Wednesday, February 24, 2016

Bass Bits, Guest(s) Post #6

Blog round up:

Cardrossmaniac 2 gets dubby, trip hoppy, jungly

Phil Zone gets to grip with the 'Glers

Action Time Vision pitches in 

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Some new guests, some regulars returning:

their comments are in italics



Asif Siddiqi drops science:


The Beatles - Rain 

 ('bout time somebody did that one!)

"Paul being completely nutters, with a beautifully thick sound that was very new at the time "



Beatles - I Want You (from Abbey Road)

"Paul being nutty again, with the little manic fills between verses. Here's the bass and drums isolated" -




B-52s - Planet Claire

"Kate playing an awesome interplanetary synth bass"



"which was copied note for note (w/ a real bass by David J) and amped up on" -

Bauhaus - Hair of the Dog



"On a different note"

Buffalo Springfield - I Am a Child

"Sublime, beautiful, makes you feel as if the song is skipping along…"




"Pretty much any late 1970s Joni Mitchell (all played by Jaco Pastorius) but especially" -

Joni Mitchell - Don Juan's Reckless Daughter

"which seems like the bass is grounding the song into a holes deeper and deeper until Joni's voice disappears into echoes at the end…"



"Brilliant minimalist bass here" -

Flipper - Ha Ha Ha



The Smiths - Heaven Knows I'm Miserable Now

('ere I was going to nominate that one! in an Andy Rourke Special possibly)

"Here, one of the greatest bass guitarists of the post-1960s British pop, Andy Rourke, spirals up and down the choruses and verses, creating such a lovely effect"



"the BBC sessions version of 'This Charming Man' in which seems Rourke is playing a counter-melody through the entire song that completely and utterly gives the song a three-dimensional quality"



"And let us not forget "Barbarism Begins at Home" in which Rourke tries out his white funk, and acquits himself quite well. The song is basically Marr's fantasy homage to the Pop Group, Rip Rig & Panic, etc. but it basically flows from Rourke's fingers. A famous live version here" -



This is not the only nomination for "Barbarism Begins At Home", which I kinda hate as a song  - along with roughly two-thirds of Meat Is Murder, frankly - but must be admitted this bass is ace, as far as it goes (which is deep into not-really-Smiths territory).


^^^^^^^^^^^

Bobby Wratten bigs up:

Derek Forbes of Simple Minds (this just a taste of future Forbes fanfaring)



Neil McKenzie of Artery




Jeremy Kerr of A Certain Ratio


Dave McClymont of Orange Juice



^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^


Sadmanbarty has a couple more


Gene Kupra 



confesses that "I don’t know the bassist’s name"

Dave Holland & Barre Phillip





^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^


Ed Crooks with a bunch that are "all from the 80s"

One in fact was "Barbarism Begins At Home", about which Ed comments that here Rourke is "disproving Joe Carducci's contention that punk de-skilled British bass players. He has so many great moments, but this is my favourite, especially when he plays for Morrissey and Marr's awkward but endearing dancing from 6'10" on. He and Marr sound oddly like the Meat Puppets at times here." (here meaning the video already posted above)


Steve Gustafson - 10,000 Maniacs - "My Mother The War:

(great choice)

"A strange band, which went on to have a long and undistinguished career. This is their only great song, thanks to John Lombarbo's sheets of guitar and Steve Gustafson's thunderous bassline."

(sadly concur with that verdict although I did quite enjoy their cover of "Peace Train")


Debbie Googe - My Bloody Valentine - "Slow"

"The quality is terrible, but it's great to watch Googe play. It's hard to believe that bass sound really is created by a human being"



Tim Sommer and Adam Peacock - Hugo Largo

(yesssss!)


"Another two-bass band, and a terrific one. All their music sadly out of print these days."



"And the greatest bassline of all time: The SOS Band, Just Be Good To Me"

(double-yesssss!)




"Played on the keyboard (by Jam or Lewis?), the bass transforms the song, turning an abject confession of bad life choices into a triumphant anthem. Norman Cook's cover as Beats International replaced the towering original bassline with Paul Simonon's gloomy plod from The Guns of Brixton. It fits better with the lyrics, but destroys the tension that makes the SOS Band's version so great."