Bass confessions - episode π

[HolmeBass]

We had a TOTAL band wreck in '82 I believe. We were playing a pretty popular club, packed house. Halfway through the second set we play Lonesome Loser (Little River Band).
There's one part in the song where the chorus changes it's intro to "have" (count 2 beats) "you" (count 2 beats)....'heard about the lonesome loser"..blah blah.
We'd played that song a hundred times, but that night, half of us did the regular chorus and the other half did the paused chorus intro. It was too late. The wreck was so
horrifying, there was no way to keep going, so we stopped as dead cold as a band can stop.
It's the only time (since the 60's) I've ever had such a bad wreck which caused the entire band to instantly stop at the exact same moment.

That will leave a mark! Ouchie.

But there's always another perspective, too. Phil Lesh said in a Bass Player magazine interview said that he loves a train wreck because anyone can play anything at that moment and take the the music in a completely new direction. It can be an opportunity.

But you must apply the rules: Rule #1 - Don't stop; Rule #2 - Keep going.

In a trainwreck if you stop short enough, and drop back in heavy enough (meaning on point, tight, not necessarily heavy rock) people will think you're the best band ever. Zepp used to do stuff like that, some Vulcan mind-meld, telepathic switch stuff, playing with the time.

 

[G19Tony]

These stories are great! I’m not good enough to be in a band, yet. But when I am, I’m sure the clams will be epic!

I will tell you one of my aviation clams. It was my first landing in a jet. A Cessna Citation, which is a very simple systems airplane. Well, I’m pretty excited. I make a good landing and I go for the thrust reversers, which look like the prop reversers in the last airplane I flew. Anyway, what I grabbed, were the fuel cutoff levers. So, I shut ‘em both down at 90kts! There is no danger, because the brakes are simple hydraulic brakes like a little airplane. The other pilot looks over at me, and I say, “How much for your silence?” He just said, “Oh no”. Man, they called me Bob Hoover in the bar for months after that.

 

[badRocks]

These stories are great! I’m not good enough to be in a band, yet. But when I am, I’m sure the clams will be epic!

I will tell you one of my aviation clams. It was my first landing in a jet. A Cessna Citation, which is a very simple systems airplane. Well, I’m pretty excited. I make a good landing and I go for the thrust reversers, which look like the prop reversers in the last airplane I flew. Anyway, what I grabbed, were the fuel cutoff levers. So, I shut ‘em both down at 90kts! There is no danger, beacuse the brakes are simple hydraulic brakes like a little airplane. The other pilot looks over at me, and I say, “How much for your silence?” He just said, “Oh no”. Man, they called me Bob Hoover in the bar for months after that.

As a fellow pilot I want to thank for sharing your aviation clam. Good story "Bob"

 

[k31bassman]

The morning DJ announced us for the crowd and we climbed on stage and strapped on our instruments. We had a big start planned with one of the most popular songs of our set; the guitar started the intro, the people cheered, and as he came around to the one I PLAYED THE WRONG STRING!!! It was a nice long note to be held for two measures so I made sure to pull the string really hard and, in this case, really emphasized the dissonance created by the note. Really set the bar low for the evening.

Kind of the opposite for me. We were playing at an awards show where we were the final act. (We were the "band of the year" award winner.) On our last song we had a "concert" ending where we ride on the last note for an extended ending. I had been able to hear myself throughout the set, but standing next to the drummer on this "concert" ending, it was loud enoughI didn't hear that I was riding the E-flat instead of E. Something sounded amiss, but I didn't think it was me. Fortunately, I looked at my hand and realized what was happening in time to move to the E for the last couple notes. Tension and resolution, I guess. I don't think anybody else really noticed.

 

[IamGroot]

Many years ago when i was pretty green playing jazz, i got a call for a real book job with a pianist at a steakhouse. Turned out to be a real a hole. Doesnt call the tunes, modulates keys at random, and when he found my real weak spot was latin jazz, proceeded to play a string of em.

