Old Man Riva

[quote name='spectoremg' timestamp='1434235144' post='2797947']
I'll give that a go.
[/quote]
There are some pretty decent bass players on the album - Danny Thompson, Dave Pegg, Neil Murray and this fella [url="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ri-wwTE_SSM"]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ri-wwTE_SSM[/url]

[quote name='jonnythenotes' timestamp='1434233092' post='2797900']
I think I remember that bass Mr Riva..... Was it a sunburst with a dark wood fretboard..?
[/quote]
It was/is.. block inlays and all the chrome covers... until my mum threw them away a few years ago along with the original thumb rest!

Still not a patch on that red Fender you had - one of my all time favourite basses, that, Mr Notes.

[quote name='spongebob' timestamp='1434124788' post='2796998']
+1 on a great programme - really enjoyed that too.[/quote]
Another +1. Recorded it at the time and won't be getting rid of it. Thought it was brilliantly done, with a great mix of musical history/heritage and social history/commentary (some of it quite difficult to watch).

BBC Four really does throw up some fantastic music programmes.

I think he did... he also (I'm fairly certain it's him) repeated a similar line on Belouis Some's track Imagination [url="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GD-cAYuIhAM"]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GD-cAYuIhAM[/url].

Really like Carmen Rojas - his playing on the Serious Moonlight Tour DVD is top notch.

[quote name='lowregisterhead' timestamp='1434184828' post='2797369']
I keep a detailed list of all the basses I've owned over the last 40 years of playing[/quote]
I've done similar (well what is an Excel spreadsheet actually for?!) and it numbers 32 basses since 1977.

Mine would be my 1973/74 Fender Jazz that I had from the original owner in the very early 80s. Obviously, with it being the early 80s, the first thing I did was remove the original (perfectly fine) p/ups and get EMGs fitted.

Good job I didn't just throw the original p/ups away.

Oh..

[quote name='spectoremg' timestamp='1434173603' post='2797306']
John Martyn, one of those artists I consistently ignore but am amazed every time I hear his stuff!
[/quote]
One World is a great album to start with - just when he was getting into his SG/Echoplex stuff and features a really lovely ambient track (Small Hours) with Steve Winwood guesting on keys to close the album.

I remember the first time I heard John Martyn was on an Alan Freeman Saturday afternoon Radio 1 show in 1977 - he played the track One World. I thought John Martyn was a black American blues singer, not a white Scottish folk singer. What a voice!

There used to be an agency called Session Conection based in Putney - under the railway arches on Disraeli Road.

They'd book TV shows (miming and/or otherwise) up to some of the larger gigs of the time.

Back in the day (mid/late 80s, early 90s) some of the easiest money were the 'tape swaps'. As I recall it MU rules would dictate that if an artist was to appear on a TV programme such as Top of the Pops and use a backing band then the musicians that were due to play to the backing track (mime) would have to be the same players who played on the backing track used (!). In reality a studio would be booked and you'd sit around all day and either do nowt, or busk along to a track slightly resembling the original - try putting together a full backing track for, say, Lionel Ritchie (inc orchestration) in just an afternoon!

The boxed tapes were then signed off by the MU (who, it should be stressed, did this believing they were signing off legitimate tracks, so were absolutely acting in good faith).

When it came to the programme the backing track would simply be swapped back to the original backing track (supplied by record company or artist) and you'd be miming along to top LA session players etc who played on the original.

It was one of the most soul destroying experiences imaginable, but it paid.

Doesn't the MU still produce a directory listing musicians?

It was tough back then and even tougher these days, so I'm told.

[quote name='Woodinblack' timestamp='1433082106' post='2787627']especially for what was a sh*t song by even human leagues standards![/quote]
Dare was a great pop album. There, I've said it!

Not sure that's any help with your YouTube query, mind..

