Underrated bassist: Mike Mills

Axtman · #1 03-17-2010, 05:29 PM

I happened to grab a few random CDs for a long road trip. One of the CDs happened to be REM "And I feel fine. The best of the IRS years 1982 to 1987". The songs brought back some memories. But I was very impressed with Mike Mills' playing and tone. He had some very interesting complex bass lines. Needless to say it was a very enjoyable long trip.

BTW what bass did Mike play at this time? It either sounds like a Fender P bass played with a pick near the bridge.

knigel · #2 03-17-2010, 05:32 PM

Plus, Mills was a great singer!

Not a huge REM fan, but he could play. The guitarist in my band thought he was the perfect bass player--tasteful bass lines, great singing voice. Yes, that is a dig at me--terrible player, terrible singer.

grisezd · #3 03-17-2010, 06:34 PM

I only ever remember seeing him with a P bass, but I'm sure there have been others.

He does some really solid work. I've always liked his playing. Never flashy, just fits. Between Pete Buck's sparse guitar lines, Bill Berry's unorthodox drum style, and all the singing, he's always had a lot of space to fill.

James Hart · #4 03-17-2010, 07:46 PM

I was a HUGE REM fan from Murmur through Out of Time... Mike is still a big influence on how I construct a bass line.

I was instantly hooked after catching 'South Central Rain' on Letterman's show. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZD2R7G3z6WU

Finally got to see them live for the first time during the Fables tour. I ended up catching the following 4 tours too. I've seen them 7 times over 5 tours!

Here are a couple cool live vids from the Fables era:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RwUVpiuYOOU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AHWGW1fnXRc

I think what I love most about Mike's playing is that he always seems to be playing his own thing that is completely independent of the song, but fits in perfectly like a puzzle piece and completes it. I also dig how rather than singing straight up harmony he sings more of a counter melody (usually with contradictory content)...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HvQVrXg2dG4

My obsession with them peeked with the leaving of IRS and signing to Warner Bros... Green was an awesome album, but the beginning of the end for my and REM.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NDhOKNlbuwM

I bought Out of Time and saw the show... but I never gave the album a fair chance. It had it's bright spots like the epic 'Loosing My Religion', but I was done.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WyZln0_XIqM

I finally revisited all I've missed and they never really faded... I can listen to all of it (and do often) but back in the day I really think it was the jump of seeing them at Rutgers basketball stadium and the Art Center for semi intimate shows to having to sit miles away at the Meadowlands killed the live shows

As far a Bill's unorthodox style... I never realized! I'd hooked up with a band and a drummer that learned to play via REM stuff (we gigged at least 15 REM tunes in our set list)... so Bill's style seems normal to me

OK, I turned 42 today and I'm proving my age... I'll head back to my Newcastles

James Hart · #5 03-17-2010, 07:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Axtman

BTW what bass did Mike play at this time? It either sounds like a Fender P bass played with a pick near the bridge.

Ric and a Guild Pilot PJ were his main basses in the IRS years. He had a Jazz at a show I saw for Life's Rich Pageant as well. The P bass came later

Axtman · #6 03-17-2010, 10:45 PM

I suspect that Mike was a converted guitarist. I say that because he uses a pick and wraps his thumb around the neck. He also plays unorthodox bass lines....like Paul McCartney.

Axtman · #7 03-17-2010, 10:47 PM

It also looks like Mike has the Geddy Lee mod on his Rick. I suspected that the bass sound might be a Rick with the treble rolled off.

megadoc · #8 03-17-2010, 10:50 PM

Mike can jam with the best of them - great player - "Reckoning" and "Document" are still my faves...good call on mentioning Mike - Mr "Do It All" for REM.

electracoyote · #9 03-17-2010, 10:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Axtman

I suspect that Mike was a converted guitarist. I say that because he uses a pick and wraps his thumb around the neck. He also plays unorthodox bass lines....like Paul McCartney.

I tend to agree.

Those first few REM releases rocked my world. I got to see them live in the early years, the very starkly lit stage, great performers.

I'm not a big fan of their later pop chart success. As they progressed, I think the songwriting suffered.

James Hart · #10 03-17-2010, 11:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Axtman

I suspect that Mike was a converted guitarist. I say that because he uses a pick and wraps his thumb around the neck. He also plays unorthodox bass lines....like Paul McCartney.

