Larry Graham
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Larry Graham | |
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| Background information | |
| Born | Larry Graham Jr. Script error: No such module "person date". Beaumont, Texas, U.S. |
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| Years active | 1961–present |
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| Website | larrygraham |
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Larry Graham Jr. (born August 14, 1946) is an American bassist and baritone singer, with the psychedelic soul/funk band Sly and the Family Stone and as the founder and frontman of Graham Central Station.[1] In 1980, he released the single "One in a Million You", which reached the top ten on the US Billboard Hot 100. He is credited with the invention of the slapping technique on the electric bass guitar, which radically expanded the tonal palette of the bass, although he himself refers to the technique as "thumpin' and pluckin'".[2]
In 1993, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of Sly and the Family Stone.[3] He is also the uncle of rapper Drake.
Early life
Graham was born August 14, 1946, in Beaumont, Texas, U.S., to parents who were successful musicians.[1][4]
Career
Sly and the Family Stone
Graham played bass in the funk band Sly and the Family Stone from 1967 to 1972.[4] The band was the first major American rock group to have a racially integrated, mixed-gender lineup.[5] They had a series of influential tracks during the 1960s that entered the Billboard Hot 100 such as "Dance to the Music" (1968), "Everyday People" (1968), and "Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin)" (1969), as well as critically acclaimed albums such as Stand! (1969), which combined pop sensibility with social commentary.[6]
After many years of tension between Graham and frontman Sly Stone, Larry Graham left Sly and the Family Stone in 1972, after a post-concert brawl broke out between Graham and Sly, and rumors also spread that Larry had hired a hit man to kill Sly.[7] Graham and his wife climbed out of a hotel window to escape, and Pat Rizzo gave them a ride to safety.[7] Unable to continue working with Sly, Graham immediately quit. In 1993, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of Sly and the Family Stone.[3]
1970s
After Sly and the Family Stone, Graham formed his own band, Graham Central Station.[4] The name is a pun on Grand Central Station, the train station located in Manhattan, New York City. Graham Central Station had R&B hit "Can You Handle It" in 1974.[8]
In the mid-1970s, Larry Graham worked with Betty Davis, the second ex-wife of jazz musician Miles Davis. Betty Davis' band included members of the Tower of Power horns and the Pointer Sisters, and she recorded three albums to critical acclaim but limited commercial success.
In 1975, Graham became one of Jehovah's Witnesses.[9] Eventually, he was credited with introducing Prince to the faith. In the early 1980s, Graham recorded five solo albums and had several solo hits on the R&B chart.[4] His biggest hit was "One in a Million You", a crossover hit that reached No. 9 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in 1980.[4]
1990s–present
He reformed Graham Central Station in the early 1990s and performed with the band for several years during which they released two live albums. One was recorded in Japan in 1992, and the other, recorded in London in 1996, had only 1000 copies printed and was exclusively sold at concerts.
In 1998, he recorded a solo album under the name Graham Central Station GCS 2000. It was a collaboration between Larry Graham and Prince. While Graham wrote all the songs, except one co-written by Prince, the album was co-arranged and co-produced by Prince, and most of the instruments and vocals were recorded by both Graham and Prince. Graham also played bass on tours with Prince from 1997 to 2000. He appeared in Prince's 1998 VHS Beautiful Strange and 1999 DVD Rave Un2 the Year 2000. He has since appeared with Prince at various international venues. Graham and Graham Central Station performed internationally with a world tour in 2010 and the "Funk Around the World" international tour in 2011.
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He appeared as a special guest with Zigaboo Modeliste, R.Kelly, Billy Idle at My Morning Jacket member Jim James' "Rock N' Soul Dance Party Superjam" at the 2013 Bonnaroo Music Festival.[10]
In 2020, he was ranked number 7 on Rolling Stone's list of "50 Greatest Bassists of All Time."
Personal life
Graham is the half-brother of Dennis Graham, and the uncle of Canadian rapper and actor Drake.[11]
Slap bass technique
Graham pioneered the slapping and popping technique on the electric bass (though he refers to it as "thumpin' and pluckin'"[2]), in part to provide percussive and rhythmic elements to the bass line when his mother decided to no longer have a drummer in her band. This style couples a percussive thumb-slapping of the lower strings with an aggressive finger-snap of the higher strings, the slap of the thumb used to emulate a bass drum and the pop of the index or middle finger a snare drum.[2] The slap-and-pop technique also uses a lot of muted or "dead" notes, which adds to the rhythmic effect. Radically expanding the tonal palette of the bass, the style has become the archetype of modern funk.
The slapping style was later used by such artists as Bootsy Collins (Parliament-Funkadelic), Prince, Les Claypool (Primus), Bernard Edwards (Chic), Louis Johnson,[12] Mark King, Keni Burke, Victor Wooten, Kim Clarke of Defunkt, Flea (Red Hot Chili Peppers), Fieldy (Korn), Marcus Miller, and Stanley Clarke.
