Old Man Riva

Wasn’t expecting this at all, especially the voice... 

Good band too... 

Watched both episodes and really enjoyed them. There’s some really good early footage of both Iovine and Dre at the start of their respective careers that show how completely driven they were and their passion for music (and it’s safe to say that neither came from what you’d call a ‘moneyed’ background).

Really looking forward to next week’s episodes.

As a couple of asides: JJ Fad had previously completely passed me by! And I’d forgotten just what a wonderful piece of music Springsteen’s Meeting Across the River is.

Yeah, well worth a watch... 

On 04/02/2019 at 16:25, Shaggy said:

Those guys were the business - "Slade Alive" is one of my all time fave live albums 

My first ‘proper’ album, that. Had it as a Christmas present in 1972 (I think).

In the late 70s/early 80s they used to do an annual Christmas gig at Brum Odeon, which were consistently great nights out.

And they influenced Prince’s spelling, the daft Black Country rockers! 

4 hours ago, hiram.k.hackenbacker said:

Rumour has it that Steve Vai might turn up at a few shows as well. Where else better than the London Palladium. Fingers crossed.

Not sure if you’ve seen it (or aware it exists!) but the Nikki Sixx ‘My Favourite Riff’ episode with Vai as a guest included some good Zappa stories. 

On 19/01/2019 at 14:07, alexa3020 said:

Great band. Check out the album ‘last day of summer’ it’s their best imo. 

After Corsicana lemonade the drummer and guitarist left to work with soul artist Leon bridges, which would explain the drop in quality. They were both great musicians but the drummer was outstanding

 

Cheers for the recommendation! I’ll give Last Day of Summer a go.

Hadn’t realised the drummer and guitarist left - agree the drummer was especially good. There’s a version of At the Farm on YouTube featuring those two that is just so good - shades of Peter Green era Fleetwood Mac in the guitar playing.

32 minutes ago, Paul S said:

And another!

 

Forgotten all about that. Love it!

The electric piano reminds me of Tomahawk Kid from the live album.

One of those bands I forget I like until I’m reminded I like them then I play them so much I go off them! 

I stumbled across White Denim on 6Music a few years back and was blown away.

Not too keen on recent records but the albums D and Corsicana Lemonade were played to death.

To add to Frank’s list and other excellent additions on the thread I’d argue a passionate case for Gerry Mulligan & Chet Baker ‘Carnegie Hall Concert’ (features Ron Carter on bass).

Song for Strayhorn is one of my favourite pieces of music of any genre. Stunning. 

Great pic. He was cool as...

Lucky enough to see them a few times over the years and one show (with Brian Robertson) was, to this day, one of the best gigs I've seen - the band were right on top of their game.

Also saw them with Snowy White and John Sykes (separately) playing foil to Scott Gorham and, whilst neither were as good a fit as Robertson (imo), and parts of the shows may have been patchy with some of the material not up to the standard of the mid/late 70s Lizzy (again, imo), Philo was always fabulous.

For me, one of rock and roll's great frontmen...

On 22/12/2018 at 12:38, NancyJohnson said:

Just spent an enjoyable two hours going through this book.

If Geddy Lee wasn't so damn nice, I could honestly hate the guy for snagging so many beautiful instruments.  Have to say that after 200 pages of drooling content, it's just information overload.  The content steers you round the ultimate question of, 'Whatever happened to that <insert manufacturer here> bass?' before drawing you in for the last few pages of the really important guitars.

There's no envy here in the slightest; it's just a lengthy journal about vintage bass collecting.  He's been a successful musician for donkey's years and now he's simply kicking back and reaping the rewards of that.

It's a beautiful publication. 

Re. Gibson Thunderbird: Geddy asked Pete Way (UFO) what it was exactly that he loved so much about them.

”Well, Glee, they sound three-quarters quite good, and one-quarter not very nice”. If ever Gibson were after a blurb on an ad page for a Thunderbird there’s one right there!

Only had a brief scan through this morning but upon first glance it’s a fabulous book!

Heard this for the first time today and haven’t stopped playing it since. John McKenzie on bass, apparently.

If Ari Up was Californian and woke up in a studio surrounded by a late-70s funk band... I give you Annette Peacock: 

A wonderfully played and recorded P-bass. For my ears/taste it doesn’t really get much better than this... (cue somebody telling me it was recorded on a Jazz, or some such!).

