John Sauter is an American

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wale ...

and

blues Blues is a music genre and musical form that originated among African Americans in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues has incorporated spiritual (music), spirituals, work songs, field hollers, Ring shout, shouts, cha ...

musician A musician is someone who Composer, composes, Conducting, conducts, or Performing arts#Performers, performs music. According to the United States Employment Service, "musician" is a general Terminology, term used to designate a person who fol ...

and

bass guitarist A bassist (also known as a bass player or bass guitarist) is a musician who plays a bass instrument such as a double bass (upright bass, contrabass, wood bass), bass guitar (electric bass, acoustic bass), keyboard bass (synth bass) or a low bra ...

from

Decatur, Illinois Decatur ( ) is the largest city in Macon County, Illinois, United States, and its county seat. The city was founded in 1829 and is situated along the Sangamon River and Lake Decatur in Central Illinois. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 ...

. He has played in Mitch Ryder's band

Detroit Detroit ( , ) is the List of municipalities in Michigan, most populous city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated on the bank of the Detroit River across from Windsor, Ontario. It had a population of 639,111 at the 2020 United State ...

and with

Ted Nugent Theodore Anthony Nugent (; born December 13, 1948) is an American guitarist, singer, songwriter, and political activist. He goes by several nicknames, including Uncle Ted, the Nuge, and Motor City Madman. Nugent initially gained fame as the le ...

Life and career

John Sauter grew up in Decatur, Illinois, and began playing bass guitar at age 14. He moved to Chicago, and was soon playing with many

Chicago blues Chicago blues is a form of blues music that developed in Chicago, Illinois. It is based on earlier blues idioms, such as Delta blues, but is performed in an urban style. It developed alongside the Great Migration of African Americans of the fi ...

musicians such as

Otis Spann Otis Spann (March 21, 1924, or 1930April 24, 1970) was an American blues musician many consider the leading postwar Chicago blues pianist. Early life Sources differ over Spann's early years. Some state that he was born in Jackson, Mississippi, ...

, and

Sam Lay Samuel Julian Lay (March 20, 1935January 29, 2022) was an American drummer and vocalist who performed from the late 1950s as a blues and R&B musician alongside Little Walter, Howlin' Wolf, Paul Butterfield, and many others. He was inducted int ...

, and rock & roll legends

Bo Diddley Ellas Otha Bates (December 30, 1928 – June 2, 2008), known professionally as Bo Diddley, was an American guitarist and singer who played a key role in the transition from the blues to rock and roll. He influenced many artists, including Buddy ...

and

Chuck Berry Charles Edward Anderson Berry (October 18, 1926 – March 18, 2017) was an American singer, guitarist and songwriter who pioneered rock and roll. Nicknamed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Father of Rock and Roll", he refined and de ...

, as well as

Corky Siegel Mark Paul "Corky" Siegel (born October 24, 1943) is an American musician, singer-songwriter, and composer. He plays harmonica and piano. He plays and writes blues and blues-rock music, and has also worked extensively on combining blues and cla ...

and the

Siegel–Schwall Band The Siegel–Schwall Band was an American electric blues band from Chicago, Illinois. The band was formed in 1964 by Corky Siegel (piano, electric piano, harmonica, vocals) and Jim Schwall (guitar, mandolin, vocals). They played many live shows ...

. He moved to Detroit and began playing with

John Lee Hooker John Lee Hooker (August 22, 1912 or 1917 – June 21, 2001) was an American blues singer, songwriter, and guitarist. The son of a sharecropper, he rose to prominence performing an electric guitar-style adaptation of Delta blues that he develo ...

, along with drummer

Muruga Booker Steven Bookvich (born December 27, 1942), known as Muruga Booker, is an American drummer. Biography Booker was born in Highland Park, Michigan, on December 27, 1942, at Highland Park General Hospital, and is of Serbian descent. His father, ...

, where they were billed as Hooker and Booker. He also began playing at that time with

, an association that lasted many years. In 1971, he became a member of Mitch Ryder's band Detroit. While in the band, he recruited his friend

Steve Hunter Stephen John Hunter (born June 14, 1948) is an American guitarist, primarily a session player. He has worked with Lou Reed and Alice Cooper, acquiring the moniker "The Deacon". Hunter first played with Mitch Ryder's Detroit, beginning a long ...

to be the guitarist, and they toured with the band and recorded the self-titled album ''Detroit'', which was produced by

Bob Ezrin Robert Alan Ezrin (born March 25, 1949) is a Canadian music producer and keyboardist, best known for his work with Lou Reed, Alice Cooper, Aerosmith, Kiss, Pink Floyd, Deep Purple, Peter Gabriel, Andrea Bocelli and Phish. As of 2010, Ezri ...

. Sauter joined the newly reformed band

Cactus A cactus (: cacti, cactuses, or less commonly, cactus) is a member of the plant family Cactaceae (), a family of the order Caryophyllales comprising about 127 genera with some 1,750 known species. The word ''cactus'' derives, through Latin, ...

with

Rusty Day Rusty Day (born Russell Edward Davidson; December 29, 1945 – June 3, 1982) was an American rock singer, best known for his work with Cactus, the Amboy Dukes, and Steve Gaines. Career with the Amboy Dukes Day joined the Amboy Dukes in 196 ...

in 1976, and played with them for a while. After that project ended, Sauter and Day eventually formed a band called The Pelicans, which featured Sauter on bass, Rusty Day (vocals, harmonica), K.J. Knight (drums, vocals), Steve Dansby (guitar) and Jody Blair (rhythm guitar). night, K. J. Knight Moves: The K. J. Knight Story. S.l.: Trafford On Demand Pub, 2011. Print. page 143/ref> In 1977, he recorded Weekend Warriors with guitarist Ted Nugent, and they toured together for many years. To celebrate John Lee Hooker's 100th birthday anniversary in 2017, Sauter joined Muruga Booker,

Rock & Roll Hall of Fame The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (RRHOF), also 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 the ...

inductee guitarist J.C. "Billy" Davis,

P-Funk Parliament-Funkadelic (abbreviated as P-Funk) is an American musical collective, music collective of rotating musicians headed by George Clinton (funk musician), George Clinton, primarily consisting of the funk bands Parliament (band), Parliame ...

guitarist Tony "Strat" Thomas, and singer Misty Love to form the ''Booker Blues All-Stars'', and released a CD called ''Booker Plays Hooker''.

Discography

*Detroit- ''Detroit'' (1971) *Various Artists - ''Michigan Rocks'' (1977) *Ted Nugent - '' Weekend Warriors'' (1978) *Ted Nugent - '' Out of Control'' (1993) *Ted Nugent - ''Original Album Classics'' (2008) *Booker, Dansby, Sauter & Love - ''The Hand I Was Dealt'' (2011) * Booker Blues All Stars - ''Booker Plays Hooker'' (2017)

References

Awards

John Sauter has received a

Platinum Record Music recording certification is a system of certifying that a music Sound recording and reproduction, recording has shipped, sold, or streamed a certain number of units. The threshold quantity varies by type (such as album, single, music video ...

for ''Weekend Warriors'' with Ted Nugent.

External links

John Sauter at allmusicJohn Sauter at Discogs
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sauter, John 1951 births Living people Cactus (American band) members American rock musicians American rock bass guitarists People from Decatur, Illinois Musicians from Decatur, Illinois Guitarists from Illinois Guitarists from Michigan American male bass guitarists