RIP T-Bone Wolk

[Willie G. Moseley]

Best known as Hall & Oates bass player; a great in-the-pocket performer. Here's a paste from the Billboard web site:

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Tom "T-Bone" Wolk, who played bass for nearly 30 years with Daryl Hall and John Oates and also recorded with Elvis Costello and Billy Joel, died Saturday (Feb. 27) of an apparent heart attack. Wolk was to have performed with Hall and Oates today as part of the one-year anniversary show for NBC's "Late Night With Jimmy Fallon."

Wolk's age is unknown at deadline. A Yonkers, N.Y., native, the musician played bass on Kurtis Blow's early rap classic "These Are the Breaks" and between 1986 and 1992, served as the bassist for the "Saturday Night Live" house band, where he became familiar for his omnipresent black top hat. Wolk also collaborated and recorded with Carly Simon, Rosanne Cash, Bette Midler, Cyndi Lauper, Jewel and Shawn Colvin throughout his career.

But he was best known for his tenure with Hall and Oates, which began with the 1981 album "Private Eyes" and continued until the present day. In addition to his bass work for the duo, Wolk also served as a co-producer on several of their projects.

Funeral details have yet to be announced.

[rubberweed]

I am very, very sorry to to hear about that. A tremendous musician and a really nice guy. I had the pleasure of meeting him a few years ago and he was a real gentleman. RIP

[cmatthes]

Very sad. I met him and GE Smith several years ago, and both really came across as nice, humble, regular guys. I remember reading his players tips column in one of the guitar mags back in the '80s on a regular basis - always well done stuff.

Big talent.

[Rocktuna]

I'm stunned and saddened.

Great player.

[GaryT]

Sad to hear that.

He built up a solid name for himself. Great Player.

[mc2]

Sad...solid bass player with a great resume.

Should've been mentioned in that string we had about great bassists who rarely get mentioned.

[musicman]

R.I.P.,...I am sad to get this news.

[BruceM]

Around 1985 or so, a friend at work won front row tickets to a Hall & Oates concert from a local radio station. He couldn't give them away for some reason, so I agreed to go with him, even though I wasn't a huge fan. I was pleasantly surprised to see those SNL guys (Smith & Wolk) in the band, and even more surprised at how good the entire band was. We were right in front of Hall, and I don't think I've ever seen a better singer. The band pumped out the hits, and after seeing some of my female friends from the racquetball club at the show, I was exchanging tickets with them so they could get up close and personal. It was a great show, and I'm glad I had a chance to see them back in the day.

RIP, T-Bone.

[Frank]

MSN said he died Sunday and was 58. They might have gotten the day wrong. He was a terrific musician.

[zenmindbeginner]

I'm one of those weird Hall and Oates fans. I was in third grade when "Private Eyes" came out... I was immediately hooked. Then the nest year "Maneater" came out and that bassline is the SHIT! I always read his column in Guitar for the Practicing Musician back in the day. Later on in life, I learned that his bassline was in "The Breaks" by Kurtis Blow. The Breaks is probably the best early hip hop song, T-Bone was a fucking trailblazer and a bass God to me. He even played the guitar on the "Heartrburn" hit movie song by Carly Simon "Coming Around Again", which is a GREAT song.

Damn if 58 isn't young to be dying of a heart attack these days... in the 70's and 80's, it happened all of the time, but we eat so much better now and have access to much better cardiac health care. But something tells me that T-Bone didn't go to the doctor when he should have. I doubt he had proper health insurance and probably couldn't afford the tests to tell whether he had blocked arteries or not.

I'm sad.

[northarrow]

I'm one of those weird Hall and Oates fans. I was in third grade when "Private Eyes" came out... I was immediately hooked. Then the nest year "Maneater" came out and that bassline is the SHIT! I always read his column in Guitar for the Practicing Musician back in the day. Later on in life, I learned that his bassline was in "The Breaks" by Kurtis Blow. The Breaks is probably the best early hip hop song, T-Bone was a fucking trailblazer and a bass God to me. He even played the guitar on the "Heartrburn" hit movie song by Carly Simon "Coming Around Again", which is a GREAT song.

Damn if 58 isn't young to be dying of a heart attack these days... in the 70's and 80's, it happened all of the time, but we eat so much better now and have access to much better cardiac health care. But something tells me that T-Bone didn't go to the doctor when he should have. I doubt he had proper health insurance and probably couldn't afford the tests to tell whether he had blocked arteries or not.

I'm sad.

If we only had govt run healthcare !!!

[Brooks]

this is the guy w/ the amish looking getup?

i think i read that he auditioned for H&O, but management initally passed because he was bald (this was before phil from pantera and billy corgan made the bald look cool). then, after auditioning dozens and dozens more guys, the other backing musicians came to H&O's management and demanded they hire bald guy w/ the great groove. they called him up and said that the other musicians wanted him, and would he mind wearing a hat?