What are you listening to, right now................
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Crucial, I'll confess to having barely heard of those guys but nonetheless was suitably impressed.<br />
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Back to Clapton I may have judged him a bit harshly, true his unplugged album and some attempts at the blues were rubbish but he did some good stuff if I think long and hard and picture the old mans record collection "Let it grow", "I shot the sheriff" "After Midnight" and a few others. I still stand well and truly by my initial view that his "aura" as a guitar hero compared to the guys I mentioned ( all of whom were superior as pure axemen, ok [i]maybe [/i]not Townsend but the rest....) is pretty tenuous. Hendrix is ( rightly ) regarded as the best of the lot but many casual observers place EC at number two. For a musically driven supergroup Cream as a whole were a bit overrated too, Jack Bruce was no better than Entwhistle, John Paul Jones, Roger Glover etc. I will confess the only three guys who could touch Ginger Baker were Iain Paice, Michael Shrieve and John Bonham. I think Keith Moons over the top ness and sheer idiocy prohibits him from joining this echelon although others may argue.......Baker was a fucken awesome drummer and in my view the most talented of Cream..... <br />
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I wish Hendrix had lived longer, just imagine the kind of funky grooves and licks he would have laid over a bassist like Louis Johnson or Larry Graham ????? fucken incredible....... -
[quote name='Tim' timestamp='1341998433' post='297255']<br />
JJ Cale's originals (Cocaine, After Midnight) are way better.<br />
[/quote]<br />
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Respectively......yes......and no.<br />
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EC did a much better version of the latter I reckon.<br />
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My old man probably owns everything JJ Cale ever did, loves him. I think for guys of my age ( 35) having an old man who grew up with that stuff and raiding the record collection is an awesome education into great music. I hope my boys do the same to my NER*D, Foos, Chillis, Jamiroquai, Metallica and Faith no More collection ( in amongst a million other good groups ! ) -
[quote name='MN5' timestamp='1341996938' post='297251']<br />
<br />
<br />
I wish Hendrix had lived longer, just imagine the kind of funky grooves and licks he would have laid over a bassist like Louis Johnson or Larry Graham ????? fucken incredible.......<br />
[/quote]<br />
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You mean like when he played with the Isley Brothers (on probably the very first 'funk' recording), or Curtis Mayfield and The impressions or with the Famous Flames backing Bobby Byrd and James Brown? But I agree it would have been great to hear him with the next phase of funk. Pity he had moved in other directions as that was happening. -
Actually it's funny you mention Louis 'Thunder Thumbs' Johnson. You realise that the Brothers Johnson's biggest hit 'Strawberry Letter 23' was a remake of the original Shuggie Otis recording?<br />
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I love a bit of Thunder Thumbs and Lightening Licks if I want some real funky disco. Stomp, Get the Funk Outta My Face are awesome, but check out Louis' lines on this<br />
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Yeah he's a super bass player for sure, I love the way he incorporated it into some seriously cool funk with his brother. Wow, I didn't know that, I first heard Strawberry letter 23 when I saw jackie Brown back in 97. That tune alone made me buy the soundtrack which also featured many other gems.....s a typical teenager who played guitar to pick up chicks before swtiching to bass I dig a good bottom liner. Louis Johnson basically took up and arguably imporved on what Larry Graham started....<br />
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But anyway, I defy anyone to find a better bass player than this joker here, Robert Trujillo. Granted Flea did an at times similiar style in a better band ( Chillis being better than Infectious Grooves, not necassarily Metallica ) but in terms off a bass off this guy would smash the lot of them.<br />
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[url=" -
[quote name='Crucial' timestamp='1342002058' post='297259']<br />
You mean like when he played with the Isley Brothers (on probably the very first 'funk' recording), or Curtis Mayfield and The impressions or with the Famous Flames backing Bobby Byrd and James Brown? But I agree it would have been great to hear him with the next phase of funk. Pity he had moved in other directions as that was happening.<br />
[/quote]<br />
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Other directions being dying unfortunately pal <img src='http://www.daimenhutchison.com/rugby/public/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/hang1.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':hang1:' /> -
[quote name='MN5' timestamp='1342003303' post='297263']<br />
Other directions being dying unfortunately pal <img src='http://www.daimenhutchison.com/rugby/public/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/hang1.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':hang1:' /><br />
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True, but I meant before that. He was there in the very early funk days but moved in his own direction as it grew.<br />
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Slightly different time span, but Bootsy Collins was playing with JB in that next phase and then kicked on further with the P-Funk era. You've got me going on you-tube now, and I hadn't seen this clip before. A young Bootsy backing JB and looking every bit like Snoop Dogg with a fro.<br />
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[quote name='MN5' timestamp='1342004014' post='297266']<br />
For a pasty white boy I fucken love good funk and soul ( and subsequently rap and r'nb ) without ever forgetting my bogan roots. I blame the old man. James Brown would have been sensational to see live.<br />
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He was booked to play in NZ in 88 at the old Sweetwaters site at Pukekawa (Neon Picnic I think it was going to be called). I still have the ticket somewhere, but it never went ahead. I couldn't even bring myself to return the ticket for a refund.<br />
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Bob Geldof was the only artist that fronted as he had other commitments and was already here. He did a donation gig out West Auckland in a park to try and help raise money for the sound crews and the like that lost lots of money on it. It was a poor consolation even though it was actually quite good. -
Going back to your earlier comments about Moon and Entwhistle, I agree that if you take them on their own they are up there but arguably not great (although I think Moon was brilliant). What they had though, was a combination that is one of the best ever. I wouldn't even use the term 'rhythm section' as in Sly and Robbie as they didn't just provide a backbone, they created their own sounds within the song. A great example is on 'The Real Me'. Listen to each instrument on it's own and it's all over the show but together it's perfect. Sometimes when you listen to The Who you totally forget that they are only a three-piece with a singer.
