Bean9seventy - the first UK funk / slap bassist?

[drTStingray]

25 minutes ago, SpondonBassed said:

Ah the cosmic significance of it all.

Can you imagine the Bieber generation when they get to middle age?  The arguments over who came up with the cuddly stuffed toy impersonations first should be breathtaking.

I don't know why folk get worked up over something that can't be defined, even if you were there.

It is an interesting topic though and I appreciate an alternative view even if it does sometimes sound as if it comes with a helping of chips on each shoulder.

If you were there or involved culturally at the time places a different perspective on things - and one which often challenges the inevitable 'sound bites' and perspective/angle laden history which develops over time.

Imagine if in 45 yrs time people were arguing a current time world history based purely on the front pages of say The Daily Mail for instance - those here now might cringe and say well that's not really how it was!! 

Yes I got a little confused in this thread particularly when Bean79 started disagreeing with me when I was actually supporting his view and arguing with Grassie's 'accepted history' viewpoint. Nonetheless some interesting stuff has appeared in this thread!! 

[SpondonBassed]

Personal observations are facets of a jewel.

I think we all agree that the funk/slap thing polarised a lot of musicians in their thoughts about technique.  It certainly drew people into playing bass who would not otherwise have bothered, the OP and myself included.

I never applied myself strongly enough to become proficient at any bass playing technique other than keeping time and melodic relevance.  I'm not where I want to be with those either and that is the carrot that I have dangling before me on a stick.  It gives my hobby purpose and a reason to do the donkey work.

I admire those who have applied themselves.  It isn't important to me to know who was first but it does fill in some of the gaps in the overall picture to hear from early adopters.

[Bean9seventy]

9 hours ago, tthiggins said:

Cheers Lowdown 

I had thought it was earlier before Dion moved over here which had me thinking he surely must have informed the whole slap bass scene through touring with Marvin.

by the 80s many American bass players were already forcing their live bass sound to sound extra nasty ,,

where upon ,, even though  in the UK we wanted to sound funky , our over all sound was smooth & shallow  in comparison ,

Gaye was on the international soul circuit ,, not part of the lesser brit funk circuit ,

the player who had the biggest impact on the "post " slapping community was Marcus Miller  ,, tho by then level 42 were already in the driving seat for all wanna be slappers in Europe ,, etc ,

even by 2007/08 ,,, MarloweDK  was still telling people ( mainly from Europe ) via you tube MK did not invent slap ,,

the biggest / notable gig(s) Marvin did was his during1976 ? tour ,,, i remember that ,,

the stories are mental

[Bean9seventy]

3 minutes ago, SpondonBassed said:

Personal observations are facets of a jewel.

I think we all agree that the funk/slap thing polarised a lot of musicians in their thoughts about technique.  It certainly drew people into playing bass who would not otherwise have bothered, the OP and myself included.

I never applied myself strongly enough to become proficient at any bass playing technique other than keeping time and melodic relevance.  I'm not where I want to be with those either and that is the carrot that I have dangling before me on a stick.  It gives my hobby purpose and a reason to do the donkey work.

I admire those who have applied themselves.  It isn't important to me to know who was first but it does fill in some of the gaps in the overall picture to hear from early adopters.

correct ,, by the early 80s ,, loads of people could slap ,, world wide ,, in fact by then you could argue the opposite ,,

if you Could Not slap ,, some folks would think there might be something wrong with you ,,

again yes ,, certainly for many people hearing stories of how slapping came to be in the UK,, would be an interesting read ,,

thanks

[SpondonBassed]

4 minutes ago, Bean9seventy said:

if you Could Not slap ,, some folks would think there might be something wrong with you ,, 

Some would say that it is true today but like you say, in the eighties it was a crucial part of the bass player's skill set.

[Bean9seventy]

4 minutes ago, SpondonBassed said:

Some would say that it is true today but like you say, in the eighties it was a crucial part of the bass player's skill set.

the only bass players i have seen on you tube who cannot slap , normally are players from the 1960s  & Billy Sheen ; )

Edited September 3, 2018 by Bean9seventy

[ambient]

4 hours ago, Bean9seventy said:

the only bass players i have seen on you tube who cannot slap , normally are players from the 1960s  & Billy Sheen ; )

Do you mean Billy Sheehan?

 

[SpondonBassed]

[tthiggins]

It's not really surprising he couldn't slap with those gloves !

[Bean9seventy]

3 hours ago, ambient said:

Do you mean Billy Sheehan?

 

yeah ,, i am sure he did a talking video before he went to LBGS where he said he could not slap ,,,

he might risk scratching the furniture

[Bean9seventy]

21 minutes ago, tthiggins said:

It's not really surprising he couldn't slap with those gloves !

no , he can slap with gloves on ,, tho he risks scratching the furniture

[TOMAS]

I find interesting why people get so untight about who first played or influenced slap in the uk. Even as is well know Larry Graham invented it. Don't you think however other not name bands bassists where playing slap on electric at the same time? Of course they were, MK actually states in a interview it was some coloured guys that came into Sounds that sparked his imagination along with SC that started him off.Clearly around 79/80 many players were experimenting with slap bass, so unless someone has atomic clock and photographic evidence who did it first thumb struck, every argument about who first started it is meaningless..

Edited September 8, 2018 by TOMAS

[Bean9seventy]

3 hours ago, TOMAS said:

I find interesting why people get so untight about who first played or influenced slap in the uk. Even as is well know Larry Graham invented it. Don't you think however other not name bands bassists where playing slap on electric at the same time? Of course they were, MK actually states in a interview it was some coloured guys that came into Sounds that sparked his imagination along with SC that started him off.Clearly around 79/80 many players were experimenting with slap bass, so unless someone has atomic clock and photographic evidence who did it first thumb struck, every argument about who first started it is meaningless..

