Old Man Riva

Yes, they’re like the fanned frets of today, but not as angled, from what I can tell. It’s difficult to tell from the pic on the page, but if you can manage to expand the pic and have a look at how the final/highest fret is positioned in relation to the end of the neck (angled and not parallel) you should hopefully be able to get an idea. Let me know if not and I’ll try and take a better (more close up) pic…

… and if you really want to get into the detail and the nitty-gritty of Fender from the start through to 1970 then this is the place to look. The depth of knowledge and level of detail is phenomenal (not to mention the fabulous images) - and it was certainly news to me that in the mid 60s Fender toyed with a ‘slant frets’ instrument (the ‘Marauder’)!

… on the subject of excellent books on Fender, this is definitely worth a look. It offers a detailed look at Fender over the first 75 years, covering most/all of their output - guitar, bass, amps, keys etc. It also comes in a very natty tweed-style cardboard wrap. Not reliced!

To add to Meterman’s excellent compilation recommendations, here’s some that I’ve gotten a lot out of over the years. They were a gateway into artists and tracks that I’d not previously been aware of. So, slightly off the beaten funk track I’d definitely recommend these…

… and you could definitely lose yourself in this. It’s in E. Just E.

If there is then hopefully this is on it…

Love that track. The set list for that tour included some interesting choices - Mountains and segueing into Wanna Be Starting Something was a good un (there’s a few good clips on YouTube). Re. The 12” you mention. Was that the double 12” containing both tracks? That was fairly collectible for a while…

… the B-side of Mountains is an instrumental called Alexa de Paris. His guitar playing is very Zappa-esque, to my ears. Great track. (but way too many fantastic tracks to have a favourite…)

It was the signature bass - interesting p/up configuration. Always reminds me of the early Lakland basses…

Ida Nielsen?

… well if it was good enough for John Paul Jones!

The Small Faces and The Faces were fabulous bands, but the latter wouldn’t have existed if Steve Marriott hadn’t walked away from the former …

Willie Weeks, from around 8 mins …

Listening to the demos just reinforces what a fabulous rhythm guitar player he is. His feel and groove are superb …

Possibly sacrilege to some, but I love this …

Hadn’t realised it was a Peel session. I first heard it on Alan Freeman’s Saturday afternoon show and always assumed it was from that. I taped the show and listened to it loads as it had a Bowie track on (can’t remember which one) and also Phil Manzanera’s 801 doing Remote Control. Good times!

Just watched the Louis Cole set. Blimey, what a band! Tomorrow I dare say I shall be watching it again …

As stated on here already, Matt Bissonette’s playing was fabulous last night but he stays pretty faithful to Dee Murray’s lines, only reinforcing what a wonderful and talented player Dee was…

Just your average 1970s kid’s TV music! From Sesame Street, the abridged version of the Pointer Sisters Pinball Number Count …

Great, isn’t it! There are so many highlights, but at the moment I’m really digging the bit at 17mins 50secs where Rob Mullarkey shows some truly wonderful use of the Digitech Whammy pedal. He’s such an innovative player. Also think that the unsung hero of the piece is Ian Allison, whose excellent questions really draw out the best responses/playing from the players…

If you’re a fan of Rob Mullarkey, Richard Spaven, J Dilla, D’Angelo, stretching time, different time signatures, or simply want to watch a fabulous rhythm section right on top of their game explain how they go about things, then this is well worth a watch…

Les Pattinson of Echo & the Bunnymen was an upstroke player, and a fine one at that. One of Flea’s favourite bass players, apparently…