DONALD “DUCK” DUNN RECIEVES 2007 LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT GRAMMY AWARD
Lakland Signature Artist Honored For Work With Booker T. & The MG’s

Lakland Duck Dunn Signature Model
Duck Dunn gallery of images

As a member of Rock'n'Roll Hall Of Famers Booker T. & The MGs, Donald "Duck" Dunn was house bass player at the legendary Soul/R'n'B label, Stax, where his meaty playing helped define one of the most distinctive and enduring sounds in popular music.  Along with his Rock’n’Roll Hall of Fame designation, Dunn also received Lifetime Achievement Award in 1995 at the Rhythm & Blues Pioneer Awards. And now he’s about to receive yet another well-deserved (and we think long overdue) honor, a Lifetime Achievement Grammy Award for his work with seminal instrumental group Booker T. & The MGs.

The Grammy Lifetime Achievement Awards honor lifelong artistic contributions to the recording medium and are decided on by vote of The Recording Academy's National Board of Trustees. The awards will be presented during the 49th Annual GRAMMY Awards weekend and the 2007 GRAMMYs will be broadcast live from Los Angeles on Sunday, Feb. 11, 2007, at 8 p.m. ET/PT on CBS.

According to Dunn, his greatest pleasure as a musician came from the music he created with the MGs. Dunn joined the MGs when bassist Lewis Steinberg left the band after having scored a million seller with the instrumental Green Onions in 1962. The MGs continued to hit the charts well into the '70s. Among the group’s biggest successes were “Hang 'Em High” and “Time Is Tight,” both from movie soundtracks. Also among their successes was “Soul Limbo,” a Caribbean-styled number later to become very familiar as the cowbell-intro'd theme tune of the BBC's test cricket coverage.

Dunn got his start with Booker T. when he became a full-time session musician at the Stax studio in 19xx.  He then became part of Booker T.’s MGs, which in turn became the house band at Stax. Though Booker T. and The MG’s parted ways in 1972, 1977 brought the first of many reunions and two additional recordings over the next 20 years.

Dunn first became acquainted with Lakland basses in 1999 through Lakland artist and first-call session bassist Bob Glaub.  At that time he was making do with an old P-bass he’d fitted with a jazz neck. He recalls it was soon after that he and Dan Lakin began to work together to create a new model of Lakland bass.  Dunn notes having a bass that caters to the way he plays has made all the difference. He says, “The neck is fast and smooth and the bass is a real hummer. It sounds great – and the quality and craftsmanship is impeccable.”

Lakland introduced a Skyline version of its “Duck Dunn” Signature bass in October 2006. This bass, which has a precision style body and an ultra slim jazz style neck, has become an “instant classic.” And Lakland president Dan Lakin reports that the first two shipments of the Skyline versions have completely sold out.

The bass comes with classic features; necks have binding and genuine pearl block inlay and fingerboards are made from Rosewood; bodies are made from Swamp Ash and are painted Candy Apple red. Standard pickups include Lindy Fralin split coil humbuckers, but the bass also can be ordered with Dark Star pickups.

For more information, or to purchase a Duck Dunn Signature bass, call Dan Lakin at 773-871-9637, email dlakin@lakincorp.com or go to the Dealer page to locate your nearest Lakland dealer.