EssentialTension

[quote name='skankdelvar' timestamp='1470932304' post='3109459'] It is strange that so much narrow-minded belligerence is directed at Blue simply because he has a more selective date range of influences and dares to admit as much. For his behaviour is unexceptional and in line with most normal peoples' experiences. Research conclusively demonstrates that in Western society one's personal tastes begin to solidify in one's teens, accrete through one's 20's (as do the layers around a pearl) and tend to be firmly set by the age of about 35. Thereafter there is no innate, physiological, psychological or legal requirement that one continue to evolve one's palate beyond this point. It is simply a matter of choice or availability. ([i]Note to self: Whatever happened to Spangles?[/i]) Some (like Blue, me and many, [i]many[/i] others) are happy to continue to engage with that which we already know. A minority may follow the path of eclecticism; I would heartily encourage them in their search, particularly if it is a means of coping with old age and imminent mortality. It would however be nice if the 'adventurous' few could extend their broad-mindedness to incorporate the more commonly-held acceptance that other peoples views, tastes and choices may differ from one's own yet be in no way inferior. [color=honeydew].[/color] [/quote] In my view, Blue's problem is not his limited range of influences but his expectation that anyone of his age will have a similar limited range of influences. However, he's unavoidably at liberty to hold his view, as are you or indeed is anyone, but the price of expressing said position is that others may disagree or disapprove. Shocking maybe, but that's life. Please feel free to disagree or disapprove if you feel that my view is in any way inferior.

... and on another occasion: 'You're not really tall enough to play bass'. [I am 5' 10", if that even matters.]

[quote name='barneyg42' timestamp='1470917962' post='3109327'] ... the way he nods his head ... [/quote] An audience member once said to me: 'I like the way you nod your head. Have you considered joining a reggae band?'

[quote name='barneyg42' timestamp='1470733482' post='3107943'] Adam Clayton.........apparently talentless? [/quote] Not so talentless that he couldn't hold down the job for close on forty years. [quote name='barneyg42' timestamp='1470733482' post='3107943'] Mark King.......sounds like a bag of spanners? [/quote] Not my cup of tea but the idea that he is no more talented than a bag of spanners is ridiculous. [quote name='barneyg42' timestamp='1470733482' post='3107943'] Matt Bellamy......nods his head funny!! [/quote] Is that the highly talented guitarist etc from Muse?

[quote name='Big_Stu' timestamp='1470862253' post='3109080'] ... What tickles me is I know a handful of fully pro players and had extended conversations with a few others and I've never once heard anyone of any note say anything derogatory about a fellow pro. There must be some kind of glass ceiling that you get through where you just live and let live. [/quote] Old story about saxophonist Charlie Parker which i recall reading ... Apparently he took a bandmate out for a drink. They went to a bar where a band was playing; Parker saying to the other guy 'You gotta see this band, I've heard them a few times now'. In the bar, Parker's friend says 'Charlie, they are awful'. Parker says, 'Yes, but they've really improved, you should have seen them last week, they keep getting better'.

[quote name='blue' timestamp='1470771242' post='3108371'] No hate, however when your my age, these guys are not relevant to me. The guys I like and have influenced, me cone out of the 60s & 70s. Blue [/quote] It's got nothing to do with your age. If you want to say somethign about your own very narrow grasp of music and its history then that's fair enough. Own it for yourself. But I'm in the same age group as you (I'm 64) but have totally different attitudes to music. So don't blame your narrow mindedness on your age group.

[quote name='BigRedX' timestamp='1470662001' post='3107420'] Go through the "goods to declare" channel and pay the VAT and duties if applicable. There's a good chance that you'll just get waved through anyway and told not to waste the customs time (although don'y count on it). Also remember that if you're buying in the US for export you shouldn't have to pay US sales tax on your purchase. [/quote] Good advice. If you do get asked to pay then expect it to be approx 22% of the declared value.

If you get caught attempting to evade payment of the tax and duty then, as well as having to pay the tax, HMRC can confiscate the goods.

[quote name='The-Ox' timestamp='1470356091' post='3105507'] Although the Doors had a string of session musicians on bass, they didn't have one for their debut album, i think [/quote] Larry Knechtel on some tracks but not credited on the LP cover. But keyboard bass throughout.

[quote name='ivansc' timestamp='1469651516' post='3100123'] ... There is no "has to pay" about it ... [/quote] Equally, there is no 'has to buy' about it.

[quote name='discreet' timestamp='1469629210' post='3099867'] I though long and hard about possible replies to this, but most are unsuitable... [/quote] Ah, discretion, very good.

[quote name='FinnDave' timestamp='1469627940' post='3099848'] We're The Wirebirds, there is a more recent live audio of it here: [url="https://www.lemonrock.com/thewirebirds?page=mp3s"]https://www.lemonroc...birds?page=mp3s[/url] but I'm not aware of any decent video. [/quote] That's good. Looking at the rest of your material there, no offence meant at all because it sounds good, but I'd be wanting to do more of the obscurer ones like [i]My Dog[/i] and fewer standards - most of the ones there I have played at one time or another.

