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Wikipedia / Joe Osborn

Joseph Osborn (August 28, 1937 December 14, 2018) was an American bass guitar player known for his work as a session musician in Los Angeles with the Wrecking Crew and in Nashville with the A-Team of studio musicians from the 1960s through the 1980s, playing on thousands of recordings (and hundreds of hit records) to become one of the most recorded bassists of all time.

Early life

Osborn was born in Mound, Madison Parish, Louisiana, and raised in Shreveport. He was one of two children born to Imogene Mayberry; his father lived in Texas. His grandmother, Viola Montalbo, played guitar, as did his three maternal uncles. They taught him to play to the point where, by age 12, he was playing weekly in church—Osborn said that that was where he "really learned to play guitar".

By the time he was nearing high school graduation, he was playing with bands in local bars. That included the band of Dale Hawkins, which Osborn joined with his friend and former schoolmate James Burton. After they recorded the Hawkins album Oh! Suzy Q in early 1957, which included the hit "Susie Q", Burton told Osborn and Hawkins' guitarist Roy Buchanan that country singer Bob Luman was looking for guitar players—Luman had secured a 12-month run at the Las Vegas Showboat Hotel. When Osborn and Buchanan arrived in Las Vegas, they found that Luman needed one guitar player and a bass player. Despite having no experience with the bass guitar, Osborn was elected to be the bass player. He recalled: "So I went and bought a Precision bass and the next night I was a bass player. No one told me I wasn't supposed to play with a pick, and I liked the sound, so I kept the pick." One day, Osborn turned up the amplifier to better hear the bass notes and someone told him he couldn't do that—that "the bass should be felt and not heard". Osborn replied "Well, I guess you're going to get both."

After a year with Luman, Buchanan and Osborn accepted a job at a bar in Calumet City, Illinois. "What a nightmare", Osborn recalled. "Eight sets a night, seven days a week, started at eight o'clock, didn't get off until four in the morning. But I was learning how to play the bass and I was getting chops. I could play anything. I had iron fingers."

Career

Rick Nelson

In January 1960, Osborn returned to Louisiana. In Bossier City, he was reunited with James Burton, who had just finished playing in Ricky Nelson’s band. Nelson was starting a new band, Burton put them in touch and, two weeks later, Osborn was in Los Angeles, as a member of Nelson’s new band.

Nelson owned a house in the Hollywood Hills, which people called 'The Nelson Bungalow'. Nelson’s manager was his father, Ozzie Nelson, who paid his son’s band members a weekly retainer of $100, often to arrive at 6:00 a.m. and do nothing. In the house was a room full of demos—unsolicited singles which aspiring songwriters had sent in the hope that Rick would record them. Ozzie wanted them all returned to the people who’d sent them and paid Osborn an extra $25 a week to mail them back. Instead, Osborn listened to them. One caught his attention and he brought it to Rick—it was Jerry Fuller’s "Travelin' Man" which, when released in 1961, became the biggest song of Nelson’s career.

Two other musicians were hanging around the Nelson Bungalow—brothers Dorsey Burnette and Johnny Burnette, struggling songwriters who had resorted to sitting on the front steps of Nelson’s house until they could get a meeting with him. Their persistence paid off and Nelson recorded some of their songs. But Osborn struck up a friendship with them and they started writing songs together, many of which were recorded by Dorsey. Two Osborn/Burnett songs became major hits and continue to be recorded: “Here Comes That Feeling” became a career-making hit for Brenda Lee in 1962; "Gypsy Woman" was a hit for Nelson, among others.

With Nelson, the band members practiced at The Bungalow then went into the studio to record, then Rick would play a new single on his parents’ TV show, ‘’The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet’’. His band had to appear on the show as well; between 1960 and 1964, Osborn appeared in 44 episodes. With Nelson, Osborn went on his one and only major tour, through the US, Australia and the Philippines. But Nelson’s popularity began to wane and, in 1964, he broke up the band.

