Musicians check in here. If you play, tell us about it!

[bassnut]

For my last birthday, my wife went by Muscadine and picked up the original reels of our band's recordings at Muscadine and had Paul put them on a CD, so I now have those archival reels from that era. It was a piece of our band's ancient history. She was there when we recorded them.

This right here is WAY cool Dave!
Post them!
Post them or it ain't so.

Awhile back I got hold of some recordings I did in the early 70's. I hadn't heard them in almost as long a time.
I heard this young bass player playing maybe a few too many notes but this kid's energy was inspiring!
After years of honing the "less is more" concept for some styles of music (and consequently getting a lot of work) I found myself envying this youngster and asking myself "Where did I go wrong?"
Luckily tomorrow is another day. There's always time to shift direction a little bit and re-invent yourself.

Case in point:
Jimmy, our drummer's car broke down tonight so someone drove the 45 miles to pick him up and bring him to the gig.
In the meantime the guitar player and I started the show without him as a duo. We'd never done that before. I found that my regular bass parts weren't working without the drums so I had to shift into playing a lot more stuff to fill in the gaps. I channeled that young guy's gung-ho spirit again and we pulled it off. It was only three songs before the drummer arrived but the experience taught me something (again) and I played better for it the rest of the night.

 

[DaveP]

Bassnut said: This right here is WAY cool Dave!
Post them!
Post them or it ain't so.

I need to do that. The tracks are on a CD and I could rip them to MP3, but where would I post them? They are all covers of tunes that we did on gigs. Some were 60s and 70s and a couple were current early 80s tunes from the time that we did the demo.

 

[bassnut]

I need to do that. The tracks are on a CD and I could rip them to MP3, but where would I post them? They are all covers of tunes that we did on gigs. Some were 60s and 70s and a couple were current early 80s tunes from the time that we did the demo.

Point being, I want to hear "Young Dave" per my last post.
Sound quality or band unity or even "groovy chops" has nothing to do with my interest as far as this old stuff is concerned.
I thought I made it plain. "Gung-ho" The "Go for Broke" spirit is what I hear.

I already know that I play way better technically than many of my influential predecessors in many respects... except originality. It doesn't mean I respect them less or appreciate them less. In hearing my own old recordings, I appreciate that person too in almost the same way as I did my early inspirations. It's sort of a funny feeling.
I used to hate that guy for not being good enough. Now I admire him (me) for his spunk.

ETA
Again, point being is "where and who you were in time".
I've got some stuff that might make you cringe but me rejoice.
..and visa versa.
It's all a matter of perspective and personal...whatever.

What's the best way to post sound files?
I've never been able to figure that out.
I've used some (questionable) sound hosting sites but who can remember the passwords two year later?

I'll show you mine if you show me how.

 

[Mac]

I need to do that. The tracks are on a CD and I could rip them to MP3, but where would I post them? They are all covers of tunes that we did on gigs. Some were 60s and 70s and a couple were current early 80s tunes from the time that we did the demo.

ReverbNation

It's free and doesn't have that lame myspace spammy feel to it.

 

[bassnut]

My friend Mike Wimberly, bass trombone for Gerald Wilson Orchestra (west coast) invited my wife and me down to hear them perform at Catalina's Bar and Grill (last night) on the Sunset Strip in Hollywood.

Bobby Rodriquez, a trumpet player (check the video) came by our table to shoot the breeze with Mike before the show. I was moved for some reason (maybe the way I was raised) to stand up from my chair to shake his hand upon introduction. I'm glad I did.

I've heard them on a few occasions but it just hit home to me when I was reminded that Gerald Wilson was 94 years old.
I knew he was old but not that old.
Beats the crap out of guitar picking old standards on the front porch at 65.
I also found out that he wrote the song that a particular Latino group made popular -(Cowbell Warning! to all females.) El Chicano - Viva Tirado Live 1971 - YouTube
He's written a lot for a lot of famous jazz personalities but the EL Chicano connection was fun because it's more my generation. My youth.

