Steve Walters: Talkin' Bass

By JS Team | Apr 2018

BASSIST Steve Walters certainly has an impressive résumé. His career, spanning two successful decades, has traversed legendary musicians from George Michael, Amy Winehouse, Chaka Khan, James Taylor, Mariah Carey to Rod Stewart and Sir Cliff Richards – the list of greats continues on. With so many notches on his musical bed post, Walters takes Jam Sessions on a trip down memory lane; from chance meetings with Stevie Wonder to finding the funk with Beverley Knight. 



Interview

JS
“What many people don’t know is that you actually did an R&B record without a name - no nothing. You sent it into the BBC, they play this record constantly, and then you went - ‘oh by the way it’s Cliff Richard.’ And they soon pulled the record.” “What was that like?”
Steve
“I think [Cliff Richards] just proved a point: it shouldn’t be about who you are it’s about what you do.” “I’ll give you an example: I did the Golden Jubilee and after the gig everyone was invited into Buckingham Palace. As I was going into Buckingham Palace, everyone was also queuing up to see Stevie Wonder. So I’m standing there going, ‘you know what I’m not going to queue up.’ As soon as I turned around someone pulled my arm and said, “come over and meet Stevie.” At the time I was dealing with Cliff, so Stevie pulled up to me and said, ‘Hey you play with George Michael don’t you? Give him this song, I’ve just wrote this song and I want you to sing it to him.’” “So I agreed. I listened and I thought, wow, Stevie Wonder is singing right in my ear. So I went ok I’ll do that.” “Now, it so happened that two months later I was doing the closing ceremony of the Olympic games with George Michael, so I remembered this song and I went up to George and I said, “George I’ve got a song that Stevie Wonder gave to me to sing to you because he wants to do a duet.” I just thought all we do in sound check are Stevie Wonder songs - he’s going to love this. So I sang. George replied, ‘it’s really good but they’ll never play us on the radio.’ That proved that point: you could be Stevie Wonder, you could be George Michael and you could be doing the thing together. But, it’s the same point with Cliff, people will love it but as soon as they know who it is, not interested.”
JS
“So you’d argue that there is a radio bias going on? They pick and choose what they would like to hear. Or what’s popular…”
Steve
“It’s about categories. They think, ‘You’ve made enough money, now it’s someone else’s turn.’”
JS
“OK – something a bit different. The folk band The Water Boys – what was it like playing with them?”
Steve
“That was one of my favourite gigs of all time because it was folk music and you’re playing [real] folk music. It was myself and a guy called Carlos Hercules, he’s the drummer. So when we turned up to the gig, the audience were all listening to folk music and this black rhythm section turns up, the people are like – ‘What? What’s going on here?” I mean, we were playing in folk land, as in Norway, Sweden, Denmark…
JS
“Do you remember any of the bass parts?”
Steve
“I think so.” [He proceeds to play the chords]
JS
The memory of the music always lives, doesn’t it? It must be an amazing thing to have these musically charged experiences. One of my all-time favorites of your live collaborations, is with Jimmy Cliff and ‘The Harder They Come’. What is he like as a person? Was he warm?
Steve
“He’s very spiritual. I got a call from Carlos, who was playing the drums, and he said, ‘Look, Jimmy is looking for a bass player, come. You can do this, it’s your gig.’ In fact all they wanted was for someone to do the Top Of The Pops and they wanted to rehearse two songs. So I went up and learnt the two songs and they went, OK Top Of The Pops is tomorrow but learn another one and then learn another one… next minute I’d learnt eight songs. They said, ‘Listen man, stay. We’re going to do HMV tonight. Come and play. I like your vibe.’ So I stayed and went off to the HMV store.”
JS
“It must have been amazing for him to say I like your vibes?”
Steve
“The next day we did Top Of The Pops, then he said, ‘Right, what are you doing on Friday?’ I said I was free. He told me that they were going to Switzerland to do a gig. So off we went, and then there was another gig, another gig, another gig. It just went like that. It was fantastic. When we did ‘Many Rivers To Cross’ he was holding back but when we got to Top Of The Pops a gate opened. It was more than a gate it was like a chasm just opened and when it came out I just went, “Oh, my god.” I could feel it. I almost forgot to come in on cue.”
ON WORKING WITH CHAKA KHAN: “She was like a whirlwind.”


