Bassist David Hungate - TOTO's Secret Weapon
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- Опубліковано 19 сер 2023
- #bass #basshistory #analysis #transcription #groove #paulthompson
Breaking down one of my favorite grooves--1978's "Georgy Porgy" by TOTO, featuring one of my favorite--and UNSUNG--bass players: David Hungate.
Getting to know the "Bump" Groove
What is 'POCKET'?
And how did Jeff Porcaro and David Hungate make this music feel like that?!
Also, taking a moment to remember TOTO's longest tenured bassist, the late Mike Porcaro.
Website: www.paulthompson.us
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To be fair, Toto was entirely built from secret weapons.
Yes, absolutely, but the sensual groove of Hungate's bass, with Porcaro's punctuated drums and Paich's delicate tinkling and tickling of the keys, is no secret, but a pleasure. 😮😊❤
Excellent coment !!
My fave Hungate moment is the soaring outro he lays down on "99"
Just BEAUTIFUL
Speaking of Grease...David Hungate played the famous Bassline on "The One That I Want." It was played on "...a '62 Precision with Rotosounds and a pick. I was probably using my Versatone amp as well as a direct box..." --David Hungate (This was from an e-mail David wrote to a fan. )
Came here to ask this. Thanks. That's a kickass bassline!
Silk Degrees is amazing. This is Hungate's best work.
Thank you for keeping David Hungate’s legacy alive and for the spectacularly clear explanation of the pocket. Another top notch video.
I couldn’t have said it better. Thanks for your comment and thanks for the awesome video.
David Hungate! What a bass player. Thanks for also mentioning Mike Porcaro. Both amazing musicians
David Hungate is a master.
This video made me go down a rabbit hole of 70's delight.
Here it is:
Bobby Caldwell - What You Won't Do for Love
Michael McDonald - I Keep Forgettin'
The Doobie Brothers - What A Fool Believes
Boz Scaggs - Lowdown
Steely Dan - Hey 18
Jackson Browne - The Load Out & Stay
Jackson Browne - Running on Empty
Gerry Rafferty - Right Down the Line
Gerry Rafferty Baker Street Long Version
Kansas - Carry on Wayward Son
Kansas - Dust in the Wind
Rainbow - Since You Been Gone
10cc - I'm Not In Love
Gordon Lightfoot - If You Could Read My Mind
Gordon Lightfoot - The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald
When Toto announced around 2015 Hungate was touring with them I jumped on the tickets immediately. Stood front row watching an absolute legend playing those original songs... something I wont forget. I wanted to leave this quote I found with a Dave Hungate itnerview talking about Mike Pocaro. The fact that Toto had these 2 legendary players and just shows how humble Hungate is!!! "I first heard Mike when he was 15 and I was in my early 20s. He scared me to death and became one of my favorite bass players. He had incredible time and technique and no one played better with Jeff. I get too much credit as “original Toto bass player.” Mike was there for 25 years, through the ups and downs, always playing great, coming up with great parts. He deserves most of the credit"
That little bass motif at the outro of Africa is so damn magical
I thought Mike Pocaro ( rip ) played Bass on that track .
@@edennard1Hungate left the band and moved to Nashville immediately after laying down the basic tracks for TOTO IV. Which is why Mike is in all the videos from that album.
It calls to mind the bellowing of an animal, specifically a bull. I think that's the sound he was imitating there.
Interesting but think he was imitating the synth that does the sixteenth note part in that vamp
I'm a 69 year old American man, a Baha'i for 37 years. Hungate is a long time Baha'i. In the late 1980s I lived in Nashville and sang in the Tennessee Baha'i Choir. Sometime we rehearsed at Hungates home. Honor to know him.
One of the coolest thing I have learned from watching videos on great artsists like Hungate is the incredibly high level of skill needed just to create these simple bass lines. Its like a master knowing what can be thrown away and distilled to perfectly fit a song, something only a high level of musicianship can allow.
