Sunday Diva/Three From The Hip: Suzi Quatro

Sunday Diva/Three From The Hip: 

Suzi Quatro

In my own personal big gay church there are many wings. One is dedicated to The Rockbirds - so named after a turn of phrase coined by Deborah Harry, one of the divas who resides there. These ladies raged against a very specific machine: the misogynistic heart of the corporate music business. They endured countless interviews asking them how they felt being a woman in the world of rock n' roll - the assumption being that it was exclusively a man's world. Are they the women of rock? Hell, no... they just rock! And they did it all with a singular style and unique voice.

One such Rockbird?

Suzi Quatro.

Detroit born. Big in the UK. Revered around the world.

Glam rock never had a finer ambassador.

From day one, she's been single-minded. Play it loud and proud. 

She grabbed a bass guitar and knew who she was in an instant. 

A leather jumpsuit never rocked harder. 

It took her nine years to become famous. It took her just three songs to become unforgettable. 

A lifetime spent touring non-stop... because she loved it. Loved being on stage. Loved rockin' the world. It was her joy. She shared that love and her spirit remains infectious.

Without a doubt, this diva has more than earned her place in the Rock n' Roll Hall of Fame.  

The gospel according to her?

Here's three from the hip, dropping from her lips.

The topic? The Bass Guitar

"I got my first real bass guitar in my hands when I was 14 - a 1957 Fender Precision, which is still hanging on the wall in my front room. I loved the heaviness of it and the feel of the wood. I still do."

"I joined an all-girl band in Detroit and, although I was a pianist and drummer, I was asked to play bass because no one else wanted to. When I strapped it on, it fit me as good as my leathers. At the first gig we played, I looked out at the audience and thought, 'This is what I'm going to be doing for the rest of my life.'"

"Music has always been in my family, but it was mainly keyboards. I learned to play classical piano, but when I first heard the amazing bass guitar of James Jamerson, who played on all the big Motown hits of the '60s and '70s, I knew bass guitar was my instrument."

"The bass player's function, along with the drums, is to be the engine that drives the car... everything else is merely colours."

"Guitar is for the head, drums are for the chest, but bass gets you in the groin."

"The golden rule for playing the bass is that's it all about feel, not just plonking away. You need to feel the sound, not using a pick or a plectrum - which has meant plenty of calluses on my fingers."

"A bass should sound like a bass with the thump of the finger against the wood, like it began with stand up."
 
"The bass should be the note of the bass drum, and then you've got the engine of the band that everything else builds on. Everything else, the guitar, the keyboards, is a colour."

 

"As Mick Jagger will tell you, performing is an aerobic work-out. I've got the bass guitar, which is the heaviest of all the instruments, and I'm a little girl, in boiling-hot leather under the lights. You have to keep the fitness level up if you want to look good up there."

Can The Can - Suzi Quatro

Stumblin' In - Suzi Quatro & Chris Norman

Strict Machine - Suzi Quatro 

And on last parting shot...

 "Age isn't a barrier to playing the bass, and I've definitely improved over the years, although maybe I'm not as flash as I once was. But looking back, I can't imagine a life without a guitar."