What appears to the audience as being covered is often in their imagination, based of course on their own experiences. I was recently in a band that performed a version of Jambalaya - a song which I have always associated with Hank Williams who wrote and recorded it around 1952. But our singer and many audience members experienced it as a Carpenters' song. Our version was like neither Williams nor Carpenters. And so, The Carpenters, what an excellent covers band they were.

[quote name='FinnDave' timestamp='1469627618' post='3099844'] You found the song or our version of it on YT? The only one of us playing it seems to be several years old, in fact from our first gig, 3 weeks after the band was formed. [/quote] Elvin Bishop version. I'll look for you, what are you called?

[quote name='FinnDave' timestamp='1469622262' post='3099770'] Agreed, one of our most popular songs is a version of Elvin Bishop's 'My Dog', which few people know. Especially as we play it in a different style and have re-written some of the words to suit a British audience. But it's definitely a cover. [/quote] I didn't know that one either. Just checked it out on YouTube. Very good. I often find it quite shocking the way blues/rock bands (for want of a better term) draw on such a limited range of songs that have been done to death when there is a massive catalogue of uncovered music to be, well, uncovered ... and in my experience audiences are receptive.

[quote name='RockfordStone' timestamp='1469616170' post='3099707'] you can but you can't make a set out of songs like that. no bar/club/venue is going to hire a band that only plays b-sides and demo's that no one has heard of. unless you are doing it for a bit of fun (where you can cover anything and should probably keep it in the basement ) the whole point IMO of being in a "covers" band is to entertain people, most likely for money. on the whole, that type of venue or crowd wants to hear what they know, not be educated about a demo that madonna recorded in her bathroom on a tape recorder. [/quote] I'll just stick to my previous comments.

[quote name='discreet' timestamp='1469493602' post='3098808'] I felt bushes in Holland, but it was quite a while ago now. [/quote] Yes, but were they some nice soft white ones?

[quote name='TimR' timestamp='1469613670' post='3099692'] The whole idea of a cover band is to play tunes that the audience knows. [/quote] No. That's maybe one kind of so-called cover band but it's by no means the nature or point of all such so-called cover bands or all such so-called covers. It's completely feasible and reasonable to cover a song whether or not the audience will know it. You can actually have an audience going 'That's a good song, who did you say wrote that?'. Or more likely, they won't care who wrote it as long as it's got a proper tune, a hook or two, and maybe it makes you want to dance or at least tap a foot.

[quote name='PaulGibsonBass' timestamp='1469565076' post='3099466'] Yes. He was in the band the first time I saw them live, in 1984. [/quote] He also co-wrote [i]Torn[/i] and was producer and bassist on Natalie Imbruglia's version of that song - as discussed in another thread.

[quote name='KevB' timestamp='1469524401' post='3098938'] Think Billy Fury wrote most of his own stuff too but it's true they were more the exceptions than the norm. It was mostly pop stars having songs picked for them by management and producers that thought they suited the act. Often worked very successfully but you can see the potential frustration for those acts that were convinced they could write as well as perform. For some it worked in reverse such as already mentioned Carole King, Neil Sedaka etc who started out primarily as writers for other people before getting out there and performing their own material themselves. [/quote] BIlly Fury wrote the whole of his first album [i]The Sound of Fury[/i]. But, as you say, the exception.

[quote name='Happy Jack' timestamp='1469519869' post='3098886'] Phil Jones has the right idea. [url="http://s1128.photobucket.com/user/h4ppyjack/media/Just%20Stuff/Music%20and%20Musicians/PJWeb-PhilAirPulse.png.html"][/url] [/quote] Phil Jones other idea ..

[quote name='TimR' timestamp='1469518831' post='3098872'] Whatever happened to beat combos? [/quote] Still going ...

[quote name='skankdelvar' timestamp='1469481790' post='3098756'] ... When I first started out all bands were called bands ... [color=#faebd7][i].[/i][/color] [/quote] When I first started out all bands were called groups.

[quote name='Phil Starr' timestamp='1469516003' post='3098852'] I remember reading an interview with Paul Bushnell, bassist with Ednaswap. Finding out their song they'd been gigging for years was a hit without them being involved broke up the band. Paul Bushnell did allright out of it having seen who he's played with since, here's the article. [url="http://www.performing-musician.com/pm/nov09/articles/paulbushnell.htm"]http://www.performin...aulbushnell.htm[/url] [/quote] The song actually predates Ednaswap though doesn't it and was given to Imbruglia by one of the original writers? Is that not right? And Preven and Cutler must have done quite well financially from the Imbruglia version? And here's another version by one of the original writers ... http://youtu.be/Z6E2whjUOcY

I forgot to mention that I can see the music stand more easily if I sit down.