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09-17-2009, 10:25 AM
| | Registered User | | Join Date: Nov 2002 Location: Newport Beach, CA | |
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Probably my third after the Doors and Yes (older brother and sister . . .). Early 70's at the Forum. Hooked on bass since. |
09-17-2009, 12:01 PM
| | | | Mel was such a huge influence. He drove the band as much as Entwistle & McCartney drove their bands. |
09-18-2009, 12:01 PM
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Originally Posted by EASonBass  Probably my third after the Doors and Yes (older brother and sister . . .). Early 70's at the Forum. Hooked on bass since. | I saw them at the Forum too. Great, great show; all I remember is Farner down on his knees, Mel pounding on stage right, Brewer in the middle. I seem to remember them opening for Creedence Clearwater Revival. Same show?
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09-18-2009, 03:27 PM
| | Registered User | | Join Date: Nov 2002 Location: Newport Beach, CA | | Quote:
Originally Posted by premiumplus I saw them at the Forum too. Great, great show; all I remember is Farner down on his knees, Mel pounding on stage right, Brewer in the middle. I seem to remember them opening for Creedence Clearwater Revival. Same show? | You're making my brain hurt trying to remember this . . . I know it wasn't Credence. I saw them twice there 71 (or 72) and 74. One of those opener's was a black, blues-type guitarist, Freddy King, maybe. The other opener I just can't remember. I seem to recall something about legs. Either the band or their hit had that in their name or the vocalist had long legs  . They had like 1 hit at the time. Who knows? Help me audience! |
11-07-2009, 10:28 PM
|  | Registered User | | Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: Pasco, WA | | Quote:
Originally Posted by electracoyote I met Don Brewer and Mel Schacher once when I was roadying for a Classic Rock tour. Whereas Don is Mr. Personality, very outgoing and approachable, Mel is one of the most humorless, scary men I've ever met. Nothing but business baby, not to be messed with. Like one of those little guys with a chip on his shoulder who would pull out a knife if you looked at him wrong. We all gave him plenty of room. | WOW! It is amazing how people percieve people so differently!!
I have been a Grand Funk fan since 1969. Like many of us, Mel Schacher was my inspiration for all things bass, mostly due to the original Live album.
Finally, in 2002, I had the chance to meet Mel Schacher and Don Brewer (and the rest of the current band) in person. YES, Don Brewer is Mr. Personality!! So much so that he turned me OFF. The whole time I was around them it was like Brewer could not stand for anyone else to have any attention (I was definitely there to meet Mel, my lifelong hero).
Mel on the other hand, would not let me leave . . . he autographed my Jazz Bass; he (and his wife) chatted with me like they had all day and I was the one who needed to go (even tho they had a bass turn up missing as we waited at the airport); he was very interested in WHY I had my settings adjusted the way I did on my bass; HE WALKED ME TO MY CAR . . .
There's no doubt that Mel is the more serious of the two; but still waters run deep, and while Brewer struck me as superficial (the way a car salesman is), Mel was absolutely a gentleman and seemed as genuinely interested in my life as he was in his . . . a top shelf, class-guy all the way.
So, my perception was that Mel Schacher would have come over for lunch had I invited him. Don Brewer on the other hand, struck me as an ego-maniac who had to be in control and in charge. I couldn't wait to get away from Brewer, while Mel Schacher could make everything wait FOR ME!! lol
It was Great!!!
Last edited by LedBelli Bass : 11-07-2009 at 10:38 PM.
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11-10-2009, 04:22 PM
| | Registered User | | Join Date: Aug 2002 Location: Ankh-Morpork | | http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0x6chChxzV0
Here's them playing Inside Looking Out in 1969. Mel's got the modded Jazz, you can clearly see the mudbucker at around the 3:20 mark.
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Last edited by The Lurker : 11-10-2009 at 04:26 PM.
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11-11-2009, 06:50 PM
| | Registered User | | Join Date: Oct 2009 Location: Bayville,NJ/Milton,Fl | | Mel was defiantly one of the reasons I became a Bass player...... You got to check out GFR Behind the Music. See the legendary story of the night GFR blew Zeppelin off the stage !!! http://www.youtube.com/view_play_lis...hind+the+music
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11-11-2009, 09:54 PM
|  | Registered User | | Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: SF (North) Bay Area | | Quote:
Originally Posted by The Lurker | Don't you just love that Mark's guitar tone is clean and Mel's bass tone dirty... 
