LeftyP

Live albums can be very good or very poor. Capturing the atmosphere of the venue/crowd and balancing the stage sound can be hit and miss at times. I can understand why sometimes studio "tweaks" may be required. One of my all time favourite albums is Harry Chapin's "Greatest Stories Live". It sounds edited in places but it's a great listen. Then there's Joe Cocker's "Mad Dogs & Englishmen" double LP (that dates me!) which is just a riot - in a good way.

That's the way I do it too.

I am very blessed to be part of a thriving and active church. Each Sunday morning we have over 100 people in our cramped building (we are looking for larger premises) with dozens of children, students and young adults. At 72 years of age I am old enough to be most of the congregations granddad! There are many activities during the week for all age groups and this weekend we had our Weekend Away. The church decamped to a facility run by the Scouts/Guides just out of town and what a time we had! The weather was hot and sunny and some people camped while others used the on-site dormitories. My wife and I live ten minutes away so we slept in our own beds! We were playing in the small band made up of semi-acoustic guitar, keyboard, Cajon, bass guitar (me) and vocal (my wife). What a response we had from our members who sang the choice of songs with gusto. You don't need a big band when the congregation don't hold back. Friday night started with a ceilidh which was preceded by a meal. Saturday morning brought two meetings with good Bible teaching and singing and the youngsters had their own Bible themed activities out in the sun. After lunch the afternoon was full of fun with adventure games (water was involved) and a chance to explore the vast fields and woodland paths. Another early evening meeting was followed by another meal! We returned to our church building for the Sunday morning service before returning to the site for a lunchtime picnic. The whole event was a great way to get to know the wider church family and enjoy good Christian fellowship. The weather could not have been better! Playing in the church band is a great privilege and it certainly keeps me on my toes and makes me pick up the bass every day. Much of what I play is pretty simple because that is all the songs need but I do slip in the odd riff now and again. I would recommend anyone here who attends church to join the music group. I only play about once every three weeks as we have a rota but I practise the songs for the weeks I am not scheduled for just in case I get called in at the last minute. Roll on the next event!

I was born in 1950(!) and was brought up on the Ann Shelton/Vera Lynn/Jimmy Young style of popular music played on the BBC Light Programme. In the early 60s we found Radio Luxemburg at night with sponsored shows by Helen Shapiro and Co and then the pirate radio stations dropped anchor and everything changed. The records being played on Radio Caroline (North) were amazing to a 13 year old lad and some of my favourite artists and songs still come from that decade. The Beatles (of course), The Hollies, The Searchers, Cliff and the Shadows plus female singers like Dusty, Cilla and Sandi were my top home grown picks. From the USA we had The Association, The Rascals, The Lovin' Spoonful, Beach Boys, Mamas & Papas, Tamla Motown and soul singers like Aretha and Wilson Pickett and a host of one hit wonders. Carnaby Street fashions hit the headlines with mini-skirts to the fore and there were many Pop Music magazines to scour through. It was the perfect storm for teenagers and I don't think a revolution like that will happen again.

This morning's service is one I will remember for some time. We are blessed by having lots of young people in our congregation. They range from babies through all school years to college and university students - plus their parents who are in their twenties through to forties. At 72 I am old enough to be most of our congregation's grandad! We have thriving youth programmes which meet on week nights to cater for the various ages. They attract our own young people who also bring along school friends who do not attend church on Sundays. This morning the church was packed with about 170 people following a youth camp over the Friday and Saturday nights. It was held at a youth centre about 40 miles away and involved silly games coupled with the message of Jesus. The group (including non-church goers) arrived from the camp about 15 minutes before the service started and were fed tea, coffee and hot pastries. Their parents came along to collect them and stayed in the service to find out what had gone on. Our assistant pastor pitched his message just right with plenty of fun but loaded with the Gospel. I was playing bass in the band. We started with "How Great Thou Art" (one of my favourite old hymns) and the singing was terrific. That set the tone for the rest of the service. Further up this thread I posted a video of "Behold Our God" and commented that with a small band I hoped we could do it justice. Boy did it work! Where I was standing I could hear many male voices belting out the song and I don't mind admitting that I choked up a bit. We see many young folk lost in a world that feeds them all kinds of lifestyles and to see a packed hall of teenagers and younger kids praising God and enjoying each other's company was very heart warming. When it is not seen as 'cool' to attend church, having so many young men in our fellowship is encouraging. The fact that we have many young female students may have something to do with it! Playing in church is a privilege I do not take for granted and today was a blessing in more ways than one.