1 hour ago, Japhet said:

He did some lovely stuff for sure. Lady Grinning Soul is one of my favorite ever basslines.

For me Aladdin Sane is TB’s finest work.

It’s possibly my favourite record of all time any road (certainly the one that never strays from being in the top 3) and would be my recommendation to any budding bassist in terms of an album to listen to that inspires.

The title track is sheer perfection.

And of course he also had those amazing sidies!! 

The Atomic Dog section is a reworking of a George Clinton track from the early 80s - the two versions are as different as chalk and cheese, night and day, cat and dog!

I give you Mind Bomb by The The.

I had my head turned by Infected after Channel 4 showed a late-night film in 1986 documenting each track and was blown away - I then had to wait three years for Mind Bomb.

Unapologetically political throughout, lyrically I don't think Matt Johnson was ever better - covering the perils of organised religion (Islam fundamentalism vs. Christianity), bitter breakdown of relationships, and "the politics of greed" amongst other cheery topics.

It features Johhny Marr, Danny Thompson, a great performance by Sinead O'Connor on one track and wonderful bass playing by the 'overlooked and highly recommended' James Eller throughout.

It even manages to include a pastiche on Sweet's Ballroom Blitz and replace the opening "Steve", "Andy" and "Mick" line with "Jesus", "Buddha", "Muhammad" - one for the older viewers!

Not really a 'Sunday morning album', it's one of those albums that is best digested in a solitary fashion, played from start to finish in the order Mr Johnson intended and through headphones for the full solitary effect.

Here's the opening track, Good Morning Beautiful;

So, anyone else got any recommendations that fall under the 'overlooked and highly recommended' category that you feel should be embraced by the knowing souls on here?

3 hours ago, cetera said:

I have seen him in a Beefeater by the A3 near Richmond Park. Seriously..... no word of a lie....

Some would say “Liar”, but I believe you.

I think it was the time Mr Deacon was attempting to enjoy a quiet Sunday roast but was being continually heckled by a member of The Goodies, sat nearby at another table.

As luck would have it Giant Haystacks (who had just been working out and not had chance to shower and freshen up, so slightly stinky) popped in for a Spritzer and stepped in on Mr Deacon’s behalf, telling the Goodie, in no uncertain terms, to leave the reclusive bassman alone.

’B.O. he-man raps Oddie’, as the tabloid headline said... 

Really like that - shades of Richard Hawley. Lyrically, Alex Turner has got a lovely turn of phrase about him.

With regards to the bass, my guess would be flat wounds played with a pick with strings muted with the side of the palm.

It helps that it’s a really lyrical line so the tone really comes through - too many notes and it wouldn’t sound anywhere near as good.

Good band. 

This... a lot. 

A second-hand Avon Jazz Bass copy in 1977.

The p/ups were steel bars rather than the snazzy plastic of the real thing.

By the real thing I mean the Antoria copies that we were all after.

Affording a ‘real’ Fender? No chance!! 

40 minutes ago, Paul S said:

Me too.  Back then he had one of the best and most distinctive voices of the generation.  Recent years I have seen his little band Los Pacaminos several times and his voice is totally shot to bits.  In the context of the Los Pacaminos band it actually works to his advantage that he does a gravelly talk and no singing (Jamie Moses is the star turn of the band, which are fantastic) but sadly I would think he would be cringeworthily embarrassing attempting all his earlier stuff nowdays. 

And me. Saw him and the band at Warwick University - between the time of the tickets being announced he appeared on The Tube and by the time the gig came around he was a pop star!

He and the band were great. 

Was big into this when it came out - nice idea, properly mixing hip-hop with jazz. This features N'Dea Davenport from the Brand New Heavies and also a sample of Freddie Hubbard's Povo with a lovely weaving bassline by Ron Carter.

Played the whole Jazzmatazz album today, start to finish, and really enjoyed it...

1 hour ago, mentalextra said:

Dan Hawkins of the darkness has done a walkthrough of one of their own tracks too,  very funny guy! 

Here’s Mr Forbes..!

3 hours ago, mentalextra said:

Not really any help but wouldn't it drive you mad watching vids of people covering your work and knowing they were all wrong. How do Pino, JJ etc resist making a definitive lesson and potentially having a very lucrative youtube channel? 

There’s a clip somewhere on YouTube of the excellent Derek Forbes of Simple Minds playing I Travel, just to show us how it’s done...

It looks as though cold drinks may have been taken prior to the recording of the clip!