Oopsdabassist

[quote name='Meddle' timestamp='1456434626' post='2989099'] I thought it was ok, but a very bland reading of Life on Mars? to be honest. I thought Lorde got more comfortable as the song progressed, but the overly emotive breathing and bizarre over-enunciation sounded pretty amateurish, and her voice couldn't quite go deep enough to pull off the choruses. The real mistake though came from Earl Slick. The guitar bridge between the first chorus and second verse was a total trainwreck. He repeated the first lick twice and got thrown off by the underlying chord progression; like a musical carpet being pulled out from under him. This was followed by various fret squeaks and scrapes, culminating in him finally catching up with the 2nd (undermixed) guitarist and still somehow messing it up. His choice of tone, a very bright and fizzy Strat sound, didn't serve the song at all. I saw some criticism of this online today, but it was strongly rebuffed by those that simply pointed out that Slick was in Bowie's band and therefore incapable of making mistakes. My thoughts are simply that Slick didn't record or perform with Bowie during the period Life on Mars was composed, recorded or part of his live set. Mick Ronson had quite an orchestrated, legato guitar approach (which sounded slightly antiquated by the end of the Ziggy period) , whereas Earl Slick had a scratcher, fidgety guitar approach that was more heavily reliant on effects and textures. Bowie claimed he had 'found his Jeff Beck' when he discovered Ronson, whereas Slick was part of a bigger band that had moved away from roots-rock element of the Ziggy-era live band. I believe Slick has absolutely every right to participate in a Bowie tribute, and is no lesser a musician or 'Bowie person' in that regard. Simply put, his approach to guitar doesn't work so well with reproducing Ronson's parts. This is possibly why the Ronson-era tracks on the David Live album sound so different. The other thing to consider is that Slick didn't want to be, or wasn't allowed to be, anything like the visual focalpoint that Ronson was, so a lot of casual observers may have been wondering why a mystery guitarist was playing such an idiosynchratically re-worked guitar part on what was, otherwise, a fairly straight reading of Life on Mars. I would personally have preferred to see Adrian Belew up there, but that is just my opinion. Gail Ann Dorsey seemed to nail everything, but she was down in the mix. A shame as she is a brilliant player. I noticed that the audio mix went to pot when Lorde sat down on the piano stool, as her mic was picking up a lot of drums from the pianist's monitor. She also got a bit of feedback as well. This was the UK's high profile send off to Bowie, but it seemed sloppy, stilted and a little under-rehearsed in my opinion. There were technical and musical issues that should have been ironed out well in advance in sound-checks and rehearsal rooms. I'm also not impressed that this has been turned into some sort of Gaga vs Lorde pissing match. A poor effort, in my opinion. Adele blew everybody else away at the Brits, in my opinion. [/quote] You have very eloquently put just how I felt while listening to this, the guitar sounded wrong, but I couldn't nail why. Gail Ann Dorsey was, as ever, on the money..and she even did a bit of slap! All in all though it left me feeling vaguely uncomfortable. Mind you ANY tribute to Bowie is gonna be a tough gig!

[quote name='seashell' timestamp='1456446546' post='2989230'] I believe it was Lemmy who said 'If it's too loud you're too old'. :-) [/quote] I said that on mic to a landlady once.........Oh how I suffered......

[quote name='leftybassman392' timestamp='1456387960' post='2988431'] Here ya go. Enjoy. [url="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=660a3z7r2_4"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=660a3z7r2_4[/url] [/quote] The very one.. cheers Lefty That Clutch song hammers along nicely too. Early ZZ Top works for me too, we do 'Fool for your Stockings' and 'Just got back from baby's'.

Cool, the wilds of North Bucks/Beds are very agreeable this time of year!

Mmmm Jeff Healey, his cover of 'while my guitar gently weeps'.....awesome! Not Joe Bonamassa, too clinical, no feel to it IMO

[quote name='silverfoxnik' timestamp='1456083996' post='2985264'] Bought a Trace Elliot amp off Tim today in a completely hassle-free deal... As well as selling me a great sounding amp, I also had a chance to chew the fat with Tim about all things bass and also, to try our a few of his very nice basses.. That passive P Bass is a stunner btw Tim ! Very cool scratch plates too. Thanks Tim; it was an absolute pleasure dealing with and meeting you. Nik [/quote] Did you travel all the way up this end of the world Nik? If I had known that I would have arranged somewhere nearer to me when we traded my Yam TRB!!!

I'm just happy if someone talks to me! Subsequently I'll answer to anything, even Oi...you! edit just re-read the thread title...oops....I think of myself as 'damn lucky I'm getting away with this' mainly.

I've done it on a couple of basses over the years, works a treat and no ill effects. I use cocktail sticks myself

one slow song per set..in the middle..thats it!

I dally with BV's but that is usually my limit as I couldn't carry a tune without a bucket We decided on Space Oddity recently, but singer was really struggling with the lyrics, and his phrasing so I kinda sang guide vocal under him, on one take he just gave up completely and left me to it, I surprised myself by 1) keeping in tune all the way through 2) kept bass line going at same time.. I was ecstatic and want to keep it in, he was miffed and wants to can the song I think i managed as its sort of spoken rather than sung and its also at the bottom of my range so I'm not taking so much effort and staying in tune better. makes me smile everytime I think about it....easily pleased eh?

if you hit the tuner buttons and hold, the B3 will mute, just hitting the tuner buttons still passes the signal through.

Olias of Sunhillow, absolutely sublime album!

[quote name='discreet' timestamp='1454756120' post='2972616'] Ian McShane..? We must acknowledge Sly & Robbie's contribution, too. [/quote] gotta be yes?

Nice

So who is louise? the old bass player?? Speak up..I'm a bit DEAF!

[quote name='paul h' timestamp='1454228890' post='2967578'] A towel. [/quote] You hoopy frood you!

Ouch fella, sounds a real bummer, good to know you can still play though. Good luck for the future

Blimey what a result!!! Basschat cures all ills

*waves*

55 going on 70...I love a good grumble me..did I tell you about me knee?.............

[quote name='Bassassin' timestamp='1453645262' post='2961320'] [media]http://youtu.be/QByihCyvNJI[/media] [media]http://youtu.be/u3xcfOCqtqQ[/media] [/quote] Cracking choice sirrah I applaud and agree with you!

Blue? Whats a car note, and why don't you carry one? Sorry, just a bit confused.

[quote name='dood' timestamp='1453034389' post='2955711'] When I am asked why I started playing bass, I tell people that one of the reasons is that I discovered that I hummed bass lines when ever I was singing along to a song. I must have been a weird little boy to listen to ha ha ha! [/quote] I kinda just decided, in my 40's, 'I'm gonna learn to play music' took be about 30 seconds to realise, I did exactly that, hum basslines,..since I was about 11. Starting to play was a long time comin'!! As an alternative take on lyrics, I've always loved Yes, the lyrics never made that much sense, but the [i]flow [/i]of the words, and how they fell with the music, made them just as important as the music, even though I had no clue what it was all about! To an impressionable 12 year old, that made yes all the more mysterious!!!