Quote:
Rob Ritter's my favorite bassist. That's a bold statement considering all the greats we rightfully laud-James Jamerson, Donald Dunn, Mike Watt, Chris Hillman (post-Fifth Dimension), John Entwistle, Paul McCartney, etc.-, all of whom I've listened to endlessly and appreciate. However, Rob is my favorite and has affected me and my playing more than all the fore mentioned bassists combined (some of whom-Jamerson and Dunn in particular-influenced Rob).
I've spent countless hours figuring out Rob's bass lines with varying success. From time to time, when stuck with bassist's block, I often dip into my Rob Ritter reserves for help-he's the only bassist I plagiarize on a constant basis. What's made Rob so tactile even in death is his style: Rob's playing was a unique mixture of country bass' backseat role and soul's deep groove. What's become the hallmark style of roots-punk bass playing was done first and best by Ritter.

Rob Ritter was born in Detroit in 1955. He took up playing guitar in his teens and stayed in the Detroit area throughout his high school years. In the mid/late '70s Rob made the move to San Francisco to check out its music scene. There he came across a flyer put up by Jimmy Giorsetti (Giorsetti would later change his name to Don Bolles and join The Germs in '77) who was looking to form a band. The two started jamming: Rob with his guitar, Bolles with his clarinet. They managed to play one show while waiting in vain for other musicians to join their clearly noncommercial, avant-garde noise fest band. With reserves running low and no other musicians cutting the mustard, Bolles moved back to Arizona and Rob to Detroit. Thankfully the two remained in touch: punk was just around the bend.

Although from Detroit, Rob has always been identified as a "Cactus Head," a term used to identify a group of Arizona transplants who joined the Los Angeles punk scene in late '77. (Other Cactus Heads include the members of the Consumers, Paul Cutler and Don Bolles; there are many others whose names I've never known or are currently escaping me). The Cactus Heads were nuts; the Controllers were the living embodiment of The Cactus Heads' lifestyle, consuming copious amounts of drugs and raising hell both on and off the stage. Although shy and reserved, Rob was a fairly heavy drug user, fitting right in with his fellow Cactus Heads (Before moving to Los Angeles with the rest of the Cactus Heads, Rob lived in Arizona for a spell, often playing with Bolles in various bands).

Once in Hollywood, Ritter joined up with The Bags as their lead guitarist. Rob played on The Bags' Disco's Dead 7-inch and appeared in The Decline of Western Civilization documentary with the renamed Alice Bag Band. Ritter formed something of a friendship with Bags drummer Terry Graham (also seen in Decline and heard on the Disco's Dead 7-inch) and would go on to play with him for the next couple years. At one of The Bags' last shows at the Hong Kong Café, Rob Ritter and Terry Graham approached Jeffrey Lee Pierce, figurehead of supporting act the Gun Club, about playing in his imploding band (the original rhythm section of Don Snowden and Brad Dunning announced they were quitting). To Jeffrey Pierce, the question of having two locally famous ex-Bags in his group was something of a no-brainer, considering the Gun Club was practically unknown. However, the Gun Club needed a bassist, not a guitarist, so Rob made the transition to the four-string (From this point on-approximately 1980, Rob would be primarily recognized as a bassist).The very little recognition Rob receives today is primarily (and understandably) due to his nearly three year tenure with the Gun Club (approximately early '80 to mid/late '82).

When Rob joined the Gun Club, he found himself playing with a very skilled drummer (Terry Graham), a struggling, new guitarist (Kid Congo Powers) and an insecure musical visionary (Jeffrey Lee Pierce). By the first practice, it was clear Rob was the best musician in the band, with only Terry Graham in the same league. However, Terry and Rob didn't have strong songwriting skills, something 21-year-old Jeffrey Lee Pierce had in abundance. Kid soon left the band to join The Cramps; Ward Datson became the new Gun Club guitarist. "When I joined the Gun Club, I went, 'Fuck, man, you guys [Rob Ritter and Terry Graham] are great! That is a kick ass rhythm section,'" recalls Ward Dotson. "I'm playing along to Buddy Holly records in my living room one day, and the next day I'm in a shitty rehearsal room in Hollywood with a loud ass rhythm section. These guys had been playing together for three or four years at this point. Being the bass player, you have to lock with the drummer…you have to know each other. And after being in the band for a very short while at the end of a rehearsal, I went to Terry and said, 'You're better than X,' because I don't think John and DJ locked the way Rob and Terry did. They were sexier, they had their shit together and they wrote great songs, but they didn't lock like Rob and Terry did."

