Draft:John Klingberg (musician)

John Robert Klingberg (November 17, 1945 - January 22, 1985) was an American bassist noted for his innovative contributions to two Van Morrison albums: Moondance, and His Band and the Street Choir. His work is characterized by a unique style of walking bass, as heard in Into the Mystic and Moondance, and he has grown in esteem and recognition by bass players worldwide for his clean and creative bass lines, and the essential contribution his playing gave to Van Morrison's early success during his brief time with the band.

Early life and musical roots: 1945-1969
Klingberg was born in Chicago, Illinois to parents Arthur and Margaret (née Heggeman) Klingberg on 17 November, 1945, the youngest of seven children.

In 1963 Klingberg attended Berklee College of Music in Boston where he befriended Jack Schroer, with whom he played in various bands for many years (including with Van Morrison). From 1963 to 1965, Klingberg was playing trumpet in a band called Randy And The Soul Survivors. . Sometime in 1965 he switched to bass, playing with The Pink Panthers, and Third World Raspberry. Klingberg continued to play bass in these bands as part of the 'Bosstown Sound' of the 1960s, living on Tremont Street with the members of Third World Raspberry, later moving to Columbus Avenue with Schroer.

Association with Van Morrison: 1969-1970
In 1968, Van Morrison was a struggling musician in Boston, rehearsing with his band in a flat above where Klingberg and Schroer lived. In 1969, after releasing Astral Weeks to a poor reception, Morrison moved to Woodstock, New York, near Schroer's home town, hoping to meet Bob Dylan, and began writing songs for his next album, which was to become Moondance. Schroer and Klingberg also relocated to Woodstock, where Schroer was playing with the Colwell-Winfield Blues Band. While recording his next album in New York City's A&R Studios in August and September, Morrison fired the musicians his record label provided and put together an ensemble-style band from some members of Coldwell-Winfield, adding Klingberg on bass.

Engineer Shelly Yakus says of the band and the sessions: "Those guys were really good. If you listen to that record, they had a feel that was raw and finished at the same time, and that's very difficult to do. They weren't trying to do that, it's just what they naturally felt in real life, their natural sensibilities."

Moondance was released in January 1970, and quickly became a critical and commercial success, being awarded gold, platinum, and multi-platinum sales awards by the RIAA. It was followed by His Band and the Street Choir in November 1970, which was also well-received by critics and fans. For this album, Morrison carried over only three musicians from the Moondance sessions: Schroer, John Platania (guitar) and Klingberg.

From 1969 to 1970 Klingberg joined Morrison on tour, however Morrison was known to be 'testy' and difficult to work with, which caused several members of his band to continue to seek additional opportunities to play and record. Then in 1970, the documentary film Woodstock came out and the influx of hippies to this quiet mountain town changed the quaint feeling so much that Morrison decided accept an invitation from Schroer's friend Rob Robinson to move to San Anselmo in Marin County, California, accompanied by Schroer, Klingberg, and their wives. However, after a few months of inactivity, Klingberg decided to return to the east coast with his pregnant wife while Morrison began to work on his next album. In an interview with journalist Sean O'Hagan in 1990, Morrison said "When I went to the West Coast these people [the musicians he had been working with in Woodstock] weren't that available so I had to virtually put a completely new band together overnight to do Tupelo Honey. So it was a very tough period. I didn't want to change my band but if I wanted to get into the studio I had to ring up and get somebody."

Later life: 1971-1983
While Morrison was working on Tupelo Honey in California in 1971, Klingberg had relocated to Long Island, NY. In 1972, Klingberg played on Hypnotized, an album by Puerto Rican singer Martha Velez who was a singer on His Band and The Street Choir. This was his last recognized contribution to a recording as a professional musician.

After a few years in NY, Klingberg divorced, then returned to Woodstock where he met his long term girlfriend. From 1979 to 1982, they lived in the hamlet of West Shokan, in the Town of Olive, approximately ten miles south-west of Woodstock. In 1983, they decided to move west, but they were involved in a serious car accident in Oklahoma which destroyed his van and he suffered a sprained ankle. After recovering, and without a vehicle, they settled in Noble, Oklahoma at the Cedar Cliffs Estates, where he found work as a caretaker.

Death and Legacy
In 1985, Klingberg suffered a sudden heart attack, dying at the age of 39 at the Norman Regional Hospital in Norman, Oklahoma. He was cremated in Oklahoma. His obituary in the Woodstock Times noted his ashes would be scattered in Woodstock, "the only place he ever felt was home."

Despite his brief career, Klingberg is highly influential among bassists and well-regarded as a musician. Songs such as "Moondance" and "Into the Mystic" are instantly recognizable due to Klingberg's distinct walking bass lines, and "Domino" remains Morrison's highest charting single ever

In "The Jazz Bass book; Technique and Tradition" bassist, author, and instructor John Goldsby wrote: John Klingberg is one of those bassists you've heard countless times, yet you probably don't recognize his name. Klingberg lived in Woodstock, New York in the '60s and '70s and made several records with pop legend Van Morrison, including Moondance. Although he passed away in 1985 at age 39, his intro and bass line on this early folk-rock-meets-jazz anthem live on...The next time you play "Moondance" for those baby-booming, lizard-dancing party animals at the catering hall, give a wink and a nod to Klingberg for his contribution to the bass canon of classic intros.

His style of playing was noticed by other bands; Ronnie Lane of Faces commented that "My first introduction the album (Moondance) was not Van Morrison's voice - it was the bass. What made the listening experience so special was what this bass player [John Klingberg] was doing. Traditionally the bass on a record would always be in the background but John brought it into the foreground...Whenever I hear Moondance now, all I hear is the bass"

Instrument
Klingberg was proficient on both electric bass guitar and upright bass. His preferred electric bass was a customized Fender Precision neck mounted on a Fender Jazz body. He opted for the Jazz body because it had two pickups as opposed to the Fender Precision with only one, but as he was tall and with long fingers, he preferred the long neck of the Precision. He played without a pick, utilizing a personalized hand and arm position (as can be seen on this Van Morrison video) which gave him his distinctive sound.

Discography

 * 1970: Van Morrison - Moondance (Warner Bros.)
 * 1970: Van Morrison - His Band and the Street Choir (Warner Bros.)
 * 1972: Van Morrison - Moonlight Serenade (Bootleg CD) (Dies Irae Records)
 * 1972: Martha Veléz - Hypnotized (Polydor)
 * 1974: Van Morrison - It's Too Late to Stop Now (Warner Bros.)
 * 1991: Van Morrison - Into the Man (CD, Unofficial) (Wild Bird Records)
 * 1997: Van Morrison - Moondance/Astral Weeks (2xCD, Comp.) (Warner Bros.)
 * 1998: Van Morrison - The Philospher's Stone (Polydor)
 * 2013: Van Morrison - Moondance Expanded (Warner Bros.)
 * 2018: Van Morrison - The Alternative Moondance (Warner Bros.)