KevB

Well done 'Shell. We get that at our jam sessions. You can see the musos looking a bit shifty and nipping to the loo when there's a particularly sharp band on as no one wants to follow them. I remember Vince Eager turned up one week (now we really are going back a bit!) and me and a mate had to go up next after he'd finished. I just told my mate he could always say that Vince had once been our warm up act

Always find it quite amusing how many bands I see with totally different bass rigs but which, in its proper context of providing part of the whole band sound, actually sound remarkably similar. Yet we all still obsess over 'our' sound and 'our' gear.

[quote name='tonybassplayer' timestamp='1360765688' post='1976108'] With regard to my earlier "luck" comment i remember a few years ago a friend of mine saying I was always lucky when applying and getting jobs. I referred him to a saying an old teacher had told him me that the "definition of being lucky is when preparation meets opportunity". I think that's a very nice and simple way to define it. [/quote] There's no doubt The Beatles were prepared alright. Macca had spent most of his schooldays thrashing out the likes of twenty flight rock in his bedroom then after The Quarrymen they'd had an intense period of gigging in the UK and (perhaps more importantly) Hamburg. By the time they were being tested out at various record companies they were still raw admittedly but by God they were ready for an opportunity.

[quote name='aende' timestamp='1360763339' post='1976029'] My 3yo daughter may never understand the hysteria that surrounded grunge in my yoof....[/quote] I didn't understand it either and I was in my twenties by that time...too old probably

Quite true though, Yes in their embryonic youth were quite Beatles influenced and used to cover at least one of their songs. I think it was the vocal harmony aspect of the fab four that they drew on the most (and possibly the hash ). For all the instrumental ability they are known for Yes was, at it's root, set up primarily as a [i]vocal [/i]group.

If it wasn't for the Beatles there wouldn't be a level42

[quote name='SteveK' timestamp='1360686277' post='1974674'] In 1964 Manfred Mann tried to sting Paul Macca ('cause he was a Beatle) by selling him a harmonium, which was worth £8, [b]for £12[/b]... Macca said , "No ta, wack!" [/quote] What a chisler, I don't know how you can look him in the eye onstage...

FWIW I briefly met Alan at one of the early Northampton bass gatherings when he drove down with Russ (Rayman) and he seemed a very decent bloke so I'm sure it was indeed out of character. I don't think Bilbo or ayone else would want you to voluntarily leave over something like this.

Didn't 'The World At War' go out on a Sunday? unmissable at the time and another suberb theme. [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eqONgYHYo88"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eqONgYHYo88[/url]

I'm already on it, trying to talk a previous (excellent guitarist and decent singer) bandmate into getting involved then we can subtly take over the band, mwahahaha

Probably fiddling around with the varispeed, try playing along to The Cure's 'Friday I'm In Love' for another example. Or Jumpin' Jack Flash.

A further update for those not remotely interested. Band 1 ( the 'learn 15 songs for an audition' lot) cancelled for the third week in a row. Bandleader then admitted he was finding it difficult to get in touch with 2 of the existing band and it would have to be him, me and the drummer working on original material. As this was miles away from what I signed up for I politely bailed out at this juncture. Band 2 meanwhile (the 33 song set list band) now looking like they need a dep guitarist if their next gig in 2 weeks time is going to happen. Considering their last gig was cancelled at short notice I'm beginning to wonder if all is OK with that band too. maybe I should just start looking around again from scratch, a lot of wasted time burning the midnight oil cramming in a lot of practice for nothing so far. It's never straight forward is it?

I for one am happy to hold my hand up and say that given all the same backup the Beatles had in terms of studios etc I wouldn't be able to come up with a 100th of the catchy pop songs they did even if I wanted to. All that stuff are tools to channel the creativity through, you have to have the songwriting and creative spark to start with. I don't. I might be able to come up with some decent lyrics and the odd bass riff but would be about it. Mind you it worked for Geezer...

I'm with Rick Rubin (apart from the God nonsense which I'm sure he was being tongue in cheek about). The thing that staggers me is the rate in development and the work output in those 7 years from 63 to 69. Sure lots of bands were working hard in those years but they weren't writing as high a percentage of their own material as The Beatles. Undoubtedly they were picking up ideas from other artists, be it musical artists or others, but always fashioning it to work for themselves and not lose their identity. They embraced new recording methods (and the importance of George Martin can't be overlooked) that left most other bands floundering in their wake. And they still turned out excellent songs to work with.