Within nine months of Ward joining, the Gun Club recorded Fire of Love with producer Chris D. Constant shows jelled the band by this point, particularly the rock solid rhythm section of Graham and Ritter. Fire of Love's a showcasing of Pierce's nearly unparalleled songwriting, Graham's formidable drum beats and Dotson's influential drone-meets-blues guitar. Unfortunately, the musical crux of Fire of Love was missing: Rob's bass. "I don't know what happened to the bass on Fire of Love," laments Graham. "I don't know why on the first two records that the bass wasn't emphasized in the mix. It's a shame because Rob was so incredibly good. This guy could take anything, hear it once, and not just play it again, but play variations of it and it worked perfectly. It would be exactly what the music needed. It has always pissed me off that it just isn't there. And if it's not there, then it's never there. It's not like you can take the master and play with it, because it's just not there. I don't know why. It wasn't anyone's fault -they weren't trying to do it. A band like Gun Club too, the bass should be a serious presence, particularly with Rob." One of the great musical tragedies of the Gun Club is the omission of Rob Ritter's bass work. The band's sophomore album Miami (Ritter's last with the Gun Club) also fails to properly capture Rob's formidable playing (although his playing is thankfully more audible on his last Gun Club go around).

By the time of Miami's release, Rob was out of the Gun Club. He had grown tired of the notoriously difficult Jeffrey Lee Pierce and the constant touring. Rob was also a deeply depressed individual which may have intensified his decision to leave the band. Rob would go onto play bass with 45 Grave for many years (Cactus Head friends Don Bolles and gifted guitarist Paul Cutler were also key members). 45 Grave was an LA favorite, if not anywhere else. The band managed to sign to Enigma Records (along with Tex and the Horseheads) and had a song ("Party Time") on The Return of the Living soundtrack (I always think of Rob when the skull pops up, breaking into "Party Time"). Rob also played with Thelonious Monster, Silver Chalice, and The Loafin' Hyenas. Rob rejoined 45 Grave (the band had gone on a hiatus) but unfortunately the reunion was short lived: Rob died in 1991 of a heroin overdose while tour managing friend Don Bolles' band Celebrity Skin. Tragically, Rob's overdose occurred at time when he was trying to rid himself of his habit. Looking back, Rob wasn't just a guy who played bass-he defined it. Rob helped set the blues-punk template for bass, and left his indelible stamp on every record his Fender Precision graced. More importantly he was, from all accounts, a real sweetheart of a guy.

While doing research for a Gun Club article, I interviewed numerous people who played with Rob. Every response was the same: Rob wasn't just a good bass player; he was-without fail-the best bassist Ward Dotson, Terry Graham, Hermann Senac and Don Bolles ever played with. The proof's in the pudding; just listen to the records. I've often wondered what could've happened had the Gun Club hit in '81 (I've always felt Pierce's '80-'85 songs worked best with Ritter's bass, Terry's drums and Dotson's guitar); had Rob's bass been more of a presence on the Gun Club's records as it was in live shows and the band's Keat's Rides a Harley tracks; had Rob been alive today to receive some kind of boost from all the recent interest in the Gun Club and blues-punk. Obviously these are just hypothetical questions with no real answers. And so it goes: Rob's still a criminally overlooked bassist; a key member in Los Angeles' last great lost band. It's a truly romantic place to be, and judging Rob's affinity for goth and romanticism, somewhat poetic. Nevertheless, Ritter's time has come: we gotta break this guy (a posthumous cover of Bass Player magazine perhaps? Okay, I'm probably shooting too high for right now). Listen to any record he played on and you'll know what I'm talking about. --RYAN LEACH