'Walk on the Wide Side' bassist Herbie Flowers dies, aged 86: His greatest moments and songs

9 September 2024, 11:11

From 'Walk on the Wild Side' to 'Grandad', Herbie Flowers could do it all.

When news broke over the weekend that Herbie Flowers had died at the age of 86, tributes poured in from across the world of music.

Flowers was one of those rare things, a session musician who was also a household name and a star in his own right.

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While he was a key player in bands like Blue Mink and Sky and also released a number of solo albums, it was his work in the studio for the very biggest names that he was most famous for.

"We are very sad to learn of the passing of Herbie Flowers in the last couple of days," said the David Bowie estate.

"His work with Bowie and associates over the years is too long to list here. Aside from his incredible musicianship over many decades, he was a beautiful soul and a very funny man. He will be sorely missed."

Yes man Rick Wakeman, who like Flowers was once a famed session player, said: "Totally gutted to hear of the passing of the great Herbie Flowers.

"At a quick guess I reckon we played on at least 50 records together as well as touring with the band SKY in Australia. Not only a fabulous bass player and musician but also a true gent and a very funny man too."

In a touching tribute, The Charlatans frontman Tim Burgess put it best: "He made the greats sound greater."

Even fans who didn't know Herbie Flowers by name would certainly recognise the playing of the Middlesex-born former RAF bandsman.

When it comes to hired session musicians, who played what isn't always properly recorded, but it's believed that the prolific Flowers had played on over 500 hit albums during his remarkable career.

Below we've rounded up just some of the biggest and best known songs that feature Herbie's playing.

1. Lou Reed - Walk on the Wild Side

   

   Lou Reed - Walk on the Wild Side (Official Audio)

   We had to start with this.

   Taken from his solo breakthrough Transformer, Lou Reed's 'Walk on the Wild Side' was produced by David Bowie and Mick Ronson.

   Bowie had already worked with Herbie on his Space Oddity album (more on that imminently) and suggested Flowers for the gig.

   

   Walk On The Wild Side - The story behind the classic bass intro featuring Herbie Flowers.

   The result? One of the most instantly recognisable basslines in the history of popular music, recorded in one 20-minute session.

   As well as that suitably louche double bass, Herbie overdubbed his playing with a much higher electric bass line, earning him double the going rate for a session player.

   "Not that I did it for that reason," Herbie said with a smile.

2. David Bowie - Space Oddity

   

   David Bowie – Space Oddity (Official Video)

   After his time playing tuba and then bass in the RAF in the 1950s, he became a jazzman, before being known as one of the top session players around, being rated by the big producers of the 1970s, including Shel Talmy, Mickie Most, Gus Dudgeon and Tony Visconti.

   Visconti produced David Bowie's self-titled 1969 album (sometimes renamed Space Oddity) and nabbed Herbie to play bass on the record. Bowie fans will know that Tony was too proud to produce what he thought was a novelty song in 'Space Oddity itself, with Gus Dudgeon doing the honours there.

   Tony later realised the error of his ways, with 'Space Oddity' long outliving its Moon landing associations to become one of the classic songs in DB's discography, and that's in part thanks to Herbie's wonderfully expressive bassline.

   Herbie later returned to the Bowie fold to play on his 1974 glam masterpiece Diamond Dogs.

3. David Essex - Rock On

   

   David Essex - Rock On (Audio)

   Just like on 'Walk on the Wild Side', Herbie earned himself double pay for his double-tracked bass on David Essex's 1973 hit 'Rock On'.

   An ahead-of-its-time classic, 'Rock On' sounded like nothing else around, and a big part of that was Herb's menacing, delay-heavy bassline that powers the whole thing.

4. Elton John - Indian Sunset

   

   Indian Sunset

   On some songs, Herbie's bass absolutely dominates or leads the song. On others, it plays its role as part of a perfect mix of instruments.

   Elton John's 'Indian Sunset' is best known for Elton's own powerhouse vocals and pounding pianos, but Flowers's bass is a key ingredient in the swirl of sound that makes the song what it is.

