Herbie Flowers, bassist for Lou Reed, David Bowie and many more, dead at 86
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The renowned bassist Herbie Flowers has died at the age of 86.
The news was confirmed in a post by a family member on Facebook, which read, "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.
"As a studio musician in London in the 60s and 70s he got to know and contribute to the music of Elton John, David Bowie, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, Ringo Starr, Marc Bolin, Cat Stevens, Harry Nilsson, Al Kooper, Melanie and many other popular musicians."
A prolific session musician, Flowers was also a member of T. Rex, Blue Mink, CCS and Sky, but is perhaps best known for his iconic, upright bass slide on Lou Reed’s Walk On The Wild Side – for which he received a session fee of just ￡17 - and the wobbling, other-worldly bottom end on David Essex's Rock On.
"People have often suggested that I should have got writer’s credits, but I just helped put an arrangement together," Flowers told Guitar World in 2022. "Lou had the chords written out on a piece of paper and my job was to come up with the bass line. What the producer wants is for you to come up with something that is a bit catchy and with Lou Reed it was easy to say, ‘Can I get the double bass out of the car?'"
Flowers also played bass on Jeff Waynes' multi-million-selling War Of The Worlds album, composed Clive Dunn's 1970 novelty hit Grandad, and was responsible for Rick Wakeman's stylophone contribution to Bowie's Space Oddity, having bet Bowie that he couldn't get the toy instrument onto the track.
"Totally gutted to hear of the passing of the great Herbie Flowers," said Wakeman. "At a quick guess I reckon we played on at least 50 records together as well as touring with the band Sky in Australia. Not only a fabulous bass player and musician but also a true gent and a very funny man too."
Other musicians paying tribute to Flowers included Charlatans frontman Tim Burgess, who wrote, "He made the greats sound greater," and Suede bassist Mat Osman, who tweeted, "So many great basslines - imagine having played on Space Oddity, Walk On The Wild Side and Rock On."
After spending a lifetime playing bass on such recordings, Flowers was better qualified than most to offer advice. “Do you want to know what I tell young musicians who want to make it in this business?” he asked Guitar World, before answering his own question. "Don’t play somebody else’s lick, learn to read music, and listen to a bit of Miles Davis."