Interview continued...

JS
So, a little birdy has told us – and just want to clarify it - did you actually jam with Jeff Beck?
Steve
“Yes.”
JS
How did that happen?
Steve
“I had a call from Lulu and I was in a rehearsal room in London Bridge and they said that they were doing rehearsals with Jeff Beck and they thought it was an audition. They said that I should come down because I was good. So I went along and played with vocalist Jennifer Baton, Steve Alexandra on drums and Becks. So we did about three hours or something and Jeff said, ‘you’re really musical, I love it you’re so musical.’”
JS
“That’s a brilliant compliment.”
Steve
“I was like, wow, thanks very much, but then Randy Taylor who had played with Steve Alexander and another guy called Stewart before, so they gave it to Randy. Also because Randy is a great player.”
“You need to find the soul within the music that the artist wants. Whether that is Amy or George Michael or Mike Scott from the Water Boys or Mica Paris.”
JS
“OK, we have to ask about the Empress Chaka Khan. Chaka Chaka – what is she like? Is she a funny person?”
Steve
“She was like a whirlwind.”
JS
“Is she demanding as a musician?”
Steve
“Yes.”
JS
“She’s demanding because she has that ability, she knows what you are doing…”
Steve
“The Chaka Khan thing happened because I was playing at the Songwriters, and the keyboard player in the Songwriters was also Chaka’s musical director. So he said, ‘Right, I’m going to get Chaka to come down and she’s going to play a few tunes.’ So we rehearsed the tunes and she came into the rehearsals and sang. She was one person that when she opened her mouth you knew exactly how to shape your notes. You had to think as if you were painting (pretends to brush stroke)
JS
“…You’re composing your own bass?”
Steve
“That was one of the first times when I just went OK, that is what it is like to be a bass player.”
JS
“…you know where you fit.” “So one other lovely lady who’s also a friend of yours is Beverley Knight. How did that relationship develop?”
Steve
“I’ve played with her for five or six years…”
JS
She’s a fantastic artist and for the UK especially. I think she’s a bit underrated…
Steve
“Very underrated.”
JS
…and not really had her chance to shine. How was that experience - was it an enjoyable gig or hard work?
Steve
“It was all of those things because the band always evolved. It was constantly moving, loads of energy, constantly.”
JS
Is Beverley Knight energetic?
Steve
“Yes, and also she’s very influenced a lot by Prince.”
JS
“She’s into the funk?”
Steve
“And also gospel. So we have the gospel, Prince and her. So it was always very animated but at the same time disciplined.”
JS
“And finally, Omar! Again, an underrated artist who did a lot for the UK R&B scene. How was your experience of Omar during the 90s?”
Steve
“Omar does everything with a smile. Therefore there is a passion that is always burning there and there is a humour within his music. Even though sometimes you think he could be saying ‘Chah!’ he would find something to make himself laugh. So, I found him very warm to work with because he was like, ‘come on boys let’s give this a little flavour and throw it down.’“
JS
“Given the people who you’ve mentioned here, it’s very clear that you have had real experience with a lot of genres of music; pop, reggae, R&B, neo soul. What genre excites you the most and which one do you feel most comfortable in?”
Steve
“I think all of them, because [as a bass player] you have to mould the sound into who the artist is. You need to find the soul within the music that the artist wants. Whether that is Amy or George or Mike Scott from the Water Boys or Mica Paris. I try to bring a soul to them to give a foundation that is almost invisible but yet at the same time it is there.”
JS
“They have to rely on their musicians to interpret the music, right? Finally, before I forget Lewis Taylor…”
Steve
“Lewis Taylor was the single most educational ‘upside your head’ experience in music that I’ve ever had. He came down at songwriters, he got signed by Island Records and then he had an eight piece band and then after week two it was a seven piece band. After week five it was a six piece band. It was him, Dylan Howell on drums and myself on bass.”
JS
“Well, Steve Walters it’s been an absolute pleasure.”

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