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Years earlier gathering him, George Murray’s idea of David Bowie was that the “Fame” vocalist was larger than life. Literally. “My archetypal content of gathering him was a batch antithetic than my archetypal existent content of him is arsenic a personality,” George tells HollywoodLife ahead of his highly-anticipated quality astatine the David Bowie World Fan Convention 2023, taking spot astatine New York City’s Racket connected June 17-18. “Which,” says Murray, “was what I saw earlier I started moving with him astatine a billboard that RCA had enactment up connected 6th Avenue successful Manhattan with the merchandise of Diamond Dogs. And my absorption was, ‘What is this?'”
George Murray during his clip successful David Bowie’s set (Courtesy of Reybee)
That representation was apt the album’s artwork by creator Guy Peellaert which depicted Bowie arsenic a half-human, half-dog sideshow act. “I had heard ‘Space Oddity,’ [it’s] a bully song, but I hadn’t truly followed him to spot that representation of him. It was, I don’t privation to accidental shocking, but it was unsocial and thought-provoking,” shares Murray. “So erstwhile I archetypal met him, helium was thing similar that. He had precocious for a fig of years, but I met him astatine a rehearsal workplace wherever I was asked to travel to California to play connected the Station To Station album, which looking back, was truly a unrecorded audition for me.”
“But the archetypal clip I met [Bowie] was astatine a rehearsal studio,” helium adds. In 1975, Murray had flown retired from New York astatine the petition of his Bronx Community College friend, drummer Dennis Davis, and guitarist Carlos Alomar. “Dennis, Carlos, and I met him astatine a rehearsal workplace successful Hollywood connected Cahuenga Boulevard. And that’s erstwhile helium walked successful arsenic a regular quality being and shook my manus and said, ‘Hi, I’m David.'”
From there, George Murray played bass successful 1 of Bowie’s astir originative periods. After Station To Station, which Rolling Stone says has “some of the top songs of Bowie’s career,” George continued to play with Bowie arsenic portion of the D.A.M. trio, helping Bowie signifier the albums of “The Berlin Trilogy” – 1977’s Low and “Heroes” and 1979’s Lodger – arsenic good arsenic 1980’s Scary Monsters (And Super Creeps). Though commercialized and captious reception was mixed astatine the time, the albums would spell connected to revolutionize rock and inspire aboriginal generations of musicians, to wherever the albums are present regarded arsenic immoderate of Bowie’s best.
It’s George’s bass we perceive connected “Sound and Vision,” “Golden Years,” “Heroes,” “Fashion,” and “Ashes To Ashes,” songs that person travel to specify Bowie’s bequest successful the aftermath of his 2016 passing. However, George Murray speaks astir his clip with Bowie with warmth, sweetness, and singular humility.
After Scary Monsters, George transitioned retired of the euphony manufacture arsenic helium focused connected starting a household – which required a steadier income and a steadier beingness astatine home. For the past 4 decades, he’s lived successful California, moving successful education. As to wherefore this antheral hasn’t toured the property circuit and sold a fistful of tell-alls astir witnessing Bowie astatine arguably his originative zenith, Murray tells HL a communicative astir his clip successful the set that influenced his determination to respectfully enactment retired of the spotlight.
“David had a roadworthy manager, his sanction was Eric Barrett, and I don’t rather retrieve what each the circumstances were, but the set was — we were not needfully demanding, we weren’t acting spoiled oregon anything. We were conscionable young men wanting to bash worldly successful their clip off. And Eric reminded us, ‘The circuit is moving up due to the fact that of David’s schedule, not yours. Nobody’s buying a summons to spot you. They’re buying a summons to spot him. And that’s the mode we’re going to bash it.’ Bing. I’ll ever retrieve that.”
“And that stuck with maine arsenic a young antheral trying to get ahold of my emotions, impulses, and insecurities, and each the different things that went on with it astatine that time,” continues Murray. “And truthful I stepped back. And I took that to bosom and developed the position that I americium determination to support. I americium determination to perform, I americium determination fundamentally to fulfill my responsibilities to the presumption and to marque the idiosyncratic successful front, who has chosen maine arsenic portion of the ensemble, spell retired and entertain and enthrall the radical astatine each performance.”
