chris_b

Fixed that for you.

Depends how selective you are. The Motown show at Wembley Arena a few years ago had probably 1 original per band but it was not an issue and didn't affect the show at all. They billed the band as Jr Walker and the Allstars, which wasn't strictly true but a minor detail to a great evening.

Should bands with one original member carry on? Are they any good, still making good music? I've heard plenty of bands with their full original line-up who probably shouldn't be carrying on!!

I had a 5 string Fender Jazz and the B string wasn't "floppy" at all. It did sound slightly different to the other 4 strings but that difference disappeared when playing with the band. I seem to be playing with a lighter touch as the years go by and typically don't see the differences others write about in my strings, so I'm wondering if the real cause is the way people play their instruments.

IMO forget Thomann and the other companies out there. Many of us here use cables made by OBBM. My reasons; he's a great guy (so supporting our own) and he makes exceptionally good cables at good prices. The link again. . . . http://www.rock-wire.co.uk/

My Whirlwind instrument cable is coming up to 30 years old and my OBBM cable is about 8 years old. Never put any stress on any part of the lead (cable or plugs), keep neatly rolled up, roll them up correctly, don't twist the wire inside the casing and never ever stand on or put any weight (cabs or cases) on your cables. I play with a guitarist who has cable failures almost every other gig. They are strewn all over the stage and he stands on all of them, all the time!!!

Andy Bown was a sideman until 1981-2 when he joined the band.

I've played in concrete boxes, glass boxes and the opposite, a room that had thick floor to ceiling curtains and a thick pile carpet. The US Air Force club in Mannheim that Elvis designed was bigger than any hangar I've been in. I know some rooms will never sound good, but I think many difficult rooms are made worse by bands who don't know how to compensate and change their sound on stage so they can get a better sound off stage. The boom and mud of one particularly bad gig went away when I started using Bergantino cabs. I assumed I had way too much bass in my sound before.

I think that was because he didn't (still doesn't) want anything to do with Roger Waters.

IMO one member is fine but I'd draw the line at no members! I did some gigs a few years ago with a Thunderclap Newman and the closest they came to an original member was the guitarist who replaced Jimmy McCulloch. To be fair they were billed as Thunderclap but the posters could be misconstrued, and often were!! In the Early 70's Fleetwood Mac's management tried to send Stretch out as Fleetwood Mac on a US tour. In the end the tour didn't happen because Stretch refused to do it.

The Early Years, interesting read on the website. I'm playing with Tony Pow tonight and guitarist Nico Ramsden, joined our band when he left Stray in 1972.

If promoters want to book the band and audiences come then why would anyone stop gigging? You've got your records of the bands you like, but like a photo, that is only a point in time. Bands are not fixed entities, they change and evolve and even after "golden periods" they can create good music and performances. Little Feat, Genesis, Pink Floyd and many other bands evolved and made great music after the original line up and style of music changed.

If someone said they had a floppy B string I'd ask how hard they hit/plucked/pulled the strings. I've played basses were the B string didn't sound quite right, but I've not seen a floppy B string yet. Has anyone with a light right hand touch experienced the floppy B string thing?

Over here we have the Solid Silver 60s tour. Lots of guys who had hits in the 60's (Searchers, Troggs, Brian Poole etc) doing sold out big theatre tours. I know the keyboard player in the band. I keep reminding him I'm available, but the phone hasn't rung yet.

Is your long term memory broken?

You know the songs, like playing with the drummer. . . . . err, that's it. No one's going to die, so have fun. Make sure you stop and start with the others, they probably won't notice what happens in the middle.

Tainted Love Karen Souza, I liked that one, great bass sound. Didn't particularly like the rest. Nils Landgren does the Jazz cover thing very well. . . .

It took me 2 mins to find them. You guys just prove that you're not suitable material every time you moan about the ad. They are a very good band. If I was 20 + years younger I'd have been sitting in the same room and talking to them on August 18th.

I hope you've got your lawyer on the case. There's a lot of people getting very rich these days.

#3. Stretches my budget to a higher level of instrument.

My suggestion to Later would be to add a series of specials to the schedule. I seem to recall that in the early days Jools went to New Orleans for a show about the music down there. There have been, and still are, plenty of gigs that Later could cover. a few years ago Jeff Beck at Ronnies, this month Jon Cleary at Ronnies. A couple of years ago Keb Mo at the Union Chappel and Vulfpeck and Vintage Trouble. . . all missed. The Funk Brothers came to the Festival Hall in 2000. In 2005 the Muscle Shoals, Hi and Stax studio guys came over and played at the Barbican. All these gigs should have been covered, but they weren't! There must be many examples in other genres. Never mind knocking what is already on TV, what about all the missed opportunities?

What's wrong with pen and paper?

Did he play any better when he came back?

You cancelled a gig to go and look at bass gear? ??

I think you'll find the acts and the show are in the firing line. It used to be the case that the producer picked the acts and JH just presented, but for a long time now he's also been on the list of producers. Not sure if that gives him any extra powers or is just another revenue stream.