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John Entwistle isolated bass - Won't Get Fooled Again


spectoremg
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I posted this to the rest of the band a few months ago with the comment "This is why I want to do it".

We do "The Seeker". I thought I'd have a bit of revision and found an isolated bass track to that. And then I discovered that I've been playing it wrong for years.

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Yes I don't think the way The Who ended up sounding was what Pete Townshend had envisaged according to some interviews

My band open with won't get fooled again using a sampled keyboard intro off my phone. I don't play it anywhere near the level Entwistle does but still a great track to play

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Isolated...I hate it. I hate the tone. I'm not engaged by his playing at all.

However, in context with the band I can see why JE is thought of so highly. He's definitely the right bass player for the right band.

Saying all that. I now realise I have unknowingly stolen several of the riffs in that song over the years :D

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Doing a gig with Kenny Jones in a couple of weeks and the set includes WGFA. I've been referring to this clip and other examples. It would be too tall an order to learn note for note what JE plays, in any case he clearly never played it the same twice. More important to decide what parts [i]are[/i] important to copy, the "I'll tip my hat" section is in my mind important to get right, and then attempt to understand in a general way what and how he is playing - pentatonic and blues scale phrases abound.

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I'm amazed at his technique but iirc his tone in later years was at least in part due to his hearing being knacked. I remember seeing one prog where he said that in later gigs he was lost if Townsend turned his back to him as he couldn't hear enough to slot in.

There's a 25 min i'view with him and Gordon Giltrap on YT. Two thing stand out in it, JAE's damn awful tone in all the demos of his basses and amps that he does - and GG being shown two historic guitars of John's and Gordon manages to clunk the headstocks of both of them while perusing them.

[url="https://youtu.be/YLq0_ZK6AW8"]https://youtu.be/YLq0_ZK6AW8[/url]

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I found this very interesting from several angles. Firstly his use of rythmn at times, which I had never noticed on this track before - reminiscent of the same technique in the bass solo in My Gemeration but perhaps further developed.

Secondly his sound is very much like a very pumped up version of a P bass with the tone full up. I don't think it's that awful - a bit like a pre punk sound (j j Burnel etc)

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It's not as if the note choices are particularly experimental or difficult or even that it's hard to play, technique wise. In places it's seriously sloppy (not a criticism!). But it's his sense of groove and phrasing that makes it an incredible piece of music.

Edited by Truckstop
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