I was struck by the obvious love and respect the band members had for their leader. He's definitely getting a bit frail and almost blind but everybody responded accordingly with eagerness to help make things easier for him. The ultimate in professionalism. I know for a fact they weren't getting paid much. It's the music, the man and the legacy that draws their commitment.

I found this video of a session recording their previous CD. The newest one is up for a Grammy.
It's retro but it's original:



I was able to snag this photo of my friend Mike from the video.

 

[DaveP]

Bassnut, thanks for the videos. Those guys are real musicians. Gerald Wilson goes a long way back in the business. You can tell he was around before the Blues Brothers era. I was especially impressed when he said that he had macular degeneration and had a son do the transcribing of over 100 pages of music for the new album as he dictated the score note by note. That would be hard enough if your vision was good.

I'll try and get some tracks written to mp3 format and uploaded somewhere and link them here. I did two lead vocals on the demo tracks and sang backup on all of them. There are several "canned" guitar solos I played like the original artist cuts and lots of guitar fill in work in all of them. I wish we had videoed that session, but it was about 5 years later that camcorders came out in a price range I could justify.

I've been meaning to get some video of our praise band performances done. I'll have to work on that, too. As far as I know, there were no videos done at any place we played back in the late 70's and the 80's.

 

[arbogast]

Cool thread! I haven't read all of it, I'm afraid.

Well I did play - once. Raising 2 kids and working (I teach composition and ear training) have made me real rusty. As you can hear from this recording at a jam session: http://dl.dropbox.com/u/1276239/music/mig_oa/Migselv/softly.wav
Almost sacrilege posting this here. I had fun playing again, though.
Now, where did I put my chops?

 

[DaveP]

Cool thread! I haven't read all of it, I'm afraid.

Well I did play - once. Raising 2 kids and working (I teach composition and ear training) have made me real rusty. As you can hear from this recording at a jam session: http://dl.dropbox.com/u/1276239/music/mig_oa/Migselv/softly.wav
Almost sacrilege posting this here. I had fun playing again, though.
Now, where did I put my chops?

Arbogast, welcome to the music thread! I enjoyed your track. I like most anything in a minor key. I'm guessing that you were the keyboard guy. I found it interesting that a guy from Norway was playing Latin tracks! I guess music is truly universal.

 

[DaveP]

E.G. Kight and her band will be opening for B.B. King in Atlanta and Macon next week. I was fortunate to be able to sit in for a set one night at the Rookery in Macon when she was just about to go national. A good friend of mine, Gary Porter, is her drummer (3rd from left) and the bass player and lead guitar are local musicians who form her band when she is in GA. Gary and I and a couple of other guys used to play 5th Sunday in church from time to time, trying to introduce the congregation to rock based CC music.

 

[DaveP]

So, is everyone too tired after Christmas to post? I enjoyed it immensely, but I'm ready to get back to the humdrum of everyday life again. Rush, rush, rush, for the last few weeks ... now for a few laid back days.

 

[DaveP]

Here's a great music video that includes studio footage of an ECF member recording "vaping Mailman Blues" to the tune of Johnny Cash's "Folsom Prison Blues". Great stuff if you are a vaper!

 

[DaveP]

Kinda slow around here lately. I guess everyone is out playing with their new Christmas toys and getting back to work from the holidays ...

 

[bassnut]

Last night I stayed up late watching on Youtube "An American Family" the Beach Boy's story.
I actually know Alley Mills who played Mrs. Wilson (also Wonder Years mom) fairly well (I thought) but forgot that she did this. It's been awhile. A pleasant surprise anyway. She did well.
She's really not much older than her "sons" in this production. The pencil lines drawn on her face to simulate age were evident.
There was another one called "Summer Dreams" made earlier.
Both productions played up what a...ah....rotten guy the father, Murry Wilson, was, portraying him as a real clueless/loser/bully with some business sense living vicariously and parasitically off of his kids....not doubt true to some extent.

