Larry Graham Jr. (born August 14, 1946) is an American bassist and baritone singer, both with the psychedelic soul/

funk Funk is a music genre that originated in African American communities in the mid-1960s when musicians created a rhythmic, danceable new form of music through a mixture of various music genres that were popular among African Americans in the mi ...

band Sly and the Family Stone and as the founder and frontman of Graham Central Station. In 1980, he released the single " One in a Million You", which reached the top ten on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100. He is credited with the invention of the slapping technique on the electric bass guitar, which radically expanded the tonal palette of the bass, although he himself refers to the technique as "thumpin' and pluckin' ". In 1993, he was inducted into the

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (RRHOF), sometimes simply referred to as the Rock Hall, is a museum and hall of fame located in downtown Cleveland, Ohio, United States, on the shore of Lake Erie. The museum documents the history of rock music and ...

as a member of the Sly and the Family Stone. He is also the uncle of rapper

Drake Drake may refer to: Animals * A male duck People and fictional characters * Drake (surname), a list of people and fictional characters with the family name * Drake (given name), a list of people and fictional characters with the given name ...

Life and career

Born in

Beaumont, Texas Beaumont is a coastal city in the U.S. state of Texas. It is the seat of government of Jefferson County, within the Beaumont– Port Arthur metropolitan statistical area, located in Southeast Texas on the Neches River about east of Houston ( ...

to successful musicians, Graham played bass in the

band Sly and the Family Stone from 1967 to 1972. It is said that he pioneered the art of slap-pop playing on the electric bass, in part to provide percussive and rhythmic elements in addition to the notes of the bass line when his mother decided to no longer have a drummer in her band, while Graham also admits in a BBC documentary on funk music that he is unsure if it was done on economical grounds; the slap of the thumb being used to emulate a

bass drum The bass drum is a large drum that produces a note of low definite or indefinite pitch. The instrument is typically cylindrical, with the drum's diameter much greater than the drum's depth, with a struck head at both ends of the cylinder. Th ...

and the pop of the index or middle finger as a

snare drum The snare (or side drum) is a percussion instrument that produces a sharp staccato sound when the head is struck with a drum stick, due to the use of a series of stiff wires held under tension against the lower skin. Snare drums are often used ...

. This style has become archetypal of modern funk. Slap-pop playing couples a percussive thumb-slapping technique of the lower strings with an aggressive finger-snap of the higher strings, often in rhythmic alternation. The slap and pop technique incorporates a large ratio of muted or "dead" notes to normal notes, which adds to the rhythmic effect. This "slap" bass style was later used by such artists as

Bootsy Collins William Earl "Bootsy" Collins (born October 26, 1951) is an American bass guitarist and singer. Rising to prominence with James Brown in the early 1970s, and later with Parliament-Funkadelic, Collins established himself as one of the leading ...

( P-Funk), Les Claypool ( Primus),

Bernard Edwards Bernard Edwards (October 31, 1952 – April 18, 1996) was an American bass player and record producer, known primarily for his work in disco music with guitarist Nile Rodgers, with whom he co-founded Chic. In 2017, Edwards was selected as the 5 ...

( Chic), Louis Johnson, Mark King,

Keni Burke Kenneth M. "Keni" Burke (born September 28, 1953) is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, and multi-instrumentalist who began his career with four siblings in the 1970s band the Five Stairsteps. Biography Five Stairsteps As a member ...

, Victor Wooten, Kim Clarke of

Defunkt Defunkt is an American musical group founded by the trombonist and singer Joseph Bowie in 1978 in New York City. Their music touches on elements of punk rock, funk, and jazz. Career Joseph Bowie is the brother of big band musician Byron Bow ...

Marcus Miller William Henry Marcus Miller Jr. (born June 14, 1959) is an American musician, songwriter, and record producer. He is best known for his work as a bassist. He has worked with trumpeter Miles Davis, pianist Herbie Hancock, singer Luther Vandros ...

, and Stanley Clarke. After Sly and the Family Stone, Graham formed his own band, Graham Central Station. The name is a pun on Grand Central Station, the train station located in

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

, New York City. Graham Central Station had several hits in the 1970s, including "Hair". In the mid-1970s, Larry Graham worked with Betty Davis, the second ex-wife of jazz musician

Miles Davis Miles Dewey Davis III (May 26, 1926September 28, 1991) was an American trumpeter, bandleader, and composer. He is among the most influential and acclaimed figures in the history of jazz and 20th-century music. Davis adopted a variety of music ...

. Betty Davis' band included members of the Tower of Power horns and the

Pointer Sisters The Pointer Sisters are an American pop and R&B singing group from Oakland, California, that achieved mainstream success during the 1970s and 1980s. Their repertoire has included such diverse genres as pop, jazz, electronic music, bebop, blu ...

, and she recorded three albums to critical acclaim but limited commercial success. In 1975, Graham became one of

Jehovah's Witnesses Jehovah's Witnesses is a millenarian restorationist Christian denomination with nontrinitarian beliefs distinct from mainstream Christianity. The group reports a worldwide membership of approximately 8.7 million adherents involved in ...