It was mortifying.

The guy just wanted to make me look bad. Maybe him being 5 ft tall had something to do with it.

 

[Beej]

@IamGroot that's horrible...

I had the opposite experience many years ago. I had a short notice gig as a three piece with a really talented Jazz guitarist. We were just doing background music for a wine and cheese event and it was all sight reading of straightforward standards. I am not a great sight reader but we had one quick practice the evening before where he showed me some changes and we ran through most of the songs quickly.

When the time came to play I was struggling to figure out what key the first song was in and I was supposed to lead it off. I can't remember the song because this is close to 30 years ago. mostly, I would just figure out the major changes and then play by ear.

I started off the song and he came in initially with a slightly different chord that sounded a little dissonant. After that it smoothed out and we went through the song and the rest of the gig just fine. At the end of the show he let me know that I was playing a whole tone off in that song and so he just adjusted what he was doing to be in key with me. He never even threw me a dirty look or anything in the song. That guy was a real Class Act and a serious professional. I'll never forget how he basically carried me through that song without saying a word... The audience was none the wiser! Despite his class act behaviour, I was never asked back...

 

[McG]

These stories are great! I’m not good enough to be in a band, yet. But when I am, I’m sure the clams will be epic!

It's the little things to look forward to that make life fun.

I will tell you one of my aviation clams. It was my first landing in a jet. A Cessna Citation, which is a very simple systems airplane. Well, I’m pretty excited. I make a good landing and I go for the thrust reversers, which look like the prop reversers in the last airplane I flew. Anyway, what I grabbed, were the fuel cutoff levers. So, I shut ‘em both down at 90kts! There is no danger, beacuse the brakes are simple hydraulic brakes like a little airplane. The other pilot looks over at me, and I say, “How much for your silence?” He just said, “Oh no”. Man, they called me Bob Hoover in the bar for months after that.

Pilot clams beat bass clams any day.

 

[badRocks]

It's the little things to look forward to that make life fun.



Pilot clams beat bass clams any day.

Now if he was playing bass when he hit the reversers that would be epic

 

[NZBassman]

about 3-4 years ago I had a 'blonde' monent... got to gig, set up everything, turned on my amp and.... no sound... I tried everything, changing speaker cables, wiggling the leads, turning it off and on again.... but still nothing.... Drummer had an old Rockit 200 amp (bass head) at his place and offered to drive back there and get it so we could do the gig.
By this time I had resigned myself to the face that my Ashdown EVO 900 III was broken and needed fixing or replacing....
Guitarist comes over to have a look and he notices there is no signal going from my bass to the amp.... I trace the lead and realise I've plugged the bass into the 'headphone' socket!
I took the lead out from headphone socket, plug it into the passive input and bingo - sound!

 

[G19Tony]

about 3-4 years ago I had a 'blonde' monent... got to gig, set up everything, turned on my amp and.... no sound... I tried everything, changing speaker cables, wiggling the leads, turning it off and on again.... but still nothing.... Drummer had an old Rockit 200 amp (bass head) at his place and offered to drive back there and get it so we could do the gig.
By this time I had resigned myself to the face that my Ashdown EVO 900 III was broken and needed fixing or replacing....
Guitarist comes over to have a look and he notices there is no signal going from my bass to the amp.... I trace the lead and realise I've plugged the bass into the 'headphone' socket!
I took the lead out from headphone socket, plug it into the passive input and bingo - sound!

When there’s a problem, it’s easy to go after the hard stuff first, instead of looking for the easy problem. Which it usually is.

 

[viper4000]

Great story! I can't believe no one has asked yet: What song WERE you playing the intro to?

It wasn't really another song. Just not the correct part to the one I should have been playing. Singer thought because it was wrong, it must have been another song. Brain fart at it's best.

 

[mohrds]

Other than blowing my dental appliance out of my mouth, catching it, popping back into my mouth without missing a beat, no, I can’t say that I have....