Session musician

Osborn had known Johnny Rivers since the early 1950s; Rivers was from Baton Rouge and used to travel up to Shreveport to play with Hawkins' band. They reunited in Los Angeles and, in January 1964, Rivers was hired to play at the opening of a bar on the Sunset Strip—the Whisky a Go Go. The bar became legendary, very quickly, and Rivers was able to capitalize on it; in seven years, he released six albums centered on that one event. Osborn stayed with him for two years and played on all of his albums. The albums were produced by Lou Adler, founder of Dunhill Records. In 1965, he signed the Mamas & the Papas and asked Osborn to play on their first album. When they got into the studio, the engineer was Bones Howe, who Osborne had known since arriving in Los Angeles. Howe started producing music and, between Adler and Howe, Osborn’s career as a session musician was launched.

Just as Osborn had become a bass player with no experience, he became a session musician without knowing how to read music. Fellow session musician, guitarist Tommy Tedesco made him learn. "We'd just go in, learn the song and play. But Tommy insisted on having charts, and he was one of the best readers in Los Angeles. He explained that if you want work, you have to be able to read charts. So I bought a beginner's bass book, read it to page eight to get the fundamentals, and learned the rest in sessions."

Another key figure in Osborn's career was drummer Hal Blaine. "Right from the first beat, it was just magic," recalled Osborn. "We locked in. Just automatically, because we felt the beat in the same place. We didn’t have to work it out—it just was. We could read each other's minds."

The combination of Osborn, Blaine and keyboardist Larry Knechtel became known as the 'Hollywood Golden Trio'. It was Blaine who reportedly came up with the name The Wrecking Crew which was a group of freelance musicians who could read anything and play anything. Beginning in the late 1950s, producers used session musicians extensively, either to produce music for solo artists, or because a band's musicians weren’t strong enough for recording. Usually, a band's musicians weren’t in attendance for the recording sessions. The session musicians were not credited and fans didn't know that the band members didn't play on the albums. Osborn said that this sometimes led to resentment. "They didn’t understand. They'd say 'I'm good enough to play on stage. What’s the difference?' There is a difference. Playing in the studio, playing live–one has nothing to do with the other."

Wrecking Crew members were on call and often put in 16-hour days, recording song after song. Some songs were recorded in a single take, some took an hour. The 7-minute Jimmy Webb song, "MacArthur Park", recorded by Richard Harris, took 6 hours to complete. The process of laying down the basic track for Simon & Garfunkel's "Bridge Over Troubled Water" took a week.

While that song, along with songs like the Association's "Windy", the 5th Dimension's "Aquarius/Let the Sunshine In", America's "Ventura Highway", Neil Diamond's "Holly Holy" or Barbra Streisand's "Stoney End" stand out among the hundreds of hits that he played on, Osborn said that session musicians can't play favorites. "You put in 120 percent every time. If a person from Iowa has saved money to put his kid into the studio and hire the best musicians in the world, how could you not respect that and give it all you got? Most of the time, it’s not good–the song’s not good, the kid can’t sing. But sometimes they come out with great tracks. You can’t write it off just because it’s a demo."

Carpenters

One such instance of this came about in 1964. Osborn and Johnny Burnette co-founded Magic Lamp Records. They turned Osborn’s garage into a recording studio and paid a young engineer $5 an hour to work with them (that engineer was Jim Messina, later of Loggins and Messina). They produced singles for Jan and Dean, Vince Edwards and a small group of other artists. Musicians would come and go; one night, a horn player appeared with two teen-aged siblings. They were a jazz band called The Richard Carpenter Trio. The 16 year-old drummer, who was Karen Carpenter, was coaxed to sing. Osborn said "That voice! There was magic in that garage". The Carpenters, who were still in high school, hung out at the garage for two years. In 1966, with Osborn on bass, Karen on drums and Richard on piano, Karen recorded two songs which Richard had written: "Looking for Love" and "I’ll Be Yours". Osborn recalled that Karen was a talented jazz drummer and, at 18, Richard was a "very accomplished musician". He knew they were something special. But when Richard asked him to produce their first album, Osborn said no. They had their demo—he sent them to Herb Alpert at A&M Records and they got their record deal. Osborn played on every album of their career.