Bowie and his set during the Station To Station era. (Andre Csillag/Shutterstock)
This doesn’t mean Murray didn’t consciousness valued during his clip with Bowie. “Yes, definitely,” helium tells HL. “David chose the musicians successful his set precise carefully, and I deliberation helium was, successful fact, I cognize helium was, helium was pleasantly amazed with the mode that they functioned unneurotic arsenic a group, arsenic an organism.”
“But, determination was a grade of separation chiefly due to the fact that of schedules and movements and things similar that,” helium adds. “He was moving successful immoderate circles that we were not, astir of which we were not successful astatine the aforesaid time. But erstwhile we did spot each other, it was affable and personable, enjoyable, ever intellectually stimulating successful 1 mode oregon the other. Because David, helium knew a batch of worldly that I didn’t, and I enjoyed it.”
Murray credits Carlos Alomar arsenic a mentor and “the idiosyncratic who helped maine done it a lot” during this time. Carlos worked arsenic David’s set person for astatine slightest 2 tours earlier Murray arrived. “And David had a large grade of spot successful Carlos to construe and task to the set members what helium was trying to get across,” says Murray. “Because that relieved him of that work of ‘how to bash that, however bash I pass with each these antithetic individuals arsenic opposed to conscionable 1 and having him instrumentality attraction of it?’ Which helium did, Carlos was instrumental successful that respect.”
“As what [Bowie] mightiness person thought of me, I didn’t know. And it was a small unsettling due to the fact that there’s a grade of, I should accidental there’s a deficiency of assurance that I’ve carried with maine done my galore years, it’s portion of my nature. And I knew Carlos, I knew Dennis, and I played with them before, but not successful that arena, I should say. So, I didn’t get a full batch of feedback from David. I got feedback sometimes from Carlos, but I didn’t truly get a full batch of affirmative oregon negative, it was much personable, and it was neutral.”
“So I didn’t truly cognize if helium liked what I was doing oregon small things present and there, [Bowie] mightiness inquire for done Carlos to person the guys bash this, but I didn’t cognize however helium felt astir me,” reflects Murray. “I conscionable cognize I’m expected to beryllium someplace astatine a definite time. That’s wherever I’ll be, and that’s what I’ll do. And that’s wherever Carlos and Dennis are going to be. That’s fine. We’ll beryllium there, and we’ll bash what we person to bash oregon what’s required astatine that time.”
“I had known Dennis and Carlos earlier enabled me,” helium continues. “At slightest I had idiosyncratic to talk with and bounce ideas disconnected of. And Carlos helped maine a batch done that time.”
(Andre Csillag/Shutterstock)
As Murray shares, Carlos Alomar would besides beryllium instrumental successful getting him connected Bowie’s satellite circuit – on with Bob Denver…sorta. “What truly brought connected immoderate anxiousness erstwhile connection was circling astir that [Bowie] was readying to spell connected circuit successful January, we were present successful September,” begins Murray. “And his concern manager, Pat Gibbons, had spoken to respective radical astir going connected circuit with David, but I wasn’t 1 of them. And helium had done it astatine antithetic times. So it wasn’t similar helium was talking to everybody astatine erstwhile but me, it wasn’t similar that. It was helium would drawback you erstwhile helium saw you, oregon helium was passing.”
Murray says the anxiousness was gathering and came to a constituent 1 evening erstwhile helium had a “very absorbing conversation” with his friend. “Carlos was a practicing Buddhist astatine that time, and I knew that. Dennis utilized to marque amusive of him oregon tease him, but Carlos and his woman Robin were practicing Buddhists of the Nichiren sect,” says Murray.
“The Nichiren sect is, conscionable successful general, that’s the sect that chants, ‘nam-myoho-renge-kyo,'” helium explains. “Those are astonishing words, but anyway. Essentially the instrumentality was you chant ‘nam-myoho-renge-kyo,’ you tin get what you privation oregon get thing you want. So Carlos and I are sitting successful my edifice country 1 evening, and I don’t cognize your taste reference, but this is 1975, September. There’s a amusement connected TV called Love American Style. We’re watching an occurrence with Bob Denver, who went connected to play Gilligan successful Gilligan’s Island, and [60’s enactment symbol] Joey Heatherton.“
“She was playing this benignant of ‘Hippie chick,'” says Murray. “Bob Denver was trying to marque a transportation with her. He was trying everything, thing was working. Joey Heatherton’s quality says to Bob, ‘Well, wherefore don’t you chant ‘nam-myoho-renge-kyo’ and past spot what happens.’ So helium tries it. We’re seeing that close determination connected the TV. And astatine that moment, I said, ‘Carlos, I cognize you chant. Can you archer maine thing astir that?'”
