Keith Ferguson Appreciation

deepbluesuk · #1 11-09-2008, 04:17 PM

Thought I'd kick this off after a mention of him on the 'coolest pics' thread sparked some interest.

So join in, any pics, stories, experiences of Keith, gear, or whatever...

Personally, I think he was the coolest!

Kitsapbass · #2 11-09-2008, 05:03 PM

Great player. I'm not much of a Fab T-Birds fan, but he was really good.

JAUQO III-X · #3 11-09-2008, 05:14 PM

http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm...ndid=126251285

http://www.angelfire.com/ma/rockincatbass/keith.html

GlennW · #4 11-09-2008, 09:05 PM

I like his playing too. It's very traditional sounding and very filling. A lot of the times it's just drums, a guitar and a bass. He had a nice way filling in just about the entire background without being flashy.

deepbluesuk · #5 11-12-2008, 08:31 AM

Cant believe theres not more people into Keith or his playing - oh well!!

speedrabbit · #6 11-12-2008, 11:58 AM

Ironically I've heard of him via a blues bass book, but never actually heard him. Any recommendations as to a good place to start?

One Drop · #7 11-12-2008, 12:47 PM

I think he's great, too, tonewise and musically. He always made things interesting without being inappropriate or overplaying, great blues bassist.

JTE · #8 11-12-2008, 01:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by speedrabbit

Ironically I've heard of him via a blues bass book, but never actually heard him. Any recommendations as to a good place to start?

"Los Fabulosos Thunderbirds" and "What's The Word" by The Fabulous Thunderbirds. These are early recordings, well before "Tuff Enuff". Besides Keith, it's also got SRV's more talented and interesting older brother playing guitar like it should be played in a band.

I can't find it, but I once had a "Keith Ferguson" lesson I'd stolen from an interveiw in Guitar Player Magazine (back in the days before any bass magazines were available). It was something like the basic 1 3 5 b7 boogie pattern, and another common blues move. In the interview he said he was shown three things like that and told to go play.

jte

GlennW · #9 11-12-2008, 04:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by speedrabbit

Ironically I've heard of him via a blues bass book, but never actually heard him. Any recommendations as to a good place to start?

Start right here.

What's the word?

Thunderbird.

What's the price?

The price is nice.

http://cgi.ebay.com/The-Essential-Co...QQcmdZViewItem

deepbluesuk · #10 11-12-2008, 04:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GlennW

Start right here.

What's the word?

Thunderbird.

What's the price?

The price is nice.

http://cgi.ebay.com/The-Essential-Co...QQcmdZViewItem

That looks like a good Keith "starter"!!

deepbluesuk · #11 11-12-2008, 05:14 PM

Give this a shot

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VMgQOM-SxT4

Some cool shots of Keith

Check out the stand-in on guitar. This was the Uk tour when Jimmie broke his leg

speedrabbit · #12 11-13-2008, 09:37 AM

Cheers guys. Great youtube link and great recommendations.

Easy8 · #13 11-13-2008, 10:39 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by deepbluesuk

Give this a shot

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VMgQOM-SxT4

Some cool shots of Keith

Check out the stand-in on guitar. This was the Uk tour when Jimmie broke his leg

That would be Billy Bremner of Rockpile on guitar.

deepbluesuk · #14 11-13-2008, 12:04 PM

Found another for ya...

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

BluesBassFreak · #15 12-24-2008, 11:32 AM

Keith was THE MAN!! Any blues bass player can pick a few things up by listening to the early T-birds albums with Keith on them. Preston Hubbard who replaced Keith has much admiration for him as does Ronnine James Weber - the two BADDEST MO' FO'S on the planet now.

deepbluesuk · #16 01-04-2009, 09:06 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BluesBassFreak

Preston Hubbard who replaced Keith has much admiration for him as does Ronnine James Weber - the two BADDEST MO' FO'S on the planet now.

++++1

hangman · #17 01-04-2009, 11:27 AM

I was fortunate to live on a street right behind Keith's purple house for a time in the 80s. I have a couple of memories to share: I remember being at his house one particular night and he had just got a record of a field recording of Senegalese drum ensembles of the early-mid 20th century. He loved it. (He loved all music, but especially Mexican and Black American). The topic of kitchen conversation turned to the writings of G.I. Gurdjieff. I didn't know what Keith was talking about, but I was young and it didn't matter, he sounded cool. He was very smart and hip to me. We were drinking beer together. And then a dealer came by, and Keith disappeared into another room, and I left.
Another night we were standing on a corner of 6th Street, in front of a club with big open windows and the band was playing in front. The bass player had a big fancy schmancy high-dollar rig with rackmount units out the wazoo, and Keith said "man, I could pay a full year's rent for the cost of that rig". That might have been the last time I saw him, as I moved away.

Here's a picture a friend took of him at Joe's Generic Bar. IMO, it doesn't get cooler than this.

morebass! · #18 12-21-2009, 09:41 AM

That pic doesn't look like Keith. Anyway, I saw the T-Birds several times in the early 80's and they were the real deal - Jimmy and Keith in particular. Keith always had great tone and mananged to get some real growl out of that old fender.

deepbluesuk · #19 12-22-2009, 03:12 AM

Good to see this old thread pop up. He really was the real deal.

Fergie Fulton · #20 12-22-2009, 03:51 AM

For me Keith is what i call "a bass players player". He had a great understanding of what Blues and Bass playing means. Anyone wanting to get a feel or handle on what deep down and dirty bass playing is about, just listen to his playing, those early T-Birds albums are a great example of what a fourman Blues band can sound like. Sadly missed but never forgotten.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mk0Vx9oDBrc

http://www.rockpalastarchiv.de/conce...nderbirds.html