I've never really heard any Entwistle and because of this I don't really see what the fuss is about.

BUT! I'm willing to learn and I want to learn!

Can anyone point me to some good starting songs/albums?

Thanks a lot :hyper:

It's hard to be sure if you're serious, but try Who's Next.

Entwistle was a great bass player (from what I have read and heard - though I was never a fan of The Who, so I never listened much to him). I suppose, in comparison to many rock bass players of the era, Entwistle was quite a genious. However, even when I have sat with other bass players who are Entwistle fans and listened to them raving, I never quite got it. That's no reflection on Entwistle, it's just that he didn't click for me.

There are LOTS of great players. For me, Abe Laboriel, Sr. was and still is at the top of the list.

http://www.angelfire.com/music/worldpop/MU110/table_of_contents.html

Check YouTube for more clips of him. Even now, with gray hair and a few more pounds, he's remains one of the most incredible players you will ever find.

Live at Leeds. You gotta have the volume at 11 to fully appreciate it.

Looked heaps cooler older..

great player however, my very favourite, he just got better(and cooler basses) with time.

Get a copy of "Won't Get Fooled Again". Turn it way up, and listen to Johnny romp! I guarantee you'll begin to get the picture...

"Who's Next"is a classic, you cannot go wrong. If you don't get it after listening to this gem, you never will.

Live at Leeds deluxe version, the Who by Numbers, Who's Next. if you can only get one, get Live at Leeds.

I do not agree,

If you can only get one, Get Quadrophenia.

get a copy of the dvd "the who live at the royal albert hall", go to the song "5:15" and just watch. then you will get what all the hype is about.

Find a copy of The Kids are Alright on DVD. There is a special feature where they show Entwistle live on stage and isolate him so all you can hear is the bass. You will be blown away.

the real me.

maybe the coolest bassline ever

I couldn't agree with this more...

Live at Leeds. You gotta have the volume at 11 to fully appreciate it.

Rock bass was redefined for me when I heard this album (at 11 of course).

thanks a lot! i'm off to amazon as we speak...

I suppose, in comparison to many rock bass players of the era, Entwistle was quite a genious. find.
Yes, he was quite a genius. He is the reason you have roundwound strings available to buy at the music store... or where ever you might buy them. When he started playing you could only buy flatwound strings. He found the gentleman that started Roto Sound and they collaborated on the strings and viola... a whole new sound.

He was amazing in a lot of ways

you'll all be glad to hear that i'v just ordered 'whos next' 'live at leeds' and 'the kids are alright' DVD

i'll let u know what i think :cool:

you'll all be glad to hear that i'v just ordered 'whos next' 'live at leeds' and 'the kids are alright' DVD

i'll let u know what i think :cool:

Just make sure you get the volume setting right... 11:bassist:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kkKeZ1z8zGk

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TVl39LBZGMw&mode=related&search=

this one is good too!!!!

I liked him best in the late 70s to early 80s...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DKDDl5yOwhQ
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3uMAUdG6KmM

I do not agree,

If you can only get one, Get Quadrophenia.

+1 The Real Me made me want to play bass. :cool:

If you don't mind a little advice on the subject, try to listen to those Who tracks within the context of when they came out. It would be really easy to hear his playing and say "oh, there's this kid in my gym class who can play faster than that"- because a lot of Entwistle's style is quite bombastic. The thing to remember is that he was really inventing a style. There were certainly others exploring more melodic bass lines at the time, but he pushed the envelope as far as agressiveness and tone.

And my recommendations:

Liuv At Leeds,
Quadrophenia

Have fun.

If you don't mind a little advice on the subject, try to listen to those Who tracks within the context of when they came out. It would be really easy to hear his playing and say "oh, there's this kid in my gym class who can play faster than that"- because a lot of Entwistle's style is quite bombastic. The thing to remember is that he was really inventing a style. There were certainly others exploring more melodic bass lines at the time, but he pushed the envelope as far as agressiveness and tone.

And my recommendations:

Liuv At Leeds,
Quadrophenia

Have fun.

Well said. I was thinking about this today and came up with an aviation analogy.

Leo Fender is to the Wright Brothers

as John Entwistle is to Chuck Yeager

The Wright Brothers flew the first powered heavier than air aircraft, and Chuck Yeager came along and flew an aircraft past the speed of sound.


Leo Fender kicked the use of the electric bass off when he invented the instrument way back when, then along came John Entwistle to take it to another level.

When he was playing lead solos on the bass, most bassists are only playing root notes along with the kick drum. Bassists were just there as the bottom boom. No melodic support (with a few exceptions of course) just boom boom boom. Here comes Entwistle playing essentially the rhythm guitar and the bass and a lead instrument as well as lead and melodic support. Very unusual for the time.

What's the big deal with this geezer?

He doesn't slap at all, and plays pretty slow.


























:ninja: :p

I love the Live at Leeds and Alembic/Sunn tones. The way he changed gear, it seems to me he was always after a tone (and an instrument) that would replicate what he imagined. If that's so, and as technology improved and he changed gear to more closely approach the sound he was after, I may not have liked that sound. Live in his Warwick days, his tone was lost even in his own band in a small venue, though it improved at the end of his days with the Status and his Ashdown/Trace rig. Even then, though, he sounds very processed and a tad cheesy when compared to the vicious distortion he got in the days of old.

What's the big deal with this geezer?

He doesn't slap at all, and plays pretty slow.

:ninja: :p

I love the Live at Leeds and Alembic/Sunn tones. The way he changed gear, it seems to me he was always after a tone (and an instrument) that would replicate what he imagined. Even then, though, he sounds very processed and a tad cheesy when compared to the vicious distortion he got in the days of old.

You are right on, he was seeking a tone that he liked and an instrument that was solid, felt, played and looked like he imagined and was stable. Stable meaning the necks wouldn't move when he went from city to city.
As far as the Warwick days, I don't think you can blame what you perceive as his tone issues back then on the Warwick bass or bass electronics. I think he was experimenting with effects and started to rely a bit too much on them fattening the sound.

I had seen some stuff from the earlier days with the Status Buzzard and the tone was quite similar, way too much distortion, and chorus IMHO (He may have loved that sound for all I know). I think he just figured it out and lightened up on the effects. I saw him with the John Entwistle Band in 1998 (when he signed my P Bass) at a small venue here in Orangevale, CA (The Boardwalk) with maybe 300 other people. His tone was awe inspiring. I think he got back more to "Bassics"... although his rig was monsterous.

After seeing John play in that little venue, I started down a similar path to improve my tone, switching pickups and amps, cabinets and adding some basses to the stable.

I love that Tone, and the greatest part is, My two Digitech Pedals can creat that tone togheter with my Listerud :p (im thinking the same as on "Live At Royal Albert hall"

im actually quite excited to get these cds now!

enjoy the ox's music!

the real me.

maybe the coolest bassline ever

Well put, funkalicious!