Yes ,, it was of course because someone thought i said i alone "personally" was thee very 1st slapper in the UK  on reddit so , i started this thread ,, to say i was No i was Not,, yet remember the 1st wave of brit funk players who were ,, i was in their circle back then as a beginner ,,

as you say , the MK flat earth cross examination fell apart ,

but anyways ,,,

a lot of players often talk about going to the music shops for the very 1st time ,, so yeah ,,

Sub heading ,,

"" Why we hated Fender Basses""  ,,

true story ,,, only here

bass chat Bean9seventy ,,

thanks

[Bean9seventy]

On 29/08/2018 at 17:53, lowdown said:

It seems that in 1977, Disco Dancers (well Americans) had perfected the Art of 'Slap & Pop' air Bass.

Check out 0:16 during the intro.

 

 bass chat logo at end of video

[BreadBin]

^^ That's some sweet playing there

[mcnach]

Very nice! 

I love the sound of a Precision for slap...

[Bean9seventy]

10 hours ago, mcnach said:

Very nice! 

I love the sound of a Precision for slap...

Encore Copy of a Fender ,,

great sound for big sound playing , takes Marcus Miller full body very well , slightly weaker on booty , pick up screws don't work ,, needs adjusting, hence tape over pick ups ,, works well without too much treble on tone

bass was given to me my 1st you tube donation from a user

[SpondonBassed]

39 minutes ago, Bean9seventy said:

slightly weaker on booty

That sounds buttock tremblingly ominous.

Could you explain that one for me please?  I am notoriously thick on Monday mornings.

[Bean9seventy]

4 hours ago, SpondonBassed said:

That sounds buttock tremblingly ominous.

Could you explain that one for me please?  I am notoriously thick on Monday mornings.

marcus miller uses full body & booty ,, he also has full heart ,,

check it out , dude , & Wake Up

[drTStingray]

On 16 September 2018 at 17:12, Bean9seventy said:

 

 bass chat logo at end of video

Nice playing - sounds great - I saw Ronnie Laws around 79/80 - great gig 👍

Encore eh? My son still has one of them (was his first bass many years back) - has used it to record several times and people have asked him what year of Precision he was using to get such a good sound!! 

[Bean9seventy]

8 hours ago, drTStingray said:

Nice playing - sounds great - I saw Ronnie Laws around 79/80 - great gig 👍

Encore eh? My son still has one of them (was his first bass many years back) - has used it to record several times and people have asked him what year of Precision he was using to get such a good sound!! 

yeah the Encore is a heavy wood build with an extra wide head stock , capable of producing natural sustain allowing the full body approach  , yet fizzles out to a flat sound when applying booty , with very little ring , that you would expect from say, high end priced basses ,,

i do not mind too much about What bass i have so long as it passes my personal funk test ,, it must sound great before you use an amp ,,

i should do a video on this subject ,

ps where do you see ronnie laws ? you got me thinking ? i could have seen him too

thanks

,

[SpondonBassed]

4 hours ago, Bean9seventy said:

i should do a video on this subject , 

Great idea.

I'm still laughing at "booty".  You do mean bottom end don't you?

[Bean9seventy]

3 hours ago, SpondonBassed said:

Great idea.

I'm still laughing at "booty".  You do mean bottom end don't you?

no, booty is the stash , the cash , the groove crystallized into 3D 

Carol Kaye ,

if you rely on the top notes , you cant hear the groove  .

the booty , the ingredients based on  jazz ,

full body covers the low end

cheers ,

plenty of inside booty in this joint , full body hard to create on the joint

breaking news , most slappers use medium slap ,,

i call my self a one note full body player at the moment

Edited September 18, 2018 by Bean9seventy

[mcnach]

On 17/09/2018 at 10:32, Bean9seventy said:

Encore Copy of a Fender ,,

great sound for big sound playing , takes Marcus Miller full body very well , slightly weaker on booty , pick up screws don't work ,, needs adjusting, hence tape over pick ups ,, works well without too much treble on tone

bass was given to me my 1st you tube donation from a user

 

Great example of how someone who can play, will manage to get a nice sound from any decent instrument. 

When I was a teenager and started to learn to play guitar, I used to blame my guitar (which needed a lot of work, that's true) and I thought if I had a good instrument I'd get so much better... Then one day I saw a little gypsy kid playing a battered flamenco guitar with chunks missing... and he was fantastic. I realised then that it wasn't the guitar, but the hours you put on it (and talent helps too, of course  )

[Bean9seventy]

1 hour ago, mcnach said:

 

Great example of how someone who can play, will manage to get a nice sound from any decent instrument. 

When I was a teenager and started to learn to play guitar, I used to blame my guitar (which needed a lot of work, that's true) and I thought if I had a good instrument I'd get so much better... Then one day I saw a little gypsy kid playing a battered flamenco guitar with chunks missing... and he was fantastic. I realised then that it wasn't the guitar, but the hours you put on it (and talent helps too, of course  )

Billy " one note " Sheen ,

yeah , any bass that passes the primary funk test is ready to go ,

basses that do not pass the funk test , can still be used ,, yet not desirable ,, sometimes ,  at all , ever ,

Oliver Lang & the crew call my self The Funk Monsta recently

a £2 grand bass above is no different than a £75 , bass ,, if both can accept the full body power of funk  , your are ready to go , the booty wont matter , in the beginning , nor the Aeolian ring tone ,

thanks