Leland Sklar


Leland Bruce Sklar is an American electric bass guitarist and session musician. He is a member of the Los Angeles-based instrumental group The Section, who served as the de facto house band of Asylum Records and were one of the progenitors of the soft rock sound prevalent on top-40 radio in the 1970s and 1980s. Besides appearing as the backing band on numerous recordings by artists such as Jackson Browne, Carole King, Phil Collins, and James Taylor, the Section also released three solo albums of instrumental rock. Both in The Section and separately, Sklar has contributed to over 2,000 albums as a session musician. He also has toured with James Taylor, Toto, Phil Collins and other major rock and pop acts, and recorded many soundtracks to films and television shows.

Early life and career

Sklar studied at California State University, Northridge. It was during that time he met James Taylor, who invited him to play bass at some venues. They both thought that the work would be short-term, but soon Taylor's career took off with his first hit records, and Sklar came into the limelight and was asked to record with other artists. In the late ‘60s he was briefly the bass player of the band Wolfgang, which featured Ricky Lancelotti as their vocalist. However, their only recordings were unreleased demo tracks. In the 1970s, Sklar worked so frequently with drummer Russ Kunkel, guitarist Danny Kortchmar, and keyboardist Craig Doerge that they eventually became known as "The Section" and recorded three albums under that name between 1972 and 1977.

Equipment

Sklar's favorite instrument is a bass guitar assembled from parts of various basses, consisting of a Fender Precision Bass body, Precision Bass neck which has been shaved down to the proportions of a Fender Jazz Bass and fitted with mandolin wire frets and two sets of Precision Bass pickups. It has been used on 90% of his recordings and he refers to it as the "Frankenstein bass".
In 2004, Sklar began playing a signature model five-string bass made by Dingwall Guitars. This was his main bass on tour and was also used in various recordings. The bass uses fanned frets, which result in longer low strings and shorter high strings.
In 2010, Sklar began playing the Warwick Star Bass II, which has since become his main bass in the studio.
In 2013, after years of having been a Warwick Star Bass II user, he became an endorser of that instrument.
At Winter NAMM 2016, Warwick announced their Lee Sklar signature bass, based on the Star Bass but with an offset body shape and a forearm contour.
Previously, Sklar also had signature instruments from Gibson and Valley Arts Guitar.