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[quote name='Crucial' timestamp='1342005808' post='297270']<br />
Going back to your earlier comments about Moon and Entwhistle, I agree that if you take them on their own they are up there but arguably not great (although I think Moon was brilliant). What they had though, was a combination that is one of the best ever. I wouldn't even use the term 'rhythm section' as in Sly and Robbie as they didn't just provide a backbone, they created their own sounds within the song. A great example is on 'The Real Me'. Listen to each instrument on it's own and it's all over the show but together it's perfect. Sometimes when you listen to The Who you totally forget that they are only a three-piece with a singer.<br />
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Entwistle was the true prodigy of that band in a completely different way to most Bass players.....Daltry was a fucken hugely charismatic frontman though and obviously Townsend was the good guitarist who wrote so much of their great stuff. As a band they just worked so well. Moon ? may have to go back and have a listen but I'll stick by my initial opinions until then.<br />
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Funny how all the guys from Deep Purple rarely get mentioned as individual musicians. I think all were brilliant ( well maybe Roger Glover more steady than brilliant, a fact the man himself admitted ). A great rock band is nothing without an awesome frontman but DP, the Zeps and various others expanded on this by having such kick ass musos as well. -
Fave bassists:<br />
<br />- James Jamerson<br />
- Jaco Pastorius<br />
- Peter Hook<br />
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(always a big Tony Levin fan, too, love his sound and really like the way he looks on stage, I saw him play several times with King Crimson and Peter Gabriel and spent most of those shows watching him.)
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[quote name='Crucial' timestamp='1342005808' post='297270']<br />
Going back to your earlier comments about Moon and Entwhistle, I agree that if you take them on their own they are up there but arguably not great (although I think Moon was brilliant). [/quote]<br />
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Controversial, Crucial! Entwistle was by quite some way the best bassist I ever saw live. I caught The Who at Hammersmith Odeon Christmas 1979 when I was just a kid and again in Chicago in 96 (I think, I'll have to find the ticket stub) and the guy just blew me away. The 96 gig in particular they played the entire Quadrophenia album start to finish then encored with lots of old faves including Behind Blue Eyes, which made my day. I particularly remember "I've had enough". Entwistle never moved but his hands were absolutely flying. If only Keith hadn't farked it up by dying, eh?<br />
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If anybody can tell me how to upload a small mp4 file I've got an extract from the Rising Low dvd (an absolute must for any bass fans out there btw) that shows his technique off to a T. -
[quote name='red terror' timestamp='1342023329' post='297282']<br />
(always a big Tony Levin fan, too, love his sound and really like the way he looks on stage, I saw him play several times with King Crimson and Peter Gabriel and spent most of those shows watching him.)<br />
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He wasn't playing his Chapman Stick was he RT? I saw Myung playing one with Dream Theatre - pretty cool I thought. -
[quote name='JC' timestamp='1342034756' post='297288']<br />
Controversial, Crucial! Entwistle was by quite some way the best bassist I ever saw live.[/quote]<br />
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Yep, very poorly written by me. The Ox was awesome. What I was trying to get across was that the combo with Moon was even better than the individuals efforts simply added together.<br />
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As 'rock' bassists go then he's than man as far as I'm concerned. Funk bassists I go for Bootsy. There are plenty of accomplished funk bassists out there that can blow you away with overkill but Bootsy has the feel for the music. As for best bass player full stop then I'm voting with RT and going for Jamerson. -
I've got no problem with Bootsy or Jamerson either for that matter. My personal faves are Marcus Miller and Robbie Shakespeare who is probably the anti-Ox given how much energy he puts into his stage performance. For sheer skill I have to admire Les Claypool, although I personally find his solo stuff too "look at me" experimental. For rock-solid reliable rhythm though I don't think you can go past John McVie. And if I could nominate one underrated but awe inspiring performance, I'd like to put in a word for John Paul Jones on For Your Life off Presence (my favourite LZ album as it goes).<br />
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You're right about combos though. I don't think anyone would put Taylor and Deacon individually in the all time top 20, but as an engine room they'd have to be pretty pleased with their output. -
MN5, interesting that for all those blokes that you mention, that fuckwit Eddie Van Halen used to win a fuck ton of "Most Valuable Player" awards in reputable guitar magazines.<br />
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My favourite rhythm section is relatively recent in Danny Carey and Justin Chancellor from Tool. The shit they come up with is unreal, and able to create atmosphere in their songs as required (usually dark i admit). -
[quote name='JC' timestamp='1342035953' post='297289']<br />
He wasn't playing his Chapman Stick was he RT? I saw Myung playing one with Dream Theatre - pretty cool I thought.<br />
[/quote]<br />
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Yes, definitely played the stick with both KC and PG. I took some really cool photos of him circa 1994 where he is playing a bass, probably a Fender.