As others have said, some of the James Brown or (if you really just want to focus on the instrumentals) JBs stuff will get you on the right track. Simple, solid, funky, groovy and not a note out of place. Funky Good Times is a great place to start... [url="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Funky-Good-Time-Anthology-J-B-s/dp/B000001EE8/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1432916941&sr=8-1&keywords=JB%27s"]http://www.amazon.co.uk/Funky-Good-Time-Anthology-J-B-s/dp/B000001EE8/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1432916941&sr=8-1&keywords=JB%27s[/url]

Just Walk in my Shoes by Gladys Knight (and the Pips) is not only a great Northern Soul track but has a really straightforward and groovy bass line (mainly around the low F, as I recall).

For me, one of the many great things about funk music is that the simplest bass lines are quite often the most groovy - less is more, and all that.

Chaka Khan's take on What's Going On is fabulous on the Standing in the Shadows of Motown doc.

For a song that probably shouldn't be touched she absolutely kills it.

Keef played bass on the studio version.

There are a few Stones tracks where Bill is off making the tea when the bass in being done - Emotional Rescue is Ronnie Wood; Fingerprint File is Mick Taylor ditto I just Want to See His Face.

[quote name='Bilbo' timestamp='1432631073' post='2783313']Song For Strayhorn – Gerry Mulligan. The first solo I transcribed properly, note-for-note. I can still sing it today.[/quote]
That's a beautiful piece of music.

Are you a fan of Mulligan's Age of Steam at all? Early 70s album with a very west coast sound, quite a bit of electric bass on it as well courtesy of Chuck Dimanico.

It's a cracking album that tends to get overlooked, probably due to the 'electric' nature of it.

[quote name='ras52' timestamp='1432305820' post='2780279']
And can you do that with a Precision? Quite.
[/quote]
No further questions, Your Honour..

Saw one of the Vanguard shows in February and it was great - as you say, he had Chris Dave on drums (who was top drawer).

He's doing a gig at the Roundhouse the week before which would've been interesting, though I've looked at The Who dates and a few of them crossover D'angelo dates in June so not sure whether it's both The Who and D'angelo gigs for Pino with a dep thrown in or D'angelo will have a different bass player?

Either way it should be a good show.

[quote name='ambient' timestamp='1432303843' post='2780245']
I like the sound that Linley Marthe gets from his.

[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wuY4JP5TcTk&spfreload=10[/media]
[/quote]
That sounds like a family of flies in a jam jar having a drunken row at a family wedding while a group of an angry locals throw stones at a corrugated iron shed roof..!

I've always found the tone control to be the thing that gets me the sound I want from a Jazz - pretty much rolled all the way off.

Never really find myself messing with the p/ups - both up full.

Bobby Vega makes me want to give up, btw!

[quote name='xgsjx' timestamp='1432246026' post='2779764']
I find I play my acoustic 6 string like that whenever I'm not fingerpicking.[/quote]
Again, same here. Can't get on with a pick for either guitar or bass so if I'm having a bit of a strum it's the thumb/forefinger combination.

[quote name='Rumple' timestamp='1432277304' post='2779868']
That's the only way I can do it if on a rare occasion I need a pick tone.[/quote]
More by luck than design I think I've developed a few fairly odd/unique habits over the years - probably due to not being able to do a number of things other players could do in the way that other players could do them!

This double-thumbing malarkey does leave me bewildered, mind.

A heads up for any London basschatters... D'angelo tickets for the 20th July gig at Hammersmith Apollo/Odeon go on sale this morning.

Can't recommend it highly enough - and I'm fairly certain he'll have the same band as in February - inc. Pino. - who are worth the entrance fee alone.

[quote name='ras52' timestamp='1432204158' post='2779084']
I started off playing with a pick, moved to fingerstyle, and now I can't play with a pick any more!
[/quote]
Same here.

I really struggled using a pick so now I pick with no pick! I use my first finger and thumb as though I'm holding a pick but pick the notes with my nail for the downstroke and fleshy/end part of my finger for the upstroke.

Works really well and feels more 'connected' to the fretboard than if using a pick.

(Found that quite hard to explain!)

[quote name='Beedster' timestamp='1431630044' post='2773469']
No it doesn't, you're just whinging, [b]it was a quite balanced difference of opinion that has been largely resolved. It therefore represents what BC is about.[/b]
[/quote]
Relatively new here and think it's quite rare/refreshing to find a forum that doesn't just see everything in black and white..

