| Adam Clayton |
|
| Background information |
| Born |
13 March 1960 (1960-03-13) (age 47)
Oxfordshire,
England |
| Genre(s) |
Rock |
| Occupation(s) |
Musician |
| Instrument(s) |
Bass
guitar
Guitar
Synthesizer |
| Years active |
1976 - present |
| Label(s) |
Island
Interscope |
Associated
acts |
U2 (Bassist) |
| Website |
http://www.u2.com/ |
| Notable instrument(s) |
| Fender
Precision Bass |
Adam Charles Clayton (born 13 March 1960 in Chinnor, Oxfordshire,
England),
is best known as the bass player of the rock band U2. He retains his British
citizenship, but has resided in County Dublin from the time his family
moved there when he was five years of age, when his family moved to
Malahide. However, as with the other members of U2, he owns a house in
Southern France.
Often referred to by lead singer Bono as the "poshest" member of the band, Clayton is well
known for his bass playing on songs such as "New
Year's Day", "One", "With
or Without You", "Bullet the Blue Sky" "Until the End of
the World", "Vertigo," and "Sometimes
You Can't Make It on Your Own."
|
Contents
- 1 Biography
- 2 Style
- 3 Bass
guitars used
- 4 Music
- 5 Solo
projects
- 6 References
- 7 See
also
- 8 External
links
|
Biography
Adam was born the eldest child of Brian, an RAF
pilot, and Jo Clayton in Oxfordshire, England on 13 March 1960. At the age of
five, the family moved to Yellow Walls Road in Malahide near Dublin, where
sister Sindy and brother Sebastian were born.
Adam attended private boarding school at St. Columba's in Rathfarnham.
He later switched to Mount Temple
Comprehensive School, Ireland's first ecumenical school, where he met his U2 bandmates Paul "Bono" Hewson, Dave "The Edge"
Evans and Larry Mullen Jr. Mullen had posted
an advertisement for musicians. Adam ignored it at first, believing it
was a school-sponsored event. When he discovered that it wasn't, he
showed up at the first practice, which also included Dik Evans, Dave's
older brother. When Dik Evans left, the fledgling band that would
become U2 was created. They were known first as Feedback, then The
Hype. He also served as the band's first manager before Paul
McGuinness, a more experienced manager, was hired.
Adam's ambiguous religious beliefs caused a rift with his
three outspoken Christian bandmates which peaked between the time of
their second album, October
(1981) and their third album, War
(1983). Reportedly, Clayton was being treated as a bit of an outsider
until manager Paul McGuinness came to his aid. To smooth over the rift,
Adam was asked to be Bono's best man at his wedding.
In 1986, U2 recorded what is considered by many to be their
first masterpiece: 1987's The
Joshua Tree album, at Danesmoate House. Adam later bought
the home for approximately €380,000. It is hidden away behind Taylors Pub on Kellystown Road, Rathfarnham.
Adam's name made world headlines in August 1989 when he was
arrested in the car park of the Blue Light pub in Barnacullia, Dublin, and
charged with possession of a small amount of marijuana.
He avoided a conviction by making a sizable cash donation to charity.
Adam has battled alcohol abuse, culminating in him being too unwell to
play with the band in Sydney in 1993; the only performance missed
by a U2 member since the late-1970s. He no longer drinks.
In the early 90's Adam was involved in a relationship with
supermodel Naomi Campbell and at one
stage they were even engaged. The relationship, however, eventually
ended.
For many years, Adam appeared to be the confirmed bachelor of
the group while his three bandmates were married or involved in steady
relationships. But on 10 April 2006, the band's website, U2.com, announced
Adam's engagement to Suzanne "Susie" Smith, a record company executive
based in London and a former assistant to U2 manager Paul McGuinness.
The couple, who had dated for 10 years before making this commitment,
were planning to marry in the summer of 2007 but they split up in
February 2007.
Style
U2's sound is essentially built around The Edge's
effects-laden guitar work and Bono's poetic lyrics. Clayton's often
uncomplicated bass playing serves as a solid foundation for U2's songs.
Part of the reason that Clayton's basslines are so uncomplicated is due
to the fact that upon joining the band, he could scarcely play bass at
all. It was not until 1996 that he actually began taking professional
bass guitar lessons.
Even on songs where the basslines are busier and more up front
in the mix (as it is on "Gloria", "The Three Sunrises",
"One", and "Bullet the Blue Sky"), Adam
Clayton's playing is a study in tasteful restraint and how to play for
the song. Clayton switches between finger-style and pick-style with
ease, and occasionally throws in some funk-style slapping and popping.
In the 1980s and 1990s, Adam used various effects on his bass such as
chorus, flangers, distortion and phasers. Now he tends to prefer a
clean bass tone. In a recent interview with Bass Player
Magazine, he said "We used to have a rule—it’s
probably a good one—that only one instrument could have an effect on
[the song] at any time. It’s usually Edge".
Lead vocalist Bono describes Adam as the "jazz man" of the
band in an interview on 60 Minutes in
November 2005. Elaborating on the unpredictability of Adam's nature,
Bono says "(You) never know what he's going to say, but more
importantly, you never know what he's going to play". Bono proceeds to
cite the band's hit song, "Bullet the Blue Sky", as a song
with a weird sounding bassline, citing that Clayton is playing in a
different key from the rest of the band (while Bono states his source
as none other than The Edge himself, this is mistaken - as the record
clearly demonstrates, the vocal melody line, Clayton's bass riff are in
E flat minor while The Edge is playing D flat).