We are doing this song on Sunday. Just five of us in the band including me on four string bass. I'm not sure we can replicate this version and I won't come close to the 6 string bass player at 3'53"!

It's always a bonus to own nice things - bass guitars included. Will your average punter down at The Dog & Duck notice the difference in sound between an Argos special and Fodera - probably not. Most folk don't even notice bass players. Just think back in the skiffle days and the old tea chest and broom handle, it worked and no-one bothered. Should you buy an expensive bass? If you can afford it and it brings you pleasure, why not. Is it necessary - no, but if we only bought stuff that was necessary wouldn't life be a little dull?

I was born in 1950(!) so we had the BBC Light programme which played stuff like Victor Sylvester and Billy Cotton with Kathy Kaye and Alan Breeze! Then came Lonnie Donegan and "Saturday Club" with Brian Matthew so we could hear Kenny Ball and his Jazz Men and very early 'pop' songs. The big band sound was still popular with Glen Miller to the fore and we had vocalists like Vera Lynn and Ann Shelton as well as Sinatra and co. We discovered Radio Luxemburg (Fab 208, your station of the stars) and I fell in love with Helen Shapiro - I was 11 she would have been about 14 - the older woman! I was playing the mouth organ back then and would perform at school concerts playing tunes like "Wheels", "African Waltz" and my party piece "Cherry Pink and Apple Blossom White" - although I didn't know that was the title. Into my teens and Radio Caroline (North) hit the airwaves and everything changed. Being a teenager in the 1960s was amazing. Pop music exploded along with the Carnaby Street fashions and the off shore radio stations opened up the airwaves to great music. I loved the Beatles (still like their early stuff but cannot get into Sgt. Pepper), The Beach Boys, Mamas & Papas, The Association and most of the Motown catalogue. Later I became a fan of singer songwriters like Jim Croce and Harry Chapin and folk/rock bands like Fotheringay. I am so glad that I was exposed to such a wide variety of music as I can enjoy the delicate voice of Alison Krauss alongside the raunchy sound of Tina Turner and the soul of Aretha. I'm a huge fan of harmony vocals and the Carpenters and ABBA are never far away from my CD player. Heavy rock/metal and rap pass me by as I really appreciate great melodies in the mould of Cole Porter, Burt Bacharach etc. These days I generally listen to country and Christian music (I play bass in church). I like a song that tells a good story and has a pleasing melody to it.

When I read posts like this I feel blessed to belong to a music group (and wider church) who just seem to get on with each other. We have a team of singers and musicians who play on a rota basis. I play bass on average about once every three weeks with different personnel each time. We do not have set teams and it makes for interesting sessions. Cliques cannot form and we get to know a wider group of people. Most of us only play at church and run through the songs about an hour before the morning service. At 72 I'm one of the oldest members of the music team and we have secondary school students contributing too. It is a great mix and the Sunday morning run through can be good fun. We try to play well but don't get hung up if anyone makes a mistake. Our thinking is that when the 120+ congregation start singing they won't hear our fluffs anyway! That doesn't mean we don't care about the standard of playing but we accept that we are human and things can go wrong. We mix outside of band duties at other church activities and tend to enjoy being around each other. The main thing is giving our best for God and we park any egos at the door.

"I hate Mondays".

I haven't had the chance to catch up with all the posts on this thread but my favourite bass design is the Hofner "Beatle Bass" as used by Paul McCartney. I have a cheap copy of it and just like the look of the thing.

