Kenny Aaronson (born April 14, 1952, in

Brooklyn Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

, New York) is an American bass guitar player. He has recorded or performed with several notable artists such as

Bob Dylan Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan; born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Described as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture over his nearly 70-year ...

, Rick Derringer,

Billy Idol William Michael Albert Broad (born 30 November 1955), known professionally as Billy Idol, is an English singer, songwriter, musician, and actor. Idol achieved fame in the 1970s on the London punk rock scene as the lead singer of Generation X ...

Joan Jett and the Blackhearts Joan Jett and the Blackhearts is an American rock band formed in Los Angeles, California in 1979 as a conjunction of lead musician, singer and songwriter Joan Jett and the backup band. It has undergone many lineup changes since its inception, ...

Foghat Foghat are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1971. The band is known for the use of electric slide guitar in its music. Their best known song is the 1975 hit "Slow Ride". The band has released 17 studio albums, including ei ...

Sammy Hagar Sam Roy Hagar (born October 13, 1947), also known as the Red Rocker, is an American singer, songwriter, guitarist, entrepreneur, and philanthropist. He rose to prominence in the early 1970s with the hard rock band Montrose before launching a ...

Billy Squier William Haislip Squier (, born May 12, 1950) is an American musician, singer, and songwriter who had a string of arena rock and crossover hits in the early 1980s. His best-known songs include " The Stroke", " Lonely Is the Night", " My Kinda Love ...

New York Dolls New York Dolls were an American rock music, rock band formed in New York City in 1971. Along with the Velvet Underground, the MC5, and the Stooges, they were one of the first bands of the early punk rock scenes. Although the band never achieved ...

, and Hall and Oates. Since 2015, he has been the bass player for

The Yardbirds The Yardbirds are an English rock music, rock band formed in London in 1963. The band started the careers of three of rock's most famous guitarists: Eric Clapton (1963–1965), Jeff Beck (1965–1966) and Jimmy Page (1966–1968), all of whom ...

Early life and career

Following in his older brother's footsteps, he started playing drums at 11. Enamored by the bass on Motown records - and influenced by

James Jamerson James Lee Jamerson (January 29, 1936 – August 2, 1983) was an American bassist. He was the uncredited bassist on most of the Motown Records hits in the 1960s and early 1970s (Motown did not list session musician credits on their releases un ...

- Aaronson switched to an electric bass at 14. As a teenager he played bass for Brooklyn-based hard rock band

Dust Dust is made of particle size, fine particles of solid matter. On Earth, it generally consists of particles in the atmosphere that come from various sources such as soil lifted by wind (an aeolian processes, aeolian process), Types of volcan ...

, which included Marc Bell (a.k.a.

Marky Ramone Marc Steven Bell (born July 15, 1952), better known as Marky Ramone, is an American drummer. He began playing in hard rock bands in the New York City area, notably Dust (band), Dust and Estus. He was asked to drum for punk rock band Richard Hell ...

) and Richie Wise, which released two albums in 1971 and 1972 on the

Kama Sutra Records Kama Sutra Records was started in 1964 by Artie Ripp, Hy Mizrahi, and Phil Steinberg as Kama Sutra Productions, a production house. The ''Kama Sutra'' is an ancient Sanskrit text. In 1965, the company was joined by Art Kass and the record labe ...

label. In 1973, Aaronson joined the New York band Stories, whose single, "Brother Louie", reached #1 on the ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

'', '' Cashbox'' and ''

Record World ''Record World'' magazine was one of three major weekly music industry trade magazines in the United States, with ''Billboard'' and '' Cashbox''. It was founded in 1946 as ''Music Vendor''. In 1964, it was changed to ''Record World'' under the ...

'' charts. From 1976 to 1979, Aaronson played bass for Rick Derringer.

Peak success

In 1988, Aaronson was named Bassist of the year by ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. The magazine was first known fo ...

''. That year Aaronson also toured with

, but he was forced to leave the tour after developing skin cancer. Aaronson underwent surgery, which was successful in defeating the disease. Aaronson was the bassist in the house band for the MTV Guitar Greats Show with

Dave Edmunds David William Edmunds (born 15 April 1944) is a Welsh retired singer, songwriter, guitarist and record producer. Although he is mainly associated with Pub rock (United Kingdom), pub rock and New wave music, new wave, having many hit record, h ...

