“Aside from his incredible musicianship over many decades, he was a beautiful soul”: Tributes paid to bass legend Herbie Flowers

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Tributes have been pouring in for Herbie Flowers, who has died at the age of 86.

Flowers was best known as a session musician, but his role on many recordings was a far more creative one than mere musical hack work.

Known primarily as a bassist, he’s responsible for the unforgettable opening to Lou Reed’s Walk On The Wild Side (later sampled by Tribe Called Quest’s Can I Kick It?) but on that same album also contributed tuba to Goodnight Ladies.

It was also Flowers who played the instantly recognisable rubbery bass on David Essex’s Rock On, which, double-tracked and applied with slapback delay, created something utterly new and captivating and played no small part in the single’s success. For this innovation he was paid double his normal fee, the princely sum of  ￡24.

The tuba was Flowers’ first instrument - it wasn’t until later that he took up at first the double bass and then the electric. By the late 60s he had established himself as a session player for producers such as Shel Talmy, Mickie Most and Gus Dudgeon, also finding time to join Blue Mink, the MOR pop band best known for 1969 hit Melting Pot.

Flowers played with David Bowie, on the Space Oddity and Diamond Dogs albums, on Jeff Wayne’s War Of The Worlds, on albums by Elton John, Bryan Ferry, Cat Stevens, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. Oh and he also wrote one of the biggest novelty hits of the 1970s – Clive Dunn’s Grandad.

By the end of the 1970s it was estimated to have played on over 500 hits. It was around this time he joined prog/ classical outfit Sky, whose second album Sky 2 was a UK Number One in 1980.

When news broke of his death over the weekend, Tim Burgess, lead singer with the Charlatans took to Twitter/ X and posted: “Farewell Herbie Flowers, he made the greats sound greater.”

Mat Osman, bassist with Suede chipped in with “Ah, damn. RIP Herbie Flowers. So many great basslines – imagine having played on Space Oddity, Walk on the Wild Side and Rock On.”

Meanwhile, the estate of David Bowie paid their tribute, saying Flowers’ work over the years was too long to list. “Aside from his incredible musicianship over many decades, he was a beautiful soul and a very funny man. He will be sorely missed. Our thoughts are with his family and friends.”

His family too - Kevin Jo Conklin, the husband of his niece posted on Facebook: “While we knew and loved him as Uncle Herbie, his musical contributions have likely touched your lives as well.

He played bass on many of the songs from the golden age of rock… We’ll miss you Uncle Herbie! Rock on.”