The fills on Georgie Porgie's bassline are actually very dissonant. Really makes the song.
*Extremely* dissonant, especially played on its own, but works perfectly in context.
Those fills deserved some explanation 🙂. But the lesson is joyous and very interesting as always.
I was about to post this.
for all the good reasons GP is such an infectious song ….DAT bass tho!!!
I ALWAYS loved georgie porgy since it was released f and now I know why:)
I've always wanted to meet David Hungate. One tiny but powerful bass lead that I've always liked is the last part of the song "99" on the Toto Hydra album.
I think that I mentioned that he and I are friends. He started on trombone, probably why he is such a good reader. He was offered the Woody Herman gig and Sonny and Cher along the same time and S & C paid a lot more; and flying jets to gigs. When our former trombone teacher passed away we got on the phone and talked for a few hours. His father was Missouri congressman, William Leonard Hungate; also a federal judge on the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri.
Thank you for dedicating this video to Michael Porcaro and to all the people who dearly loved him. I miss him *big* time. 🙏
Same, he and Jeff, huge-huge losses.
They were all secret weapons, super musicians
My wife's sister is married to one of his sons. He's a super cool and laid back guy, love getting to spend holidays with him. He has the craziest stories about literally everyone in the music biz from the 70s-90s. "What Cher? Yeah she's really nice, liked to make sure we were all well fed." Great to see this video about him!
I will be heading to a Toto concert later this month. Some of the greatest musicians ever!
David Hungate!! played on the Grease soundtrack .
This guy & Rick Beato are great ❤
Seconded!
Awesome vid. My favorite Toto song! And the incredible Cheryl Lynn. Props to the great songwriter David Paich too. And much love to the Porcaro brothers.
Hungate is one of the all-time greats on Bass. So many grooves we take for granted were played by him first.
I agree he's one of the all time greats, but clearly he didn't come up with all these grooves or pull them out of thin air - we all have our influences, and so did he.
That killing bass tone along with the grooves of Jeff Porcaro make those guys a team to be reckoned with
In my opinion, your videos justify UA-cam's existence in my life. There is something for everyone here and I'm all for a musician talking about musicians. You are connecting so many dots. I was a huge liner notes reader back in the day. I know that them Pocora boys were all over those first MJ solo albums. In fact I knew the names of those Pocaro boys from the Jackson sessions way before I realized that they were Toto. If they were in a studio with Louis Johnson, Greg Phillaganes and Johnathon "Sugarfoot" Moffett, hell, that's all I needed to know. Them dudes were legit. Period!!!!!!
David Hungate is absolutely incredible.
WOW now i know why i loved those songs. Hungate was the common thread.
Nice to see people appreciate David Hungate and Toto. Totally Awesome band.
Fantastic bassist to honor!
His contribution to Standing in the Shadows of Motown was Home Cookin' - dude knows groove.
“That’s jazz y’all.” Brilliant!
Such a great, effective but concise demonstration of "pocket". It's one of those terms that gets thrown around all the time, but rarely defined. I remember a stage in my development as a player (about 30 years ago!) when I started to realize I needed to figure out how to play slightly behind the beat instead of on top of it. But nobody told me it was called "pocket"!
Another song that utilized this groove with a minor deviation was Al Jarreaus “Morning”. Instead of 3 16th notes into 3rd beat, it uses 16th note, 1/8th note then down beat for a bit more syncopation Trumpet player that used to write the arrangements for our band because bass player was in his own world. And the problem with trumpet players is they don’t watch bass and drum video’s. Every arranger should play some bass, keyboards and at least familiar with guitar grooves
David is a master of space....
"... it's not the music that's hard..."
A really nice tribute to David Hungate and a fine explanation of the elusive 'pocket'. Thank you.
Okay this is my child hood wow. It brings back so many memories.
(1:03)
*I met him in a club hangin out one night, He said, "Hello I'm George.. hi Lyte!* 😀
99 is another fantastic Toto bassline.
