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TrevorR

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Posts posted by TrevorR

  1. I met Phil Lynott once, after a gig on the farewell Lizzy tour. After queuing for autographs I phoned dad and had good half hour wait while he drove from Truro to St Austell to fetch me. Bored, I wandered back into the empty hall to watch the roadies break down the set, as was my habit. Suddenly Philo appeared from backstage carrying a half empty Smirnoff bottle and clocked this forlorn teenager in a huge empty hall. He asked "What's up, you OK?" And when I explained I was just waiting for my lift he beckoned me up on stage and said, "Well, you can wait up here if you like." So for the next twenty minutes or so we sat side by side on Brian Downey's drum riser chatting about this or that and shooting the breeze. Talking about music, stuff we liked, Phil's plans post-Lizzy. He really seemed like a genuinely lovely, soft spoken (slightly drunk) guy. Bless him, he was still in full stage apparel and was dangling his legs back and forth. He was mortified when he accidentally kicked my shin with his big cowboy boots and apologised the way only a cheerfully half cut person can. Eventually dad appeared at far end of the hall, wondering where I was. I bade Phil farewell and jumped down off the stage before heading home.

    Also when I was putting my Wal history blog together I chatted to or met a few Wal players. All were really nice folks but three stand out in memory as particularly great. Percy Jones, great fellow, Justin Meldal Johnsen who was a laugh and a total bass geek... But loveliest of all was John G Perry of Quatrum Jump, Giltrap Band and Caravan fame. Just such a nice guy.

  2. This turns up on a regular basis - some interesting comments on it below... Zingzillas is a top show which attracts tome stellar musical guests. My music mad 5 year old loves it...

    [url="http://basschat.co.uk/topic/186655-why-zender-is-the-best/page__p__1804172__hl__zingzillas__fromsearch__1#entry1804172"]http://basschat.co.uk/topic/186655-why-zender-is-the-best/page__p__1804172__hl__zingzillas__fromsearch__1#entry1804172[/url]

    [url="http://basschat.co.uk/topic/202941-stuart-zender-on-zingzillas/page__p__2017911__hl__zingzillas__fromsearch__1#entry2017911"]http://basschat.co.uk/topic/202941-stuart-zender-on-zingzillas/page__p__2017911__hl__zingzillas__fromsearch__1#entry2017911[/url]

    [url="http://basschat.co.uk/topic/196190-we-found-bass-in-a-hopeless-place/page__st__60__p__2426853__hl__zingzillas__fromsearch__1#entry2426853"]http://basschat.co.uk/topic/196190-we-found-bass-in-a-hopeless-place/page__st__60__p__2426853__hl__zingzillas__fromsearch__1#entry2426853[/url]

    [url="http://basschat.co.uk/topic/271517-when-times-get-tough-for-professional-bass-players/page__p__2890568__hl__zingzillas__fromsearch__1#entry2890568"]http://basschat.co.uk/topic/271517-when-times-get-tough-for-professional-bass-players/page__p__2890568__hl__zingzillas__fromsearch__1#entry2890568[/url]

    [url="http://basschat.co.uk/topic/278348-indoctrinating-the-nations-5-year-olds-in-funk-and-disco/page__p__2970742__hl__zingzillas__fromsearch__1#entry2970742"]http://basschat.co.uk/topic/278348-indoctrinating-the-nations-5-year-olds-in-funk-and-disco/page__p__2970742__hl__zingzillas__fromsearch__1#entry2970742[/url]

  3. Since you're going to proudly tell everyone that you did the bass yourself as a project rather than try to pass it off as a genuine .fender a logo saying something like "Dan Dare Custom" with maybe a little clip art retro style rocket would fit the bill nicely.

    I agree that without a decal it looks a bit empty and unfinished but with a fake branded logo it looks a bit sad... Does that neck still have the Squier logo as leaving that could be an option.

  4. [quote name='spectoremg' timestamp='1455105120' post='2975860']
    Thin stuff actually. I know that the first three tracks and the last two were originally written as a single suite a-la Supper's Ready (Tony's idea) but the band decided to split them up with random tracks. There might be a theme with some of the songs but certainly no concept.
    [/quote]

    Well, I never said Duke was a great story... ;-) I'd always thought/heard that the other tracks had also been loosely woven about that faded rock star midlife crisis theme/story which bookend the album, with liberal drawing on Collins' messy life of the time. Happy to file under "theme" rather than story, though.

    [quote name='Bikenbass' timestamp='1455156608' post='2976578']
    Camel, Flight Of The Snow Goose.
    [/quote]

    Good call, forgot that one. Love that album.

    I'll also chuck in Home ( and the NewYork Suite mini album) by Welsh proggers Magenta, Snow by Spock's Beard and with a loose storyline, Clone by Threshold...

  5. Don't forget there are two varieties of concept album... The story type and the overarching theme/high concept type... Lots of great ones mentioned but here are a few of my faves...


    STORY:
    Jeff Wayne's Musical Version of War Of The World's
    Donald Fagen - Kamakiriad
    The Who - Tommy
    Rick Wkeman - Myths and Legends of King Arthur
    Genesis - Duke
    Horslips - The Tain
    Horslips - The Book Of Invasions


    OVERARCHING IDEA:
    Thin Lizzy - Jailbreak
    Alan Parsons Project - Gaudi
    Pink Floyd - Dark Side Of The Moon
    Horslips - The Man Who Built America & Aliens
    Gordon Giltrap - Visionary/Fear Of The Dark/Peacock Party

  6. Ok so my Wals have a wee bit more scope for tonal tweakery than your average passive wiring loom but for me there's a lot of fun to be had sculpting the sound with the tone controls and finding one that really works for the song and the mood. I have loads of different fave settings for different sounds on mine.

