of opportunities to do that. I've got no-one to blame but myself, unfortunately. Being a hired player just tends to make you lazy (laughs).
(Laughs) Did you never form a group of your own due to you have having security as a bassist as a result of your session background?
I don't know. Could be. I'm only half a session bass player, really. The thing is, I'll play on anyone's record, but I'm very, very choosy about who I go on tour with, much to the detriment of my bank balance. I'll only go on tour if David Gilmour's on tour, or Bryan Ferry, or someone. I'm very happy to do that, but if I got a call from Chris de Burgh tomorrow, no matter how much he was offering, I wouldn't do it (laughs).
Have some high profile musicians approached you to go on tour with them then, and you've just turned them down?
Yeah - there's been a couple. I won't say who they were (laughs).
(Laughs) So you've never been tempted to say "Well, there's a couple of bills to pay. I think I'll do that for a bit"?
I couldn't, because I know that within a week or so, it would end in tears. It isn't like I don't end up paying the bills anyway (laughs).
So for you, it has to be musically stimulating?
Yes, it's got to be. Yeah. There was one thing I walked away from about two days before the tour started, and that was about four to five years ago. I actually had a moment of clarity, and just thought "I really can't do this" (laughs).
"Being a hired player just tends to make you lazy."
Yeah, exactly, although making records is different. I'll play on anyone's record, because you're usually in and out of the studio in a few hours, and it's always quite interesting to see how anyone works.
You've played with a really diverse selection of artists, having played on material by the likes of Ronan Keating and so on as well.
Yeah, although funnily enough, the Ronan Keating session actually happened because that was being produced by Pat Leonard. He basically put a band back together, which was from an album we did (1990's 'Toy Matinee'). It was actually a band I was in with Pat Leonard called Toy Matinee, which was the band Sheryl Crow ended up coming from. 'Toy Matinee' is an incredibly well respected record in America - I get more kudos in America as a musician from Toy Matinee than anything else I've ever done. The funny thing is that when Pat got asked to produce Ronan Keating, it was an excuse for him to put that band back together, to get all those musicians back together. It was a fun time, but there was actually an ulterior motive, and that wasn't the straightforward bank job it might look like (laughs).
Do you ever accept certain session work, just because you feel that a certain artist's name might look good on your CV? Just to receive future work?
I've never thought like that, but when I was young, obviously yes. Also, the younger you are, the less people seem to ask you. When I was asked to do Madonna, that was like "Yeah". Madonna was just a great name to have under your belt. Actually, I don't think there had actually been bass on any her records up until then, but "Like A Prayer" actually ended up being one of the best records I've ever played on anyway. "Like A Prayer" (1989) is probably the best thing she ever did, and it's also one of the best performances she ever gave.
Did you playing bass on "Like A Prayer" come about since you had played bass for Pink Floyd's '87 'Delicate Sound of Thunder' tour?
No, it didn't. That came about because she was being produced by Pat Leonard, who was my friend. I had worked with Pat with Bryan Ferry, and that's what brought that about. Also, I had just finished the Floyd tour, and it was because of that profile I think Pat then thought I could take part.
Was that how you also came to session for Michael Jackson then? Did Pat possibly work with him as well?
Again, that was because Michael Jackson had heard "Like A Prayer" (laughs). He wanted something like that on his next record, and was being produced by Bill Bottrell, who was the engineer on the Madonna record. I happened to be in LA working with Robbie Robertson, so I just got invited down to the studio.
Although you played on "Earth Song", did you actually meet the man himself?
Michael Jackson? No. This is quite a famous story. He was in the room telling me what to do, except he was hiding behind the mixing desk, telling his bodyguard to tell me what to do. We all had to pretend he wasn't there.
Sounds a bit weird.
Yeah. It's weird, and unbelievably funny. It was obviously the weirdest situation I've ever been in in my life.
How do you view Michael Jackson's death?
It was a tragedy, you know? I mean... what can you say? I think it would've been awful if he had to go through all fifty of those shows - I think they would've killed him, and that would've been a terrible way to remember him.
And also, how do you view Michael Jackson's musical achievements?
'Off the Wall' (1979), as an album, is about as perfect as pop music can be really. That album is amazing - the arrangement and the playing on that is just superb.
You also played with The Smiths.
The Smiths, yeah (laughs). I just rehearsed with them for a week for an American tour, because Andy Rourke wasn't available. Johnny Marr and I had become friends through playing with Bryan Ferry, and yeah, it's quite a funny, nice thing to be able to say - that you were in The Smiths for a week (laughs).
