Old Man Riva

When I saw them/him live it wasn’t so much the volume but the actual vastness of the sound - it was absolutely huge. It swarmed every inch of the venue. Backed by the driving rhythm section it was an incredible experience, and not one I’ve experienced since. And all played with the lightest of touches and minimum of fuss...

Great clip. Also remember them being on The Tube and ripping into Paul King (not sure if it was this episode or not as they did Eighties on an earlier show). Saw them at Lanchester Polytechnic in Cov on this tour and to this day it is the most intense and ‘electric’ gig I’ve ever seen. Geordie’s guitar sound was immense. It took me about a fortnight to get over it, and I was only standing at the back! Such a good band...

Bought a lovely MM Stingray off Victor. Such an easy, straightforward and pleasurable transaction. Excellent comms, and the bass arrived the next business day from the Netherlands safe, sound and securely packed. A great guy to deal with!

Slack jawed and a bit teary, if I’m honest...

If you did want to give them another listen then I’d always recommend How Soon is Now as a starting/returning point. Marr’s swampy/Bo Diddley riff/playing is top drawer, and the rhythm section tight as. I also think it’s one of the more listenable vocally for non Morrissey fans...

Fleabag posted this on the Guy Pratt Lockdown Licks thread - seems appropriate to share here also as it features Floyd, Saucerful of Secrets and Ashdown!

Not saying it’s right at all, and in a perfect world they’d hold their nerve and not be bullied/pander to outside influence, but as I say, given the unrelenting pressure they come under I can see how it’s happened... and therefore do have a degree of sympathy! Anyway, as you say, back to Morrissey... I once saw a band called Morrissey Mullen. The group didn’t actually feature the Smiths singer in any way shape or form. I didn’t enjoy them at all - not for the fact it wasn’t Morrissey the Smiths singer, it’s just that I found them really boring...

I agree in the most part, but I do have a degree of sympathy for the BBC as I feel their decision making is being dictated in part as a consequence of the seemingly constant attacks and accusations of bias from the Tories and elements of the right wing press. By attempting to please everyone they end up pleasing no one... Here’s a piece from a year ago - and, yes, I am aware that the piece is from a liberal viewpoint! https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/dec/17/tories-bbc-line-of-fire-destroy

I’m diggin’ it, KP.... Now the good Dr. has a tale to tell!

If you’re going down that route, get on this...

Blimey! I’ve just finished listening to that for pretty much the same reason! (don’t think it was take 10, mind!. It always puts me in mind of this featuring Phil Chen on bass... Hope it does the job!

Will do. It’s booked in for next Tuesday!

The perfect adornment, practical too..!

Hi, thank you so much to everyone on this thread - what a marvellous bunch! The B-15 is booked in at Sickamps in Harlow (only 30mins away from me!) off the back of the recommendation above from jimmy23cricket, and after speaking with Chris there... Thanks again!

The amp was still on (powered up with the lights on) but with a growl and no sound (i.e. when I hit the strings nothing came through the speaker). I’ve had a look and there are four fuses...

You, sir, are a modern day saint! Thanks Paul, really helpful. I like the look of Leighton Jennings so may give him a call tomorrow. Hi Mike, it's the B-15N model. Looks great and sounds even better - to these ears, at least! Embarrassingly I've no idea whether a fuse blew or not - it was still on and making an odd growling noise after the 'pop', if that helps?!

I’ve an Ampeg B-15 Heritage which tonight went ‘pop’ and then ended up emitting an angry humming sound?! What I know of tubes, valves, repairs and such can be written on the back of a (very tiny) postage stamp so I’ve been scouring the internet for repairers in the Loughton/Essex area. I found a company called Essex Amp Repairs that look promising so wondered if anyone has used them at all? Thanks in advance, fellow BC-ers!

I think he’s a really good player. Back when Duran came out, the type of (unashamedly pop) band they were, his/their looks were referred to more than their music. It was lazily assumed that they weren’t particularly good players, which, IMHO, is neither right nor fair. The Taylors could all play well (John and Roger in particular), whilst Nick Rhodes would be the first to admit that he wasn’t really aspiring to be a great keyboard player, but then he didn’t really need to be, given what his/the keys role in the band was. I also think that Martin Kemp and Mikey Craig were viewed in a similar way, and were/are also both really good players...

He probably feels he’s got a big enough profile to do it. After all, some churls are bigger than others...

I quite like Don Juan’s Reckless Daughter. Re. Paprika Plains, the final three-odd minutes are great - Wayne Shorter plays beautifully over that rolling groove. I also really like the (non) bass line Jaco does on the title track - great feel, even when he’s not really playing anything! For me, it fits the track perfectly and not really something that many other bassists would come up with, whether he couldn’t think of anything else or not!!

From 2:26, and features a really tasty descending bass line...

Great shout! Ry Cooder aided by a (late, great) Harry Dean Stanton smile brightens up the drabbest of days...

It’s funny how tastes change over the years. I was introduced to Joni Mitchell’s music in the mid 70s when I was in my teens. An uncle (who was a big influence on introducing me to different music at the time - some Jazz, Steely Dan, Weather Report, to name but a few) said that if I was interested in bass to check this guy (Jaco) out, and recorded Hejira for me. I only had a mono cassette player at the time so much of the music was lost but you could still really hear the Jaco parts and even then I appreciated how different it was to any bass I’d heard before. For years I tended to focus on the bass on the Jaco tracks, and as such didn’t really pay much attention to the wonderful bass played by Max Bennett on, say, Song for Sharon off Hejira. As I got older and I found my own style I became way more drawn to Max Bennett and Wilton Felder’s playing, and the way they approached Joni’s songs, rather than the Jaco tracks. These days Max Bennett and Wilton Felder are definitely more my thing but Jaco’s playing on some of Joni’s songs take them to a different level and offer something unique to the songs due to him and his playing. I suppose it’s a long-winded way of saying I like them all!!

Mrs Riva was thankful, but nonchalantly informed me, “oh yeah, I’ve heard that”. Apparently Lauren Laverne plays it on her 6Music show. I noted that it sounded like a Derek Forbes bass line, to which she responded, “well I wouldn’t know about that”, and then we then carried on with our respective days...

Not heard the demo before. I really like that, thanks for posting! I think some of the vocal ideas (call and response, layered harmonies and counter melodies) she did in this period are really out there. Song for Sharon is a great example... ... and then, of course, there are those amazing guitar tunings that she used!