Nashville

Session work was all Osborn wanted to do; he turned down many offers to tour, notably from Elvis Presley and Bob Dylan. Osborn said they didn’t pay enough, and he didn’t like playing live because the music never sounds as good. He didn’t listen to music in the car, nor did he listen to music at home. But he and fellow Wrecking Crew members did follow the charts, to see how their music was doing. Osborn said that his average on the Billboard charts was 15 songs each week.

While this was lucrative, it was also stressful. To try to tone down demand, Osborn repeatedly raised his rates, to no avail. He decided to leave Los Angeles. He bought a farm outside of Nashville and, in 1974, moved to Tennessee. There was much less pressure, but he was just as busy. One count listed Osborn as bassist on 53 number one hits on the country charts and 197 that were in the top 40s.

Later life

Osborn left Nashville in 1988 and settled in Keithville in Caddo Parish near Shreveport. He continued to play and record with Richard Carpenter, played at his church, and recorded some albums at his son's Shreveport recording studio. His last recording, in May 2017, was an album by Micah Harold.

Personal life and death

Osborn was married to Gwendolyn Sue Spears (1937–2008); they had two sons and two daughters. He died of pancreatic cancer at his home on December 14, 2018, age 81. Upon his death, one of his daughters-in-law launched an online fundraising campaign for "final expenses". When he died, Osborn was working on an autobiography. As of 2025, it had not been published.

Style and equipment

Many producers and arrangers chose to spotlight Osborn's contributions by mixing the bass line more prominently than had been customary, and incorporating brief bass solos into their arrangements. His floating slides, hooks, and counterpoints added the distinctive energy and bounce that distinguished L.A.'s hits.

Osborn said that producers usually didn't tell the musicians what to do, but some put them through the ropes. As those were the producers who "didn't know what they were doing", it was hard to remain diplomatic. He said the secret is to not go in with any preconceived notions. "You don't know what you're going to do until you hear the song. If you listen, the song will tell you what to play."

Osborn's instrument throughout most of his recording career was a 1960 Fender stack-knob Jazz Bass, which was given to him by Fender just prior to touring Australia with Nelson. Osborn said he was initially disappointed that Fender had not sent him a Precision Bass, which he had been using, but he said he grew to like the Jazz Bass because the narrower neck made it easier for his short fingers. He strung the bass with LaBella flatwound strings that he did not change for 15 years and his style was distinctive, with a resonant, bright tone produced, in part, by his use of a pick. This guitar is on permanent display at Musicians Hall of Fame and Museum in Nashville, TN.

He had a signature bass, the "Joe Osborn Signature", made by American guitar manufacturer Lakland and since re-named the 'Lakland 44-60 Vintage J Bass'. In 2012, Fender Guitar built a custom Fender Jazz Bass for Osborn according to his desired specifications. He recorded with this bass for the first time when producing and playing bass on teen musician Matthew Davidson's 2014 debut recording.

Legacy

When asked about the legacy of the Wrecking Crew, Osborn replied: "Well, it affected music altogether. And that music will live forever. We were influencing musicians and bands all over the world. We had no idea about that, that we were maybe changing somebody’s life. So without knowing it, that’s what we gave to the world. We taught the world how to play."

In 2008, Tedesco's son Denny released the documentary The Wrecking Crew. Osborn also appears in the 2014 documentary Glen Campbell: I'll Be Me.

Awards and honors

  • 1980 Bass Player of the Year, Nominee, Academy of Country Music

  • 1981 Bass Player of the Year, Winner, Academy of Country Music

  • 1982 Bass Player of the Year, Nominee, Academy of Country Music

  • 1983 Bass Player of the Year, Winner, Academy of Country Music

  • 1984 Bass Player of the Year, Winner, Academy of Country Music

  • 1985 Bass Player of the Year, Winner, Academy of Country Music

  • 2010 Inductee, Louisiana Music Hall of Fame

Discography

1962-1970

1971-1979

1980-2018

As songwriter

References