seashell

Thanks for the suggestions, folks! Carols sound a good idea. I have some (piano) sheet music I could send them in advance so they could get practicising! I'd just have to work our a bassline. Some Beatles stuff would be good. I already know Come Together, so could suggest they look at that. Likewise Sunshine of Your Love, I'm sure they could pick that up. Kashmir would be a great one, thanks Leschirons!! I shall definitely suggest that to them. I think I've got the music somwhere as well. I'm not sure how my piano playing friend would get on with Thunderstruck! I can imagine her collapsing over the piano at the end, in the manner of the Church Organist from the Simpsons when Bart swapped the music and she ended up playing In a Gada da Vida. Now there's an another idea....

I'm spending Christmas this year with a couple of friends who play piano and cello to about grade 3 standard. They've asked me to bring my bass along so that we can have a little musical soiree (purely for our own amusement). Would any of you have any ideas of tunes that would sound nice played with that combination of instruments? We like all sorts of music, so any genre considered. But it would have to be simple enough for 3 bumbling amateurs to play after a few drinks! Any suggestions gratefully recieved.

It's not very Rock n Roll is it?

[quote name='Oopsdabassist' timestamp='1417734458' post='2623677'] Can't believe no one has voted for Shergold's 'scratch' plate yet, I love the pun inherent in that [/quote] I really loved that one as well.

Are we allowed to canvass votes? Come on everyone, vote for Dad3353. It's a wonderful image. I'm not massively into scratchplate designs, but I would bloody love that on my bass. Aubrey Beardsley I presume, Doug?

[quote name='Count Bassy' timestamp='1417689875' post='2623017'] Oi! Daltrey: No! [/quote] Tee hee That's been going through my head all the time while reading this thread

[quote name='KevB' timestamp='1417535233' post='2621462'] Something like this happened at a blues jam night in Nottm a year or two back (I wasn't there, the landlord told me about it). A band was on at Rock City but arrived in town a day or two early, so on the night before the gig they dropped in at this little place for a jam. The band contained ex memebrs of Thin Lizzy, The Almighty and INXS. People were coming in and doing a double-take as Scott Gorham was stood on stage jamming some blues... [/quote] Blimey! I thought I was making up something preposperous!

[quote name='EliasMooseblaster' timestamp='1417520383' post='2621209'] +1. But then The Who are probably my favourite band, so I'd be in a state of delirious fanboy-ism if Daltrey were just in the same room while I was playing. [/quote] Pretty much this. I might feel slightly sorry for our own singer though, if she was standing around like a bit of a spare part while Daltrey did his stuff. But then she could do a few BVs and bang a tambourine or something. Oh yes, I can see this coming together quite nicely in this hypothetical situation. It wouldn't be at a wedding though, as we don't do those. Maybe Daltrey's car breaks down outside the Barge n Barrel, Tipton on the second Tuesday in the month. He comes in to get a drink while he's waiting for the RAC, and guess what.. we're playing! So up he gets for a bit of a jam. It could happen!!

I suppose ours would be: Rebel Yell She Sells Sanctuary Zombie Basket Case I am managing to hold out against Dakota, despite pressure from the rest of the band!

Our drummer is pretty good. Occasionally speeds up a bit when over-excited, but then we all speed up with him at the same rate! At least it sounds consistent. He is also brilliant at remembering the structure of songs and I take loads of cues from him. I have found during my recent forays into jamming with other drummers that they aren't all so consistent! The ones that really throw you are those that can't come back in on time after a fill - I find myself having to look at them rather than listen just to get a clue as to when they are going to come back in with the beat. I don't think I could put up with a drummer like that for very long. Easier said than done though, isn't it? It must be difficult if you're friends. And really good drummers are hard to find, as we all know.

Some great ideas here, but it was easy to chose the one I liked best.

[quote name='Horizontalste' timestamp='1417431430' post='2620168'] Cheers G, it's funny you mentioned Coco, your not the only one who said I should take a peek & there's a jam night near me that usually ends up bluesy so I'll round up my partner in crime & go have a knock. [/quote] I'd definitely recommend the jam night. I've been going to one in Brum for the last couple of months. They have a mixture of open mic and a booked band 3 out of 4 weeks, then a purely open mic night last Thurs of the month. I have learned absolutely LOADS about Blues and about jamming with other musicians just from going to these sessions. Like you, I was getting a bit jaded with the kind of covers our band does and wanted to try out something I thought I would enjoy more. The end result is that I am actually happier in the band as well now, as I know I can get the Blues out of my system once a week! I see you're in Wolverhampton. We get people from all over coming to the Crossroads Blues Nights at Tower of Song in Brum (one young regular comes all the way from Northampton). So if you fancy paying us a visit some time, PM me and I'll send you details.

Siouxie and the Banshees version of Dear Prudence.

I only caught the second half, so will try to see the repeat. Nice to see Andy Fraser speaking. That's a bit of a rarity! In fact I don't think I've ever seen him interviewed before. Good to see him looking well. In fact a lot better than some of the other old crocks! :-)

Thanks, I will try to remember to listen to that.

Far too young to be called Elias Mooseblaster, lol :-) Nice pic and article. :-)

Yes, a great gig. I hope Kev thought it worth his marathon drive through 3 major Midland cities in the middle of the Friday rush hour. It was dark, it was pouring with rain. I wish I could add 'and we were wearing sunglasses' , but we weren't quite that cool. Anyway, my admiration for the amazing Mr Plant remains undimmed. Voice still sounds great. He just doesn't go for the high notes any more, so the old LedZep classics have been totally 'reimagined' (Sorry if anyone wants to slap me for using that word, but I couldn't think of anything more apt). Wish I could have seen more of the bass player, but he was mostly obscured by a large Berk in front of me jumping about in a kagoul. And as Kev says, the support band were also rather good. Front woman played bass as well as sang leads and looked very cool. Another role model! :-)

[quote name='lowdown' timestamp='1416643896' post='2612126'] The Aldi ad is a bit Syrupy, but most Xmas adverts are. I suppose for JH and the band, just a case of turn up and look cheesy in a Christmas way, or at least get one arm in view. Like or dislike Jools Holland, he has managed to keep a Big Band regularly in TV and Radio broadcast work, yearly tours in the UK and overseas. Annual album releases, all this, consistently over a thirty year period. Personally I take my hat off to him, he has kinda of earned his celeb status. (all in my humble opinion of course). [/quote] I agree with pretty much all of this. And I quite like Christmas ads. Particularly perfume ads. Especially if in black and white and featuring unfeasibly beautiful people staring moodily at each other and whispering.

I'll have you know, Kev is a perfect gentleman. So far. Lol. :-)

Anyone else in Wolves for the Robert Plant gig tonight? Me an KevB are here. Let us know if you want to say Hi. :-)

Ha ha, love it. It's true I tells ya! :-)

[quote name='Twincam' timestamp='1416360765' post='2609469'] I was being or trying to be humorous . However i must admit i did roll my eyes a little. [/quote] Well, you made me chuckle

Great blog Sylvia. Some good memories of a lovely day. Bass players rool :-)

No, I'm ashamed to say I haven't tried it yet. My band are doing Santa Baby and that Maria Carey thing for our Christmas repertoire. So I've been busy learning those. Definitely want to try learning Christmas Wrapping at some point though.

Toneknob has it. He was kind enough to send me a scanned copy. If you ask him nicely he might do the same for you. :-)