Old Man Riva

He probably feels he’s got a big enough profile to do it. After all, some churls are bigger than others...

I quite like Don Juan’s Reckless Daughter. Re. Paprika Plains, the final three-odd minutes are great - Wayne Shorter plays beautifully over that rolling groove. I also really like the (non) bass line Jaco does on the title track - great feel, even when he’s not really playing anything! For me, it fits the track perfectly and not really something that many other bassists would come up with, whether he couldn’t think of anything else or not!!

From 2:26, and features a really tasty descending bass line...

Great shout! Ry Cooder aided by a (late, great) Harry Dean Stanton smile brightens up the drabbest of days...

It’s funny how tastes change over the years. I was introduced to Joni Mitchell’s music in the mid 70s when I was in my teens. An uncle (who was a big influence on introducing me to different music at the time - some Jazz, Steely Dan, Weather Report, to name but a few) said that if I was interested in bass to check this guy (Jaco) out, and recorded Hejira for me. I only had a mono cassette player at the time so much of the music was lost but you could still really hear the Jaco parts and even then I appreciated how different it was to any bass I’d heard before. For years I tended to focus on the bass on the Jaco tracks, and as such didn’t really pay much attention to the wonderful bass played by Max Bennett on, say, Song for Sharon off Hejira. As I got older and I found my own style I became way more drawn to Max Bennett and Wilton Felder’s playing, and the way they approached Joni’s songs, rather than the Jaco tracks. These days Max Bennett and Wilton Felder are definitely more my thing but Jaco’s playing on some of Joni’s songs take them to a different level and offer something unique to the songs due to him and his playing. I suppose it’s a long-winded way of saying I like them all!!

Mrs Riva was thankful, but nonchalantly informed me, “oh yeah, I’ve heard that”. Apparently Lauren Laverne plays it on her 6Music show. I noted that it sounded like a Derek Forbes bass line, to which she responded, “well I wouldn’t know about that”, and then we then carried on with our respective days...

Not heard the demo before. I really like that, thanks for posting! I think some of the vocal ideas (call and response, layered harmonies and counter melodies) she did in this period are really out there. Song for Sharon is a great example... ... and then, of course, there are those amazing guitar tunings that she used!

The contributions of both Jaco and Max Bennett rightly mentioned with regards to Joni bass duties, but let’s also not forget the contribution of Wilton Felder. The bass on Don’t Interrupt the Sorrow is sublime, IMHO. Well worth a listen and play along!

They’re my favourite three, with Hejira at the top.

Pete Way responding to Geddy Lee who asked him about the sound of Gibson Thunderbirds... ”Well Glee, it’s three-quarters good, and one-quarter not very nice!”

Glad you like it! I really dig it. It feels really uplifting... I tend to get dragged back to all the stuff I’ve been listening to for years (which is not a problem at all!) so I love it when I get turned onto something new.

She’s been playing this album today - singing along to this track in particular... “read all the pamphlets and watch the tapes”. It makes quite a nice backdrop to home working!

Mrs Riva turned me on to this... so much about it I love!

Paul Buchanan of The Blue Nile is one of my favourite singers (and lyricists). I don’t think he’d appear on many singer ‘best of...’ lists, but I love his voice. The Blue Nile’s first album, A Walk Across the Rooftops is, to this day, one of my favourite ever albums. It’s one of the few albums I can listen to all the way through with no interruptions then put it on again straight away (maybe helps that it just under 40mins long?!). If you’ve not heard it/them; definitely worth checking out. It doesn’t do the album justice (in my opinion) to offer just one track as it really is a ‘whole’ album, but this is a track called Stay...

Shaun Ryder John Cooper Clarke

Shaun William Ryder John Cooper Clarke

Hey Joe was written about the footballer Joe Jordan after he was spotted chasing Gordon McQueen with a water pistol. Deacon Blues was written about Queen’s bass player, but Peter Frampton’s Show Me The Way wasn’t written about the UFO bassist. Though, as with all these things, I may have misunderstood the various stories over the years...

Miles Davis - Mr Pastorius

Of course. This opens the album...

The first Laura Mvula album is a record well worth checking out for sublime vocal performances... I was properly taken aback when I first heard it. Not just for her vocals, but also the quality and originality of the songs. With most albums I think you can see how a song was probably written - i.e. around a guitar, piano, beat etc. - but on the above album it was a mystery. To me, any road! Definitely worth a listen...

I was a big FGTH fan at the time. For me, they were a breath of fresh air. I thought they were a really talented bunch, but will probably be remembered (incorrectly, IMO) solely as the product of Trevor Horn, his Fairlight and array of session bods. A listen to the early demos pre ZTT/Trevor Horn/Paul Morley show the songs were there and the playing well up to scratch. I saw them live on the Liverpool tour and to this day it’s one of the best gigs I’ve seen. And, yes, they were perfectly capable of playing their instruments!!

Congratulations! That’s a really positive review in the magazine. I really like the YouTube track featured in the article. Thanks for posting - it’s good to hear a positive story regarding musicians in these challenging times...

Thanks for the review, really appreciated. It’s not a record I would normally think of seeking out but after reading the review I will now do so - which, for me, a good and well-written review should inspire the reader to do.