"I worked
with Jon Bon Jovi before there actually was a band called Bon
Jovi," laughs bassist Hugh McDonald, who has been playing
fulltime with the New Jersey rockers since 1995, when he replaced
Alec John Such. "I knew Jon and Richie before they knew
each other."
McDonald's first encounter with Jon Bon Jovi was a case of being
in the right place at the right time. In 1983 there was no "Bon
Jovi"; the singer, then a rock star only in his dreams,
was still known by his given name: Jon Bongiovi. "He was
working as a janitor at the Power Station recording studio,
and a friend of mine, [producer] Lance Quinn, was helping him
record his demos there that night. They would use whatever musicians
happened to be in the studio. I was primarily a session bassist,
and Lance called me to play on a demo of the song 'Runaway'.
Guitarist Tim Pierce, drummer Frankie La Rocka and [E Street
Band] keyboardist Roy Bittan, all of whom were then recording
with the singer John Waite, were also on it. That recording
got Jon his record deal." |
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When Bongiovi,now
calling himself Jon Bon Jovi, put a band togheter soon after,
the bass spot went to Alec John Such, a friend of the frontman's
choice for drums, Tico Torres. But McDonald's playing evidently
impessed Jon, with the result that, in 1985, he began working
with the band in the studio.
A year later, Slippery When Wet, the band's third album, transformed
Bon Jovi into superstars and MTV favorites, thanks in part
to the memorable McDonald bass hook that opens the smash hit
"Livin' on a Prayer". "That bass line went
through a lot of changes," recalls McDonald. "Originally,
it sounded like the intro to the Four Tops' 'I Can't Help
Myself (Sugar Pie, Honey Bunch)'. Bruce Fairbairn, who produced
the album, noticed the similarity, and so did everyone else.
So Richie, Jon and I worked until we came up with the line
you hear on the record."
Even as Bon Jovi flourished in the late Eighties, McDonald
continued his session work, recording with artists as diverse
as Cher and Alice Cooper. That diversity had always marked
his playing. He began his carreer in the early Seventies as
a sideman with the earthy, accoustic-based artists Steve Goodman
and David Bromberg. McDonald is particulary grateful to Bromberg,
who gave the young bassist a baptism by fire. "When I
auditioned, I wasn't very familiar with his style - he played
everything from country blues to bluegrass to straight rock.
We jammed a little bit and then he told me, 'OK, our first
gig is next week - here's the song list.' I racked my brains
and learned as much as I could. When I got to the show, I
gave him a list of tunes I'd learned. He looked at it, ripped
it up and played whatever he felt like playing!"
When Alec John Such quit Bon Jovi in 1995 - he said he'd grown
tired of life on the road - McDonald was called upon to replace
him. Since then, he has toured with the band and appeared
on the albums These Days, Crush, the live recording One wild
Night and now Bounce. Bon Jovi's sound is often determined
by the interplay between McDonald's bass and Richie Sambora's
guitar. A classic example of this can be heard on the new
single, "Everyday", where the descending bass outlines
the chord progression underneath Sambora's guitar riff.
McDonald says that back in 1983, during the "Runaway"
session, he sensed something special about the very young
Jon Bongiovi, although he hardly imagined the impact of the
ambitious singer would have on his own career. "For me
it was just another session," he admits. "But even
then," he adds, "I had a feeling that he might become
a big star. He worked very hard in those early years to build
a following, and it's paid off for everyone. I can't think
of anyone more dedicated to his work than Jon, and that's
one reason I love playing with him." - RD
(c) 2002 Guitar
World Magazine
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