Basslines & Brilliance: Inside the world of Leland Sklar
Leland Sklar has been a prominent figure among Hollywood session bassists dating back to the 1970s and ever since. Born in 1947 in Milwaukee, Lee has more than 2000 albums to his credit (and still counting), and is considered to be one of the "A" players in the highly selective L.A. rock music community where the competition for recording dates is fierce, and where only the strongest survive.
His very recognisable bass playing style has been heard on hits by Linda Ronstadt, James Taylor, Hall & Oates, Jackson Browne, Carole King, Phil Collins, Keith Richards and Reba McEntire to name just a few.
Leland has played on TV shows like Hill Street Blues, Knight Rider, Simon and Simon, and also on many films, including Forrest Gump, Ghost, Kindergarten Cop, and My Best Friend’s Wedding.
Leland moved to Los Angeles when he was very young and started playing piano at age four. When he entered Junior High he fully intended to continue as a pianist in the school music program but found that there was an overabundance of piano students, but no string bass players. His instructor asked him if he’d consider playing bass and his life changed forever.
It was toward the end of the ’60s that Lee met James Taylor and the pair started playing gigs together. However, when James Taylor’s "Fire and Rain" became a huge hit record, Leland Sklar’s career also began to take off. The buzz surrounding this new bass player didn’t take long to spread around Hollywood, and Leland Sklar quickly became one of the most sought after “A” list session musicians around town.
Today The Immediate Family of which he is a member can legitimately be called a supergroup.
Their new self-titled full-length album contains twelve original songs, including a rendition of the Waddy Wachtel/Warren Zevon cowrite "Things to Do in Denver When You’re Dead" and the Danny Kortchmar/Jackson Browne collaboration "Somebody’s Baby."
Over the years Leland has worked with most of the top session players in Hollywood and is especially close to his long-time friends and members of The Immediate Family. This iconic supergroup has played together for decades, but never as their own band. Known for their long, illustrious careers backing music’s finest, guitarists Danny Kortchmar and Waddy Wachtel, drummer Russ Kunkel, and bassist Leland Sklar have come together, along with guitarist Steve Postell, to perform their own songs as The Immediate Family.
There is also a documenatry out now simply called The Immediate Family which details their rise to fame.
Meet the inimatable Leland Sklar this week as he shares the story of his meteoric rise to fame.
