Max Bennett obit

Max Bennett Has Died 

He was not on the list.

Sad news to report today: session bass legend Max Bennett, who worked with artists ranging from Ella Fitzgerald to The Beach Boys to Frank Zappa, has passed away. He was 90 years old.

Bennett grew up between Kansas City and Oskaloosa, Iowa. He had his first professional gig with Herbie Fields in 1949, after which he served in the Korean War. After his time in the Army, he worked with Stan Kenton and eventually moved to Los Angeles. Bennett is regarded as a member of session musicians known as The Wrecking Crew, who played on the majority of hits in the ’60s and ’70s. He recorded with Elvis, Joni Mitchell, Celine Dion, Ray Charles, Frank Sinatra, Lalo Schifrin, and many more. Fans of more radical music may recognize him as the primary bassist on Frank Zappa’s classic Hot Rats album.

“I was not familiar with Zappa’s music. Our paths never crossed,” Bennett told The Observer. “I was never a big fan of avant garde music in that sense. It was while I was working in the studio, what was it, 1967, I think? And I got a call from John Guerin. He said, ‘Get your stuff over to TTG’—that was in Hollywood—‘I got a double session for you with Frank Zappa.’ So we get there and we worked two double sessions for two nights. And that was the album, that was ‘Hot Rats.’”

In 1973, Bennett helped form the L.A. Express with Joe Sample, Larry Carlton, John Geurin, and Tom Scott. Besides their own releases, the band recorded on the Joni Mitchell albums Court and Spark and The Hissing of Summer Lawns. After L.A. Express folded, the bassist started his own band, Freeway. He had been performing up through the past year with his latest band, Private Reserve, which his website describes as “the best of contemporary concepts” blending “the richness of jazz, blues, rock and latin music.”

Fellow legendary session bassist Leland Sklar shared his thoughts on Facebook, writing, “The bass community lost a pillar this week. The great Max Bennett. I have known Max for so many years and his work was exemplary of what a great studio musician is all about. You will be missed my brother but your legacy is deep and will endure for years to come. Loved you Max…Rest in Peace and Rest in Groove!”

Our thoughts are with the family and friends of Max Bennett.

Bennett grew up in Kansas City, Missouri and Oskaloosa, Iowa, and went to college in Iowa.

Bennett's first professional gig was with Herbie Fields in 1949, and following this he played with Georgie Auld, Terry Gibbs, and Charlie Ventura. He served in the Army during the Korean War from 1951 to 1953, and then played with Stan Kenton before moving to Los Angeles. There he played regularly at the Lighthouse Cafe with his own ensemble, and played behind such vocalists as Peggy Lee, Ella Fitzgerald, Joni Mitchell and Joan Baez [ Elkie Brooks ] through the 1970s. He also recorded with Charlie Mariano, Conte Candoli, Bob Cooper, Bill Holman, Stan Levey, Lou Levy, Coleman Hawkins and Jack Montrose.

Bennett recorded under his own name from the late 1950s and did extensive work as a composer and studio musician in addition to jazz playing. Often associated with The Wrecking Crew, he performed on many records by The Monkees and The Partridge Family.

Discography

As leader

Max Bennett Quintet (Bethlehem, 1955)

Max Bennett Sextet (Bethlehem, 1956)

Max Bennett Septet, Quartet & Trio (Bethlehem, 1956)

Max Bennett with Charlie Mariano (Bethlehem)

Interchange (Palo Alto, 1987) U.S. Top Contemporary Jazz #13

The Drifter (1987) U.S. Top Contemporary Jazz #21

Images (TBA, 1989)

Great Expectations (Chase Music, 1993)

Max Is the Factor (Fresh Sound, 2006)

As sideman

With Hoyt Axton

 

Southbound (A&M Records, 1975)

With Joan Baez

 

Diamonds & Rust (A&M Records, 1975)

With Stephen Bishop

 

Careless (ABC Records, 1976)

With Bobby Bland

 

His California Album (Dunhill, 1973)

With David Blue

 

Com'n Back for More (Asylum, 1975)

With Terence Boylan

 

Terence Boylan (Asylum, 1977)

With Elkie Brooks

 

Rich Man's Woman (A&M Records, 1975)

With Vikki Carr

 

Ms. America (Columbia, 1973)

With Keith Carradine

 

I'm Easy (Asylum, 1976)

With Ry Cooder

 

Ry Cooder (Reprise Records, 1970)

With Bob Cooper

 

Coop! The Music of Bob Cooper (Contemporary, 1958)

With England Dan & John Ford Coley

 

Fables (A&M, 1972)

With Bobby Darin

 

Bobby Darin Sings The Shadow of Your Smile (Atlantic, 1966)

With The 5th Dimension

 

Love's Lines, Angles and Rhymes (Bell, 1971)

Living Together, Growing Together (Bell, 1973)

With Don Everly

 

Don Everly (Ode, 1971)

With José Feliciano

 

Just Wanna Rock 'n' Roll (RCA Victor, 1975)

With Michael Franks

 

Michael Franks (Brut, 1973)

