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Thread: Great Bass Players

  1. #91
    Moderator hjames's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by jcrobso View Post
    Maybe Les Paul should have not invented the electric guitar.
    That way it would still be a back ground instrument and only lonely cowboys would use them. John
    All hat and no cattle?


    Nah, god bless Jaco and Tony Levin and Victor Wooten and all those folks who dare to play melodious lines on their basses!

    Sheesh - I'm guessing a Chapman Stick would Blow his MIND!

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  2. #92
    Senior Member Tom Brennan's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by hjames View Post
    All hat and no cattle?


    Nah, god bless Jaco and Tony Levin and Victor Wooten and all those folks who dare to play melodious lines on their basses!

    Sheesh - I'm guessing a Chapman Stick would Blow his MIND!


    32 years ago I played in a punk band with a bassist who played one of those sticks. But we didn't let him use it in the band.

  3. #93
    Senior Member Tom Brennan's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by jcrobso View Post
    That way it would still be a back ground instrument and only lonely cow boys would use them. John
    That would be aces with me. If a guy wants to step out front he should use a suitable instrument---sax, piano or something like that. Drummers and bassists shouldn't draw attention to themselves, they should serve the song. Somebody has to supply the drive, if the drummer and bassist are noodling who's gonna do it?

    Sometimes the one can noodle if the other holds steady, like in the Jimi Hendrix Experience when Redding's simple and driving playing allowed Mitichell to wander around. But Mitchell knew when to come back and he came back right on the money.

  4. #94
    Senior Member Ducatista47's Avatar
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    I used to always feel that way, Tom. But over the years I have run across a mitigating circumstance enough times to make exceptions.

    Jaco Pastorius on "Refuge Of The Roads" on Joni Mitchell's Hejira. He was far and away the most talented instrumentalist on the session, a genius really, so why not let him play the lead lines? Why not indeed. Some of the most haunting music ever recorded.

    Big Country. Two really good guitarists, one a great vocalist. But the most talented were the rhythm section, two ex studio musicians. Hear them play back and forth with each other and the rest of the band on "Wonderland." The more times you hear this song, the more you realize how they dominated this band. The most memorable passages were bass or drums, or both together but still without the rest of the band. It was not a secret at the time. Everyone wanted them.

    The Dead. Sometimes Phil Lesh put forth such awesome lines he became the lead without even trying. He went way beyond blending in. He was that good, so no one could accuse him of overplaying. Stephen Stills (think of his bass playing on the first CSN album, WOW) remarked that he would like to be the bass player in the Grateful Dead, but it was hopeless. They already had Lesh.

    Again and again I hear it in local Jazz groups. If a drummer and/or bass player are the best musicians in the band, it just does not make sense to hide them under a bushel basket. Would you rather hear a guitar solo or a bass solo when the bass player is the better musician by a wide margin?

    In most cases, yes, I think, "Bass solo? Not again! Drum solo? Just shoot me..." But not always anymore. What makes the difference for me is playing at your level of talent versus showing off. It is a rare bass popping exhibition or Rock drum solo that does not strike me as showing off. The examples I cited above always seemed to move the music forward. Showing off, the "Look at me" syndrome, does not propel the music but stops it, or at least interrupts it. It strikes me as, to quote a Kurt Jurgens line, trivial and bombastic; surely a damning pairing of low class virtues. Basically a musical version of in your face BS. I'm too old to waste time listening to that crap.

    Clark
    Information is not Knowledge; Knowledge is not Wisdom
    Too many audiophiles listen with their eyes instead of their ears


  5. #95
    Senior Member Krunchy's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Ducatista47 View Post
    Big Country. Two really good guitarists, one a great vocalist. But the most talented were the rhythm section, two ex studio musicians. Hear them play back and forth with each other and the rest of the band on "Wonderland." The more times you hear this song, the more you realize how they dominated this band. The most memorable passages were bass or drums, or both together but still without the rest of the band. It was not a secret at the time. Everyone wanted them.Clark
    Pete got one of them, Tony Butler, & he is part of history by virtue of the fact that he took part in the making of one of Pete's numerous masterpieces; Empty Glass.....
    Just Play Music.

  6. #96
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    Quote Originally Posted by Ducatista47 View Post
    He was far and away the most talented instrumentalist on the session
    Wasn't Larry Carlton in there somewhere doing something?

  7. #97
    Senior Member jcrobso's Avatar
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    Hi Tom, since we both live in the Chicago area, what was the name of your band?

    Quote Originally Posted by Tom Brennan View Post
    32 years ago I played in a punk band with a bassist who played one of those sticks. But we didn't let him use it in the band.
    I played in Rock bands, wedding bands and a soul band. The last band was the soul band, playing the soul music of the late 1960s changed how I played bass for ever!
    Now days I play mainly in Church on the worship team. My playing supports the song, I work with the drummer to setup a good base rhythm for each song. There are many songs where the bass starts out the song and establishes the pattern for the song. John

  8. #98
    Senior Member jcrobso's Avatar
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    Bass as a supporting insterment and a as lead at the same time.


