Back Door

Back when giant carnivorous bass players ruled the Earth, Back Door were the hungriest of them all. They formed in 1971 as a jazz-rock trio, with <a href="spotify:artist:30dmzZ8VdeIanpYYQkhttc">Colin Hodgkinson</a> (bass, vocals), Ron Aspery (keyboards, sax), and Tony Hicks (drums). Later Adrian Tilbrook took over on drums. What sets Back Door apart is the bass playing. While a few bassists -- such as <a href="spotify:artist:7G3uxJYCXXvkJJMORkc1rk">Chris Squire</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:3NCzK7DcNxRgtTF4BCEjvr">John Entwistle</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:73ndLgs6jSrpZzjyzU9TJV">Jack Bruce</a> -- have tried exploiting the bass' potential as a lead instrument, they were confined by bands where the guitar or keyboards were the usual lead. Not <a href="spotify:artist:30dmzZ8VdeIanpYYQkhttc">Colin Hodgkinson</a>; he dispenses with these instruments altogether, allowing the bass to be the sole lead instrument. He strums chords on it the way you'd expect someone to with a six-string. Later bands like <a href="spotify:artist:5cs6oM65rBCcI4M218O2Im">Ruins</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:2k5fTab6hObBtzB3VrrzRO">Sadhappy</a> have taken up this challenge, but many of Back Door's achievements remain unsurpassed.

After releasing four albums on Warner between 1973 and 1976, and touring with <a href="spotify:artist:0nCiidE5GgDrc5kWN3NZgZ">Emerson, Lake & Palmer</a> -- drummer <a href="spotify:artist:7C4J4i4Gj0InsSLz4jKwS6">Carl Palmer</a> produced their last album, Activate (1976) -- they broke up in 1977. Hodgkinson went on to play with <a href="spotify:artist:50zRydJXfkLzGIOj9mITfy">Jan Hammer</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:385tW2q0gMaQTkswc9lMSe">Alexis Korner</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:3i9hP422d2KMjaupTzBNVS">the Spencer Davis Group</a>. He even had his moment of crotch-grabbing fame as the bassist on the U.K. version of <a href="spotify:artist:3UbyYnvNIT5DFXU4WgiGpP">Whitesnake</a>'s massive-selling album Slide It In. After a move to Germany, he recorded for the Inakustik label, with <a href="spotify:artist:1SWx75oe8BtPrHFy8Ro3W2">the Electric Blues Duo</a> and with <a href="spotify:artist:3i9hP422d2KMjaupTzBNVS">the Spencer Davis Group</a>. ~ Paul Collins, Rovi