Russell Savakus (May 13, 1925 – June 26, 1984) was an American session

bass player A bassist (also known as a bass player or bass guitarist) is a musician who plays a bass instrument such as a double bass (upright bass, contrabass, wood bass), bass guitar (electric bass, acoustic bass), synthbass, keyboard bass or a low br ...

(both

electric Electricity is the set of physical phenomena associated with the presence and motion of matter that has a property of electric charge. Electricity is related to magnetism, both being part of the phenomenon of electromagnetism, as described by ...

and

stand-up Stand-up comedy is a comedic performance to a live audience in which the performer addresses the audience directly from the stage. The performer is known as a comedian, a comic or a stand-up. Stand-up comedy consists of one-liners, stories, ...

violin The violin, sometimes known as a '' fiddle'', is a wooden chordophone ( string instrument) in the violin family. Most violins have a hollow wooden body. It is the smallest and thus highest-pitched instrument ( soprano) in the family in regu ...

ist and singer. Savakus recorded with numerous artists in and around the 1960s folk and folk-rock movement in New York. Earlier, he had been a part of the rhythm section for the Les Elgart swing band. According to Michael Bloomfield, who met Savakus at a

Bob Dylan Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan, born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Often regarded as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture during a career sp ...

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." However, Dylan chose to replace Savakus on tour

Discography

Songs and records that he has played on include: * '' Embraceable You'', Chet Baker (1957) * '' Walk On By'', Dionne Warwick (1964) * ''

Farewell, Angelina ''Farewell, Angelina'' is the sixth studio album by American folk singer Joan Baez, released in late 1965. It peaked at #10 on the Billboard Pop Albums chart. History The album represented a further shift from the strictly traditional folk mu ...

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Joan Baez Joan Chandos Baez (; born January 9, 1941) is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and activist. Her contemporary folk music often includes songs of protest and social justice. Baez has performed publicly for over 60 years, releasing more ...

(1965) * '' The In Instrumentals'', Kai Winding (Verve, 1965) * ''Reflections in a Crystal Wind'', Richard & Mimi Fariña (1965) * ''

Highway 61 Revisited ''Highway 61 Revisited'' is the sixth studio album by American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan, released on August 30, 1965, by Columbia Records. Having until then recorded mostly acoustic music, Dylan used rock musicians as his backing band on ever ...

'',

(1965) * ''

Early Morning Rain "Early Morning Rain," sometimes styled as "Early Mornin' Rain," is a song written, composed, and recorded by Canadian singer-songwriter Gordon Lightfoot. The song appears on his 1966 debut album ''Lightfoot!'' and, in a re-recorded version, on t ...

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Ian and Sylvia Ian & Sylvia were a Canadian folk and country music duo which consisted of Ian and Sylvia Tyson, née Fricker. They began performing together in 1959 (full-time in 1961), married in 1964, and divorced and stopped performing together in 1975. ...

(1965) * ''

Many a Mile ''Many a Mile'' is Buffy Sainte-Marie's second album, released in 1965. Though originally released on Vanguard Records, it was never reissued on CD when the rest of Sainte-Marie's catalog for that label came out in the late 1990s. It was reissu ...

'', Buffy Saint-Marie (1965) * '' Southbound'',

Doc Watson Arthel Lane "Doc" Watson (March 3, 1923 – May 29, 2012) was an American guitarist, songwriter, and singer of bluegrass, folk, country, blues, and gospel music. Watson won seven Grammy awards as well as a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. W ...

(1966) * ''

I'm a Believer "I'm a Believer" is a song written by Neil Diamond and recorded by the Monkees in 1966 with the lead vocals by Micky Dolenz. The single, produced by Jeff Barry, hit the number-one spot on the U.S. ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart for the week endi ...

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The Monkees The Monkees were an American rock and pop band, formed in Los Angeles in 1966, whose lineup consisted of the American actor/musicians Micky Dolenz, Michael Nesmith and Peter Tork alongside English actor/singer Davy Jones. The group was con ...

(1966) * ''

Fire & Fleet & Candlelight ''Fire & Fleet & Candlelight'' is the fourth album by Cree singer and songwriter Buffy Sainte-Marie. More than its predecessor '' Little Wheel Spin and Spin'', it marked a significant departure from the simple folk songs of her first two albums. ...

'', Buffy Saint-Marie (1967) * ''

Brown Eyed Girl "Brown Eyed Girl" is a song by Northern Irish singer and songwriter Van Morrison. Written by Morrison and recorded in March 1967 for Bang Records owner and producer Bert Berns, it was released as a single in June of the same year on the Bang la ...

'',

Van Morrison Sir George Ivan Morrison (born 31 August 1945), known professionally as Van Morrison, is a Northern Irish singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist whose recording career spans seven decades. He has won two Grammy Awards. As a teenager in t ...

(1967) * ''Memories'', Richard & Mimi Fariña (1968) * ''The Corporation'':

Vinnie Bell Vincent Edward Gambella (July 28, 1932 – October 3, 2019), known as Vinnie Bell, was an American session guitarist, instrument designer and pioneer of electronic effects in pop music. Life and career He was born in Brooklyn">p> Life and car ...

, Dick Hyman, Bill LaVorgna,

Phil Bodner Philip L. Bodner (June 13, 1917 – February 24, 2008) was an American jazz clarinetist and studio musician who also played flute, oboe, saxophone, and English horn. Career A native of Waterbury, Connecticut, Bodner worked as a studio musician ...

Bucky Pizzarelli John Paul "Bucky" Pizzarelli (January 9, 1926 – April 1, 2020) was an American jazz guitarist. He was the father of jazz guitarist John Pizzarelli and double bassist Martin Pizzarelli. He worked for NBC as a staffman for Dick Cavett (1971) ...

, Russ Savakus (1968) * '' Rhymes and Reasons'', John Denver (1969) * '' Take Me to Tomorrow'', John Denver (1970) * ''David Clayton-Thomas'',

David Clayton-Thomas David Clayton-Thomas (born David Henry Thomsett, 13 September 1941) is a Grammy Award-winning Canadian musician, singer, and songwriter, best known as the lead vocalist of the American band Blood, Sweat & Tears. Clayton-Thomas has been inducte ...

(1972) * ''

Don McLean Donald McLean III (born October 2, 1945) is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist. He is best known for his 1971 hit song " American Pie", an eight-and-a-half-minute folk rock "cultural touchstone" about the loss of innocence of the early ...

'',

(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 ''Never Letting Go'' is the fourth album by singer–songwriter Phoebe Snow, released in 1977. Reception In a retrospective review for AllMusic, critic William Ruhlmann wrote "...the record marked a fall-off in both her commercial success and h ...

'',

Phoebe Snow Phoebe Snow (born Phoebe Ann Laub; July 17, 1950 – April 26, 2011) was an American roots music singer-songwriter and guitarist, known for her hit 1974 and 1975 songs " San Francisco Bay Blues", " Poetry Man", "Harpo's Blues", and her credited ...

(1977) * '' Times of Our Lives'', Judy Collins (1982)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Savakus, Russ 1925 births 1984 deaths American rock bass guitarists American male bass guitarists American session musicians American double-bassists Male double-bassists American male singers American male violinists 21st-century double-bassists 21st-century American violinists 21st-century American male musicians Juilliard School alumni Columbia University alumni