David Hood, bassist with Muscle Shoals studio band The Swampers, is legendary for his tasty playing on ‘60s and ‘70s tracks rooted in R&B. Etta James’ sassy “Tell Mama.” Staple Singers’ sanctified “I’ll Take Your There.” Paul Simon’s quirky hit “Kodachrome.” Bob Seger rock ballad “Mainstreet.” Aretha Franklin’s stirring “Call Me.” James Brown’s disco detour “It’s Too Funky In Here.” There are scads of others.
What’s much less known is decades later alternative-rock icons called on Hood’s soulful skills. Along with Swampers drummer Roger Hawkins, he played on Glasgow band Primal Scream 1994 album “Give Out but Don’t Give Up.” Primal Scream had broken through with 1991 album “Screamadelica,” boasting hip-shaking single “Movin’ On Up.”
In 2018, Hood’s son Patterson Hood, singer/guitarist with Drive-By Truckers, told me, “That album [‘Give Out but Don’t Give Up’], when it was done, it was a big deal. I was already a fan of Primal Scream, so I was really excited when Dad went to Memphis to go make that record. And then it ended up kind of this disastrous thing.”
In 2018, Primal Scream released another version of “Give Out but Don’t Give Up,” which spawned nightcrawler single “Rocks,” culled from the album’s original Memphis sessions, helmed by Allman Brothers/Derek and the Dominos producer Tom Dowd.
Hood’s talent shines on this version, a more organic soul-rock sound than the druggy, scattershot 1994 release, which was rerecorded in Los Angeles, with Black Crowes producer George Drakoulias and Funkadelic legend George Clinton.
In an interview with Record Collector magazine, Primal Scream frontman Bobby Gillespie said, ““When I heard them [the original Memphis sessions] again, I knew immediately they had to be released. They were clearly superior to what came out before.” He added, “We made a cool record but lost sight of it.”
Hood was bassist on “Honeycomb,” the 2005 solo album by Pixies singer/guitarist Black Francis aka Frank Black. He’s also on Frank Black 2011 collabo album with Reid Paley, “Paley & Francis,” too. Shoals keyboard ace Spooner Oldham played on those Frank Black records, too.
In a 2022 interview with bass guitar website No Treble, Hood likened Black’s quirky yet solid songwriting to Paul Simon’s. “The weirdness is something that’s natural for him to do,” Hood said. “He made the music work with the lyrics.”
In 2015, Hood was all over U.K. band The Waterboys’ album “Modern Blues.” He also appeared in the music video for the band’s song “November Tale.”
Hood went on more than a hundred live shows with The Waterboys, on a tour that spanned from North America to Europe to Australia to Japan.
Hood’s career has focused heavily on studio work. Along with Hawkins, he previously toured with English jam-band Traffic in the ‘70s. In the ‘90s, Hood went on the road with bluesman Little Milton.
In our 2016 interview Hood said, “I did have some fun (on The Waterboys tour).” That said, “Those long airplane flights and long waits in the airport are bad. But session playing, I love. I’d like to do that as long as I’m alive.”
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