The Jam- Bruce Foxton

[new_west]

I've been listening to the Jam a lot and some other Paul Weller's band the Style Council. I really like Bruce Foxton's bass playing and I just wanted to know a few things

1) Was he strictly a pick player? (been playing Down in the Tube Station at Midnight without one)

2) Is there any where I could find bass tabs for Going Underground and News of the World? I've been trying to figure out Going Underground and I've got most of it..

I agree with the previous topics related to him that he dosen't get the credit he deserves, though I feel the same way with Andy Rourke.

[The Mock Turtle Regulator]

Originally Posted by new_west

1) Was he strictly a pick player?

I think he was with the Jam.
but he mentioned playing a song or two fingerstyle more recently with Stiff Little Fingers.

there's some pretty good bass on his solo album Touch Sensitive too.

[12stringbassist]

I watched him very carefully at the time - mainly pick. What a player.







My BF pics from Salford Uni - 'Strange towns' tour. I saw him there on 'Touch sensitive' gig too. Great stuff, but no pics.

[Essexbass]

Originally Posted by 12stringbassist

I watched him very carefully at the time - mainly pick. What a player.







My BF pics from Salford Uni - 'Strange towns' tour. I saw him there on 'Touch sensitive' gig too. Great stuff, but no pics.

Great Pics!!
I have to say that Bruce was my first ever "Bass Hero" - The Jam were THE band when I was younger. I used to try & pick out bits & pieces of his playing when I first started ("Start!" is one of my all time favourites along with "Scrape Away" - both on the "Sound Affects" album).

Although I know deep down that it'll probably never happen, I'd love to see Weller put the band back together for a few gigs.

To answer the question first set on this post, probably 99% of all the tracks on The Jam's albums are Bruce playing with pick - the only exception is "Precious" which sounds like fingerstyle (used a pick live). There's also a little bit of slap & pop on things like "Absolute Beginners", "Music for The Last Couple" ("Sound Affects") and "Precious".

Good bassist - very underrated (IMO).

Cheers,
Essexbass.

[The Owl]

The Jam were one of my faves in the early 80's for sure!! Great songs and tight playing by all!!

[AxtoOx]

I play a few of their tunes,"A town called malice" and "That's entertainment" but I use my fingers. What do I know?

[6-3-2]

Bruce certainly deserves more credit, but in the US at least The Jam aren't quite as known as other punk bands, not sure why. Quite a few missing out on a great band. Andy Rourke is fantastic as well, but everyone keeps getting caught up on Johnny Marr.

I did find a "Going Underground" tab but it seemed way off and these days it's probably gone.

[tomthedude]

good to hear some more fans. He's one of my favourite bassists, well him and simo, and he's partly the reason why i started playing bass 3 years ago. I love the sound, have to save up for my own rick tho!

[Kink Rimson]

Didn't he use flats?

[The Mock Turtle Regulator]

Rotosound RS66 swing bass rounds on the Rick and P bass.

not sure about the Gibson EB2 (or Epiphone rivoli?) he used on Start- could have been flats on that.

[cowsgomoo]

Originally Posted by new_west

2) Is there any where I could find bass tabs for Going Underground and News of the World? I've been trying to figure out Going Underground and I've got most of it..

i've transcribed Going Underground (see link below to my website)

it's notation, not tab, so you'll have to read music to make use of it... but that's a good thing

our band does a couple of Jam tunes... the bass lines are really fun to play

Start! : http://www.heymrbassman.co.uk/pennyr...23-10-2004.mp3

Tube Station : http://www.heymrbassman.co.uk/pennyr...26-09-2004.mp3

[6-3-2]

Those are some pretty solid Jam performances.

[new_west]

cowsgomoo,

nice site. The going underground bass tab was good.. Since i've been only playing for a couple months, I'm in dire need of practicing with standard notation, so that helped as there were no tab aid.. haha.

12stringbassist- what kind of bass is foxton using in that picture? was there a specific fender precision he used for The Jam?