Last September we lost one of the most influential double bassists to come out of the UK. Danny Thompson might not be so well known to US audiences, but in Europe he was a colossus. Born in Teignmouth in Devon, England in 1939, he lost his father in a secret submarine operation in the early stages of the Second World War. Due to family difficulties, Danny was placed in an orphanage in Battersea, London, but displayed musical aptitude in his teens and was incredibly lucky at the age of sixteen to be offered a Jacquet-Gand bass for the bargain price of five pounds! He studied bass with Pete Blenning and very soon was in demand as a bassist on the London jazz and skiffle scene.
Following his national service, during which he played trombone, he returned to London and immediately replaced Jack Bruce as bassist in Alexis Korner’s Blues Incorporated, a position he held for five years. In this time he was a regular in the Ronnie Scott’s jazz club band. It was in the mid sixties that Danny started his career as a first call session musician, working with the likes of Donovan, Cliff Richard, The Beatles, and a jazz trio he led featuring John McLaughlin.
He was a founding member of the folk-rock group Pentangle, which had worldwide fame. His session work continued with classic albums by the likes of Nick Drake, John Martyn, Richard Thompson, and Tim Buckley. In all, Danny is credited with over six thousand commercial recordings in a career that spanned seventy years. He was working well into his eighties, both as a player and composer in the folk and jazz fields, appearing on albums by people as diverse as Eric Bibb, Kate Bush, Talk Talk, Blind Boys of Alabama, Everything But The Girl, Loreena McKennitt, and Peter Gabriel. Danny used his first bass “Victoria” for his entire career and latterly toured with a Czech-Ease travel bass.
A wonderful character and a unique player with immaculate tone, timing, and tuning, he has left us a huge legacy of premium recordings—a must for any aspiring bassist’s library.
Bernard O’Neill July 2026
Bernard met Danny Thompson in 1989 and became his dep for the following thirty years, often replacing Danny due to his ongoing ill health.
