Herbie Flowers weekend

marcray · #1 01-28-2008, 06:07 AM

when I was 8 or 9 years old I played classical guitar and used to listen to my Grandfathers John Williams and Julian Bream albums. When John Williams joined Sky my GrandFather told me about Herbie Flowers. I really enjoyed the first two Sky albums, Jeff Wayne's The War Of The Worlds, all that goofy stuff, and I just spent the weekend listening to it all once again and watching live stuff on youtube. It was fun to see him still playing in The War Of The Worlds live performances from last year.

Later on in my teens, I got into early Bowie and T-Rex and learned that Herbie played on Diamond Dogs, and late Bolan stuff, all great playing.

And he's loyal to that old 59 Jazz bass obviously!!

Well, I Just thought I'd mention it. If there's anything else that you guys really like by Herbie, please let me know. He's one of those players that due to age, has gone to the back of my head, but it's amazing how influential he was to me. Hell, I even loved "Grandad" when I was a little nipper!!

Marcury · #2 01-28-2008, 08:55 AM

His bassline on Lou Reed's Walk on the Wild Side makes the song.

bassist15 · #3 01-28-2008, 02:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Marcury

His bassline on Lou Reed's Walk on the Wild Side makes the song.

He plays both acoustic and electic bass in that song. He said that a group of session musicians used to do this just to earn more money but it really works well on the song. When he overdubbed electric bass he played it in tenths.

BassIsBoss · #4 01-28-2008, 02:44 PM

The detuning bass on Nilsson's 'Jump into the Fire', is a beautiful piece of work.

Oldboy · #5 01-28-2008, 03:46 PM

He played in a British band called Blue Mink in the late 60's,early 70's.They were a bunch of session musos.They had a hit called Melting Pot which had a great bass line.Jeff Waynes W.O T.W live was televised here in the UK just a couple weeks ago.It was good to see ol'Herbie again.I believe he bought his '59 Jazz in the USA.

Bruce Lindfield · #6 01-29-2008, 02:40 AM

He lives and teaches in my home town!

marcray · #7 01-29-2008, 06:18 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bruce Lindfield

He lives and teaches in my home town!

Peacehaven used to be one of my favourite places... that's near you isn't it? I haven't been there since I was a kid. Is it still beautiful?

kobass · #8 01-29-2008, 06:34 AM

He killed on "David (Bowie) Live." Some incredibly tasty playing and great grooves all over that recording!

51m0n · #9 01-29-2008, 07:14 AM

I've met him many times around Brighton, worked as a tape op years (and years) ago in a small studio when he was producing/helping out a band.

A really lovely guy, never too busy to have a chat, does a huge amount of educational work for kids too. Probably the most humble 'name' player I have ever met.

Also an absolute master of knowing what to play for the song, but you all knew that already

Bruce Lindfield · #10 01-29-2008, 07:35 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by marcray

Peacehaven used to be one of my favourite places... that's near you isn't it? I haven't been there since I was a kid. Is it still beautiful?

My parents live there - it is mostly a "retirement home" for people from Brighton!

I wouldn't describe it as beautiful - more like flat,bleak and full of old people!

Oh and very windy!

51m0n · #11 01-29-2008, 07:55 AM

Like Goring but in the other direction

Bruce Lindfield · #12 01-29-2008, 08:10 AM

I think Worthing has some things going for it - but apart from Brighton, the Sussex Coast is one big retirement home!

51m0n · #13 01-29-2008, 08:21 AM

Oh if you go far enough West it gets a bit more interesting. Well the scenery gets very breathtaking....

I think Worthing is cursed with an unhealthy proportion of tatoo-ed f***wits IMO & IME.

On the other hand Brighton has a vast Muesli Belt and an unbelievable 'head up its own ****' attitude - and I've lived here nearly all my life, so I think I'm entitled to rant

Bruce Lindfield · #14 01-29-2008, 08:33 AM

I bet I've lived here longer than you!!

51m0n · #15 01-29-2008, 08:54 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bruce Lindfield

I bet I've lived here longer than you!!

Quite possibly, I'm 38 this year, and lived in London for 1 of those years, all the rest in Brighton...

lunarpollen · #16 01-29-2008, 01:02 PM

I thought the Jazz bass was first introduced in 1960...

P. Aaron · #17 01-29-2008, 02:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kobass

He killed on "David (Bowie) Live." Some incredibly tasty playing and great grooves all over that recording!

A great reason to revisit that David Bowie record.

marcray · #18 01-30-2008, 06:18 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bruce Lindfield

My parents live there - it is mostly a "retirement home" for people from Brighton!

I wouldn't describe it as beautiful - more like flat,bleak and full of old people!

Oh and very windy!

my dad's best friend is Bob Daisley and he lived there for many years. I remember it being windy when they made me come to a Sunday morning local footie match, but usually I was stuck in the corner of a bar playing video games, so there's not much else I remember.

Belka · #19 01-30-2008, 11:31 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lunarpollen

I thought the Jazz bass was first introduced in 1960...

I remember reading in an old UK Bassist interview with him that he bought it in 1959 at (I think) Manny's in New York. He or the interviewer said that this would probably make it a pre-production prototype (there must have been some) that was then sold on. If this is true it could make it one of the most valuable jazz basses in the world (bar those with very famous owners) because it is probably stock and doesn't seem to vary from other jazzes from that period.

There is a chance however that he got the years mixed up; 49 years is a long time and it could happen, in which case it might be a '60. Anyone have any information about the serial numbers of this particular bass?

99ster · #20 02-01-2008, 01:24 PM

Here's everything you could want to know about Herbie's 1959 Jazz bass... http://www.curtisnovak.com/vintage/JazzBass59/
The serial number (looks like 57525 to me in the picture) does maybe seem to be a bit high for 1959...
I have a 1960 Jazz (neck date 7/60) and the serial number is 49940. Most sources say that there were no 50000 range Fender serial numbers until 1960. But this probably just goes to show how Fender serial numbers can't be used on their own to accurately date a vintage bass!