None of your reasons are indicators to me that he's a converted guitarist. He does play guitar and has from early on in REM, but I'd figure his main influence of "all stuff his father listened to on the stereo at night" might be a broader and deeper reason for being as influential as he is.

Captain Simian · #11 03-18-2010, 02:37 AM

Love Mills' playing. Tasty and melodic as all get out. Nice beefy tone too.

CG Jones · #12 03-18-2010, 12:55 PM

I was an R.E.M. fan from Murmur through to New Adventures. Always in awe of Mills, and consider him one of my main influences.

Too bad I can't play nearly as well as he can. The only R.E.M. song in my meager playlist is their cover of "Superman".

boomtisk · #13 03-18-2010, 05:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by James Hart

I think what I love most about Mike's playing is that he always seems to be playing his own thing that is completely independent of the song, but fits in perfectly like a puzzle piece and completes it. I also dig how rather than singing straight up harmony he sings more of a counter melody (usually with contradictory content)...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HvQVrXg2dG4

I think you just described his style perfectly, really nice wording. This is also the reason why after being really obsessed with him when I was starting out, I eventually grew a bit tired of him and tended to turn to players who lock with the drums more.

It's also interesting that unlike many bass players in "big" bands, he never really scaled back his bass lines as their songs became more layered and more like studio constructs -- until Bill left, that is. "Out of Time" in particular sure has some super notey bass lines.

Even though I don't really try to emulate his style anymore these days, tone-wise, his influence remains with me as he was one of the players to make me fall in love with the percussive tone of a P bass played with a pick, although who on earth knows what basses he actually used on the albums after he stopped using Ricks. Does anyone have any handy links that might shed some light on this, by chance?

James Hart · #14 03-18-2010, 06:21 PM

thanks... I think we've both asked on here for some sort of gear list a couple times. I've never found one, but I never really looked to far either.

EdHunter · #15 03-20-2010, 07:05 AM

Yes! I've been waiting a long, long time for Mills to get some recognition.
Btw, Accelerate my well be their best yet...

HigherGround93 · #16 03-20-2010, 08:58 AM

Arif Mirabdolbaghi of Protest the Hero.

James Hart · #17 03-20-2010, 09:26 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HigherGround93

Arif Mirabdolbaghi of Protest the Hero.

your point? While he's got some technical skillz, what does he have to do with Mike Mills?

weary hobo · #18 03-20-2010, 10:17 PM

Been a big fan of Mills--and REM--for a long time. The back catalog has plenty of high points and a few lows, but nothing can touch the IRS stuff--especially the EP and the first two albums. Maybe it was the music, maybe it was the national mood, or maybe it was my age at the time (I was in my early 20s), but they really did capture a moment when it seemed as if the rules were being rewritten and the term "indie" actually meant something.

Quote:

Originally Posted by James Hart

I was instantly hooked after catching 'South Central Rain' on Letterman's show. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZD2R7G3z6WU

I remember seeing that, too. It was around the same time that "Murmur" was named Rolling Stone's Critic's Pick for Album of the Year; they were getting a good bit of radio airplay on New York's WLIR and a few college stations, too. A few months after they were on Letterman, I saw them live for the first time at a roller skating rink (!) near my house on Long Island.

It was a much different world back then. A few months before I first saw REM, Peter Gabriel played a show in my university's gym and some band named U2 played the school's spring festival.

Goodlawdy · #19 03-20-2010, 10:52 PM

I just iTunes'd some old REM the other day. Mike Mills' sound makes me want to use a pick for that clarity and definition. Those were the days of "alternative" music. REM had some great interplay amongst the instruments. The lyrics were often open for interpretation too. I really like all the albums up to Green too.

Magnus1991 · #20 05-01-2011, 04:03 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by grisezd

I only ever remember seeing him with a P bass, but I'm sure there have been others.

He does some really solid work. I've always liked his playing. Never flashy, just fits. Between Pete Buck's sparse guitar lines, Bill Berry's unorthodox drum style, and all the singing, he's always had a lot of space to fill.

When the band started in the early 1980's he played a Rickenbacker Bass, and he played another bass on their 1985-tour, don't know the name of it. You can check it out on YouTube if you search for R.E.M. 1985.
I think he got the P. bass after they released the Out of Time album.