Terry M.

The latest Squier Affinty range of basses will shock some people. I nabbed an Affinty Active Jazz Bass V and can't see where the fit and finish is any worse than the Classic Vibe 70s Jazz Bass V that I used to own.In fact the gloss finish on the back of the CV neck really wasn't for me. I think these are being given away as no doubt many individuals see "Affinty" and assume the worst. Again I'm referring to the latest batch which includes a passive 6 string Jazz as well as an active 4 string Jazz in blue I think. They need to be tried before judgment is passed.

That would make sense seeing as Pee Wee had a jazz background. A few of his musicians weren't impressed at the time with the "correctness" of the structure but we all saw what followed shortly after 😊 I've also heard him cite the So What reference 👍

He also had a song called Get up off offa That Thing? Just wanted to know which one. It wasn't obvious from your post.

You mean Sex Machine?

Technically Fender by Cort 🤣

I would lean more towards Cold Sweat based on the single chord vamp structure (bridge aside)

I Got You is structurally a 12 bar blues and apparently the funk style was still in development at that time. Cold Sweat shunned traditional chord changes apart from the bridge section and was a "watershed" moment in the movement. Some say I Got You and others say Cold Sweat. I heard it was Cold Sweat from a James Brown documentary. Either way I'm just glad it happened.

It's even two years younger than the James Brown track Make it Funky.

I have to admit I've never heard that claim before. Hercules is from 1973 which is 6 years younger than Cold Sweat so I honestly doubt that. Cracking bassline for sure though.

Baaaaaaddddd 🤤

Also bear in mind that none of us has any control over our background. We're born into whatever circumstances exist at that time.

You would be shocked if you could peek into the private lives of most people we call celebrities. My wife was a huge Johnny Depp fan until it transpired he hits women. Sean Connery was known for it too.

You're good enough to play whatever inspires you with the right measure of enthusiasm and practice I think.

Interesting seeing as James Brown is seen as the main force behind what came to be known as funk. Apparently Cold Sweat was the first funk tune. Not my words however.

It's the funk that influenced my decision to play bass. I may well know most of those tracks on that list you mention 😊

Yes these Scottish funksters learnt well from the Godfather. Good tune.

Love Cross the Tracks. Are you familiar with Just Kissed My Baby by The Meters? What about Roy Ayers' Life is Just a Moment Pt2? Oh the list is endless.

I agree with this. I used the word genre as it relates to the marketing of the product. And the marketing team very often aren't actual musicians.

Let's not leave out Nathaniel Phillips from the band Pleasure. He's criminally overlooked historically. There are many...

Your definition of funk might explain why it's so appealing to dancers. Take it to the dance floor and it might make a bit more sense. The Northern Soul movement(as another example)relies on a very specific sound for the dancers. Repetition and a solid reliable rhythmic pulse seems to be the bedrock and anything else might work against the individuals' dance moves and physical expression. Country dancing music generally all sounds the same,I was forced to do it in primary school. It's music for a specific scene. Not into that particular scene? Fair enough. There's a genre for everybody.

I take learn them and forget them to mean learn a given structure and then apply without rigid dogmatic confinements. Not literally to forget. Something Bruce Lee said apparently. I quite like the philosophy.

You'll get differing views naturally but I once owned a Sadowsky SPB-2 preamp pedal and it was nothing short of sensational live. Gave me severe GAS for an actual Sadowsky bass that did. Bear in mind it offers no midrange eq and is boost only. Small turns of the knobs go a long long way.

If only they stopped at the Jazz 🫣