Just wanted to offer my respects for the untimely loss of Tom "T-Bone" Wolk who died of heart attack on Saturday (1951-2010). We all gotta go, but 58 is waaaaay too early to leave the party. I always held him in high esteem as one hell of a groove-y bassist. He will be missed, but those classic Hall and Oates bass lines will live on forever. I've got "Maneater" stuck in my head right now.....
The 58-years-old bassist collapsed on Saturday night in Pawling, NY hours after a studio session. He had been recording a solo album. He was due to perform on Monday for the anniversary show of NBC’s 'Late Night with Jimmy Fallon', with Daryl Hall and John Oates. Since the late '70s, Wolk has been one of the steadiest-working bassists in popular music. A small sampling of his discography is as follows: Carly Simon, Shawn Colvin, Elvis Costello, Roseanne Cash, Cyndi Lauper, Harry Nilsson, Amanda Marshall, Grey Eye Glances, Paul Carrack, Diane Ziegler, Charlie Musselwhite, Jewel, Ivo, Jellyfish, Avril Lavigne, Billy Joel, Joe Pesci, Leslie Miller, John Eddie and Chynna Phillips.
Wolk's two highest-profile gigs, however, were his long-standing stints with Hall And Oates, which began in 1981 (he got the job after playing on Kurtis Blow's breakthrough rap smash, The Breaks) and his on-camera role as bassist in the Saturday Night Live house band, in which he was paired with fellow Hall And Oates band member, guitarist GE Smith.
But Wolk wasn't simply a bass player. He co-produced several Hall And Oates albums, and recently, on Daryl Hall's continuing Internet Show, Live From Daryl's House, he played guitar and served as musical director.
Hall & Oates have paid tribute to their brother in arms - T-Bone Wolk, who died suddenly of a heart attack a couple of days back:
Daryl Hall: "To say that I am shocked is the ultimate understatement. T-Bone was my musical brother and losing him is like losing my right hand. It's not if I will go on, but how. T-Bone was one of the most sensitive and good human beings that I have ever known. And, I can truly say that I loved him."
John Oates: "His character was pure and his unique and quirky personality touched everyone he encountered. His musical sensibility was peerless, any instrument that he touched resonated with a sensitivity and skill level that I have never experienced while playing with any other musician. He possessed an encyclopedic knowledge of styles and musical history which he referenced to support all the artists that he played with over the years. He became our band's musical director over time leading by example and by the deference and respect that everyone who played alongside him so rightfully accorded him. He made everyone he played with better. So many times when I'm working on a musical passage or part, I think to myself: "How would T-Bone play this" and aspire to his level every time I perform. To this day I always keep one of his "I Love Vermont" guitar picks with me where ever I go and know in my heart that starting today the Heavenly Band just got one of the greatest multi-instrumentalist of all time and that band will from this day forward sound better than they ever have before."
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