, Chuck Leavell and Michael Shrieve. He backed up

Steve Cropper Steven Lee Cropper (born October 21, 1941), sometimes known as "The Colonel", is an American guitarist, songwriter and record producer. He was the guitarist of the Stax Records house band, Booker T. & the M.G.'s, which backed artists such as ...

Brian Setzer Brian Robert Setzer (born April 10, 1959) is an American guitarist, singer, and songwriter. He found widespread success in the early 1980s with the 1950s-style rockabilly group Stray Cats, and returned to the music scene in the early 1990s with ...

Dickey Betts Forrest Richard Betts (December 12, 1943 – April 18, 2024) was an American guitarist, singer, and songwriter. He was best known as a longtime member of the Allman Brothers Band. A co-founder of the band when it formed in 1969, he was central ...

Link Wray Fred Lincoln "Link" Wray Jr. (May 2, 1929 – November 5, 2005) was an American guitarist, songwriter, and vocalist who became popular in the late 1950s. His 1958 Instrumental rock, instrumental single "Rumble (instrumental), Rumble", reached the ...

Neal Schon Neal Joseph Schon (born February 27, 1954) is an American musician and songwriter, best known as the co-founder and lead guitarist for the rock band Journey. He is the last original member to remain throughout the group's history. He was a memb ...

, Johnny Winter, Lita Ford,

Tony Iommi Anthony Frank Iommi Jr. (born 19 February 1948) is an English musician. He co-founded the pioneering Heavy metal music, heavy metal band Black Sabbath, and was the band's guitarist, leader, primary composer, and sole continuous member for over ...

and Dave Gilmour. He auditioned for the

Rolling Stones The Rolling Stones are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for over six decades, they are one of the most popular, influential, and enduring bands of the Album era, rock era. In the early 1960s, the band pione ...

in 1994. Aaronson toured and recorded with

, HSAS (with

, and Michael Shrieve),

Mick Taylor Michael Kevin Taylor (born 17 January 1949) is an English guitarist, best known as a former member of John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers, John Mayall's Bluesbreakers (1967–1969) and the Rolling Stones (1969–1974). As a member of the Stones, h ...

, Graham Parker, Hall and Oates,

Edgar Winter Edgar Holland Winter (born December 28, 1946) is an American multi-instrumentalist, working as a vocalist along with playing keyboards, saxophone, and percussion. His success peaked in the 1970s with his band the Edgar Winter Group and their pop ...

, Robert Gordon, Leslie West Band, Rick Derringer and Joan Jett. Aaronson was a regular member of Jett's backing group the Blackhearts from 1991 to 1995. Aaronson was one of the few Blackheart band members to co-write a track with Jett. The song, "World of Denial", was recorded for the 1994 album "Pure and Simple" but was not released in the U.S. until 2001's Fit To Be Tied- Great Hits by Joan Jett and The Blackhearts".

Recent work

In July 2011, Aaronson supported singer/songwriter John Eddie and played with Corky Laing & The Memory Thieves. Also in 2011, Aaronson recorded with ex Bongo's singer Richard Barone on a tribute album for

The Runaways The Runaways were an American rock band who recorded and performed from 1975 to 1979. Formed in 1975 in Los Angeles, the band released four studio albums and one live album during its run. Among their best-known songs are " Cherry Bomb", " Holl ...

. Aaronson joined the

and toured in the summer of 2011 supporting

Mötley Crüe Mötley Crüe is an American Heavy metal music, heavy metal band formed in Hollywood, California, in 1981 by bassist Nikki Sixx and drummer Tommy Lee, with guitarist Mick Mars and lead vocalist Vince Neil joining right after. The band has sol ...

and

Poison A poison is any chemical substance that is harmful or lethal to living organisms. The term is used in a wide range of scientific fields and industries, where it is often specifically defined. It may also be applied colloquially or figurati ...

. In 2014, he recorded with Gar Francis of the Doughboys, Kurt Reil of The Grip Weeds and Bruce Ferguson of The Easy Out a self-titled full-length album under the name The Satisfactors. In June 2015, the first single of the album called ''Johnny Commando'' reached Top 10 in The Netherlands at Ned.FM Radio. In November 2015, he joined the British band

. In 2016, he was featured on former Mambo Sons guitarist/songwriter Tom Guerra's second solo album ''Trampling Out the Vintage,'' and in 2018, co-wrote three songs with Guerra, originally intended for The Yardbirds, which were included on Guerra's third solo album, ''American Garden''. In 2020, Aaronson once again figured prominently on Tom Guerra's fourth solo album ''Sudden Signs of Grace'', and also appeared in the video for the title track. In 2022, he played a major role in "Sentimental Junk," Guerra's fifth solo album.