[quote name='jonnythenotes' timestamp='1431589463' post='2772784']Also any suggestions on what to use to give it a really nice funky ' there and gone' punchy tone without to much of that zingy hi-end string sound. Ta very much folks...
[/quote]
Mr Notes... something that you might want to try (and you'll probably either love it or hate it) is the old foam trick that Jamerson used to do - i.e. foam under the strings next to the bridge to deaden the notes.

I've found this works equally effectively on a roundwound-strung 'brighter' bass as it does on a flatwound-strung more 'vintage tones' bass, which it is normally used on.

Wind the tone up and you'll get the bright punchy attack due to the roundwounds (giving you your 'there') but the decay will be more immediate (giving you your required 'gone'). Job done! Sly & the Family Stone-tastic.

I have a Jazz Bass strung with roundwounds that I do this on and (to my ears at least) it sounds great. Be interested to know what you think..

[quote name='discreet' timestamp='1431546722' post='2772544']
It smells like bull to me also.
[/quote]
Doubt that a company like Parcelforce would dare to pull a stunt like that, not in these days of social media - Twitter, Facebook, My Gripe, Moan-a-gram would have more "OMGs" than a Glee convention..

[quote name='cameltoe' timestamp='1431543564' post='2772485']
No, I'm suggesting that if Parcelforce managers, from the MD down, have decided to dismiss this person, then they have made an informed decision based on the evidence, and in line with their policies and HR procedures. They obviously feel that his behaviour was unacceptable, in terms of what they expect from their staff, and have made their decision accordingly.

It's not up to you, me, or the OP to try and argue otherwise.
[/quote]
It's a pity Parcelforce didn't adhere to their policies and procedures and followed the company line of not divulging they'd sacked someone. Shabby behaviour.

Call me a lily-livered old liberal (small L) but I think it's possible to feel sympathy for both the OP and the Parcelforce employee.

I'd be mightily hacked off if something was delivered to me in the way that the bass was to the OP (though not sure I'd offer a blow by blow account online) and I can completely understand the anger/frustration.

I can also sympathise with the predicament the Parcelforce employee has been placed in. The company I work for has a requirement to use courier companies. In my experience they're all much of a muchness - i.e. not very reliable. If you speak to any of the drivers and gain an understanding of what they're being asked to do on a day to day basis (regardless of the company) it's all fairly depressing stuff - load 'em up, get 'em out and get 'em all delivered in a wholly unrealistic/unachievable time frame. No answer - go back later, regardless of the time, just don't bring them back. And let's be honest, if the driver has written on the card that the delivery has been left behind the gate and then signed the OP's name on the card then he's probably guilty of trying to cover his backside from both employer and customer point of view than anything malicious?

My anger would be more directed at a company whose culture and leadership allowed the above to happen.

Anyway, glad the bass is okay but a shame that someone has lost their job over it..

Some of the Bobby Vega/MXR ones are good.

That said, Bobby Vega could probably make an elastic band in a shoebox sound good..

[quote name='Rumple' timestamp='1430982921' post='2766449']
That's one tour I wish I had been to see, Some of it was shown on C4 back in the day and although it's well OTT it's a good watch.
[/quote]
Was that from the Channel 4 programme 'Wired' (as I think it was called)? Opened with Alphabet Street whilst sitting in the back of a car?! (the car being a stage prop rather a real car).

A concert from the Parade tour was shown on TV once upon a time back in the 80s and it was fantastic (recorded on Prince's birthday - crowd singing happy birthday to him etc). The live version of Mountains was as funky as you could possibly get. Him and the Revolution were right on top of their game. Never seen it since as a video/DVD release or on YouTube, more's the pity.

Edit #2 to say, just found this... the Parade concert shown on TV in the 80s - not the whole gig but some fabulous moments in there [url="http://www.okayplayer.com/news/throwback-thursday-prince-live-in-detroit-19.html"]http://www.okayplayer.com/news/throwback-thursday-prince-live-in-detroit-19.html[/url]