    And that's before you play around with right hand placement, the level of attack and where along the string you pluck, how you pluck the strings - tips of the fingers,sides of the fingers, fleshy part of the thumb... All make a huge difference.

    I did a wedding gig where a teenage kid came up in one of the breaks to ask what pedals I was using to get all the different tones I was using (songs from Britpop to folk to white reggae to rock n roll to funk...) . All I had at my feet was a Boss TU2 Tuner and a Lehle switching pedal to swap between my two basses.

  7. Just spotted this in the Grauniad...

    http://gu.com/p/4gh82?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other

    So it turns out that the legal wrangles over Happy Birthday To You have been settled and that it is finally in the public domain. And Warner Chappell have to compensate everyone they charged to use it for media and performances. So, no longer will the guests at birthday parties on films and telly programmes have to sing "For He's A Jolly Good Fellow" slightly awkwardly instead of "Happy Birthday To You".

  8. Can I nominate Gordon Giltrap. I got to know him over the years and he's so self effacing and such a gent.

    Also dear old Herbie Flowers. Saw him playing bass in Jeff Wayne's WotW a few years ago in Brighton. The following afternoon my wife and I were wandering the back streets when we saw Herbie and Chris Spedding trundling their overnight bags down the street towards the theatre for that evening's show. I said to Herbie, "Don't want to disturb you or hold you up but just wanted to say how much we enjoyed the show and what a treat it was to hear you and Chris recreating your parts..." We would have just left it there but he insisted on stopping for a proper chat, wanted to know about us, asked about my bass playing, shared a few anecdotes... Just a lovely bloke!

  9. http://www.talkbass.com/threads/cheap-wal-mk3-5-string-repaired-neck-player-bass.1205096/

    Just spottted a bass being sold by a guy I know through the various Wal bass chat rooms at a knock down price. Yes, it has a story attached but he's pretty much gone full disclosure in the ad. He's a known collector in the Wal world but got a bass in a sale without realising some of the neck issues that it had when sold, anyway... May be of interest particularly to some of our stateside brethren.

    For info, I've got no connection to the sale or to Mike other than occasionally shooting the breeze online about our fave brand of bass. Hope that someone snags a bit of a bargain.

  10. [quote name='MoJoKe' timestamp='1454602097' post='2971263']


    If he's like most MB users, most of them won't even be plugged in, or it'd be way too loud! You wouldn't hear the bike for bass...
    [/quote]

    Yeah, I was trying to workout the impedence load on the MB, but I'm pretty sure he'd have to be running it at less than 4ohms... Which of course raises questions about the longevity of his power amp...

  11. This is where those "one finger per fret" left hand fingering exercises will pay dividends as they will minimise the need to move hand position...

    But then again, embrace the pure joy of punctuating a line with a huge glissando up the neck and down again. Having just gone the other way it's the thing I probably miss the most!

  12. Yeah, ZingZillas is a top show and another fave. I recall a while back a "how low has Stu fallen?" thread about that. However, when you look at their roster of muso guests it's quite an exalted group. From Nicola Benedetti and Julian Lloyd Webber to The Gossip to BJ Cole, Cleo Laine and Johnny Dankworth, Sharon Shannon and Evelyn Glennie (if my memory serves)... Oh, and the Hawkins Brothers! Each show focuses on an instrument or a genre or an aspect of music. Plus, forget Glastonbury, Live 8, the Albert Hall, I'll bet that if you're a muso with preschool kids, ZingZillas Island is simply the coolest gig you've ever done! Period!

  13. Having a 5 year old you end up watching some funny old stuff on the telly. Latest from CBeebies is a show called Go Jetters. Designed to teach kids a bit about world geography it features four cutesie manga style adventurers who travel the world in a spaceship. But here's where it gets a bit interesting... They are led by UberCorn, a disco unicorn with the voice of Huggy Bear and the sparkly disco jump suit of Travolta!

    And boy, does this show rock! Or rather it funks and discos with all its might! The sound track is the perfect cheesy pastiche of 70s funk and disco. The theme tune channels the theme of the Linda Gray version of Wonder Woman, all big Philly strings and horns, wah wah guitar and funky bass... Plus it features the vocals of the wonderful Sharleen Linton. Goodness knows what they were on when they thought up this show but, it must have been some good stuff.

    And when you get to UberCorn's Funky Facts there's some pretty cool slap bass going on! The music is by Banks & Wag. Worth a listen.

    Anyway, git your funk on to this...

    http://youtu.be/REBUEe3mtXo

    http://youtu.be/WDvVRH6bq3Q

  14. It's funny, somehow I feel I'm kinda programmed to say "Well, Entwistle, of course." but actually, when I look at my listening habits it is Squire's playing I keep going back to and whose playing I most enjoy. Throughout his career he was playing melodically interesting lines and riffs across Yes' various styles. And always with an incredibly tone. Entwistle was, of course a phenomenal player, a huge influence on many and a bass innovator. However, particularly later in his career that clanky, trebly live tone he adopted was all but unlistenable (better on studio recordings, thankfully).

    When I listen to the Who I tend to listen to the overall band sound and, actually, the bass is one of the least important elements to me - certainly not in comparison to Townsend's guitar, Moon's drums or Daltrey's vocals. When I listen to Yes I tend to appreciate all the parts of teh arrangement but my ear does keep homing in on Squire's playing.

    So for me it's Squire by a very long (Rickenbacker) neck.

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