("The best bass playing is the thing you feel before you consciously hear it.")
H.P.
The Bass Player Who Was Almost Heard
Herbie Mudpucket is not a name that appears in most music encyclopedias. His recordings are difficult to locate, his career is poorly documented, and his reputation seems to exist somewhere between underground legend and historical footnote.
Yet among a small number of dedicated listeners, Mudpucket is remembered as an unusually inventive bassist who spent much of his career working just outside the spotlight.
We spoke with Mr. Mudpucket about his career, his music, and the strange circumstances that kept his name from becoming better known.
Interviewer: Herbie, thank you for speaking with me. For people who may not be familiar with your work, how would you describe yourself as a musician?
Herbie Mudpucket: I was always a bass player first. I wasn't interested in being the person standing in front. I liked being underneath everything, holding it together. The bass is often the first thing you notice when it's missing.
Interviewer: You have been described as an overlooked musician. Do you think that's accurate?
Mudpucket: I think "overlooked" is probably fair. There were periods when I was very busy, but being busy and being noticed are two different things.
Interviewer: Why do you think your work never received wider recognition?
Mudpucket: Timing, mostly. I was always arriving just after something had happened or leaving just before something happened. I suppose I had a talent for missing history by a few minutes.
Interviewer: You are associated with a number of recordings that were reportedly never released.
Mudpucket: That's true.
Interviewer: How many?
Mudpucket: I stopped counting.
Interviewer: Was that because there were so many?
Mudpucket: No. It was because the numbers kept changing.
Interviewer: Can you explain that?
Mudpucket: A record could be finished, mixed, mastered, and scheduled for release. Then somebody would decide it wasn't finished. Then it would be finished again. Eventually you had a record that had been completed several times but never actually existed.
Interviewer: Did that happen often?
Mudpucket: More often than you'd think.
Interviewer: What was it like to spend years contributing to music that people might never hear?
Mudpucket: You learn not to depend on the audience. You play because the music is there. Whether someone hears it is a separate matter.
Interviewer: Do you regret not becoming famous?
Mudpucket: Fame is a strange thing. I knew people who became famous and spent the rest of their lives trying to get away from it. I knew people who never became famous and spent their lives trying to convince everyone they should have.
Interviewer: Which did you prefer?
Mudpucket: I preferred playing bass.
Interviewer: What musicians influenced you?
Mudpucket: Too many to name. I listened to everyone. Jazz players taught me patience. Rock players taught me volume. Soul players taught me discipline. Bad musicians taught me the importance of leaving the room.
Interviewer: Were there any particular bass players you admired?
Mudpucket: Of course.
Interviewer: Who?
Mudpucket: The ones who knew when not to play.
Interviewer: That's an unusual answer.
Mudpucket: It's an unusual instrument.
Interviewer: Do you think the bass is misunderstood?
Mudpucket: Absolutely. People think the bass is simple because they don't always hear it. But the best bass playing is often the thing you feel before you consciously hear it.
Interviewer: Is there a particular recording you're most proud of?
Mudpucket: There was one session in 1974.
Interviewer: What was it?
Mudpucket: We recorded all night. Nobody knew what we were doing. By sunrise, we had something.
Interviewer: Was it released?
Mudpucket: No.
Interviewer: Why not?
Mudpucket: The tape disappeared.
Interviewer: Do you think it was lost?
Mudpucket: I think someone has it.
Interviewer: Who?
Mudpucket: If I knew that, I'd have the tape.
Interviewer: Do you still have any of your old recordings?
Mudpucket: A few.
Interviewer: Would you ever consider releasing them?
Mudpucket: I've considered it for years.
Interviewer: What's stopping you?
Mudpucket: I'm waiting for the right time.
Interviewer: After all these years?
Mudpucket: The right time takes longer than people think.
Interviewer: Do you believe your music will ever be rediscovered?
Mudpucket: I don't know if there's anything to rediscover.
Interviewer: But you believe the music was important?
Mudpucket: It was important to us when we made it. That's enough.
Interviewer: Finally, Herbie, if someone were to discover one of your old recordings tomorrow, what would you want them to hear?
Mudpucket: I would want them to hear the bass.
Interviewer: And what would they hear?
Mudpucket: That's the question.
Interviewer: What do you mean?
Mudpucket: I'm not sure the bass was ever recorded.
At that point, Mr. Mudpucket ended the interview.
He did not explain what he meant.
He did, however, leave behind a handwritten list of seven song titles. The first six are believed to be genuine. The seventh simply reads:
"The One We Almost Finished."
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