All Stories (RSS)
Guy Pratt - Artist Profile
GUY PRATT in ‘MY BASS & OTHER ANIMALS’Direct from a hugely successful run at the Edinburgh fringe 2005.
Join legendary Bassist Guy Pratt on a hilarious journey from teenage bedroom to stadium, armed only with his Bass Guitar. Having played bass professionally for over 20 years MY BASS & OTHER ANIMALS tells the story of his fascinating career as a bass player, a career that involved working with some of the world’s top performers as well as playing groundbreaking shows in Venice and Moscow. The show gives an intriguing insight into the music industry and behind the scenes of touring.
After his first big break as a bassist in 1982 when he was asked to join Australian band Icehouse Guy went on to work with the likes of Pink Floyd, Madonna, Bryan Ferry, Robert Palmer, Michael Jackson and was even in The Smiths for a week. He then went on to work with the likes of Sophie Ellis Bextor, The Orb, Jimmy Page, Iggy Pop, Tom Jones, Echo & the Bunnymen, Lemon Jelly, Nathalie Imbruglia, All Saints, Bond, and Elton John.
"Bass players are ten a penny but a good wit is hard to find, so we hired him."
David Gilmour
Guy Pratt Biography
Guy Pratt was born in London in 1962, the son of Songwriter/Actor Mike Pratt, who was probably best known for known for writing Tommy Steele’s children’s classic “The Little White Bull” and playing Jeff Randall in Randall & Hopkirk (Deceased).
After a brief stint as a graphic designer Guy decided to pursue a career in music which took off when he was asked to join the then massive in Australia Icehouse for a world tour at the tender age of 19. (Which included supporting David Bowie on his legendary “Serious Moonlight“ Tour of 1983.)
This led to him being spotted and used by the likes of Robert Palmer, Bryan Ferry, Womack & Womack, and even The Smiths amongst others before being thrust into the global premier league of bassists when David Gilmour asked him to play for Pink Floyd.
After 13 months on the road he decamped to LA where he found himself in demand by the likes of Madonna, Michael Jackson and Robbie Robertson before heading off to play groundbreaking shows in Venice and Moscow with Floyd.
Back in London Guy has played on countless hit records for the likes of Tom Jones, Sophie Ellis Bextor, Iggy Pop, The Pretenders, Ronan Keating, Electronic, Echo & the Bunnymen, Lemon Jelly, The Orb, Nathalie Imbruglia, All Saints, Bond, and Elton John. As well as touring with Coverdale Page, The Power Station and Gary Moore.
He has also tried his hand at writing and producing, notching up hits with artists including Robert Palmer, The Orb, Fat Les, Jimmy Nail, Marianne Faithful and Debbie Harry. He has won a Grammy and been nominated for 2 Ivor Novello Awards.
Aside from his Bass playing Guy has spent the last few years in the comparatively quiet world of TV Music composing, writing and producing the scores for Channel 4's ‘Spaced’ (Series 1&2), ‘Now You See Her (film for Sky TV), 'The Young Person's Guide to becoming a Rock Star', ‘Randall & Hopkirk (deceased)’, and the BBC series 'Linda Green' (1 &2,both of which he recorded in Havana), also Dawn French’s “Wild West” and ' Jimmy Nail’s Crocodile Shoes 2'. Not to mention Theme Music for ‘the Pepsi Chart show ‘and various commercials.
Documentaries include ‘Riddle of the skies (three part series)’, ‘The Roswell Incident’, ‘Terror in Texas’, ‘Gloria’s toxic death’, ‘The Underboss’, ‘Tracing Che’ ‘Greatest Heroes’ and ‘The oldest Mummies on earth’.
For theatre he co-wrote the score for 'The Bedbug' by Mayakovsky with Gary Kemp, 'The Remarkable Piety of the Infamous' performed at The Baron's Court Theatre and 'Lena' by Carla Lane performed at the Valley Theatre, Liverpool and The Pleasance, Edinburgh. He was also Musical Director of "I just called by to see the man" directed by Richard Wilson at the Royal Court.
Written: 5th May, 06
Read: 2692 times
