Stanley And Friends

[Chris2112]

[quote name='skej21' post='924450' date='Aug 13 2010, 10:25 PM']I also think it's disgraceful to play a Stanley Clarke gig and show NO respect.[/quote]

I love it how you just seem to have arrived at the decision that this is Billy's mindset. I think you're actually quite far wrong. Billy is certainly a very supportive musician with a great deal of respect for the song. He is certainly not an egotist, he just knows how to have fun. I've seen him live with Vai enough times to know that he is incredibly talented, and can groove with great finesse if the situation calls for it.

This is merely an opportunity for bassists to get on stage and sling a few chops about over a well known tune, Stan's tune no less. Given that the majority of people in the audience were bassists and likely fusion fans at that they've pitched it well I think. There are a few duff bits, like Alex Al, but it's all just good fun. I particularly enjoyed Stu Hamm's bit. Marcus Miller lost me a bit.

However, the overall show is very good, apart from Stevie Wonder's awful redition of "Giant Steps". Seeing Stewart Copeland with Stan on stage was great, just like Animal Logic from back in the day!

[Waldo]

[quote name='Sonic_Groove' post='924519' date='Aug 13 2010, 11:16 PM']Really wow -- how's he two hand tap on She Sells Sanctuary? [/quote]

Hah, I mean in the sense that he believes in the Lord Xenu and thinks that psychiatrists caused the holocaust

[Beedster]

[quote name='Doddy' post='924569' date='Aug 14 2010, 12:41 AM']Is Flea seen as a joke? I don't think so. Sure,he doesn't particularly blow me away,but I don't know anyone who thinks
that he's a joke.

Also,I'm under 40(actually under 30) and I know every player on the stage.[/quote]

Fair point, 'joke' was probably too strong a term. However, I know a few guys who I'd consider musos who, whilst acclaiming Fruscante as some kind of guitar guru, seem to think Flea is a bit of a clown, better known for his image and antics than for his playing. I also received a pretty negative response on the old BW site when I suggested Flea was one of the great bassists, whilst the proposal in the same thread of several of the other players in the clip in question - Clarke et al - seemed to go largely unchallenged. A reflection of the different demographic between the old forum and the present one perhaps, but I felt at the time that there was a degree of musical snobbery involved.

I

[Sonic_Groove]

[quote name='Waldo' post='924661' date='Aug 14 2010, 09:24 AM']Hah, I mean in the sense that he believes in the Lord Xenu and thinks that psychiatrists caused the holocaust[/quote]

Oooh I see Tom Cruise sty-lye -- Same as Stanley's mate Chick Corea!?

Now where's me spaceship

[270degrees]

Speaking from a purely musical point-of-view (rather than technical, coz I'm in no position to comment), I'm going to echo some of the above comments: Flea aside, what a load of self-celebratory codswallop. It aint music; it's just sound.

[risingson]

Ahh that really hurt a lot of my sensibilities to watch! In the words of Alan Partridge, 'sorry, but that was just a noise!'.

Jimmy Johnson and Alex Al are brilliant players, Flea has a humbleness to him that I love and I find him an entertaining and down to earth musician to watch, but the rest of it was mostly rubbish. Brian Bromberg should really buy a guitar and be done with it. It stopped being music pretty quickly and became mostly nonsense for the duration. Hope none of this offends of course, it's just my opinion.

[Chris2112]

[quote name='Sonic_Groove' post='924876' date='Aug 14 2010, 01:53 PM']Oooh I see Tom Cruise sty-lye -- Same as Stanley's mate Chick Corea!?

Now where's me spaceship [/quote]

The old RTF stuff is laced with Scientology referencs - "Where have I known you before", "Hymn of the Sevent Galaxy". Even the name of the band! I still love the band though, even though Chick has arguably lost his touch (IMO) these days.

I have the RTF reunion dvd and it's generally pretty good, but Chick needs reigning back throughout and uses some truely dire sound patches and solo excessively and seemingly without listening to anyone else.

One key moment that highlights where it goes wrong for me, at the start of "Vulcan Princess" or something. Al gets this awesome little groove going with his guitar and locks in with Lenny. Stan echoes the line but quickly starts slapping out "Lopsy Lu", which blows it a bit. Chick then begins to noodle aimlessly over the line and before long all the power and momentum Al had built were crushed as four incredibly talented players inexplicably fail to gel and meander, doing their own thing!

I'm also deeply saddened by the fact that Stan seems to be keen to hang up the electric bass for a while. "The Toys Of Men" is IMO the best solo record he has made and he seems to have hit his stride again after a long period of slightly lacklustre stuff. Shame he's loving the upright so much these days.

[lowdown]

[quote name='Chris2112' post='925255' date='Aug 14 2010, 11:16 PM']Shame he's loving the upright so much these days.[/quote]


May be a shame for you, but some of us folks do like his Upright playing.
Even though he likes to bash out School Days on it.




Garry

[Chris2112]

Stan'y my favourite upright player, but I still find the instrument horrendously dull and even when Stan's playing it, I can rarely listen for long.

[wombatboter]

I think I'm the only one who really liked Sheehan...
I just love the man's energy and you have to admit that he has his own style (like it or not) whereas a lot of bass players in this video wouldn't be recognised if you wouldn't have seen them.
There'll be reactions like "If I would play like Billy Sheehan I wouldn't want to be recognised" but in small doses I like his bass style a lot and on different cd's he has shown that he can play bass like anyone else (check the excellent Johnny Hiland country-cd).
"Eat 'm and smile" and "Skyscraper" by David Lee Roth were amazing cd's (in my top 10 of all time though I'm not a "hard-rock"-fan) and the level of bassplaying is awesome.
I heard myself say "wow" when I watched Billy Sheehan in this clip, others say "bwork", that's their opinion.
Doesn't take away my admiration for Sheehan (pity about that Scientology-crap).
I've send him an email once concerning the terrible bass-sound during a Vai-gig and the next day I got a polite answer from Billy ("sorry for the sound, mixer is Steve Vai's choice"..).
I'm not too keen about his sound but it's raw and energetic and personal and I respect that.

[AndyTravis]

[quote name='AndyTravis' post='923395' date='Aug 13 2010, 12:16 AM'][b]Billy Sheehan [/b]- ace, his 'bumblebee' thing works for me, such an un-typical bass sound, and the bends/pulls on the neck, he really stands out.[/quote]


[quote name='wombatboter' post='926609' date='Aug 16 2010, 04:05 PM']I think I'm the only one who really liked Sheehan...[/quote]


see..me, i liked his slot...

[wombatboter]

Thanks for the support :-) !

[Chris2112]

Billy kicked ass, which is more than can be said for some of the plodders on stage that night!

[OliverBlackman]

I cant slap for toffee, but i can groove well and im alright at coming up with nice melodies. Based on this video does that mean i can never be up there and considered a good bass player?

Edited August 16, 2010 by blackmn90