Selected discography

Selected albums



  • McCluskey — A Long Time Coming
  • Maureen McCormick — When You Get a Little Lonely
  • Reba McEntire:
  • * The Last One to Know
  • * Sweet Sixteen
  • * For My Broken Heart
  • * Read My Mind
  • * Starting Over
  • * Greatest Collection
  • Pat McGee - Pat McGee
  • Roger McGuinn:
  • * Roger McGuinn
  • * Peace on You
  • * Born to Rock & Roll
  • Barry McGuire — Lighten Up
  • Bette Midler — Broken Blossom
  • Giorgio Moroder — Cat People
  • Miyuki Nakajima:
  • * Hi: Wings
  • * Tsuki: Wings
  • * Short Stories
  • * Lullaby for the Soul
  • *
  • Graham Nash — Innocent Eyes
  • Dan Navarro — Shed My Skin
  • Aaron Neville:
  • *Aaron Neville's Soulful Christmas
  • * To Make Me Who I Am
  • Randy Newman:
  • * Land of Dreams
  • * Randy Newman's Faust
  • Joanna Newsom — Ys
  • Olivia Newton-John — Making a Good Thing Better
  • The Oak Ridge Boys:
  • * Heart Beat
  • * Monongahela
  • Mike Oldfield:
  • * Man On The Rocks
  • Nigel Olsson — Nigel Olsson
  • Judith Owen — Ebb & Flow
  • Jamie Owens — Growing Pains
  • Twila Paris — Perennial: Songs for the Seasons of Life
  • Van Dyke Parks:
  • * Moonlighting: Live at the Ash Grove
  • * Songs Cycled
  • Dolly Parton:
  • * 9 to 5 and Odd Jobs
  • * Dolly, Dolly, Dolly
  • * Heartbreak Express
  • * Rainbow
  • Laura Pausini
  • *Entre Tu y Mil Mares / Tra Te e il Mare
  • * From The Inside
  • Herb Pedersen:
  • * Southwest
  • * Sandman
  • * Lonesome Feeling
  • Bernadette Peters:
  • * Bernadette Peters
  • * Bernadette
  • Shawn Phillips:
  • * Faces
  • * Bright White
  • * Spaced
  • * Transcendence
  • * No Category
  • Poco — Legacy —
  • Point of Grace:
  • * Steady On
  • * Christmas Story
  • Steve Poltz — One Left Shoe
  • Bonnie Raitt — Nine Lives
  • Willis Alan Ramsey — Willis Alan Ramsey
  • Helen Reddy — Helen Reddy
  • Cliff Richard — Heathcliff —
  • Turley Richards — Expressions
  • LeAnn Rimes:
  • * Twisted Angel
  • * What a Wonderful World
  • Lee Ritenour — Banded Together
  • Johnny Rivers — Last Train to Memphis
  • Linda Ronstadt:
  • * Don't Cry Now
  • * Cry Like a Rainstorm, Howl Like the Wind
  • * Winter Light
  • * Feels Like Home
  • * We Ran
  • * Mi Jardín Azul: Las Canciones Favoritas
  • Diana Ross:
  • * To Love Again
  • * The Force Behind the Power
  • Vasco Rossi — Buoni o Cattivi
  • Jennifer Rush — Heart Over Mind
  • Marta Sánchez:
  • * Desconocida
  • * Soy Yo
  • David Sanborn — Love Songs
  • Véronique Sanson:
  • * Zenith 93
  • * Comme ils l'imaginent
  • * Indestructible
  • * D'un papillon à une étoile
  • * Longue Distance
  • Leo Sayer — Leo Sayer
  • Joey Scarbury — America's Greatest Hero
  • Darrell Scott — Family Tree
  • 2nd Chapter of Acts:
  • * The Roar of Love
  • * Singer Sower
  • The Section:
  • * Section
  • * Forward Motion
  • * Fork It Over
  • Neil Sedaka:
  • * Hungry Years
  • * Sedaka's Back
  • * Steppin' Out
  • * In the Pocket
  • Vonda Shepard — Heart and Soul: New Songs From Ally McBeal
  • Carly Simon — Playing Possum
  • Ricky Skaggs:
  • * Love's Gonna Get Ya
  • * My Father's Son
  • Michael W. Smith:
  • * Michael W. Smith 2
  • * I'll Lead You Home
  • * Christmastime
  • * Christmas Collection
  • The Spencer Davis Group — Mousetrap
  • Jimmie Spheeris — The Original Tap Dancing Kid
  • Rick Springfield — Mission Magic
  • John Stewart — The Lonesome Picker Rides Again
  • Rod Stewart:
  • * Atlantic Crossing
  • * A Night on the Town
  • Stephen Stills:
  • * Stills
  • * Turnin' Back the Pages
  • George Strait:
  • * Ocean Front Property
  • * Strait Out of the Box
  • Barbra Streisand — Love Like Ours
  • Daryl Stuermer — Live & Learn
  • Donna Summer — The Wanderer
  • Talbot Bros. — Talbot Bros.
  • James Taylor:
  • * Mud Slide Slim and the Blue Horizon
  • * One Man Dog—
  • * Gorilla—
  • * Greatest Hits—
  • * In the Pocket—
  • * JT—
  • * Flag—
  • * Dad Loves His Work—
  • * That's Why I'm Here—
  • * Never Die Young—
  • * Live in Rio—
  • * The Best of James Taylor—
  • * Live at the Troubadour—2010
  • Kate Taylor — Sister Kate
  • Livingston Taylor — There You Are Again
  • Billy Thorpe:
  • * Children Of The Sun
  • * 21st Century Man
  • Terence Trent d'Arby — Terence Trent d'Arby's Symphony or Damn
  • Toto
  • * Falling in Between Live
  • * Toto XIV
  • Tanya Tucker — Should I Do It
  • Michelle Tumes — Dream
  • Anna Vissi — Everything I Am
  • Clay Walker:
  • * Clay Walker
  • * Live, Laugh, Love —
  • * Few Questions —
  • Jennifer Warnes — Well
  • Dionne Warwick — Hot! Live and Otherwise
  • The Weather Girls — Success
  • Jimmy Webb:
  • * Angel Heart
  • * Suspending Disbelief
  • Bernie Williams — The Journey Within
  • Paul Williams — Back to Love Again
  • Robbie Williams — Escapology
  • Wilson Phillips — Shadows and Light
  • Lee Ann Womack — Something Worth Leaving Behind
  • Trisha Yearwood — Everybody Knows
  • Takuro Yoshida — Long Time No See
  • Jesse Colin Young — Walk the Talk
  • Warren Zevon:
  • * Excitable Boy —
  • * Bad Luck Streak in Dancing School —
  • * The Envoy —
  • * Sentimental Hygiene —
  • * I'll Sleep When I'm Dead —

Selected film and television soundtracks


  • Annabelle's Wish —
  • Black Dog —
  • Cat People
  • Catwalk —
  • Conspiracy Theory —
  • Coyote Ugly —
  • Doctor Detroit
  • Dr. T & the Women —
  • For Love of the Game —

  • Legally Blonde —
  • Message in a Bottle —
  • Metropolis —
  • Phantom of the Paradise —
  • The Postman —
  • The Prince of Egypt —
  • Sleepwalkers —
  • Love Maximum —

Selected film appearances