Russell Savakus (May 13, 1925 – June 26, 1984)[1] was an American session bass player (both electric and stand-up), violinist and singer. Savakus recorded with numerous artists in and around the 1960s folk and folk-rock movement in New York.[2] Earlier, he had been a part of the rhythm section for the Les Elgart swing band.[3]
According to Michael Bloomfield, who met Savakus at a Bob Dylan 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."[4] However, Dylan chose to replace Savakus on tour [5]
He died in 1984 at the age of 59.
^"BANGOR R.1 MUSICIAN KILLED IN CRASH. POLICE". The Morning Call. June 27, 1984. Retrieved December 15, 2021.
^Richie Unterberger, Turn! Turn! Turn!: The '60s Folk-Rock Revolution. Hal Leondard Company. p. 205
^Lawrence McClellan, The Later Swing Era, 1942 to 1955. Greenwood Publishing. p.50
^Wolkin and Keenom, Michael Bloomfield: If You Love These Blues: An Oral History, Miller Freeman Books, San Francisco, 2000, p. 100
Russell Savakus (May 13, 1925 – June 26, 1984) was an American session bass player (both electric and stand-up), violinist and singer. Savakus recorded...
guitarists – Eric Gale, Hugh McCracken, and Al Gorgoni – plus bassist RussSavakus and organist Garry Sherman, as well as Gary Chester on drums. It was...
studio band on "Positively 4th Street" featured Bobby Gregg (drums), RussSavakus (bass), Frank Owens (piano), Al Kooper (organ) and Mike Bloomfield (guitar)...
Butler, Claus Ogerman, Stan Applebaum Bass: George Duvivier, Milt Hinton, RussSavakus, Bob Bushnell, Joe Macho Jr, Al Lucas, Dick Romoff, James Tyrell, Jimmy...
producer Bob Johnston to contribute an improvised acoustic guitar part and RussSavakus played bass guitar. Author Mark Polizzotti credits some of the success...
Glover on organ; Vinnie Bell, Al Gorgoni and Kenny Burrell on guitars; RussSavakus on bass; Gary Chester on drums; and George Devens on percussion. American...
Paul Griffin – piano, organ Frank Owens – piano Harvey Brooks – bass RussSavakus – bass guitar, upright bass ("Desolation Row") Joe Macho, Jr. – bass...
Gill, pp. 87–88. Polizzotti identifies Charlie McCoy on guitar and RussSavakus on bass as the musicians, see Polizzotti, Highway 61 Revisited, p. 133...
Chester[citation needed] played on this recording as did session bassist RussSavakus. Other musicians included Artie Butler on organ, Paul Griffin on piano...
Saunders (Mad Season) Brad Savage (Band from TV) Rick Savage (Def Leppard) RussSavakus (Bob Dylan, Van Morrison) Taiji Sawada (X Japan) Patrick Scales (Klaus...
(Blonde on Blonde) Robbie Robertson – guitar, vocals (Blonde on Blonde) RussSavakus – bass guitar (Highway 61 Revisited) John B. Sebastian – bass guitar...
"Amsterdam" and "Anthem-Revelation", 12-string guitar on "Aspenglow" RussSavakus – bass Denny Seiwell – drums on "Take Me to Tomorrow" and "Anthem-Revelation"...
Al Casamenti - Guitar Tony Mottola - Guitar Bucky Pizzarelli - Guitar RussSavakus - Bass Paul Griffin - Keyboards Dick Hyman - Keyboards George Devens...
John Denver – guitar, vocals, arranger Paul Griffin – keyboards RussSavakus – bass Teddy Sommer – drums David Spinozza – guitar Mike Taylor – guitar John...
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