David Hungate is my biggest inspiration, he’s that good!! ✌️😙
Can't say enough about TOTO ... another band that was so much larger than the sum of the parts ... very nice of you to mention Mike Picarro ... he was certainly filled some big shoes and his intensity just made TOTO that much better ...
You have easily become my favorite bass UA-cam content creator, I'm a long time bass player but have only been reading music the last 3yrs. I've learned so much from your channel. 🙏
My favorite band ever. Love Steely Dan but they were more duetplus beast mode players. ToTo is a band. The dads of Paich and Porcaro brothers were cray amazing. What a wonderful talented bunch. Mike after David WOW. Thanks for sharing
David Hungate the first bass player I listened as a child, his name was on the back of a Andre Crouch record my mother played always
Which Andre album did he play on? Andre kicks it.
@@AiMRThe Album with Soon and very soon
I was under the assumption that Abraham Laboriel played Bass on all of the Andrae Crouch records. I was wrong
@@AiMRI'll be thinking of you....with lots of sessions musician
..and also the WARNER BRO.recording..DON'T GIVE UP...i think ....with TOTO session musicians.....from your brother in SOUTH-AFRICA
@@tacoqueNo....not all...there were ...Hadley Hockensmith...and also Billy Thedford ,James Felix.....THAT was the early Andrae Crouch Albums....on LIGHT RECORDING from your btother in Cape Town Sunny SOUTH-AFRICA
Not only is Mr. Hungate a killer bassist, he is also a fine guitarist and trombonist.
1:39 -"Can't Hide Love" came out three years before Toto's first album. Though it's not surprising because that EWF sound was replicated so much in the later half of the 1980s. Being session musicians Toto was used to playing a lot of different styles, and that was sound was just one of them.
Mikey P was the only man for the job. Second to none, all his own. Beautiful tribute!
As a musician during the 70's I always read the liner credits of album that I bought to know who I was listening to. David Hungate is a true professional and master of the instrument. Thanx for bringing attention to him! Peace
Still, still, still to this day my favorite Hungate bass line is on Olivia Newton John's "A Little More Love". 😎👍
78 was a fantastic year !
The first time I heard David, was on Silk Degrees, and was just blown away. His feel, choice of notes and fills immediately caught my ears.
I have a friend who plays drums as a session player in Nashville who has worked with David... his pocket is no joke...
Hungate is so damn good. He is one of my hero’s.
You, sir, need no searching for no pocket. You got it, in exuberance!! Nice somebody shine's a spotlight on the bass in Toto, a band one can not praise enough for both excellence in musicianship and mega fine tunes the boys wrote. As a long time fan, Georgy P has always made my playlist of Toto cuts. And although the band has expressed they hated the disco era and wouldn't had anything to do with that sound, they clearly had some funky pocket going on. Both on their own tracks and as studio cats playing for others. Just consider I keep forgetting from Mike McDonald or one of their tracks from the XX album, miss sun.
Ofcourse Jeff Porcaro was know for his incredible time and groove ability and ofc Steve Lukather is one of the most underrated rythm guitarist (and one of the best imho) but without Hungate shining on these early Toto cuts it wouldn't had that supertight pocket feel. He and Jeff (and later the even more sober Mike and Jeff) ... a match made in heaven.
A salut to you (again 😂) for your fine taste in music!
Awesome !!
Hey pdbass. If I’m not mistaken you can also hear it in JB Papa Don’t Take No Mess. Only the second note is a ghost note. Awesome video bud. 🙏🏻👍🏻👏🏻
Loved Pocoro's Peavey Circus, so damn beautiful.
David was a monster, and that track, Georgy Porgy was one of my favs.
Hungate was a contemporary of David Paich Jeff Porcaro a little older than Lukather. What a group and to the person from the point of sheer talent,theory,and feel ….the best!
Paich, Jeff and Luke were were closer in age.
Paich and Jeff were born in 1954.
Luke and Steve Porcaro in 1957.