Come to find out he actually contributed quite a lot!
Sure, he wrote one corny song featured on the Lawrence Welk show a few times but he also wrote a song covered by the "The Hollywood Flames".
I can clearly see the influence this group had on young Brian Wilson. Here's one that Old Man Wilson wrote:

ETA. Check out other The Hollywood Flames recordings on Youtube. They rock! Even more evidence of a close influence. The Wilson family would see their performances (naturally) quite often.



Here's another one "I'll hide MY Tears" recorded in 1954 by The Jets, which the Hollywood Flames also covered later.
Seems the old guy was into Doo-wop...or at least his songs jived with it.
In other words, the Beach Boys didn't arise out of an unaccountable vacuum.



After The Beach Boys fired Murry as their manager/producer he found these one-hit-wonders - The Sunrays and "produced" them seemingly as a way to compete and get even with The Beach Boys. I think he made his point. I remember this song anyway. Another (hollow) win for Murry. They look and sound a bit too familiar:



I always look and marvel and these old bands seeing them playing Fender and Gibson guitars with Fender amps etc. My recollection is that this equipment costs twice as much for the made in USA equivalents then as it does now adjusting for inflation. That was expensive stuff. It was very low volume and top-'o-the line and state-'o-the art stuff. Hand made. Not cheap.

It's no wonder that the vintage instrument market seems so out of proportion.
Things cost a lot more then and people went out on very long limbs to acquire them.
The financial equivalent would be like buying instruments from the Gibson and Fender custom shops now.

I seem to remember a Fender Stratocaster in '67 costing new about $450 or more. Adjust that for inflation...what...$4,000 today? I'm guessing.
Used maybe 1/3 that. Sorta like cars. People were really into "new" then. 2nd hand was....2nd hand. Less Mojo.
That's nothing the average kid with dreams of R&R could manage.
If they had a top model Fender or Gibson guitar they either had rich parents or were extremely dedicated (worked for it) or both.
Are they better? Maybe not but they sure as hell represent something priceless.

 

[bobthesalesclerk]

I have been playing drums for about 20 years and bass, guitar, keyboard, piano and such for about the same amount of time. I have toured the country 3 or 4 times, done tons of east coast/midwest tours, been on record labels, recorded plenty of albums, and drank plenty of beers during the entire process. I am in a new band right now(drums)...link to our album will be below the videos. It's not heavy like all of these videos and we have a vocalist that actually sings lol.

Here are some videos I have on drums
Outclassed CD Release show in Pittsburgh


Outclassed @ Nara in Richmond Virginia

Outclassed @ Barclay House Baltimore


Here are some videos of me on Bass
Who Goes There? @ The DAAC Grand Rapids Michigan

Who Goes There? playing under a bridge in Richmond

Who Goes There? @ Tommys Tavern NYC

Who Goes There? @ Bearacougars Pleasure Island Pittsburgh, PA

And here is just a random video of me playin some geetar



This is my new band Club Bangers EP. If you download it please feel free to comment if you liked it.

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=IPNQJ9W7

 

[bassnut]

Where's the "1"?

 

[davedamage]

I forgot about this thread. If anyone is into heavier music and doesn't mind heading back to the dreaded MySpace, my band has some songs still uploaded there. MySpace.com/theweakersister

 

[bobthesalesclerk]

I forgot about this thread. If anyone is into heavier music and doesn't mind heading back to the dreaded MySpace, my band has some songs still uploaded there. MySpace.com/theweakersister

I will check you guys out tomorrow. My old band was pretty heavy. We were on the same label as municipal waste, cannibjs corpse, and cough.

Www.MySpace.com/outclassed

Sent from my flashback honeycomb gtablet

 

[DaveP]

Bassnut, I found my demo cd, the one we talked about, and I'm just before ripping the CDA tracks to MP3. When I get them uploaded, I'll post the link here. A day or two and I should have them up on a link.

