Anybody Play Like Entwistle?

[hover]

I am in a Who "tribute" band of sorts, and always admired the Ox's technique. I have tried to develop his thunderfinger 4-finger approach, and do it pretty well, but clang a bit too much, need to get it smoother and percussive but clean.

He was an original, and imo, unequaled. Sad that I am posting this on the anniversary of Keith Moon's death.

Ron

 

[oldcatfish]

Quote: "I, personally, would consider it a HIGH COMPLIMENT if anyone were to EVER compare my playing to the Ox......"

I actually have had it happen, and on more than one occasion. But I don't really hear the influence myself. I hear more of a Flea (non-slapped song) influence. I have a VERY aggressive right hand fingerstyle attack.

?? Thinking about it now, maybe they weren't complimenting my playing--I had 4 8 x 10 cabs going, while the guitar player was using a 15 watt practice amp!

 

[perfektspace6]

I, personally, would consider it a HIGH COMPLIMENT if anyone were to EVER compare my playing to the Ox......

I had a guy come up to me after a show a few months ago and go on and on about how much I reminded him of the Ox. I told him I was surprised to hear him say that and he said it was my right hand technique and my "all business" type of attitude. It was a high compliment.

 

[ChrisCassisi]

If you are interested in checking out his style Jeff I highly recommend the Bass Guitar Master Class DVD. Its one of the few instructional dvds I think that are worth more then the plastic they are made of.

 

[Barry B]

In addition, check out the documentary "An Ox's Tale". It's not the best, but it has some pretty good interviews in it

 

[N.F.A.]

This cat does a darned fine job of pulling off the Entwistle thing. I watched this a while back and had to double take as I thought it was really the OX himself.
The WHO -The Real Me w/bass WCSX by LIVE THE WHO Tribute - YouTube

Killer!

 

[scowboy]

I've read quotes from John E. over the years that said something to effect of if the action was any lower on his basses the strings "would be on the other side of the neck".

He was one of a kind and my favorite of all time!

Just watched an Ox's Tale for about the 400th time the other day. There is a new version on iTunes extra Pete interview footage at the end.

I've seen the Who several times since his death and I agree that in wishing Pino could be heard more. You can feel him but not much in the higher frequencies. Billy Sheehan would be a really interesting "sit-in" with them live! His tone and technique can be similar.

 

[avvie]

Sheehan was doing Entwistle (sorta) in Mike Pornoy's Who tribute band, right?

 

[dalkowski]

The individual talent in that band was just ridiculous. Moon, Entwistle and Townshend are all among the best ever rock musicians at their instruments.

Someone more clever than me said that thee'Oo were a band composed of four soloists. Hard to argue.

Ox was the first bassist I ever tried to emulate. After school I'd shed on the "My Generation" solo and his track from the TKAA version of "Won't Get Fooled Again." I didn't shed enough.

 

[J. Montgomery]

I've been a big Ox for as long as I've been playing bass. Sadly, much of the early Who recordings don't do the bass justice. IMHO, one of the best video/recordings of the Who was at the Concert for New York City:
The Who-Won't Get Fooled Again@Concert For New York City 4/4 - YouTube

I get goosebumps every time I put on a pair of headphones and listen to it.

 

[kzr750r1]

You have to remember he was a horn player as well. If you listen close you hear this in his lines. I have yet to hear a bass player have this much space to carry the melody. The song "Bargain" is a good example of this right around 1:49, pretty much all ox here. Pete is adding accents and is way back in the mix.

 

[dwm74]

Well, I do stand completely still, scowl quite often and look bored the other times, so yeah, I guess I DO play like Entwistle!

All kidding aside, the day I play 'The Real Me' and get complimented on it, that will be the pinnacle of my bass career!

 

[SAlcott]

Entwistle was an amazing bassist whose style worked in one and only one group.

 

[Mike M.]

I'm paraphrasing here, but long ago, in the old days of bass discussion on TBL (The Bottom Line listserv), Rick Turner (of Renaissance Guitars and previously Alembic) realted a story about getting one of The Ox's basses in for a tuneup, and asking how he liked it set up. The response was that he (paraphrasing) liked it to "buzz evenly up and down the neck".

So much for standard methods for setting up a bass. Entwistle had his own style that worked for him, tough for most of us to duplicate.

Yeah, I remember reading somewhere when he said "I like my strings on the other side of the frets."

Live At Leeds is still my favorite. A very, very busy style of playing on that album but it fit like a glove and was needed for that particular band.

 

[DetroitDerek]

Ryan Martinie, especially in Soften The Glare, has an Entwistle-Esque method of tapping on the strings ( instead of using a thumb ) similar to what John did. While he doesn’t sound exactly like Entwistle, if you check out the video for “Turn Around” you’ll see some similarities in playing style.

 

[dougjwray]

This might be a stretch, but I've always wondered whether his experience working the valves on trumpet and French horn carried over to his right hand bass technique.
Also, I've seen an interesting clip where Townshend talks about how the high harmonic content in Entwistle's sound filled so much sonic space (and therefore was essential).

 

[DetroitDerek]

One additional thing that I forgot - if you want that Entwistle attack tone you may want to pick up a Tech 21 sansamp bass driver di. Both John and Geddy Lee ( among others ) used one as a key part of their tone

 

[ImTheOnlyOne]

Serious question (to a thread recently resurrected after 12 years)...

Did the Ox ever thumb slap?

I ask as somebody who always struggled with traditional slap and pop motions, but upon seeing MTV clips of Entwhistle's flying fingers pre-internet, consciously adapted my finger style to be more percussive and not glued near the bridge.

 

[DetroitDerek]

I don’t believe that he did the “traditional “ Larry Graham style slap and pop technique. In his instructional video he explains that he does the same sound using his “typewriter “ technique ( tapping with each finger “assigned” to an individual string ) .

 

[Michedelic]

In answer to the original question, the only two that was in the vicinity that I can think of would be John Wetton in his Crimson days, and JJ Burnell of The Stranglers, but both had their own thing going on. All three… P bass and Hiwatt, hmm, I detect a pattern here. While The Jam obviously was inspired by the early Who(my preferred era), Bruce Foxton, who was a very nimble player providing counterpoint to Paul Weller’s Rickenbacker slashes, seemed to take more from McCartney and Samwell-Smith. But that’s just how I hear it.
Then there was the guys in The Move, Ace Kefford and Rick Price, who came close. A criminally overlooked band, they were Beatle-esque but had a Who-like agression, and a big influence on Cheap Trick. The bass on this was fairly Entwistlian…