Francis Buchholz – Bass

Born in Hannover, West Germany, Buchholz discovered rock music at the age of 11. His first public appearance as a bass player was at age 15 while in a high school. From then on he played in different rock, blues and jazz bands in his hometown of Hannover. While a mechanical engineering student at the University of Hannover and taking classes at the Hochschule fur Musik, Theater und Medien Hannover, Buchholz joined Dawn Raid, whose lineup included guitarist Uli Roth. Eventually the musicians from Dawn Road and the Scorpions merged into a new incarnation of the Scorpions in 1973, with Buchholz on bass. Buchholz’ first recording with the Scorpions was 1974’s Fly To The Rainbow, and he stayed as a band member for 18 years, recording 12 albums during the band’s most commercially successful period. Together they sold over 15 million records in the USA alone and over 100 million records worldwide. For his success with the Scorpions, Buchholz was awarded with over 50 gold and platinum awards for record sales all over the world. He left the band after a disagreement over band management in 1992. His last album with the Scorpions was Crazy World, which also contained the only Scorpions track Buchholz contributed to writing, “Kicks After Six”.

This is the complete bass performance for ‘Sails Of Charon’ from the 1977 Scorpions album, ‘Taken By Force’. It’s actually strangely challenging but most people will be able to pull it off with a little time spent on it. I did an experiment with this one and have included the tab. I won’t be doing that again in a hurry. Why would you use that method when reading the dots is ultimately easier, quicker and a much more transferable skill?