 |
Video of live performance - Sink Your Teeth
(Talas / Billy Sheehan). Bang Gang band
produced by Ace Frehley from KISS. MaryAnn
Scandiffio / lead vocals, Gordon G.G. Gebert
on Keyboards.
Billy Sheehan (born on 1953 March 19 in
Buffalo, NY) is an Irish American bassist
known for his work with Talas, Steve Vai,
David Lee Roth, Mr Big, and Niacin.
Sheehan has won Guitar Player Magazine's
"Best Rock Bass Player" readers' poll five
times for his "lead bass" playing style.
Guitar Player has likened his soloing on the
four-string instrument to Eddie Van Halen's
on the six-string guitar. Sheehan's
repertoire includes the use of chording,
two-handed tapping and controlled feedback.
However, Sheehan is also noted as a steady
"true" bassist, fulfilling the traditional
supportive role of the electric bass in the
rock idiom.
However, Sheehan says that when he saw Tim
Bogert of the band Vanilla Fudge using a
Fender Precision bass with a maple
fingerboard, he switched to the bass.
Seeking to take Talas further than just
regional success, Sheehan reformed Talas with
another drummer (Mark Miller), guitarist
(Mitch Perry, also later of Heaven), and a
dedicated vocalist, Phil Naro, with whom in
the late 1970s Sheehan had previously worked
in his side project (the Billy Sheehan Band).
Talas would release only one more album, Live
Speed on Ice. After Mitch Perry left the
band, he was replaced by Johnny Angel, who
played guitar with them for their 1985/86 US
tour opening for Yngwie Malmsteen's Rising
Force. There was a fourth Talas record,
tentatively titled "Lights, Camera, Action"
to be issued on Gold Mountain/A&M, but it
never got past the demo stage due to Sheehan
leaving to join David Lee Roth's solo band.
Talas did briefly continue on under Phil Naro
sans Sheehan, enlisting Jimmy Degrasso on
drums, Al Pitrelli on guitar and Bruno Ravel
on bass, but by this time Talas was dead.
Sheehan has recently reunited the original
Talas trio for a few shows here and there as
well as the live CD If We Only Knew Then,
issued on Metal Blade. ("Sink Your Teeth Into
That" and "Live Speed On Ice" were combined
and re-released as the CD Billy Sheehan: The
Talas Years on Relativity Records.) On 2006
December 23, Sheehan sat in with the Dave
Constantino Band at Club Impact in Buffalo.
Johnny Angel was the solo opening act for the
evening.
David Lee Roth tapped Sheehan, guitarist
Steve Vai, and drummer Gregg Bissonette to be
his band for the Eat 'Em and Smile album,
Roth's second after leaving Van Halen. The
recording yielded the hard rock classic
"Yankee Rose" and showcased Sheehan's
rhythmic sensibilities. After Roth's
Skyscraper album was issued, Sheehan left the
band to pursue other opportunities. Steve Vai
followed after the tour ended.
In 1988, Sheehan, along with singer Eric
Martin, guitarist Paul Gilbert, and drummer
Pat Torpey formed Mr Big. Mr Big had two
American hits with "Addicted to That Rush"
from their eponymous first album and the
ballad, "To Be With You" (from their second
album, Lean Into It,) but were unable to
duplicate it with later releases. However,
the band had a dedicated following in Japan.
Internal tensions led to Gilbert quitting the
band in 1997. Richie Kotzen replaced him, and
was with Mr Big until the group's breakup in
2002.
Sheehan has toured Poland with UFO.
Sheehan has performed on many of Steve Vai's
solo albums and was the bassist for Vai's
touring band from 2001 until early 2007, an
incarnation which Vai dubbed "The Breed". The
Breed was noted by Vai as having "worked
beyond his expectations" and has expressed
that he hopes to will work with Sheehan and
The Breed in the future as schedules permit.
In 1999, he helped to record the widely
acclaimed album "Brotherhood", with the
multi-platinum Japanese band, B'z, and
subsequently played with the band live for
their 2002 "Green" Tour in front of total
750,000 audience.
In 2001, Sheehan released a long-awaited solo
album, Compression, and in 2005, he recorded
his second solo effort, Cosmic Troubadour.
Both feature Sheehan singing and playing
guitar.
In 2002, Sheehan guested on metal fusion band
Planet X's MoonBabies, which led to his
involvement on Planet X keyboardist Derek
Sherinian's solo album Black Utopia 2003.
Another of Sheehan's projects is the
three-piece jazz-rock-fusion band, Niacin,
which also features drummer Dennis Chambers
and Hammond B3 player John Novello.
Sheehan along with Mike Portnoy, Gary
Cherone, and Paul Gilbert performed three
concerts in the end of May 2006 as Amazing
Journey: A Tribute to The Who.
Tags : MaryAnn Scandiffio Blacklace Gordon G.G. Gebert Ace Frehley Talas Billy Sheehan Keyboards Angel Emerson ELP Gene Simmons KISS Paul Daniel Peter Eric Singer Criss Stanley Frank DiMino Barry Brandt Gregg Giuffria Mickey Jones Felix Robinson Punky Meadows |
