ian61

Def not Freddie but could be Stanley, Larry or maybe someone else? Anyway Chuck Rainey played on the original studio recording if that helps at all.

And in not doing so you have un-knowingly added yet one more nail in the coffin of free speech and free expression. You, ie humanity cant have it both ways.

The endlessly offended need to do some careful thinking. There are a million books some may deem offensive, do they all need to be burnt? And lets not even get started on painterly art and, hard sculpture dripping with the "exploited nude female". Three pages in and no-one has said these words...."Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery". 10cc wrote a fantastic little tune and figured in all innocense it would make sense to try and make it sound black, makes perfect sense to me. How about UB40? I dont know if Ali's voice is naturally black sounding or he's putting it on.....but it certainly sounds appropriate and the band and entourage was full of black comrades and great friends. Be careful what you wish for cause if we carry on down this path, all art and expression which is wrongly deemed to be be-litteling someone will eventually be crushed. Then what?

Its been endlessly debated. Jagger wanted to tell the story of the horror. Yes the lyrics are crude but clever and written as we know by a pair of total Blues nuts who hung out with the best. I suppose being such a great upbeat tune is the weird part, but its art without the awful gratuitous language we hear so often nowdays. I think its a song that cannot be played anymore except by the guy who wrote it, and he wont do it anymore so its effectively gone forever.

There's TV studio footage of them in Germany with Marshall, Hi-Watt BL which seems live and he sounds exactly the same so I would imagine as with many of us he sounds the same whatever he's playing due to his bass, strings, and technique.

Ha the lure of good money can land one in all sorts of difficulty. I got a call to dep in a 60's/Beatles five part harmony outfit couple yrs back. 60 old tunes Id forgotten all about and Beatles stuff at short notice is very tricky. It was a very good earner but Ive never worked so hard. Dropped a few notes, suffice to say I never heard back and to be fair they were a top draw outfit. Fun tho.

Mine is early and it has the DD legend imprinted on the P PU covers.

Agree. Technique and superb reading chops plus really switched on with the tech. As with the rest of the band, all top flight professionals. Really interesting to see how its done.

It was actually a shop damaged blue VM P/J which I got for cheap. Plugged the bridge cavity kept the P PU and repainted....Its now a standard VM P bass albeit with a minor alteration. Great neck, under 8IIbs and nicely resonant.

Such a ubiquitous tone....You feel like you've heard it for ever, guess in some ways we have. Lovely.

Yep, plenty of SQ love around here. My VM P bass with those 'Duncan Designed' PU's is probably best P bass Ive ever had, and Ive had a few over the yrs.

Yep as already suggested, competence breeds confidence. Know ur material inside out, dont be looking at the others for cues.... My first gig at 18 was in a dingey basement night club, a terrifying experience. And as we emptied the dance floor we knew we were doomed. My anxiety got the better of me and I screwed up big time cause I didnt know the tunes well enough. You'll also be shocked how weird it may sound on stage with the full band in swing. But that's where total familiarity with your material is key. Good luck.

Fair play to you. I used the new lightweight Rumbles for years live where I daisied two 100's together and at home but was never really satisfied. For me they just dont have that last ounce of mid range grind. Then I discovered the Ampeg BA range, problem solved. The Rumbles are a dream for the gigging bassist which I was and who isnt too fussed about delivery, but after Ampeg they do seem rather...well, 'polite'. Anyway good luck.

I had an early original SR which I played all thru the eighties which I was very attached to even tho it wasn't that great. Then one day in the late 90's I picked up a JV? Squire P bass. Sold the Ray a month later without any qualms at all. Which suggested to me that playability (tone feel etc) in an instrument kinda trumped my emotional attachment.

......dont leave out Lieutenant Pigeon.