miles'tone Posted May 31, 2019 Posted May 31, 2019 I'm in the process of building a bitsa PJ and fancied putting the bridge pickup really close to the bridge like Norman did so I can get a bit of that cool Rhythm Stick sound. Upon sleuthing around on the net I've discovered that his trusty P bass was still just that at the time, no J pickup! The pickguard is gone and the brass plate is in situ but still just the sole P pickup. Really surprised me! Here he is miming with the band to HMWYRS on TOTP: Here's what I was going for, not so sure I need to now! 😄.. 5 Quote
Doctor J Posted May 31, 2019 Posted May 31, 2019 Nice. It looks like it has been used as a rhythm stick... to hit people with. 1 2 Quote
Doctor J Posted May 31, 2019 Posted May 31, 2019 Bass playing aside, that is such a bloody good song. It's nice to just have a reason to listen to it again and enjoy the bejesus out of it 😎 3 Quote
Maude Posted May 31, 2019 Posted May 31, 2019 17 minutes ago, Doctor J said: Bass playing aside, that is such a bloody good song. It's nice to just have a reason to listen to it again and enjoy the bejesus out of it 😎 Very true. We all go on about Norman Watt Roy's bass playing, and rightly so, but the entire band really were a cut above, extremely creative and Ian Dury's lyrics were just sublime, poetic and beautiful, yet slightly seedy with some market trader swagger. 6 Quote
Ricky 4000 Posted May 31, 2019 Posted May 31, 2019 Interesting, I don't hear any treble in the bass on Rhythm Stick, but the bridge pup appears in time for this: 2 1 Quote
SICbass Posted May 31, 2019 Posted May 31, 2019 Please excuse the threadjacking, but any excuse to play some Ian Dury (especially with the Nutty Boys). 3 Quote
Stub Mandrel Posted May 31, 2019 Posted May 31, 2019 Good lord! Ian Dury was Lionel Blair's evil twin! Quote
ambient Posted May 31, 2019 Posted May 31, 2019 I’m sure I remember reading somewhere that he played an old Alembic bass. Slightly off topic, I was at uni with his nephew, who is without doubt the most one of the most gifted musicians I’ve ever met. Quote
Steve Browning Posted June 1, 2019 Posted June 1, 2019 Yes. He played an Alembic when my band supported Wilko back in the 80's. I believe the Alembic was used for the sample used for Relax. 2 Quote
Marky L Posted June 1, 2019 Posted June 1, 2019 I'm sure I read somewhere that Norman played quite a lot of the bass on the earlier Clash albums. Slight off topic but still Norm related 😄 Quote
ambient Posted June 1, 2019 Posted June 1, 2019 1 hour ago, Steve Browning said: Yes. He played an Alembic when my band supported Wilko back in the 80's. I believe the Alembic was used for the sample used for Relax. Yes, that’s right. I was at Goldsmiths a couple of years ago, J J Jeczalik did a guest lecture the one week, he spoke at length about the recording of Relax. 1 Quote
Misdee Posted June 1, 2019 Posted June 1, 2019 Norman bought the Alembic from John Entwhistle, IIRC. Love Norm's P Bass tone on New Boots and Panties. That is one of the benchmarks for me. 2 Quote
White Cloud Posted June 1, 2019 Posted June 1, 2019 I read an interview with Norman many years ago where he revealed that he bought his two Alembic seires 1 basses from a Brazilian musician (for a snip). Quote
NikNik Posted June 2, 2019 Posted June 2, 2019 On 01/06/2019 at 10:55, ambient said: Yes, that’s right. I was at Goldsmiths a couple of years ago, J J Jeczalik did a guest lecture the one week, he spoke at length about the recording of Relax. Didn't know JJ had anything to do with that recording session? Am interested. Care to expand? Quote