Here we go.... Bethlehem Live.mp4

OK, this is not about playing in church but we have just transformed the inside of our building into an interpretation of a Bethlehem market on the night of Jesus' birth. We did this the Christmas before lockdown (2019) and it had a great reception. Over this week several school groups will be taken round and introduced to characters such as; potters, money changers, spice sellers, shepherds etc and told about the birth of Jesus. We have the bustle of a busy market playing over the P.A. and Roman soldiers patrolling! After the tour the school kids (junior age) will get some food and activities to reinforce the story. The general public will be invited on Friday evening and Saturday morning. I'm the angel who brings "Good tidings of great joy"! My wife did a walk through video on her 'phone during rehearsal and I'll see if I can upload it.

Did you not think to keep in touch with them? I've known people who have left church or clubs and complained that no-one kept in touch, but it is a two-way street. I don't know why or how you withdrew from the team, but people can feel awkward in those situations. Don't expect everyone to run around after you if you show no signs of keeping in touch with them. I hope the situation resolves itself and you can mend bridges, but it will take effort on your part too.

I have two. One is a Tanglewood violin bass (Hofner Beatle Bass copy) which I learned on and my main one is an Italia short scale. I do look at other bass guitars but when I pick up my Italia all thoughts of buying another bass fade away!

I have no idea who the guy is but Promenade Music in Morecambe is a brilliant shop.

Don't forget the rip off that is the "booking fee ".

I work in local radio and hear the new stuff all the time, which is why I choose not to listen to it at home!

At our service yesterday our pianist called in sick, so our assistant pastor filled in on semi-acoustic guitar at the last minute. My wife was on oboe, and I was on bass. We had two female vocalists. The small church was full (around 120 people), and the singing sounded great. I hit most of the right notes in the right order and the whole thing worked well. Sometimes an impromptu situation can produce good results!

Despite being a music fan and working in local radio, I do not sit and listen to music very often. I cannot remember the last time a put a CD on and listened to the whole thing. I don't have any music or radio playing in the car as I find it too distracting. A few months ago, I put together a playlist on Spotify. It contains many of the tracks I loved as a teenager back in the 1960s, all played on Radio Caroline (North) via medium wave. The Beatles rub shoulders with the Beach Boys, Association, Rascals, Mamas & Papas and many other more obscure one hit wonders. A few days ago, I was relaxing after putting some miles in on my turbo-trainer and listened to my 60s selection. I was 16 again and a lot fitter. Sadly, back then, I was also covered in Acne but that's another story! I knew all the words to all the songs while I don't know anything that's in the "Hit Parade" these days. Oh, for the heady days of Radio Caroline.

I must confess to being out of touch with the Top 40 charts these days. In fact I'm not even sure they still exist! I was born in 1950 so was a teenager in the 60s and remember many instrumental hits that populated the "Hit Parade" as we called it. Does that still happen? Off the top of my head here are some of the performers I can bring to mind; The Shadows, The Ventures, Duane Eddy, Acker Bilk, Kenny Ball, Russ Conway, Herb Alpert, Percy Faith Orchestra, Sounds Orchestral, Bert Kaempfert, B Bumble and the Stingers, Booker T and the MGs, The John Barry Seven, The Tornados, Johnny Dankworth, Dave Brubeck... I could go on, but you get the picture. Apart from the specialist radio stations like Classic FM, are instrumental tracks getting "air time" these days? There were tracks by the big bands still being played back in the 1950s/60s with Glen Miller and Benny Goodman among them. Film and TV themes contributed to the list with the Theme from Exodus, Big Country, 633 Squadron, The Dam Busters etc. My personal favourites would have to be "Because They're Young" by Duane Eddy and "African Waltz" by Johnny Dankworth Orchestra. Do you have a favourite?

Because I'm not the only one relying on that monitor. This Sunday was really good as I was positioned where I could hear the main church speakers so I knew what I was playing!

Sam the Sham and the Pharaohs - Hey Wooly Bully!!

I don't get hung up on technology and have very little control over how my bass sounds in church. I plug into a D.I. box and the volume and tone is in the hands of the sound guys. I'm crammed into a corner between the drums and keyboard and only have a small Behringer monitor on a stand through which to hear the whole band. The monitor struggles to cope with the bass frequencies and as I'm behind the main speakers, I cannot hear what the congregation hears. I play a short scale four string fitted with flat wounds. I suspect most of the congregation will not really notice the bass and those that do will not care how much it cost or how many gadgets it is fed through. I like to keep things simple!