 

[bassnut]

Bassnut, I found my demo cd, the one we talked about, and I'm just before ripping the CDA tracks to MP3. When I get them uploaded, I'll post the link here. A day or two and I should have them up on a link.

Just go ahead and post those same links here Dave.
I really enjoyed them. I especially liked the R&B medley.
You'll have to fill in the scene a little bit like who was playing what.
That was a long time ago, man although I'll bet it doesn't seem like it. What a hoot!
I take it you've learned to put a little more "stink" on it along the way matched with improved proficiency since then. I sure have. I mean stink. Not so sure about the proficiency part. I almost liked myself better when I was younger. More reckless. Fearless. Clueless.
Some of these newer bands sound all about "stink" and less proficiency. I kind of understand that. Similar to what Punk was all about but with more frenzied emotion, energy...and gadgets!
Tasty guitar solos? Fogidaboudit. That's yo daddy.

 

[DaveP]

Just go ahead and post those same links here Dave.
I really enjoyed them. I especially liked the R&B medley.
You'll have to fill in the scene a little bit like who was playing what.
That was a long time ago, man although I'll bet it doesn't seem like it. What a hoot!
I take it you've learned to put a little more "stink" on it along the way matched with improved proficiency since then. I sure have. I mean stink. Not so sure about the proficiency part. I almost liked myself better when I was younger. More reckless. Fearless. Clueless.
Some of these newer bands sound all about "stink" and less proficiency. I kind of understand that. Similar to what Punk was all about but with more frenzied emotion, energy...and gadgets!
Tasty guitar solos? Fogidaboudit. That's yo daddy.

Those were back in the early 80s and we were a current cover band. We never got around to doing any original stuff. We were just about enjoying ourselves playing what people wanted to hear on a dance floor and doing our thing. I was stiffer in those cuts, probably due to nervousness about my first experience in a studio. I could hear that in the vocals, too, especially in the vibrato on the note tails. All that we did on those cuts were very choreographed, with little room for expressiveness.

Back in those days, I was playing in box patterns, figuring out the leads to songs note for note where I could. I hadn't studied scales or modes and hadn't explored how knowing scales could expand my expressiveness. I could be fast, but with nowhere to go outside the box. I'm much smoother now and more fluid and expressive in my solo work, mostly from more experience, but I find that my speed is only as good as my daily practice regime. If I slack off for a while, I have to build back to that point.

My guitar is in the right channel on the recordings. Rhythm guitar was on the left and both were mixed slightly toward center. Paul Hornsby, the studio owner, commented that my Strat was kind of thin as we played a couple of warmup tunes. He turned some knobs and it got much fatter for a Strat. He added a slight slap back echo to create somewhat of a doubling effect, dialed in some light overdrive, and it came out pretty stout on the recordings. On the song, "Talking in Your Sleep", I went back and doubled the vocal in an overdub. If you listen closely, you can hear a word or two where I varied from one track to the other, but it's a pretty close duplicate to the original track. I had never done that before. It was Paul's idea and it thickened up the vocal.

I would have loved to have video of that session, but that was just on the edge of consumer video and no one was doing anything but film. The keyboard player, Wayne Pierce, also played blues harp in the session. The rhythm guitar, Robert Rogers, player the 2nd part harmony in Hello (Les Paul guitar). The drummer was Larry Finney, who also did our booking. The bass player was Chuck Freeman. He played a Fender Precision and a Peavey bass in the session. Chickie Hill was the female vocalist. All but the drummer and the keyboard player sang lead or harmony pretty much all the time on a gig. All the musicians in the recording were our band members.

Here's the tracks if anyone wants to listen. Click the link, scroll down to "Download This File", click it and enter the 4 characters they make you enter to prove you aren't a bot.

http://www.filedropper.com/01-newyorknewyork
http://www.filedropper.com/02-hello_1
http://www.filedropper.com/03-hardforthemoney
http://www.filedropper.com/04-talkinginyoursleep
http://www.filedropper.com/06-motownmedley_1