Let's Hear It For JJ Burnel!

theevilplankton · #1 11-25-2009, 11:05 AM

After a time away from them, I have recently got seriously back into the early (and IMHO, best) work of The Stranglers, from '77-'82.

I did have the albums on vinyl (back in the early '90s), but have now upgraded with the recent remasters from a few years back.

All I can say is wow - I always loved JJ's bass work, but the remastered sound is just out of this world.

The growl and attitude of his sound is just amazing, and pretty much every track has a classy line.

I know he used the green P-bass early on, but was it on the first 3 albums? Was it a P-for the rest up until '82? (I have read he used a Wal on the 'Bear Cage' single?)

So I'd just like to give a big shout out for the brilliance, and inspiration, of Mr. Burnel!

Philbiker · #2 11-25-2009, 11:53 AM

Thumbs up here. Still sounds great on vinyl in my house.

One Drop · #3 11-25-2009, 12:07 PM

Thanks for the heads up on the remastered albums, another group who's music I also have on vinyl but never play anymore due to all those albums being stored away in a basement in another country.

I've always got a huge kick from listening to the The Stranglers. Great songs and arrangements, and they had an attitude and mystique like few bands from the era.

One of my few regrets was missing their '77 show at a tiny hotel bar in Old Montreal; tiny foot-high stage, packed room (my older brother was there), loud as hell and twice as intense: they played less than an an hour and left the stage without an encore, and the audience proceeded to wreck their equipment and trash the bar from rage and adrenaline. It came out later that Jet Black had a high fever for the whole show and just couldn't take the stage again. They were the first punk band to play in my hometown, and opened the floodgates.

As far as I know he used a P on the first 3 albums. Live it was SVT or Marshall rigs, I believe. I read an article years ago where he said he used to destroy Ampeg 810 speakers pretty regularly.

Besides all their great originals, I think their version of 'Walk On By' is one of the greatest covers in the history of pop music.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jqfqVDHNW6c

theevilplankton · #4 11-26-2009, 10:23 AM

100% - 'Walk On By' is a truly great, and original cover if there's such a thing!

The remasters really bring JJ's bass to the front, I couldn't believe how much they've improved on the old vinyl versions.

For me, 'La Folie' was their last great moment. I think it's again a P on that album, but there is some great JJ work on it.

For me, he's a bit under-rated, probably becasuse of the way the band went post '82.....!

Philbiker · #5 11-26-2009, 12:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by theevilplankton

For me, 'La Folie' was their last great moment. I think it's again a P on that album, but there is some great JJ work on it.

The bassline for "Tramp" is as fun to play as it sounds.

s_mcsleazy · #6 11-26-2009, 01:44 PM

jj made me wanna pick up a bass

when i 1st heard straghten out i thought thats how a bass should sound

**Captain Bob** · #7 11-26-2009, 04:40 PM

Good call! I played several Stranglers tunes in the late 70's in a band. Hanging Around, Dageham Dave (sp) and London Lady. Burnel used a P-bass with Roto Swing Bass 66's thru an SVT on those early albums, up thru The Raven.

markorbit · #8 11-26-2009, 06:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Captain Bob

Burnel used a P-bass with Roto Swing Bass 66's thru an SVT on those early albums, up thru The Raven.

Really? I have never seen JJ Burnel use an SVT, he certainly didn''t rave about them if he did. I thought his pre-1981 valve rig was Hiwatt and maybe Marshall. After that it's Ashly, Trace and Ashdown.

It's mostly P Bass early on but there is a Wal somewhere - perhaps on MeninBlack. Like the bass sound on La Folie the best.

**Captain Bob** · #9 11-26-2009, 08:38 PM

Yes, maybe you're right. It may have been a Hiwatt. It's been over 30 yrs. since I was reading Brit mags about his gear and saw them. I stopped listening to them after 'The Raven', or whatever album had 'Duchess' on it. I was in Rochester, NY and when the band I was in did those tunes I had to use a Maestro Brassmaster with the 4001's I had at the time. We played them much faster.
His sound was not new and it can be heard on early Move tunes circa '67, such as 'I Can Hear the Grass Grow'. The Move would use that P-bass sound often. A similar sound was used on Marmalade's 'I See the Rain'. But, everyone was caught up in the spirit of what was coming out of Britain from about '76 thru '81.
Yet, another reason to pick up a Reeves Custom 225...