There's always been plagerism in music as in probably most other arts and crafts genres. It all boils down to whether those that come later put enough of 'themselves' into those influences to make something sufficiently fresh to bring in a new group of listeners or not. The older ones who recognise those influences are going to be harder to please. Younger generations might just like it for what it is and have never even heard the music that came before that influenced what they are currently listening to. The longer music goes on for the more difficult it becomes for bands to show us something genuinely unique. Having recordings to reference makes it even tougher, somones always going to find some previous recording, obscure or not, that bares some characteristic of what is being toutd as 'new'. We already have a huge thread on The Beatles so I'll use them as an example. Listen to early Beatles stuff and the Buddy Holly, Eddie Cochrane and Little Richard (among others) influences are all there. If they had just kept on knocking out imitations of those artists for the next 7 years we wouldn't be discussing them. They went on to develope at a rate utterly inconceivable in modern music and put their own stamp on popular music. So personally I can hear influences of what went before insome modern bands but it's a personal guage at what point someone considers music influenced by others or a complete rip off with little new ideas coming in on top. All very subjective.

Here's someone you might recognise from his pre silk glove days.... [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HQW6GRawY-s[/media]

[quote name='icastle' timestamp='1360335417' post='1968880'] I've always liked the stuff I still listen to. [/quote] Me too, except I've always had ipeccable taste Seriously though, it depends on age to some extent. Most bands have declined as they have gone on, no band can be an endless font of creativity. So band x that is still going now may genuinely not be the force it was when I first heard them 30 or more years ago. If I hear classic recordings from my fave bands now that I liked 30 years ago do I still like them? absolutely. The main reason I listen to those less often now is that I also want to discover new bands and there are only so many hours available to listen to stuff.

I think it is also well documented that Squire feels that the sound characteristics of his original ric is also a bit unique due to the amount of wood that's been sanded off it when it has gone through a few refinishes. He mentions that the body is noticeably thinner now than when it was new. I think you also have to take into consideration the stuff he was playing that ric through on the early Yes material, not the typical amp/speaker set up that a lot of players might use and I can't believe it didn't make a difference to the final sound.

Well done. You do realise this reads as a rehearsal script for [i]that[/i] conversation you're going to have with Mrs Dave later on?

Yeah, I was in a band a few years back that insisted on detuning half a step on all strings, dodgy singer/guitarist/flaky bandleader person. Got so fed up of detuning/retuning to go from learning material from original artists (hardly any of which were detuned except SRV) that I just kept my gigging bass permanently detuned and another in normal tuning for home practice/other bands. Was quite relieved to be sacked after 6 months frankly.

Really interested, can you hold it for me until I get paid at the end of [insert month of choice here]?

[quote name='BigRedX' timestamp='1360262242' post='1967752'] I'm hoping that ours allow reasonably full access to non-Facebook members. I can't see the point of not allowing the public access to your band Facebook page, especially since for a lot of bands it is their only presence on the web. [/quote] Mike, I completely agree with this and your band's is fine. In fact it looks one of the better laid out to the casual non facebook viewer. The info that most people would want first, ie what is the band about, what do they sound like and where can I see them play, are properly prioritised. I think it would be worthwhile for any bands using this means to get a non fb signed up person to look at their pages and point out what is 'missing' to the casual viewer. I don't think 'well you're not on fb, you don't matter' is much of an argument really. It's the bands that are missing out ultimately by failing to reach all their potential customers.

Close enough as long as I keep the sound turned down Atually to get serious for a moment I thought it was interesting looking at the facebook pages as I am not signed up for facebook. Some of the pages still give lots of info and access to several pages while at the other end of the spectrum others are just blank pages. I assume it's possible to design facebook pages to show differing levels of info depending on whether the viewer is actually signed up to fb or not.

I've looked at some of these pages. Definitely need more pole dancing clown hookers but otherwise quite entertaining. Unless it's art.

I picked up a cheap P bass that someone had put Fender PU's on and a Fender logo on the headstock. Sounded great and played very well but it weighed a ton. I passed it on to my niece who was playing in a band (she was young, her back could take it). Now she is vox only but I think the bass gets used occasionally by the band anyway or may have just been sold on.