Discography
Solo albums
| Year | Album | Peak chart positions | |
|---|---|---|---|
| US [13] |
US R&B [14] | ||
| 1980 | One in a Million You | 26 | 2 |
| 1981 | Just Be My Lady | 46 | 8 |
| 1982 | Sooner or Later | 142 | 15 |
| 1983 | Victory | 173 | 52 |
| 1985 | Fired Up | — | — |
| 2019 | Chillin' | — | — |
| "—" denotes releases that did not chart. | |||
Singles
| Year | Single | Album | Peak chart positions | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US [15] |
US R&B [16] |
US Dance [17] |
US A/C [18] |
UK [19] | |||
| 1980 | "One in a Million You" | One in a Million You | 9 | 1 | — | 37 | — |
| "When We Get Married" | 76 | 9 | — | — | — | ||
| 1981 | "Guess Who" | Just Be My Lady | — | 69 | — | — | — |
| "Just Be My Lady" | 67 | 4 | — | — | — | ||
| 1982 | "Don't Stop When You're Hot"/ "Sooner or Later" |
Sooner or Later | 102 110 |
16 27 |
17 | — | 54 |
| 1983 | "I Never Forget Your Eyes" | Victory | — | 34 | — | — | — |
| "—" denotes releases that did not chart or were not released in that territory. | |||||||
With Sly and the Family Stone
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- A Whole New Thing (1967)
- Dance to the Music (1968)
- Life (1968)
- Stand! (1969)
- There's a Riot Goin' On (1971)
With Graham Central Station
Albums
Studio
- Graham Central Station (Warner Bros., 1974)
- Release Yourself (Warner Bros., 1974)
- Ain't No 'Bout-A-Doubt It (Warner Bros., 1975)
- Mirror (Warner Bros., 1976)
- Now Do U Wanta Dance (Warner Bros., 1977)
- My Radio Sure Sounds Good to Me (Warner Bros., 1978)
- Star Walk (Warner Bros., 1979)
- Back by Popular Demand (1997)[20]
- GCS 2000 (1998)
- Raise Up (2012)
Live
- Live in Japan (1992)
- Live in London (1996)
Compilation
- The Best of Larry Graham and Graham Central Station, Vol. 1 (Warner Bros., 1996)
Singles
| Year | Single | Album | Peak chart positions |
|---|---|---|---|
| US [15] | |||
| 1974 | "Can You Handle It?" | Graham Central Station | 49 |
| 1975 | "Your Love" | Ain't No 'Bout-A-Doubt It | 38 |
| "It's Alright" | 92 | ||
| 1976 | "The Jam" | 63 |
With Prince
- Rave Un2 the Joy Fantastic (1999)
- Rave In2 the Joy Fantastic (2001)
- The Rainbow Children (2001)
With Gov't Mule
References
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- ^ a b Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Colin Larkin, ed. (1997). The Virgin Encyclopedia of Popular Music (Concise ed.). Virgin Books. p. 539. ISBN 1-85227-745-9.
- ^ a b c Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Larry Graham: Trunk of the Funk Tree". Bass Player. April 2007. Archived from the original on October 13, 2007.
- ^ a b Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Sly and the family Stone | Rock & Roll Hall of Fame". www.rockhall.com. Retrieved December 19, 2021.
- ^ a b c d e Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Colin Larkin, ed. (1993). The Guinness Who's Who of Soul Music (First ed.). Guinness Publishing. p. 105. ISBN 0-85112-733-9.
- ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Sly & the Family Stone Songs, Albums, Reviews, Bio & More". AllMusic. Retrieved January 6, 2024.
- ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Sly & the Family Stone − Stand! Album Reviews, Songs & More | AllMusic, retrieved January 6, 2024
- ^ a b Selvin, Joel (1998), pp. 150–154
- ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Graham Central Station US singles chart history". allmusic.com. Retrieved September 26, 2025.
- ^ Awake! magazine, February 22, 1989, p. 15.
- ^ Jim James John Oates・・・ jambase.com Retrieved 26 September 2025
- ^ Archived at Ghostarchive and the Wayback Machine: Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.A.J. Miller (June 17, 2011). "Larry Graham Talks about his family ties to Drake with Lenny Green" – via YouTube.
- ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."George Johnson". Andresmusictalk.wordpress.com. Retrieved October 11, 2019.
- ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Larry Graham – Billboard 200". Billboard. Retrieved December 15, 2022.
- ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Larry Graham – TOP R&B/HIP-HOP ALBUMS". Billboard. Retrieved December 15, 2022.
- ^ a b Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Larry Graham – Billboard Hot 100". Billboard. Retrieved December 19, 2021.
- ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Larry Graham – Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs". Billboard.
- ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Larry Graham – Dance Club Songs". Billboard.
- ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Larry Graham – Dance Club Songs". Billboard.
- ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19th ed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. p. 233. ISBN 1-904994-10-5.
- ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Larry Graham & Graham Central Station − By Popular Demand, September 26, 1997, retrieved April 29, 2023
External links
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- A bio from the Ultimate Band List.
- "Release Yourself: From Sly Stone's roughhouse to the Artist's clubhouse, groundbreaking bassist Larry Graham finds new power in Minnesota", City Pages, July 21, 1999.
- Larry Graham Interview at NAMM Oral History Library (2014)]
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