(Laughs) It is quite funny. Obviously, most people know you as a musician through your Pink Floyd association. How did you get to play with Pink Floyd?
I played for a band called Dream Academy, who David produced. If he wasn't up to much, he used to come and play guitar for Bryan Ferry, so I bumped into him there. When he then came to put together the '87 tour, he wanted Tony Levin. Tony Levin wasn't available, so he asked me. Simple as that (laughs).
And what were those shows on Pink Floyd's '87 'Delicate Sound of Thunder' tour like?
Unbelievable. The '87 tour was like nothing I'd ever known, or anyone. It was fantastic, and just the most extraordinary time. It was everything you'd imagine, and more.
Did you have stage fright prior to performing with Pink Floyd onstage?
Not really, funnily enough (laughs). There's always so much going on, so there's not that much resting on you really. You have eleven people onstage, so there's always something blowing up, or some incredible bit of sound effect, or something going on somewhere, so you feel quite protected in a funny sort of way.
Here and there, you've also handled some vocals. Touring with Pink Floyd, you provided vocals to songs like "Comfortably Numb". For you, how does handling vocals differ to playing bass?
I've always sung with everyone I'm with - I love doing backing vocals. The main vocals I had was lead vocals on "Run Like Hell", which I love, which I couldn't believe. Singing lead vocals on "Run Like Hell" was the most fun I've ever been paid to have, because the song just basically involves screaming at the absolute top of your lungs.
To play guitar and sing is the most natural thing in the world - it's incredibly easy. For some reason though, you actually have to learn to sing and play bass, rather than it just being natural like playing guitar and singing. I don't know why that is.
"To play guitar and sing is the most natural thing in the world - it's incredibly easy."
A bit. It didn't really bother me that much, as because of the way "Run Like Hell" is constructed, it has to be sung by two people anyway. On 'The Wall' (1979), it's all Roger, but live it used to be Roger and David, so it doesn't really matter. When you see Roger Waters live, more than half the vocals should be sung by David Gilmour, but he has to get someone else to sing them. It's just one of those things.
Later on, you played on Pink Floyd's '94 'Pulse' tour. What was it like to tour with Pink Floyd the second time around?
It was very different, and was musically a lot better I think. We weren't quite the happy-go-lucky bunch of musketeers that we were the first time I went out with them. I'm incredibly proud of 'Pulse', which is probably the greatest live CD or DVD ever, but I'm quite likely to say that.
Were you a very different person on the 'Pulse' tour compared to the person who had toured with Pink Floyd seven years previous?
Yes, definitely. Completely.. and my circumstances changed. I was seeing the keyboard player's daughter, for a start (laughs).
You also sessioned on Pink Floyd's 1994 album, 'The Division Bell'.
David was going to play all of the bass himself. Truth be known, I did actually help with the writing on "Wearing the Inside Out", which I wasn't credited for. But yeah, basically, David was going to play all of the bass on 'The Division Bell', because he usually plays bass on his records. I just had to point out to him that if I didn't play bass on the album anywhere, then I'd look a complete twat, so he let me play on a few songs (laughs).
Continuing with the Pink Floyd theme, you played on David Gilmour's 2006 solo album 'On an Island'.
The 2006 tour was actually one of the most fun things I've ever, ever done, which was like Pink Floyd in a box (laughs). We were just playing small theatres, and it had this lovely feel to it. Also, what was very poignant about that tour was the fact it was of course the last thing Rick ever did. Looking back at it now, and looking at all the footage and everything we've got, the funny thing is how much that tour was about Rick. It really was, and it was the best he had played for years. Also, it made you realise how much the musical relationship in Pink Floyd was about David and Rick.
And finally, you're scheduled to appear at the 2009 Manson's Guitar Show, which takes place on the weekend of the 24th and 25th of October at the Riverside Leisure Centre in Exeter. Could you tell me about that upcoming appearance?
Yes. It's comedy, and it's a one man show. Basically, it's me telling a load of frankly unbelievable stories about what happens when you work in the music business.
And people who're interested in that appearance can find details on the Manson's Guitar Shop website.
They can, yes. I'll be there, and I'll be signing copies of my book 'My Bass and Other Animals'.
Ok. Thanks for the interview Guy - it's really appreciated.
Alright mate. Not at all.
Take care.
Alright, yeah. Cheers. And you. All the best. Bye.
Bye.
Interview by Robert Gray
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