Discography

;With

* ''

'' (1971) * '' Hard Attack'' (1972) ;With Stories * '' Brother Louie'' (1973) * ''Traveling Underground'' (1973) ;With Rick Derringer * '' Derringer'' (1976) * ''Sweet Evil'' (1977) * ''Derringer Live'' (1977) * ''If I Weren't So Romantic, I'd Shoot You'' (1978) * ''Guitars And Women'' (1979) * ''Rock And Roll Hoochie Koo: The Best Of Rick Derringer'' (1996) ;With Silver Condor * ''Trouble At Home'' (1983) ;With Hagar Schon Aaronson Shrieve * '' Through The Fire'' (1984) ;With

* '' The Knife Feels Like Justice'' (1986) ;With Blue Öyster Cult * '' Club Ninja'' (1985) * '' Imaginos (1988) ;With

* '' Vital Idol'' (1987) ;With Michael Monroe * '' Not Fakin' It'' (1989) ;With

* '' Pure and Simple'' (1994) * '' Fit to be Tied'' writing credit on "World of Denial" (1997, 2006) ;With

* ''Sixteen Strokes'' lap steel (1995) ;With Graham Parker * ''Live from New York'' (1996) ;With Ian McDonald * '' Drivers Eyes'' (1999) ;With Tom Guerra and Scott Lawson ( Mambo Sons) * ''Mambo Sons'' (1999) ;With John Eddie * ''Guy Walks into a Bar'' (2001) * ''Who the Hell is John Eddie'' (2003) ;With

Mountain A mountain is an elevated portion of the Earth's crust, generally with steep sides that show significant exposed bedrock. Although definitions vary, a mountain may differ from a plateau in having a limited summit area, and is usually higher t ...

* ''Master of War'' (2007) ;With Dana Fuchs * ''Lonely for a Lifetime'' (2003) * ''Love to Beg'' (2011) ;With The Satisfactors * ''The Satisfactors'' (2014) ;With Radio Exile * ''Radio Exile'' (2015) ;With Tom Guerra * ''Trampling Out the Vintage'' (2016) * ''American Garden'' (2018) * ''Sudden Signs of Grace'' (2020) * ''Sentimental Junk'' (2022) ;With Mark Duda * ''Month of Sundays'' (2017) ;Others *Contributor to " Standing in the Shadows of Motown", The biography of James Jamerson (1989) *Soundtrack " Porky's Revenge" (1990) *Tribute to

Otis Blackwell Otis Blackwell (February 16, 1931 – May 6, 2002) was an American songwriter whose work influenced rock and roll. His compositions include "Fever" (recorded by Little Willie John), " Great Balls of Fire" and " Breathless" (recorded by Jerry ...

"Brace Yourself" with Joe Louis Walker,

Debbie Harry Deborah Ann Harry (born Angela Trimble, July 1, 1945) is an American singer, songwriter and actress, best known as the lead vocalist of the band Blondie (band), Blondie. Four of her songs with the band reached on the US charts between 1979 and 1 ...

, Ronnie Spector,

Kris Kristofferson Kristoffer Kristofferson (June 22, 1936 – September 28, 2024) was an American singer, songwriter, and actor. He was a pioneering figure in the outlaw country movement of the 1970s, moving away from the polished Nashville sound and toward a m ...

, Graham Parker, Smithereens(1994) *Sound Track " Boys on the Side" (1995)

References

Notes

* Colin Larkin: ''The Encyclopedia of Popular Music''. Third edition. Macmillan, New York, N.Y. 1998.

External links

Official website
*Interview with Mambo Sons bandmate Tom Guerra for Vintage Guitar Magazine
Kenny Aaronson: From Dust to Dylan
. Retrieved September 26, 2006 {{DEFAULTSORT:Aaronson, Kenny 1952 births Living people Musicians from Brooklyn American rock bass guitarists American male bass guitarists Hagar Schon Aaronson Shrieve members New York Dolls members Guitarists from New York (state) 20th-century American bass guitarists 20th-century American male musicians