Steve Harris (musician)
From Free net encyclopedia
Image:Iron Maiden Steve Harris.jpg
Stephen Percy Harris or 'Arry to his fans (born March 12, 1956 in Leytonstone, London, UK) is the bass player and primary songwriter of the heavy metal band Iron Maiden. He founded the band as a teen in 1975, and he and guitarist Dave Murray are the only members of the original band that still remain, thirty years on.
He used to work as an architectural draftsman in the East End of London but gave up his job upon forming Iron Maiden. During the mid 1970s he was a youth team footballer for West Ham United. He is an exceptional football player, and his bandmates say that if he did not play bass he would definitely have had a career in professional football.
A self-taught bass player, Harris' first bass was a copy of a Fender Precision Bass that cost him about £40 when he was 17 years old. He went on to use a late 1950s Fender Precision with RotoSound strings. He now uses his own signature RotoSound bass strings.
Steve Harris has been influenced by other bass players such as Chris Squire of Yes, Mike Rutherford of Genesis, Geddy Lee of Rush, Andy Fraser of Free and John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers, Martin Turner of Wishbone Ash, Geezer Butler of Black Sabbath, and John Entwistle of The Who. One of his all-time favourites also was Pete Way from UFO, who influenced Harris' playing style.
Harris' first band was named "Influence", later renamed to Gypsy's Kiss. He later joined Smiler, of which all the band members were several years older than he was. He ended up leaving, as the members of the band made it clear that they did not care for a bassist who leapt around the stage and wrote songs, and he went on to create Iron Maiden. Steve Harris got the name from seeing an iron maiden (the torture instrument) in the movie The Man in the Iron Mask.
Steve Harris is often considered among the best heavy metal bassists. He is renowned for his trademark "gallop", a pattern consisting of three rapid notes - one eighth and two sixteenths - which he plays with three fingers.
His oldest daughter, Lauren, is also a singer and due to release her debut album soon.
References
- Steve Harris biography at All American Speakers
Template:IronMaidende:Steve Harris es:Steve Harris fr:Steve Harris it:Steve Harris he:סטיב הריס lt:Steve Harris nl:Steve Harris ja:スティーヴ・ハリス no:Steve Harris pl:Steve Harris pt:Steve Harris sr:Стив Херис fi:Steve Harris sv:Steve Harris tr:Steve Harris