Adam Clayton
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Adam Clayton |
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| Adam Clayton | ||
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| Background information | ||
| Born | 13 March 1960 Oxfordshire, England |
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| Genre(s) | Rock | |
| Occupation(s) | Musician | |
| Instrument(s) | Bass
guitar Guitar Synthesizer |
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| Years active | 1976 - present | |
| Label(s) | Island Interscope |
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| 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 5 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 "
Contents
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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
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 3rd 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
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 3 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.
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 "
Adam has used a large range of basses, but the main models are:
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".
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 "
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
When "
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
| U2 |
|---|
| Band
members: Bono
• The Edge
• Adam Clayton •
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
• Compilations
and EPs: Three
• Live
albums and other projects: Video
and theatrical releases: War Tour •
Unforgettable Fire Tour •
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