I find that I'm increasingly going for that slightly overdriven, distorted sound in my playing. |
11-12-2009, 10:59 AM
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Originally Posted by BIGREDSIX Yep, Mel smokes, especially live. A Fender Jazz through a West amp stack (back in the day). Pure overdrive heaven! | 
How come no one makes an amp like that now?
Mel's tone was killer. |
11-12-2009, 11:05 AM
|  | Registered User | | Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: Ellenwood,Ga. | | | Check my icon.That pretty much says it all.
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03-19-2010, 10:23 PM
| | Registered User | | Join Date: Sep 2002 Location: Western Arkansas | | | You guys (&/or girls) are killing me. I thought I was the biggest Mel Schacher fan on earth. Just today (03/19/2010) I finally got the Mel tone like "In Need" on the Red Album with a T-Bird equipped with an Alumitone in the bridge position through a Fender Studio Bass head into an EV cast frame 400 watt 15". Not as loud, I'm sure, but dead on his tone. I've been trying to get that tone since 1979.
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03-19-2010, 11:13 PM
| | Registered User | | Join Date: Aug 2002 Location: Ankh-Morpork | | Quote:
Originally Posted by Mojo-Man
How come no one makes an amp like that now?
Mel's tone was killer. | Messing with the innards definitely helped-- he either deliberately used the wrong tubes, or had the bias wound up to make them run superhot, and had a roadie standing by at all times with asbestos gloves to swap out blown tubes.
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03-29-2010, 08:16 PM
| | Registered User | | Join Date: Mar 2010 Location: Pennsylvania | | | Mel was, is, and always will be one of my all-time favorite players. |
08-08-2010, 06:52 AM
| | Registered User | | Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: Central MA | | Quote:
Originally Posted by LedBelli Bass WOW! It is amazing how people percieve people so differently!!
I have been a Grand Funk fan since 1969. Like many of us, Mel Schacher was my inspiration for all things bass, mostly due to the original Live album.
Finally, in 2002, I had the chance to meet Mel Schacher and Don Brewer (and the rest of the current band) in person. YES, Don Brewer is Mr. Personality!! So much so that he turned me OFF. The whole time I was around them it was like Brewer could not stand for anyone else to have any attention (I was definitely there to meet Mel, my lifelong hero).
Mel on the other hand, would not let me leave . . . he autographed my Jazz Bass; he (and his wife) chatted with me like they had all day and I was the one who needed to go (even tho they had a bass turn up missing as we waited at the airport); he was very interested in WHY I had my settings adjusted the way I did on my bass; HE WALKED ME TO MY CAR . . .
There's no doubt that Mel is the more serious of the two; but still waters run deep, and while Brewer struck me as superficial (the way a car salesman is), Mel was absolutely a gentleman and seemed as genuinely interested in my life as he was in his . . . a top shelf, class-guy all the way.
So, my perception was that Mel Schacher would have come over for lunch had I invited him. Don Brewer on the other hand, struck me as an ego-maniac who had to be in control and in charge. I couldn't wait to get away from Brewer, while Mel Schacher could make everything wait FOR ME!! lol
It was Great!!! | oh man, I read this a while back. Yesterday I got the chance to meet them at a fairly small show. You couldn't be more correct, I met Mel and immediately we started shooting the **** about anything and everything for almost an hour...what a great guy! Even after the show the show he found time to hang out and talk, take some pictures and introduced me to the rest of the band |
08-08-2010, 07:31 AM
| | | | Nice to see this old thread back. I was totally into the 'Funk when I was a kid starting out. The music and the band in general has not weathered the passage of time very well IMO, but Mel's bass playing sounds as fresh and impressive as it did 40 years ago to me. Another example IMO is Uriah Heep during the Gary Thain era (Wizards and Demons or whatever that album was called). The music sounds just ridiculously cheesy now, but man, the bass tone and playing is just SMOKING.
On a somewhat related note, I recently listened to the live CD that is part of the Creedence box set. My god, was THAT a trio (and sometimes quartet). That stuff sounds as fresh as it did 40 years ago, and the rhythm section was just cookin'.
Some great bassists that sometimes don't get the current accolades as some others due to the 'dated sounding' nature of the bands they were part of IMO.
Last edited by KJung : 08-08-2010 at 07:37 AM.
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08-08-2010, 08:06 AM
| | Registered User | | Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: Toronto | | Quote:
Originally Posted by The Lurker | I just saw this video....Mind blowing! Man, to be in the audience at that concert with these guys dropping that song like a bomb on the stage. It's got soul, groove, extended jam, killer bass and drums along with guitar, blues, rock, and I never paid attention to this band...time to start now...
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