“Carlos looks astatine maine and says, ‘I’ve been waiting to archer you, I conscionable haven’t had the accidental yet,'” says George Murray with a smile. “So we went done the basal mentation and immoderate presumption and things. He says, “Well, chant’ nam-myoho-renge-kyo,’ if you truly privation to spell connected tour, you’re not definite what’s happening, chant ‘nam-myoho-renge-kyo’ and spot what happens.”
“So I did,” says Murray. “Next day, thing happened. I deliberation it was the time aft that, oregon I was walking determination either successful the edifice oregon down the hallway of Cherokee Studios, and Pat says, ‘Oh, George, by the way, you doing thing from January done June of adjacent year?’ I swear! And I said, ‘No, I’m fine.’ He said, ‘Well, David wants you to bash the tour. Can I enactment you down?’ I said, ‘Of course, you can. Thank you precise much, Pat.'”
“And that’s the mode it worked retired way,” helium adds. “I continued chanting from that infinitesimal on. I’m inactive a practicing Buddhist. I inactive chant each day.”
Murray besides shared however Bowie approached the bass arsenic an instrumentality and his ain playing. “When Dennis, Carlos, and I were playing, sometimes David mightiness person been playing soft oregon guitar for a scratch way to spell on with it. The euphony was going onto the portion truly consecutive and natural,” says Murray. “Sometimes [we used] immoderate forms of physics compression and equalization, things similar that. But thing to alteration the dependable oregon the character. Those things happened, I think, aboriginal connected successful the premix oregon editing erstwhile David was moving with producers.”
Bowie “molded [the bass] and shaped it aft the earthy dependable was down,” helium shares. “I didn’t usage immoderate effects. I mightiness person toward my aboriginal albums with him. But I deliberation that was each David’s concept. I was experimenting with sounds successful unrecorded performances, however to marque the bass dependable different, however to marque it dependable heavier oregon thinner. Some effects I was moving connected that were disposable astatine the time, flanging and phasing. And that was fundamentally the grade of it.”
“It was astir evident, I deliberation erstwhile we reproduced ‘Heroes’ connected stage,” helium says, “because astatine that clip I was playing a bass with an aluminum cervix due to the fact that I wanted that. It was called a Travis Bean, and the fingerboard was wood, but the existent cervix was made of aluminum. And the wide effect was a brighter sound, but a brighter dependable that didn’t suffer the bottom. So erstwhile I sent that done a flanger and adjusted the EQ connected the amplification, I had a precise unsocial sound.”
The songs that George Murray played connected person go ingrained successful mundane life. His bassline has helped laid the instauration for modern stone – arsenic good arsenic post-punk, alternative, and countless different nebulous genres. Chances are, we volition perceive George’s playing sometime this week. “Hearing ‘Golden Years’ astatine the market store, that was enjoyable,” helium says. But George, humble and grounded, ne'er draws attraction to the information that it’s him playing.
“I mightiness person if I saw idiosyncratic was captured by the euphony astatine that moment, but usually radical aren’t, not successful that environment,” helium says. “Every truthful often, that one, and ‘Ashes to Ashes,’ I perceive that a lot. And, ‘Heroes,’ sometimes, ‘Heroes.'”
“And I was flattered erstwhile the shaper enactment the afloat mentation of ‘Heroes’ astatine Earl’s Court successful Moonage Daydream,” helium says, referring to the 2022 movie detailing Bowie’s life, “because everything other was conscionable pieces of things, but that was the afloat song. You could archer that was an anthem being played to the stadium. And I loved it. I loved it.”
Catch George Murray and much — including Carlos Alomar, Carmine Rojas, Tim Palmer, Robin Clark — astatine the David Bowie World Fan Convention 2023, taking spot astatine New York City’s Racket connected June 17-18.
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