Hamrhed · #10 11-27-2009, 06:13 AM

One of my favorite albums is the Stranglers Aural sculpture circa '84 which I bought on a whim back then based on a review or something....had never heard of them before that. I became a Burnel fan after that because he could sound like 10 different guys w/ just a P bass- and because the songs were quirky good...

Btw- they are still playing: http://www.stranglers.net/

Cohaagen · #11 11-28-2009, 03:48 AM

Though I'm not a great fan of pick players, Burnel has always been a favourite of mine. Not just for his playing and compositions, but for his superb stage presence. An older mate of mine said The Stranglers were the most aggressive live band he'd ever seen.

JJ's solo album Euroman Cometh was fantastic - this track, Freddie Laker (Concorde & Eurobus) was released as a single. Check out the massive opening bass riff!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ns-fw7a16Gw&fmt=18

See, it wasn't all about pouty duck-walking and karate-chopping NME hacks.

theevilplankton · #12 11-28-2009, 06:50 AM

That's excellent!

They should make a re-issue of that P-bass - it looks uber-cool in JJ's hands.

Isn't that the one he smashed?

The Mock Turtle Regulator · #13 11-28-2009, 08:58 AM

I think he used the green rosewood-board precision on Rattus and No more heroes, and a black maple-neck one on Black & white and the Raven (a noticeably brighter tone).
but he might have switched between rosewood and maple board precisions.

the gospelaccordingtothemeniniblack was a Wal pro- also on the bearcage (seen in the video) and who wants the world singles (that characteristic burpy sound). Burnel's solo album sounds like a P (he's using the green one in the video for Freddie laker); on the remastered Cd version I've got, there's also a live set, which sounds like it could have been the Wal.

La Folie sounds like a precision (except for Golden brown- that was actually Dave Greenfield on keyboard bass- see the Hugh Cornwell & Jim Drury book "Stranglers song by song"), Feline was a Yamaha BB2000 (except All roads lead to rome which also sounds like keyboard/synth bass).

theevilplankton · #14 11-30-2009, 03:58 AM

That's great info, many thanks for that!

Bruce Lindfield · #15 11-30-2009, 04:37 AM

I saw them play live at the peak of their popularity and it was an amazing gig - at the end, the audience were pulling down the ceiling and the band carried on playing "Down in the Sewer", long after the mics had been trashed and eventually the whole venue!

I remember talking to somebody who played JJ's bass and said it had a very low action - which meant loads of fret noise - but that was incorporated into his signature "sound" which was bassy but noisy!!

murphy · #16 11-30-2009, 04:47 AM

Check out Suite XVI , last album 2006, as their latest line up captures their old sound and has great songs on it!

iamthebassman · #17 11-30-2009, 01:33 PM

FYI:
http://www.shukerguitars.co.uk/jjburnel.htm

Baskesman · #18 11-30-2009, 01:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Philbiker

Thumbs up here. Still sounds great on vinyl in my house.

+1
JJ 's up high in my fave list!

**funkybass4ever** · #19 11-30-2009, 01:45 PM

Some of my earliest bass lines I learned from The Stranglers recordings. I love the growl he got with his bass on those old recordings. I was lucky enough to see them live in Los Angeles right before Hugh quit the band, lots of intensity and power.
JJ is now a martial arts expert too

Wild_Cat · #20 11-30-2009, 01:53 PM

JJ Burnel is awesome. He's probably my favorite pick-playing bassist, with an always tasteful, yet in your face, kind of sound.

Showing my inculture and geekiness here, I discovered here not through the Stranglers (I have since fixed that mistake), but through one of his most recent works: the opening and closing themes to Gankutsuou, the science-fiction anime version of the Count of Monte Cristo.

Here, check this out: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dcnWAzwEd6o