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Norman Bates Biography
Norman Bates, often credited as the chummier Norm Bates, was one of four musically talented brothers from an Idaho family, but the only one whose name developed into a liability sometime after the release of the Alfred Hitchcock film classic Psycho. It is a good thing the famous and frightening murder scene in this film takes place in a shower and not on the bandstand, or this Norman Bates might have never gotten another gig. As it is, he seems to have had plenty and was particularly associated with mainstream jazz stylists such as pianist Dave Brubeck, alto saxophonist Paul Desmond, and trumpeter Chet Baker. In the case of Brubeck this was also something of a family affair, as brother Bob Bates also had the gig of Brubeck bassist for a period. James Bates also gigged as a bassist, but not with Brubeck.
Their mother, Emily Bates, was a professional pianist and organist who began music lessons for the boys before they were able to chew their own food. At 18, Norman Bates made his professional debut in the Jimmy Dorsey band and collaborated the following year with the fascinating composer and bandleader Raymond Scott. Prior to joining Brubeck for the first time in 1948, the bassist also worked with leaders such as Henry King and Carmen Cavallaro. The late '40s Brubeck trio, also featuring vibraphonist Cal Tjader, proved to be extremely influential as well as popular with jazz listeners.
It proved to be too much road work fo Bates, who desired time at home with his family. He was replaced by Eugene Wright. In 1950, Bates covered both piano and bass in the Jack Sheedy Dixieland Band. The next year Bates joined the Air Force and remained in the military until the mid-'50s. After a stint with the Wally Rose Dixieland Band in 1955, this Bates replaced that Bates in the Brubeck group -- Bob Bates was out, Norman Bates was in. The pun-happy Desmond, of course, compared the bandleader to a nervous fisherman, always changing Bates.
Norman Bates stayed on the Desmond line until 1958, at that point settling in San Francisco, where he began leading his own group at venues such as Fack's. From 1960 onward, the connection with the one of the most famous slashers in cinematic history began, impossible to avoid ever after. Although this Bates made no obvious connections -- unlike the performer of the same name who started the punk rock group Norman Bates & the Showerheads -- cyberfiends can still find plenty of trivial connections. Enter an additional "bass" into the search mechanism and it still won't mean an escape from the creepy Bates Motel. After all, director Hitchcock appears in a cameo in another of his films carrying a bass onto a train. Saul Bass was the name of the man who designed the titles for Psycho. And what kind of fish does the character of Norman Bates have up on his wall? A stuffed bass! Bates -- the jazzman, not the slasher -- dabbled in writing, dashing off a few sets of liner notes here and there. ~ Eugene Chadbourne, All Music Guide
Their mother, Emily Bates, was a professional pianist and organist who began music lessons for the boys before they were able to chew their own food. At 18, Norman Bates made his professional debut in the Jimmy Dorsey band and collaborated the following year with the fascinating composer and bandleader Raymond Scott. Prior to joining Brubeck for the first time in 1948, the bassist also worked with leaders such as Henry King and Carmen Cavallaro. The late '40s Brubeck trio, also featuring vibraphonist Cal Tjader, proved to be extremely influential as well as popular with jazz listeners.
It proved to be too much road work fo Bates, who desired time at home with his family. He was replaced by Eugene Wright. In 1950, Bates covered both piano and bass in the Jack Sheedy Dixieland Band. The next year Bates joined the Air Force and remained in the military until the mid-'50s. After a stint with the Wally Rose Dixieland Band in 1955, this Bates replaced that Bates in the Brubeck group -- Bob Bates was out, Norman Bates was in. The pun-happy Desmond, of course, compared the bandleader to a nervous fisherman, always changing Bates.
Norman Bates stayed on the Desmond line until 1958, at that point settling in San Francisco, where he began leading his own group at venues such as Fack's. From 1960 onward, the connection with the one of the most famous slashers in cinematic history began, impossible to avoid ever after. Although this Bates made no obvious connections -- unlike the performer of the same name who started the punk rock group Norman Bates & the Showerheads -- cyberfiends can still find plenty of trivial connections. Enter an additional "bass" into the search mechanism and it still won't mean an escape from the creepy Bates Motel. After all, director Hitchcock appears in a cameo in another of his films carrying a bass onto a train. Saul Bass was the name of the man who designed the titles for Psycho. And what kind of fish does the character of Norman Bates have up on his wall? A stuffed bass! Bates -- the jazzman, not the slasher -- dabbled in writing, dashing off a few sets of liner notes here and there. ~ Eugene Chadbourne, All Music Guide
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