With Art Garfunkel

 

Breakaway (Columbia Records, 1975)

With Bobbie Gentry

 

The Delta Sweete (Capitol, 1968)

With Cyndi Grecco

 

Making Our Dreams Come True (Private Stock Records, 1976)

With Henry Gross

 

Henry Gross (ABC Records, 1972)

With Arlo Guthrie

 

Hobo's Lullaby (Reprise Records, 1972)

With George Harrison

 

Dark Horse (Apple Records, 1974)

With Johnny Hartman

 

I Love Everybody (ABC, 1967)

With Jack Jones

 

Harbour (RCA Victor, 1974)

What I Did for Love (RCA Victor, 1975)

With Barbara Keith

 

Barbara Keith (Reprise, 1973)

With Raymond Louis Kennedy

 

Raymond Louis Kennedy (Cream, 1970)

With Stan Kenton

 

Contemporary Concepts (Capitol, 1955)

With Bill LaBounty

 

Promised Love (Curb Records, 1975)

With Peggy Lee

 

The Man I Love (Capitol Records, 1957)

Pretty Eyes (Capitol Records, 1960)

If You Go (Capitol, 1961)

Sugar 'n' Spice (Capitol Records, 1962)

Blues Cross Country (Capitol Records, 1962)

Mink Jazz (Capitol Records, 1963)

I'm a Woman (Capitol Records, 1963)

In Love Again! (Capitol Records, 1964)

Then Was Then – Now Is Now! (Capitol Records, 1965)

Big $pender (Capitol Records, 1966)

Guitars a là Lee (Capitol Records, 1966)

Bridge over Troubled Water (Capitol Records, 1970)

Make It with You (Capitol Records, 1970)

Close Enough for Love (DRG Records, 1979)

With Lori Lieberman

 

A Piece of Time (Capitol Records, 1974)

With Lulu

 

Lulu (Polydor Records, 1973)

With Barry Mann

 

Barry Mann (Casablanca Records, 1980)

With Bette Midler

 

Broken Blossom (Atlantic Records, 1977)

With Joni Mitchell

 

Court and Spark (Asylum Records, 1974)

Miles of Aisles (Asylum Records, 1974)

The Hissing of Summer Lawns (Asylum Records, 1975)

Hejira (Asylum Records, 1976)

With The Monkees

 

The Birds, the Bees & the Monkees (Colgems, 1968)

Instant Replay (Colgems, 1969)

The Monkees Present (Colgems, 1969)

With Jack Montrose

 

Blues and Vanilla (RCA Victor, 1956)

The Horn's Full (RCA Victor, 1957)

With Walter Murphy

 

Rhapsody in Blue (Private Stock, 1977)

With Michael Nesmith

 

Nevada Fighter (RCA Records, 1971)

With Wayne Newton

 

Daddy Don't You Walk So Fast (Chelsea, 1972)

While We're Still Young (Chelsea, 1973)

With Jack Nitzsche

 

Heart Beat (Capitol, 1980)

With Kenny Nolan

 

A Song Between Us (Polydor, 1978)

With Tom Pacheco

 

The Outsider (RCA Records, 1976)

With Austin Roberts

 

The Last Thing On My Mind (Chelsea, 1973)

With Howard Roberts

 

Antelope Freeway (Impulse!, 1971)

With Buffy Sainte-Marie

 

Sweet America (ABC, 1976)

With Lalo Schifrin

 

There's a Whole Lalo Schifrin Goin' On (Dot, 1968)

Mannix (Paramount, 1968)

Bullitt (soundtrack) (Warner Bros., 1968)

Rock Requiem (Verve, 1971)

Enter the Dragon (Warner Bros., 1973)

With O. C. Smith

 

Together (Caribou, 1977)

With Otis Spann

 

Sweet Giant of the Blues (BluesTime, 1970)

With Suzanne Stevens

 

Crystal Carriage (Capitol, 1977)

With Barbra Streisand

 

Stoney End (Columbia Records, 1971)

ButterFly (Columbia Records, 1974)

With Jim Sullivan

 

U.F.O. (Monnie, 1969)

With Gábor Szabó and Bob Thiele

 

Light My Fire (Impulse!, 1967)

With Valdy

 

Country Man (Haida, 1972)

Landscapes (Haida, 1973)

With Frank Zappa

 

Hot Rats (Reprise Records, 1969)

Chunga's Revenge (Reprise Records, 1970)

Studio Tan (DiscReet Records, 1978)

The Lost Episodes (Rykodisc, 1996)

Läther (Rykodisc, 1996)

Quaudiophiliac (Barking Pumpkin Records, 2004)

The Hot Rats Sessions (Zappa Records, 2019)

Funky Nothingness (Zappa Records, 2023)

TV, film and motion picture soundtracks written by:

Michel Legrand

Nelson Riddle

Michel Colombier

Quincy Jones

Tom Scott

John Williams

Henry Mancini

Lalo Schifrin

Johnny Mandel

Charlie Fox

Artie Butler

Billy Byers

Elmer Bernstein

Michael Melvoin