Mike Porcaro in 1955.
Hungate and Bobby Kimball are the oldest.
Hungate and Bobby were born in 1947
I love bass driving songs - thanks for the education
I've been a fan of TOTO from the beginning. This has always been my favorite by them. Thanks for breaking it down and exposing the genius of this track.
Agree 100% with your assessment of Hungate, a bassist with over-the-moon feel and plain old talent. Too, I would like to lift a glass to your good self, your channel is a delight. The enthusiasm you share is not only sincere but infectious as well. There are a couple other entertaining bass channels on YT but their focus is almost solely on complexity, speed, and ego - a little bit of this goes a lo-o-o-ng way. Don't know if you accept suggestions from non-subscribers but how about a video on King Crimson era John Wetton? Regardless, love your work and as long as you keep making vids I'll be watching them. Cheers!
I absolutely LOVE your channel. As a drummer, I always enjoy your choices of players and tunes. Still eagerly awaiting your take on the late great Mick Karn. Thank you for your great work!
A Mick Karn video would be incredible!
@@atquinn1975agree!
The bass line of the song "you're the one that I want" is incredible too (and very difficult to play)
It's always been one of my favourite Toto songs. Very interresting vids...thank you.
Love "Georgy Porgy". I bought that album because of that tune.
Another > Hungate's outro on "99"... killer.
RIP, MP...
Glad you did a vid on Hungate the bass player who did the "Grease" soundtrack bass playing. That's some iconic basslines. A real gigantic 1970's extraganaza!!!! Thanks!!!
Stumbles here.. glad I did. Great channel. (Pay the man!).
Your breakdowns are the finest Sir! Cheers JP
I never got to see David Hungate play live, but I did get to see Mike, front row with his feet literally in front of my head. That Toto concert was one of the best I’ve ever been to. The only thing that would’ve made it better would’ve been if Jeff would’ve still been around. Simon Phillips is one of my favorite drummers, but Jeff’s feel, pocket, and energy is something that only comes around once. The back to Mike, he really gave me a new appreciation for bass players, and I even started playing around with the bass. Great channel my friend! You have new subscriber!!
Toto played for the Imperials’ (gospel group) on their 1982 album Stand by the Power. David Hungate was not playing on the album; The credited bassists are Nathan East (who also played on their 1985 album Let the Wind Blow) and Neil Stubenhaus.
idk whether the Imperials decided that they just wanted a different bassist or if Stand by the Power came out after Toto IV
Hungate had a great monthly column in bass player magazine years ago. Great job
You know, I’ve been playing that groove all my life and have always wondered who came up with it.. 👍🏽 Toto has always been one of my favorite groups, still is.
Thanks professor Paul. This is another of my favorites.
Take care of yourself.
Another brilliant episode Paul. The Toto productions and tracks were second to none especially with David Hungate holding it down. Take care
That's jazz, y-all! you're hilarious. Thanks for the great video.
Great tutorial 👌🏿 👍🏿 👏
Pocket! Is KING! Thank you! 🙂
Thanks for yet another informative and entertaining video. I've always loved 'Georgy Porgy'! Ashford and Simpson bassist Francisco Centeno once told me that his great bass line on the hit "It Seems To Hang On" was inspired by David Hungate's playing on Boz Scagg's 'Lowdown.' Great that you remembered Mike Porcaro too.
For what its worth- and I hope you get a chance to check this out- The bass pockets hit me hard as a kid who grew up in the 1970s. I started as a drummer and took lessons and became pretty well educated on drums and rhythm, etc. I later picked up guitar and stuck with that as well, still taking both drum and guitar lessons. I was focused on those two instruments but was drawn to the bass movement in the productions of songs without knowing it. Then I started to hear and listen for bass parts particularly. As a Queen fan, it wasn’t always easy to pick out John Deacons parts and I wasn’t really listening for them at the time. What really made me hear the bass on its own was the Gerry Rafferty album City to City. Gary Taylor played bass on the whole album and two songs stuck out to me and really made me take note and work out the bass lines. First was City to City, the title track. Starts with basic octave and then walks in the chorus and continues walking through the second verse and the rest of the song. It was like being awakened by a bass line. That walking part was just infectious. The other song is called Home and Dry. Quarter note bass lines with a little fill here and there but what a pocket! Listening to those two tunes opened up a door to the bass line world for me that made it all make sense. Mentioning Hungate brings back all those great lines he did with Toto and all the others. He never overplayed. He always made it work. Great video. Check out the Gerry Rafferty tunes.
