Elvis on bass! Well I Never...

[itsmedunc]

There's a 62 P recently been put on ebey. He put in a link to the pic below.

[deanovw]

There was a thread a while ago about Elvis Costello on bass that soon turned into a show Elvis Presley on bass pics:

[url="http://basschat.co.uk/topic/218088-elvis-bass/page__p__2224362__hl__elvis%20on%20bass__fromsearch__1#entry2224362"]HERE[/url]

[waynepunkdude]

That's been Essential Tension's avatar for ages, it's a cool pic.

[KevB]

But did anyone finally identify the one E Costello was holding in the Sun pic?

[ahpook]

[url="http://www.alembic.com/info/fc_gwathnar.html"]Elvish [/url]? On bass ?

[Weststarx]

He looks like he's finger tapping as well!

[Coilte]

Does anyone know if he could actually play ?

[Highfox]

[quote name='Coilte' timestamp='1399639911' post='2446165']
Does anyone know if he could actually play ?
[/quote]

Well he played guitar, so guess the basics of playing bass he could manage.
He always had good taste in the bass players he used so guess it's importance wasn't lost on him.

[Roland Rock]

I remember McCartney saying that when the Beatles went to visit Elvis, they walked into the room and he was playing on an unplugged P bass

[Coilte]

[quote name='Highfox' timestamp='1399640107' post='2446174']
Well he played guitar
[/quote]

Granted, he was always seen with an acoustic guitar strung over his shoulder. However, I dont actually remember ever hearing him [i]play [/i]it.

[Highfox]

[quote name='Coilte' timestamp='1399640366' post='2446188']
Granted, he was always seen with an acoustic guitar strung over his shoulder. However, I dont actually remember ever hearing him [i]play [/i]it.
[/quote]

There is a bit on his 68 come back show.. lots more I'm sure.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zVaBVZaS7So

[Hobbayne]

[quote name='Coilte' timestamp='1399639911' post='2446165']
Does anyone know if he could actually play ?
[/quote]

Yes. He played the bass intro (and maybe the rest of the song too) on Your So Square Baby I dont Care, asfter Bill Black couldnt do it and walked off in a huff. Elvis picked up Bills 57 p bass and the rest is history.

[Coilte]

[quote name='Highfox' timestamp='1399641091' post='2446200']
There is a bit on his 68 come back show.. lots more I'm sure.
[url="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zVaBVZaS7So"]https://www.youtube....h?v=zVaBVZaS7So[/url]
[/quote]

[quote name='Hobbayne' timestamp='1399641110' post='2446201']
Yes. He played the bass intro (and maybe the rest of the song too) on Your So Square Baby I dont Care, asfter Bill Black couldnt do it and walked off in a huff. Elvis picked up Bills 57 p bass and the rest is history.
[/quote]

Thanks guys. I was never a fan of Elvis, and as a result I know little about his background.

[Happy Jack]

We could always ask Jerry Scheff - he's a BC Member.

[Cat Burrito]

There are pictures of him playing upright bass too on some of the rockabilly groups on Facebook. I'm sure he could play a bit but I don't suppose he gave Billy Sheenan a run for his money

[Annoying Twit]

[quote name='Roland Rock' timestamp='1399640162' post='2446175']
I remember McCartney saying that when the Beatles went to visit Elvis, they walked into the room and he was playing on an unplugged P bass
[/quote]

I read that too. If I recall correctly, Elvis was playing "I feel fine", having learnt it when he knew The Beatles were coming.

[Lozz196]

Yep, apparently Paul McCartneys words were "coming along quite promising on bass, Elvis" or so I`ve read from one of the many books about Elvis.

[geoffbyrne]

From everything I've read, Elvis was a quite decent guitarist and the story quoted above about his playing bass in 'I Don't Care ' (or whatever) is quoted in the book 'How the Fender Bass Changed the World' on page 47.

Also, I remember seeing Elvis's Comeback Christmas Concert when he came out the army & he plays quite a bit of guitar on that including on his gold-plated Hagstrom Viking of which I had a non-gold plated one at the time!

G.

[Dandelion]

Would Elvis Presley and Elvis Costello be considered to be Elvis's or Elvi?

[geoffbyrne]

I suppose Elvis's would be the possessive and it might be Elvi or even Elvii!!!!!

G.

[EssentialTension]

It was 30 years ago in 2007. Edited May 10, 2014 by EssentialTension

[Lord Sausage]

i couldn't care less if he played bass or not. All that matters is that he had the coolest voice and was cool as f***!


Let's face it who else could pull off the colour of the clothes he's wearing in that pic!

Edited May 10, 2014 by Lord Sausage

[Colonel36]

I see that the bass is currently around £2800. Looks good if it's genuine.

[drTStingray]

[quote name='Happy Jack' timestamp='1399645161' post='2446262']
We could always ask Jerry Scheff - he's a BC Member.
[/quote]

Now he is one awesome bass player!

[sblueplanet]

Ditto about Jerry Scheff.