You should. The humble and unassuming Rhodes does as much elite session work as any other bassist in the world. His ridiculous list of Nashville credits includes Gretchen Wilson, Brooks & Dunn, Shawn Colvin, Faith Hill, Randy Travis, Wynonna Judd, the Dixie Chicks, Reba McIntyre, Vince Gill … the list would easily fill this column. So when I sat down with Michael, it was from a slightly different angle than usual: Which one of his thousands of recordings shows him stretching out, and yet still doing the thing that so many Nashville producers can’t seem to live without?
He chose highly respected songwriter and indie-artist Randall Bramblett’s 2001 rootsy/funky/ quirky release No More Mr. Lucky [New West; www. newwestrecords.com]. The record was cut in four days, in a super-vibey studio in Athens, Georgia, and some serious magic happened. “Every once in a while a player finds an artist whose material brings out the best in him,” Rhodes explains. “It was just a simpatico. It was a completely open canvas, and we didn’t have a lot of time to do the record, so there was a sense of immediacy. Everyone’s ears really opened up.”
In Part 2 we’ll check out the dreamy ballad “Lost Enough,” but this time around, let’s focus on the funky grinder “Hard to Be a Human.” Ex. 1 shows Michael’s slinky riffing on a funky breakdown groove in G minor. He creates a song-within-a-song with double-stops and implied harmony, and even ends with an uncharacteristic flourish of notes in A minor.
But Rhodes, who just toured Japan with jazz/fusion guitarist Larry Carlton (yeah, he’s got chops aplenty), has a musical vision that goes beyond just what he’s playing. “It all starts with the song and listening to the melody. It’s not all about the chords, and it’s not all about, ‘Dig me.’ Instead, it’s, ‘How can I support the melody with this?’ I say this to bass players out there: Stay out of the way of the melody. We always have to remember what our sonic station is. It’s really about listening, and what’s absolutely essential. It’s like, ‘What is the essence of the song? What can I bring to it? What does it need?’ I don’t want to butt in where I’m not wanted—sonically, rhythmically, or anything like that.” Then, the coup de grace: “You just don’t want to try to get too many people in the elevator at the same time; it’s like, Well, okay—I’ll take the next one.”
When I asked him about how to play like Michael Rhodes, he laughed loudly, then added, “Just be open to all styles, and be willing to contribute. Or, to not contribute. Be willing to not play very much.”
There’s a delicious irony there. By not playing very much, Michael Rhodes is playing more than most players working today. Funny how that works.