Percy Jones . . .

zfunkman · #1 02-01-2013, 02:39 PM

I've been reading and posting on TB for a couple of months now and have read and been involved in discussions about a lot of different bass players. Asside from myself mentioning his name here and there I have never seen a post or comment about Percy Jones. He was the bass player for Brand X. He is also one of the best bass players ever. Most recently he played with Tunnels. He is a master of the fretless bass. Is anyone else out there got any love for Percy Jones?

cjmodulus · #2 02-01-2013, 02:41 PM

I love me some brand x from time to time. Percy's a great player, and I'm fairly sure I've seen him mentioned on here (mostly on threads about fretless players), but not as much as he should be IMO. Same goes for Kev Hopper of stump ( who was influenced by Percy iirc).

rapidfirerob · #3 02-01-2013, 03:58 PM

A unique voice on the electric fretless. A great bassist as well. Brand X were one of my favorite bands and I enjoy Tunnels as well.

jumbodbassman · #4 02-01-2013, 04:05 PM

Percy is sick good bass player.........haven't heard tunnels. will have to now......thanks TB

AnchorHoy · #5 02-01-2013, 07:14 PM

Blip Bloop BaWooooooP Ping!!!!

Absolutely unmistakable style that nobody else can even begin to copy

Loved his work ever since I heard the first Brand X album. Not quite so fond of his tone in recent years as when he was playing the P-Bass, but he's apparently happy with what he sounds like now and that's all that matters

There's a couple of good interviews on his website that are well worth reading

audioglenn · #6 02-01-2013, 07:19 PM

I've been a big Brand X fan from the beginning. I was listening to Unorthodox Behavior just yesterday in my car. Percy Jones is a great bass player! I was lucky enough to see them at the Tower Theater with Phil Collins playing drums. Excellent concert!

4001 · #7 02-01-2013, 07:34 PM

I've mentioned him from time to time. I absolutly LOVE Brand X. I learned about them back in 1984 while I was working for Washburn and then I heard Geddy Lee mention him in a Rockline interview. I have 11 Brand X CDs on rotation at any given time. I wish there was some pro shot footage of them from the Morrocan Roll tour. That would be stellar. There's nobody quite like Pearcy Jones. His style is one of a kind and so very cool. Jaco, Jones and Willis are my top three fretless players of all time.

Dr. Cheese · #8 02-02-2013, 06:45 AM

The last interview of Percy Jones I read mentioned that he has a day job working in his wife's flower shop because music wasn't making enough money. That bummed me out.

MixBass · #9 02-02-2013, 11:31 AM

Percy is as innovative as they come. He was doing things in the 70's that are still ahead of the pack.
When I first heard Les Claypool it hit me he was the slap version of Percy between his note choices and some of his rhythms.
I've been able to see Percy a handful of times and my favorite moments are always his
solo pieces.
Yes, there is much love for Percy on TB.

bassfran · #10 02-02-2013, 11:45 AM

Ridiculously great player- nobody else sounds like him.

Check out his work w/Brian Eno on the albums "Another Green World" and "Before And After Science".

jerry · #11 02-02-2013, 02:13 PM

Long time fan, I love playing their old albums for friends and then telling them who the drummer was.

klaus486 · #12 02-02-2013, 05:24 PM

Percy is also one of my all time favs. I play fretless bass mostly because of him. I own all the Brand X stuff and most of his post BX work too. Indeed a truly original voice. I like the Xcommunication album from 1992 the best. Just the trio with John Goodsal and Frank Katz. His solo album Cape Catastrophe is also an amazing performance.

Jaco Taco · #13 02-03-2013, 01:37 AM

One of the coolest things for me about Percy was when every fretless bassist was trying to copy Jaco, Percy had completely his own style and thing going on with the fretless.

Roscoe East · #14 02-03-2013, 09:56 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jerry

I love playing their old albums for friends and then telling them who the drummer was.

Yeah, Kenwood Dennard always gets a rise out of people...

Roscoe East · #15 02-03-2013, 10:01 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AnchorHoy

Blip Bloop BaWooooooP Ping!!!!

LOL! ^^^This

I remember reading an old TB thread where someone pointed out that Percy Jones was like a cross between Jaco Pastorius and Mick Karn...or maybe it was that Mick Karn was what you had leftover after you subtracted Jaco Pastorius from Percy Jones? Something like that, involving intersection sets and equations. It made me laugh, but it also made me recognize how Similar Yet Completely Unique those guys are.

zfunkman · #16 02-04-2013, 08:36 PM

Cool! There's definitely some awsome love for Percy Jones! He's very deserving of every drop!

Chatdawg · #17 02-24-2013, 08:16 AM

One of the greatest fretless players that you never really hear much about. He's fantastic, but you have to do some research to find his work.

winston · #18 02-24-2013, 02:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bassfran

Ridiculously great player- nobody else sounds like him.

Check out his work w/Brian Eno on the albums "Another Green World" and "Before And After Science".

Beat me to it, his bits on those Eno albums are phenomenal. Just as fresh as if they were recorded next week.

A little taste:
Sky Saw
Kurt's Rejoinder

One Drop · #19 02-24-2013, 02:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by winston

Beat me to it, his bits on those Eno albums are phenomenal. Just as fresh as if they were recorded next week.

A little taste:
Sky Saw
Kurt's Rejoinder

I had no idea it was him on those superb albums. Amazing music and stunning bass with an an extremely wide palette of vocal qualities.

winston · #20 02-24-2013, 05:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by One Drop

I had no idea it was him on those superb albums. Amazing music and stunning bass with an an extremely wide palette of vocal qualities.

There are other bassists on those albums too (including Paul Rudolph of Hawkwind and Brian Turrington), but the crazy melodic fretless bits that get lodged in your noggin are Percy's.