   The song was sampled by Eminem for his remarkable production of posthumous Tupac single 'Ghetto Gospel'.

5. T Rex - Dandy in the Underworld

   

   T.Rex - Dandy in the Underworld

   Herbie wasn't always a session man, and in August 1976 he joined T.Rex as a full-time member on bass.

   As well as live performances, he was one of several players who contributed to the band's 12th and final album Dandy in the Underworld, which was released the following year, including on its title track.

   Flowers also appeared on Marc Bolan's Marc TV series, and we don't know how the relationship may have blossomed had Bolan not tragically died in a car crash in September 1977.

6. Blue Mink - Melting Pot

   

   Blue Mink Melting Pot 1969

   T.Rex weren't the only band Herbie was a proper member of. Before his best-known session playing, Herb's biggest record came as part of Blue Mink.

   1969's 'Melting Pot' was a massive hit, going all the way to number three in the UK singles chart.

   Its admittedly well-intentioned lyrics haven't aged all that well to modern ears, but what still sounds absolutely spot on is Herbie's high-in-the-mix melodic bassline.

7. Clive Dunn - Grandad

   

   Clive Dunn - Grandad [totp2]

   Bit of trivia. Clive Dunn was only 50 when he had a number one hit with novelty song 'Grandad'. He was still in his 40s when he was cast as Lance Corporal Jones in Dad's Army.

   Another bit of trivia. 'Grandad' was co-written by none other than Herbie Flowers, along with Kenny Pickett, former lead singer of cool-as-can-be psychedelic rockers The Creation.

   And while it's easy to mock, you can't deny just how catchy 'Grandad' is, and a big part of that goes to Herbie.

8. Paul McCartney - The Long and Winding Road (Give My Regards to Broad Street version)

   

   The Long And Winding Road (Remastered 1993)

   The Give My Regards To Broad Street film wasn't exactly well loved, but that wasn't a slight on its wonderful soundtrack, which also doubled up as Paul McCartney's fifth studio album.

   The record was packed with guest players (David Gilmour, Anne Dudley, George Martin, John Paul Jones), including Herbie on two tracks.

   He played on the opener and lead single 'No More Lonely Nights', but we've opted for this sax-heavy reworking of The Beatles 'The Long and Winding Road'.

   It's one thing to play bass on a record by the actual Paul McCartney, but quite another to play bass on one of Paul's best-loved Beatles songs on a record by the actual Paul McCartney. Herbie pulls it off brilliantly.

9. George Harrison - Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea

   

   George Harrison - Between The Devil & The Deep Blue Sea

   Herbie actually played with three of the four Beatles (he popped up on a couple of songs on Ringo Starr's 1981 album Stop and Smell the Roses), and appeared on three George Harrison albums.

   The last of those was on 2002's posthumous Brainwashed album, where Herbie played both bass and tuba on George's cover of old school US pop song 'Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea'.

10. Sky - Toccata

    

    Toccata

    Herbie was seen as a bandsman turned jazzman turned rocker, but the truth was he could really play absolutely anything.

    He mashed up plenty of styles as part of instrumental prog rock group Sky, who smooshed together rock, classical and jazz across their seven albums.

    That included prog reworkings of classical pieces, including this memorable take on Bach's 'Toccata' from the Sky 2 album.

11. Harry Nilsson - Jump Into The Fire

    

    Harry Nilsson - Jump into the Fire (Official Audio)

    Harry Nilsson is often recalled these days for his Beatles associations and rock 'n' roll antics, but his music has stood the test of time, and that's especially true of his Nilsson Schmilsson album, which sounds as fresh today as it did on its release in 1971.

    While it was Klaus Voormann who played bass on the massive 'Without You', it was Herbie who stepped up for follow-up single 'Jump into the Fire', offering up one of his most insistent, powerful rhythms that, like Herbie's best work, is immediately recognisable even if you strip away everything else from the song.