  9. #99
    Senior Member Ducatista47's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by 4313B View Post
    Wasn't Larry Carlton in there somewhere doing something?
    Not on that cut. Joni did the guitar.

    Clark
    Information is not Knowledge; Knowledge is not Wisdom
    Too many audiophiles listen with their eyes instead of their ears


  10. #100
    Senior Member Ducatista47's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Krunchy View Post
    Pete got one of them, Tony Butler, & he is part of history by virtue of the fact that he took part in the making of one of Pete's numerous masterpieces; Empty Glass.....
    Looks like he got them both. One of the the drummers was Mark Brzezicki. But that was before Big Country, when they were, I think, studio musicians. Looks like they were also on All The Best Cowboys Have Chinese Eyes and White City.

    Clark
    Information is not Knowledge; Knowledge is not Wisdom
    Too many audiophiles listen with their eyes instead of their ears


  11. #101
    Senior Member Krunchy's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Ducatista47 View Post
    Looks like he got them both. One of the the drummers was Mark Brzezicki. But that was before Big Country, when they were, I think, studio musicians. Looks like they were also on All The Best Cowboys Have Chinese Eyes and White City.Clark
    Edit: Yes on both accounts, Tony & Mark appeared on BOTH albums

    Wow! That is quite the statement, those three albums being Pete Townshend's finest/best/most magnificent solo albums, Chinese eyes having an edge over the two others (white city being highly underrated would come in third IMO). I am very fond of Pete Townshend & for these guys to appear on these particular albums is just incredible.
    Most of my cd's & other gear are boxed up in the cellar but I cant wait to dig those out & take a look at the liner notes.
    Very Cool!

    I remember the video of slit skirts & now that I look further into it there's mr. Tony &...Mark Brzezicki.
    (I did not know that Mark was in Procol Harum too?!)

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-6tKXtqZG04
    Just Play Music.

  12. #102
    Senior Member Ducatista47's Avatar
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    Krunchy, it's a tough battle to get respect for bands you like that other people yawn at. I still get bad looks and rude remarks when I opine that Big Country was a great band. I may have the chronology backwards, but it seems that U2 found its power and sound after hearing Big Country. Yet friends still ask what I see in them.

    Clark
    Information is not Knowledge; Knowledge is not Wisdom
    Too many audiophiles listen with their eyes instead of their ears


  13. #103
    Senior Member Krunchy's Avatar
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    Hiya Clark!
    The U2 reference is accurate, they admit it themselves (forgot where I saw or heard that).
    Nothing wrong with that, they assimilated something they saw and made it their own, cant argue about their talent, they got IT, hence their fame, I love U2. But it is beyond me why some bands make it big on little talent (besides the obvious ploys) while gifted bands get little recognition. A lot of 80's bands garner very little credit in general & while there were a lot of silly and awful bands at the time there also emerged some real great ones as well. The talent pool of the 80's was much better than half the nonsense that was offered in the 90's or 2000's (my friends, strict classic rock types, would most enthusiastically dissagree with me on that, to the point of offering bodily harm, they all think 80's music is all flock of seaguls ).
    Tears For Fears & China Crisis come to mind, the latter never really took off in spite of the fact that they were so good that Walter Becker even produced some of their work. While the former was huge and rightly so IMO, their albums are so well produced and sound fantastic. Not to mention the Smiths, the Clash

    If we could figure out why some bands succeed & some do not we could make a fortune
    Coming back to topic, China Crisis' bass player, Gary Johnson, can put down some very nice grooves, real clean stuff.

    Oh well, as long as you see the beauty in it & enjoy it... (to put it mildly) what anyone else thinks.
    Just Play Music.

  14. #104
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    Quote Originally Posted by Ducatista47 View Post
    Krunchy, it's a tough battle to get respect for bands you like that other people yawn at. I still get bad looks and rude remarks when I opine that Big Country was a great band. I may have the chronology backwards, but it seems that U2 found its power and sound after hearing Big Country. Yet friends still ask what I see in them.

    Clark
    The Edge once said in an interview that if it wasn't for a guitar player named Keith Levine there would be no Edge. Keith played briefly with the Clash and later with Public Image Ltd. I don't think that you'll hear the influence from either on any U2 song.

    Bob Walker
    www.walker-entertainment.com

  15. #105
    Senior Member Tom Brennan's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by rgwalker View Post
    The Edge once said in an interview that if it wasn't for a guitar player named Keith Levine there would be no Edge. Keith played briefly with the Clash and later with Public Image Ltd. I don't think that you'll hear the influence from either on any U2 song.

    Bob Walker
    www.walker-entertainment.com

    Speaking of "The Edge" isn't he getting kind'a old for such a juvenile nickname?

    "Hello, I'm The Edge. And I wear a hat all the time because I'm self conscious about my bald spot. Like the guy in the Beach Boys. I'm the bald spot "The Edge"."

    Maybe he should get a hair transplant like that guy in The Buckinghams did. Funny as Hell, it came to a point right in the middle of his forehead. Kind of a drag.

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