Also the dude behind the incredible bassline on You Are the One That I Want from the Grease soundtrack
I love ToTo since high school,I would call them the white EWF.EWF was doing that groove way before anyone.Hungate is truly a brilliant bassist.
Great video. Speaking of Toto, how about Mike Porcaro's lines on "Can You Hear What I'm Saying" really great stuff
David Hungate was NO JOKE! His bass playing on Lee Ritenour’s Mr. Briefcase was (and still is) incredible! And Mike Porcaro? Still can’t believe he’s gone. Great player! I have a DVD on TOTO live and he did a bass solo @ the end of AFRICA! I used that to practice my timing. That’s how much I love that solo! TOTO has great talent period! As sidemen AND band!🤨🎶🎸👍🏾
David used to write articles in Bass Player magazine back in the late 80s/early 90's re note placement on country lines...the precision he spoke of was so far ahead of me at that time. I still have the magazines so must dig them out again!
Also, I've thought several times that you'd cover 'Can't stop The Love' by Maze..there are some brilliant funk lines on that album!
And Melvin Lee Davis is a superb player who's worth looking into - his tone & fluidity is gorgeous 👍😊
@@thejam2k 👍😊
As a bassist, I now understand why I love listening to all the songs you mentioned including the Grease soundtrack! How did I miss that? It all makes sense now
I saw Dave with Michael McDonald about 20 years ago and his pocket and Tone was ridiculous.
Yup, I also love his solo right at the end of '99' - beautiful.
And RIP Mike, who did fabulous work on live versions of 'Georgy Porgy' as well. These guys and so many others inspired generations of us to pick up the low end
Love his work on "you're the one that I want" from Grease sound track. Amazing groove !
Always Dug the Georgie Porgy Tune. I remember Partying to it as a Teenager. I got hip to Hungate on Boz SKaggs on Lowdown. Porgy was and remains Hip. Love Those Chords 😊
When you are able to assemble a supergroup that includes the brothers Steve and Jeff Porcaro and the great Steve Lukather, you know that this group was destined to be amazing. Toto band members and the session musicians for Steely Dan are the most creative players since those Motown sessions! It is a tribute to artistry at the highest.
Some love for David Paich, the main songwriter for TOTO in the early years.
I’m glad I tripped over this. Enjoyed the video, great job.
"That's jazz, y'all!" ..... Classic 🙂
fuck yes!!!!! Love him.
Hungate also killed it Goodby Elenor. He is just awesome.
Your videos are always some of the most enjoyable on UA-cam. You go where the groove is, no matter who and no matter the genre. There's a saying that a person never really dies until the last person to remember their names dies. You helped keep Hungate and Porcaro alive. Both deserve that.
Yooooooo!!!! I totally forgot that they created Georgie Porgie!!!
Hungate also contributed bass on four tracks for Toto XIV (released in 2015).
These are such great songs, but also this is a brilliant tear-down and analysis as well...
I guess the Hungate's fans on this messaging may be unaware of David's incredible contribution to Linda Ronstadt's album "Cry Like a Rainstorm and Howl Like the Wind", check it out. 😮😊❤
Totos first album was a " super sleeper " of a powerful debut fir a largely dismissed group. Glad folks are " rediscovering" them.. i bought the album when it came out as a "lark" in 78 and played the hell out of it that summer. Chicks just loved it cause it was so sexy too.