Clayton's stage style was a major, positive surprise during
the Vertigo
Tour. The bassist would walk along the catwalk during at least one song
per concert, generally "Where the Streets
Have No Name" (during the chorus of which he plays a lead bassline
reminiscent of the style of Peter Hook, whom Clayton has
said he admires, [1]), and his excursions away from
the stage would be warmly cheered by the crowd.
Clayton using a Lakland Bass
Bass guitars used
Adam has used a large range of basses, but the main models are:
- Fender Precision Bass
- Fender Jazz Bass
- Gibson Thunderbird Bass
- Gibson Les Paul Triumph Bass
- Gibson Les Paul 70's Recording Bass, unknown model
- Lakland Joe Osborne Signature Bass
- Lakland Darryl Jones Signature Bass
He has used Precision and Jazz Bass throughout his career. In
the beginning of his career, he used to play Ibanez basses. He also
endorses Ashdown amplifiers and uses blue Herdim picks, as does fellow
band member, The
Edge.
His P-Bass is also modified with a Fender Jazz bass neck, in a
interview with bass player magazine he said the J-Bass neck was more
"lady-like".
Music
In 1983 Adam made a rare singing appearance on "Endless Deep",
a b-side to U2's
"Two Hearts Beat As One" single.
Adam and Bono,
lead singer of U2, contributed to the 1984 African famine charity
single "Do They Know It's
Christmas?." Adam played bass.
On the 1995 album Original Soundtracks 1,
Adam can be heard speaking the last verse on the song "Your
Blue Room."
In 1996 Adam co-arranged, and spoke on, "Tomorrow ('96
Version)", a rerecording of a U2 song originally featured on the October
album.
Adam was winner of the Best Bassist award in the Orville H.
Gibson Guitar Award in both 2001 and 2002.
Though he is the bass player for one of the biggest bands in
the world, Clayton did not have any formal music training until 1996.
For the song "40," when played
live, Adam and The Edge traded instruments, with Adam playing guitar
and The Edge playing the bass.
When "City of Blinding Lights" is
performed live, Adam plays the keyboard intro.
Solo projects
Adam played bass on Robbie Robertson's 1987 self-titled
album. Adam has also performed live with Maria
McKee.
Adam Clayton played bass on "Still Water" and "Jolie Louise"
on Daniel
Lanois 1989 album Acadie.
In 1994 Adam contributed to Nanci
Griffiths 1994 album "Flyer"
on the following songs - "These Days in an Open Book", "Don't Forget
About Me", "On Grafton Street" and "This Heart". Larry
Mullen Jr also contributed to these songs.
Adam and Larry Mullen Jr recorded the Mission:
Impossible soundtrack, including the theme song (which was changed from
Lalo Schifrin's 5/4 time signature to the simpler 4/4 time signature,
much to the chagrin of fans of the original), for the 1996 film remake
of the television series Mission: Impossible. In 1997 The
"Theme From Mission: Impossible" was nominated for a Grammy Award in
the Best Pop Instrumental Performance category. The song also became a
popular hit, reaching the #8 on the Billboard chart in the US.
References
- Flanagan, Bill (1995) U2 At The End of The World.
Delta ISBN
0-385-31157-5
-
U2 Limited (2006). U2 by U2. London:
HarperCollinsPublishers, 13. ISBN
0-00-719668-7.
-
U2’s Adam splits up with fiancee
Susie ; U2France
See also
- List of people
on stamps of Ireland
- List of bass guitarists
External links
| v • d • e U2
|
| Band
members: Bono
• The Edge
• Adam Clayton •
Larry
Mullen Jr.
Other
personnel: Paul
McGuinness • Dik Evans • Brian
Eno • Daniel
Lanois • Steve
Lillywhite • Jimmy
Iovine • Flood
• Howie
B
Discography
Studio
albums: Boy
• October
• War
• The Unforgettable Fire
• The
Joshua Tree • Rattle
and Hum • Achtung
Baby • Zooropa
• Pop
• All That You Can't
Leave Behind • How to Dismantle an
Atomic Bomb
Compilations
and EPs: Three
• Wide
Awake in America • Please: Popheart Live EP
• The
Best of 1980–1990 • 7
• The
Best of 1990–2000 • Exclusive
• The
Complete U2 • Live from Under
the Brooklyn Bridge • U218
Singles
Live
albums and other projects: Under
a Blood Red Sky • Rattle
and Hum • Melon: Remixes for
Propaganda • Original Soundtracks 1
• Hasta
la Vista Baby! • The
Million Dollar Hotel Soundtrack • Live from the Point Depot
• U2.COMmunication
• Zoo TV
Live
Video
and theatrical releases: Under a Blood Red Sky: Live at
Red Rocks • Rattle
and Hum • Zoo TV: Live from Sydney
• Popmart: Live from
Mexico City • Elevation: Live from
Boston • U2 Go Home: Live
from Slane Castle • Vertigo: Live from Chicago
• Vertigo: Live from Milan
• U218
Videos • U2 3D
Tours
War Tour •
Unforgettable Fire Tour •
A Conspiracy of Hope Tour •
Joshua
Tree Tour • Lovetown
Tour • Zoo TV
Tour • Popmart
Tour • Elevation
Tour • Vertigo
Tour
|
