What happened to Tony Newton?

[mouthmw]

Was it the booze? Drugs?

I checked out all of his videos, and some are absolutely painful to watch (the entire Expert Village collection).

Tony Newton Bass Solo 1 - YouTube

Tony Newton Bass Solo 3 - YouTube

Then there's Tony Newton Trio, where he's ok I guess (but check out his "slap" solo at 3:00 - if Fieldy gets bashed, so should Tony lol):

Tony Newton Trio - Snake Oil - YouTube

Then there's the self promoting, low budget voicover filled, cringe worthy moments like these:

Tony Newton_ConcertPR-2.mov - YouTube

Absolutely awful voiceover, and mediocre to ok performances. Rather standard fare I must say though with a lot of self repeating licks without much feel. And there's several of videos like those.

Then there's the other video, dealing with the Motown era, where again, it goes about blowing his own horn about how extraordinary he is. I don't doubt mr Newton was great in the day (actually I kind of do), and I dig The New Tony Williams Lifetime so it's all just so confusing. What the heck happened?
Where's all of his genius gone?

Oh, and this:

Tony Newton - Bill Dickens - Bass Lesson - YouTube

He kind of sounds like a guy who isn't a complete beginner, but is still struggling with scales and which notes to actually play, so when he does rehearse a couple of songs, he's ok, but tends to overplay certain fills that he's comfortable with.

I was just curious, I really wanted to get blown away by mr Newton, but it just sounds wrong and it's like The Twilight Zone there

[cire113]

Honestly bro... I think its drugs... But thats just my opinion..

I see 2 types of people when it comes to great muscians in the past... THey either gotten better or they totally suck now..

Most usually get better and better

[SoCal1]

I've known Tony since about the age of 13 (well over 40 years) when I was Smokey Robinsons neighbor and Tony was Smokey's bassist. Tony was one of my earliest influences on bass guitar. He's a terrific bassist and really nice guy. He also befriended me when I moved to L.A. in the mid 80's. Obviously, with Jamersons emergence at Motown, Tony and all the other early Motown bassists took a back seat, but Tony continued to tour extensively with Motown acts, including the mid 60's European tour which took the UK by storm...then started his own group, 8th Day on the Invictus label. Tony has always been into a lot of musical experimentation, which may explain a somewhat avant garde product which may be referred to here. He has also toured more recently with Funk Brothers Jack Ashford and the late Joe Hunter, touring Europe just a few years ago. I've never known Tony to have any drug issues.

[superbassman2000]

Some players are better in a band situation than in a solo situation. I would just say this is the case, and as for the expertvillage and weird promos, not all bass players are great at advertising and not all pros can teach well. The guy was a motown legend and while the hits that came out of motown will certainly go down in history as some great songs, they aren't exactly displays of technical prowness. I say give the guy a break

[mouthmw]

Fair enough, but if it weren't for the obvious self promotion of greatness and "never before seen or heard" advertisement, I wouldn't have asked any questions. It's not exactly original or never before seen. I just found it extremely bizzare.
As for the avant garde comment, I heard a lot better and fluent avant garde bassists.

[babaseen]

Interesting thread...thanks for the information on Tony.

I was at the Allan Holdworth/Haslip/Donati gig last night and the topic came up about who the bass player was with Tony Williams Lifetime (Snake Oil and Red Alert)

[phillybass101]

I saw those vids on youtube as well. And he seems pretty 'ate up' as well as being one of those guys that always says well-era, well-era. I just had to laugh to keep from crying. what a shame and what a waste. Crack is wack.