. Eventually, he was credited with introducing

Prince A prince is a male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary, in some European states. ...

to the faith. In the early 1980s, Graham recorded five solo albums and had several solo hits on the R&B chart. His biggest hit was " One in a Million You", a crossover hit, which reached No. 9 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart in 1980. He reformed Graham Central Station in the early 1990s and performed with the band for several years during which they released two live albums. One was recorded in Japan in 1992, and the other, recorded in London in 1996, had only 1000 copies printed and was exclusively sold at concerts. In 1998, he recorded a solo album under the name Graham Central Station '' GCS 2000''. It was a collaboration between Larry Graham and

. While Graham wrote all the songs, except one co-written by Prince, the album was co-arranged and co-produced by Prince, and most of the instruments and vocals were recorded by both Graham and Prince. Graham also played bass on tours with Prince from 1997 to 2000. He appeared in Prince's 1998 VHS '' Beautiful Strange'' and 1999 DVD ''

Rave Un2 the Year 2000 ''Rave Un2 the Year 2000'' is a 1999 Prince concert film. Filmed in December 1999 at Paisley Park Studios, and premiering as a pay-per-view special via In Demand on December 31, 1999, the film was produced as a companion to his recently release ...

''. He has since appeared with Prince at various international venues. Larry Graham (10398937003)

Graham and Graham Central Station performed internationally with a world tour in 2010 and the "Funk Around the World" international tour in 2011. He appeared with Andre Beeka as a special guest at

Jim James James Edward Olliges Jr. (born April 27, 1978), professionally known as Jim James or Yim Yames, is an American vocalist, guitarist, producer, and primary songwriter of the rock band My Morning Jacket. He has also released several solo albums. ...

' "Rock N' Soul Dance Party Superjam" at the 2013

Bonnaroo Music Festival The Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival is an American annual four-day music festival developed and founded by Superfly Presents and AC Entertainment. Since its first year in 2002, it has been held at what is now Great Stage Park on a farm in ...

. Graham is the father of singer-songwriter and producer Darric Graham. He is also brothers with Dennis Graham, making Larry Graham the uncle of Canadian rapper and actor

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Discography

With Sly and the Family Stone

* 1967: '' A Whole New Thing'' * 1968: '' Dance to the Music'' * 1968: ''

Life Life is a quality that distinguishes matter that has biological processes, such as signaling and self-sustaining processes, from that which does not, and is defined by the capacity for growth, reaction to stimuli, metabolism, energy ...

'' * 1969: '' Stand!'' * 1971: '' There's a Riot Goin' On'' * 1973: '' Fresh''

With Graham Central Station

* '' Graham Central Station'' ( Warner Bros., 1974) * '' Release Yourself'' (Warner Bros., 1974) * '' Ain't No 'Bout-A-Doubt It'' (Warner Bros., 1975) * ''

Mirror A mirror or looking glass is an object that reflects an image. Light that bounces off a mirror will show an image of whatever is in front of it, when focused through the lens of the eye or a camera. Mirrors reverse the direction of the im ...

'' (Warner Bros., 1976) * ''

Now Do U Wanta Dance ''Now Do U Wanta Dance'' is the fifth album by Graham Central Station. Released on April 1, 1977, the album peaked at number twelve on the Billboard Top Soul Albums. Track listing All songs written by Larry Graham except where indicated. #"Ha ...

'' (Warner Bros., 1977) * ''

My Radio Sure Sounds Good to Me ''My Radio Sure Sounds Good to Me'' is the sixth album by Larry Graham & Graham Central Station. Released in 1978, the record marked the first time that Graham called his band Larry Graham & Graham Central Station (as opposed to simply Graham Cen ...

'' (Warner Bros., 1978) * ''Star Walk'' (Warner Bros., 1979) * ''Live in Japan'' (1992) * ''Live in London'' (1996) * ''Back by Popular Demand'' (1998) * ''The Best of Larry Graham and Graham Central Station, Vol. 1 (Warner Bros., 1996) * ''Raise Up'' (2012)

Solo albums

;All Warner Bros. releases: ;

NPG Records NPG Records is a record label that was owned by Prince and run by Trevor Guy. "NPG" is short for New Power Generation. It was founded to release his music after Paisley Park Records was shut down by Warner Bros. Records in 1994. Though the 1994 co ...

release: * 1998: '' GCS2000'' (as Graham Central Station) ;Self-released: * 2019: ''Chillin' ''

Singles

Notes

References

External links

A bio from the Ultimate Band List.

"Release Yourself: From Sly Stone's roughhouse to the Artist's clubhouse, groundbreaking bassist Larry Graham finds new power in Minnesota"
''City Pages'', July 21, 1999.
Larry Graham talks about his grandmother's support and sacrifice – NAMM Oral History Interview (2014)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Graham, Larry 1946 births 20th-century American bass guitarists 21st-century American bass guitarists American jazz bass guitarists Living people African-American male singers American male bass guitarists African-American rock musicians American baritones American funk bass guitarists American funk singers American Jehovah's Witnesses American rhythm and blues bass guitarists Converts to Jehovah's Witnesses People from Beaumont, Texas Singers from Texas Sly and the Family Stone members Songwriters from Texas Guitarists from Texas American male jazz musicians African-American songwriters African-American guitarists