ambient Posted June 2, 2019 Posted June 2, 2019 1 hour ago, NikNik said: Didn't know JJ had anything to do with that recording session? Am interested. Care to expand? Apparently, from what I remember (it was three years ago, I’d never heard of JJ, I was a little miffed about travelling to London for my MMus lecture, only to find it cancelled and JJ was doing a guest talk), any they’d spent hours and hours trying to get the sound right for the track. They’d tried loads of session players, but it wasn’t working. They’d decided to actually scrap it, having invested a fortune. JJ was in the studio late after everyone else had gone, he’d continued working on the track, and he’d got it sequenced, Horn came back and liked it, so the two of carried on working on it. 1 Quote
NikNik Posted June 2, 2019 Posted June 2, 2019 58 minutes ago, ambient said: Apparently, from what I remember (it was three years ago, I’d never heard of JJ, I was a little miffed about travelling to London for my MMus lecture, only to find it cancelled and JJ was doing a guest talk), any they’d spent hours and hours trying to get the sound right for the track. They’d tried loads of session players, but it wasn’t working. They’d decided to actually scrap it, having invested a fortune. JJ was in the studio late after everyone else had gone, he’d continued working on the track, and he’d got it sequenced, Horn came back and liked it, so the two of carried on working on it. Wonder whose Fairlight JJ used? The studios? I know the Art of Noise used one extensively. Quote
Maude Posted June 2, 2019 Posted June 2, 2019 4 minutes ago, NikNik said: Wonder whose Fairlight JJ used? The studios? I know the Art of Noise used one extensively. From memory of interviews it was Trevor Horn's, cost something like £18,000 back in the early 80s. Quote
ambient Posted June 2, 2019 Posted June 2, 2019 29 minutes ago, NikNik said: Wonder whose Fairlight JJ used? The studios? I know the Art of Noise used one extensively. Trevor Horn’s. It was one of the first in the country, he used to kind of rent it out, and JJ was the operator. I said in my earlier post about being a bit miffed at the time, it was actually a really interesting talk. Quote
Maude Posted June 2, 2019 Posted June 2, 2019 Wasn't Horn's Fairlight first used on a Dollar single? Oh the shame of it 🤒 Quote
NikNik Posted June 3, 2019 Posted June 3, 2019 6 hours ago, Maude said: Wasn't Horn's Fairlight first used on a Dollar single? Oh the shame of it 🤒 Yep! 1 Quote
BrunoBass Posted December 31, 2019 Posted December 31, 2019 On 01/06/2019 at 10:09, Marky L said: I'm sure I read somewhere that Norman played quite a lot of the bass on the earlier Clash albums. Slight off topic but still Norm related 😄 He certainly played on The Magnificent Seven as Paul Simonon was away filming. Possibly more tracks too. Quote
Ricky 4000 Posted December 31, 2019 Posted December 31, 2019 On 01/06/2019 at 10:09, Marky L said: I'm sure I read somewhere that Norman played quite a lot of the bass on the earlier Clash albums. Slight off topic but still Norm related 😄 6 minutes ago, BrunoBass said: He certainly played on The Magnificent Seven as Paul Simonon was away filming. Possibly more tracks too. I never knew nothing about that. 👍 Quote
Mykesbass Posted December 31, 2019 Posted December 31, 2019 On 31/05/2019 at 21:04, Doctor J said: Bass playing aside, that is such a bloody good song. It's nice to just have a reason to listen to it again and enjoy the bejesus out of it 😎 Don't forget the B side (or double A as I believe it was) for some of the finest rhyming couplets to ever grace a pop song! Quote
NikNik Posted December 31, 2019 Posted December 31, 2019 22 minutes ago, Mykesbass said: Don't forget the B side (or double A as I believe it was) for some of the finest rhyming couplets to ever grace a pop song! Clever Bastards? I had that on 45. Quote
Reggaebass Posted December 31, 2019 Posted December 31, 2019 You may find this interesting , he’s now moved but Andy Baxter’s shop was not far from me , fast forward to 4.30 🙂 6 Quote
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