Russ Savakus
{{short description|American session bass player}}
Russell Savakus (May 13, 1925 – June 26, 1984){{cite news|url=https://www.mcall.com/news/mc-xpm-1984-06-27-2412014-story.html|title=BANGOR R.1 MUSICIAN KILLED IN CRASH. POLICE|newspaper=The Morning Call|date=June 27, 1984|accessdate=December 15, 2021}} was an American session bass player (both electric and stand-up), violinist and singer. Savakus recorded with numerous artists in and around the 1960s folk and folk-rock movement in New York.Richie Unterberger, [https://books.google.com/books?id=aO4yVYsXu5MC&q=Savakus&pg=PA205 Turn! Turn! Turn!: The '60s Folk-Rock Revolution]. Hal Leondard Company. p. 205 Earlier, he had been a part of the rhythm section for the Les Elgart swing band.Lawrence McClellan, [https://books.google.com/books?id=Oit7y0bS4MUC&dq=%22Russ+Savakus%22&pg=PA50 The Later Swing Era, 1942 to 1955]. Greenwood Publishing. p.50
According to Michael Bloomfield, who met Savakus at a Bob Dylan session: "They had a bass player, a terrific guy, Russ Savakus. It was his first day playing electric bass, and he was scared of that. No one understood nothing."Wolkin and Keenom, [https://books.google.com/books?id=aLoB6NLT_aAC&q=savakus Michael Bloomfield: If You Love These Blues: An Oral History], Miller Freeman Books, San Francisco, 2000, p. 100 However, Dylan chose to replace Savakus on tour Bob Spitz, [https://books.google.com/books?id=xs7DmBy87UwC&dq=%22Russ+Savakus%22&pg=PA318 Dylan: A Biography]. WW Norton. p. 317
He died in 1984 at the age of 59.
Discography
Songs and records that he has played on include:
- Embraceable You, Chet Baker (1957)"Chet Baker: Songs for Lovers" CD, Pacific Jazz Records 57158, 1997
- Walk On By, Dionne Warwick (1964){{Cite news|last=Myers|first=Marc|date=2021-01-05|title=Dionne Warwick and Burt Bacharach on the Drama of 'Walk On By'|language=en-US|work=Wall Street Journal|url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/dionne-warwick-and-burt-bacharach-on-the-drama-of-walk-on-by-11609856972|access-date=2021-02-01|issn=0099-9660}}
- Farewell, Angelina, Joan Baez (1965)
- The In Instrumentals, Kai Winding (Verve, 1965)
- Reflections in a Crystal Wind, Richard & Mimi Fariña (1965)
- Highway 61 Revisited, Bob Dylan (1965){{cite journal|publisher=New York Media, LLC|journal=New York Magazine|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3ugCAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA27|accessdate=18 July 2010|date=28 January 1974|title=The Essential Dylan|page=27|issn=0028-7369}}
- Early Morning Rain, Ian and Sylvia (1965)Hounsome, Terry, Rock Record: A Collector’s Directory of Rock Albums and Musicians, Enlarged, Revised, Expanded, Facts On File Publications, New York,1987 p. 284
- Many a Mile, Buffy Saint-Marie (1965)Hounsome, Terry, Rock Record: A Collector’s Directory of Rock Albums and Musicians, Enlarged, Revised, Expanded, Facts On File Publications, New York,1987 p. 495-496
- Southbound, Doc Watson (1966)
- I'm a Believer, The Monkees (1966)'More of the Monkees' deluxe reissue, Rhino Records 2017, booklet, pages 17 and 20, containing personnel as listed by Monkees historian Andrew Sandoval, sourced directly from official Musicians' Union records
- Kites are Fun, The Free Design (1967)
- Fire & Fleet & Candlelight, Buffy Saint-Marie (1967)
- Brown Eyed Girl, Van Morrison (1967)
- Memories, Richard & Mimi Fariña (1968)Hounsome, Terry, Rock Record: A Collector’s Directory of Rock Albums and Musicians, Enlarged, Revised, Expanded, Facts On File Publications, New York,1987 p. 201
- The Corporation: Vinnie Bell, Dick Hyman, Bill LaVorgna, Phil Bodner, Bucky Pizzarelli, Russ Savakus (1968)
- Rhymes and Reasons, John Denver (1969)Hounsome, Terry, Rock Record: A Collector’s Directory of Rock Albums and Musicians, Enlarged, Revised, Expanded, Facts On File Publications, New York,1987 p.157
- Take Me to Tomorrow, John Denver (1970)
- David Clayton-Thomas, David Clayton-Thomas (1972)
- Don McLean, Don McLean (1972)
- Extension of a Man, Donny Hathaway (1973)
- Playin' Favorites, Don McLean (1973)Hounsome, Terry, Rock Record: A Collector’s Directory of Rock Albums and Musicians, Enlarged, Revised, Expanded, Facts On File Publications, New York,1987 p. 381
- Never Letting Go, Phoebe Snow (1977)
- Times of Our Lives, Judy Collins (1982)
References
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Category:American rock bass guitarists
Category:American male bass guitarists
Category:American session musicians
Category:American double-bassists
Category:American male double-bassists
Category:American male singers
Category:American male violinists
Category:21st-century American double-bassists
Category:21st-century American violinists
Category:21st-century American male musicians
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