Born May 7, 1948, in the East End
of London’s Dalston district, Alan Henry
Spenner received a guitar from his father
at an early age, in an attempt to keep
him off the streets. By his mid teens, he
had switched to bass and was playing
local blues gigs. Following his first
recordings with the instrumental group
Wynder K. Frog, he joined Joe Cocker’s
Grease Band in 1969. They recorded the
singer’s second album and traveled to
the U.S. to appear with him at Woodstock
and on the Ed Sullivan Show.
Back in the U.K., in 1973 Spenner’s love
of the Motown, Stax, and Atlantic
rhythm sections drew him to the bass
slot in Kokomo, a ten-piece funky horn
outfit. Meanwhile, his in-demand status
in London studios led to better than 50
album appearances with such artists as
Leon Russell, Marianne Faithful, Steve
Winwood, Alexis Korner, Peter Frampton,
Bob Dylan, and Roxy Music. Burdened
by increasing substance-abuse
problems, Spenner’s work slowed down
in the early ’80s. He succumbed to a
heart attack in 1991, at age 43, and is
survived by his son Henry, a London
drummer.
The project that put Spenner in the
most ears began in spring 1970, when
lyricist Tim Rice called Cocker’s Grease
Band to lay down backing tracks for a
new rock opera Rice had written with
composer Andrew Lloyd Webber. Jesus
Christ Superstar, about the final week of
the life of Jesus, became a smash hit. (The
’73 film soundtrack used the same tracks
with different actors/singers.) In the U.S.
the double album reached No. 1 in February
1971 and spawned the Top 40 singles
“Superstar” and “I Don’t Know How
to Love Him.” Just 22 at the time, Spenner
was nothing short of brilliant: bobbing
and weaving, while never failing to
both support and drive the music. Alan
plucked his flatwound-strung Fender PBass,
recorded at London’s Olympic Studios
through a miked Ampeg B-15.
Spenner’s creative highpoint comes
early, on the album’s third track, “What’s
the Buzz/Strange Thing Mystifying,” in
which the Apostles are quizzing Jesus
about his plans. “Buzz”—the first 2:20
of the track—is a funky two-chord (I–IV)
vamp, with Alan unleashed against
drummer Bruce Rowland’s fatback drum
groove. Spenner immediately shows his
acknowledged influences of James
Jamerson, Chuck Rainey, and Carol
Kaye. In bar 1, he subdivides the eighthnote
groove with funky 16ths, plays off
the classic root-5-octave shape, and
employs ghost-notes and a chromatic
passing tone (Eb). Through bar 4 he
shows his knowledge of chord tones, utilizing
3rds and 7ths as well as more passing
tones. By the end of the chorus he
also incorporates a bluesy side, with slurs
and slight string bends in bars 5 and 7.
The part keeps developing in the best
Jamerson tradition, never repeating itself.
Letter B’s verse starts on the IV
chord. The sparse vocals and longer
changes allow Alan to turn up the creative
heat via a Rainey-inspired doublestop
in bar 11, leading to an extended
melodic phrase in bar 12. The last two
bars of the section include a 6th (15)
and a 3rd on the downbeat (16). Chorus
two (C) incorporates similar moves,
including the melodic figure in bar 20,
and the liberal use of a high C natural
(the bluesy lowered 3rd) in bars 21 (on
the downbeat), 25, and 27.
For verse two (D), Spenner displays
some new musical and technical moves.
First, in bars 31–34 he breaks down the
groove with a fresh rhythmic shape, laying
off the first 16th of beat two. He also
employs minor-3rd slides in 33 and 34,
resorts to a Rainey-esque palm pat at the
end of 35, and throws out a slick phrase
in 36. With a savvy eye toward constantly
building the part, Alan makes his
boldest statement yet at letter E’s chorus,
climbing to a high G in bar 39 and
starting 40’s dazzling descent on the 6th.
At F he begins building to his apex, with
octave leaps in bars 42–46, and the eargrabbing
diatonic (and passing) 10ths in
bars 47 and 48.
The final verse, at G, mirrors the previous
one and gives way to the killer out
chorus, at H. Treasures here include the
chromaticism in bar 62 and the trackclosing
ascending and descending 10ths.
Overall, Spenner and Rowland have a
loose approach, and the tempo picks up
a bit, so stay relaxed and mindful of the
next downbeat. No click track here—you
could say that for this rock opera, Alan
Spenner’s playing came from a higher
place.
SIX OTHER GREAT
SPENNER TRACKS
1. “Something” Joe Cocker! [A&M, 1969]
2. “Superstar” Jesus Christ Superstar [MCA
1970]
3. “Let It Be Gone” The Grease Band [DCC,
1971]
4. “New Morning” Kokomo, To Be Cool [Hux,
1974] (bass solo)
5. “Only My Soul” David Coverdale, Northwinds
[Purple, 1978]
6. “Manifesto” Roxy Music, Manifesto [Virgin,
1978]
TEN MORE ESSENTIAL
SPENNER ALBUMS
1. Joe Cocker! [A&M, 1969]
2. Leon Russell [The Right Stuff, 1970]
3. Spooky Tooth, The Last Puff [A&M, 1970]
4. The Grease Band [DCC, 1971]
5. Alvin Lee, In Flight [Repertoire, 1974]
6. Kokomo, Live in Concert, 1975 [MLP]
7. Joe Cocker, Live in L.A. [Cube, 1976]
8. David Coverdale, Northwinds [Purple, 1978]
9. Roxy Music, Manifesto [Virgin, 1979]
10. Kokomo, To Be Cool [Hux, 2004]