OMG! That reminds me of a story. Our singer lost his front tooth once during a show...

We were playing the "Elbo Room" in Stevens Point, WI and the adhesive let loose on our singer's prosthetic tooth during a song (Childhood accident, not a bar fight, in case you were wondering). He ad libbed "Sister Susie Sittin on a Thistle" during the song, so I looked over at him with curiosity and he gave me a big grin with his missing tooth and I burst out laughing. We finished the song, the lead guitarist chatted with the audience while the singer and I scoured the floor looking for his tooth. He found it, rinsed in some beer, and back in his mouth it went for the rest of the set.

I can't believe I had forgotten that until I read your story.

 

[mohrds]

Too many to list....
Back when we played two gigs a week, we were all pretty hard drinkers and more than a few times our singer/rg would call out a song and my mind would just go blank... I would just look at him with that confused puppy look that says, “I can’t always help where I pee, but I love you, and I’m a puppy.”
I’ve done it enough times that he usually recognized the look and would calmly call out the first few chords. This would, of course, instantly jog my muscle memory into action and I was off to the races to play a great song. Lol.
Not the most professional confession, I guess. But we always had a good time and entertained the audience thoroughly.

I thought I was the only one that ever happens to... For some reason, around the 200th time I play a song, I draw a complete blank...

 

[dbsfgyd1]

OMG! That reminds me of a story. Our singer lost his front tooth once during a show...

We were playing the "Elbo Room" in Stevens Point, WI and the adhesive let loose on our singer's prosthetic tooth during a song (Childhood accident, not a bar fight, in case you were wondering). He ad libbed "Sister Susie Sittin on a Thistle" during the song, so I looked over at him with curiosity and he gave me a big grin with his missing tooth and I burst out laughing. We finished the song, the lead guitarist chatted with the audience while the singer and I scoured the floor looking for his tooth. He found it, rinsed in some beer, and back in his mouth it went for the rest of the set.

I can't believe I had forgotten that until I read your story.

Yeah, the performance has remained legendary for decades... thanks for posting.

 

[Indexed]

Outdoor gig, Texas heat had de-tuned me a little. Played "Long Train Running" half a step down, wondering all the while about the strange looks I was getting from other musicians in the audience.

 

[dragon68]

Started a first set with Livin on a Prayer. I knew the song obviously, but had never really played it in a band. Drummer clicks it off, and I come in to play that little bass intro. I'm killing it. Got the bass face just right. The band doesn't come in. I'm like, no big deal, go through it again. I look up and my band mates are all looking at me with that "what are you doing" look. I just keep going expecting them to come in. 3rd time through. I'm still killing it. Crowd is anticipating something, bobbing their heads, tapping their feet. Singer comes over and says in my ear I'm playing the wrong song. So, for about 2 minutes now, I'm playing the wrong song. I lock eyes with the drummer, come around again, and hit the one on the real intro. Crowd applauded, get through the intro, band comes in, and we really do kill the song (we had a great singer). Had a great 4 set show.

After the 1st set, a few "rockers" come up to me and tell me that was the best intro to Livin on a Prayer they have ever heard. What was I playing, how did we come up with it. Band asked me to never do that again. I never did it again.

So, what were you playing? You Give Love a Bad Name?

 

[Frndmoretti]

It was an outdoors concert and it was a chilly day. The audience was warm because of the sun, but we were cold, so I turned down my volume to warm up my frozen fingers.
The band starts playing Search And Destroy by The Stooges. I start playing, moving to the song.

No sound.

The sound guy goes to the amp and everything sounds fine.

He changes the cable, to no avail.

he then decides to try and turn my volume knob up.

There's sound

 

[biguglyman]

Cover band between semesters at college. Played one party before it was over and time to go back to school. We're cranking through Purple Haze and I decide, hey, if Hendrix can do it, I can do it...and start playing the bass with my teeth. Unfortunately an accident while in the Navy had left me with a half "bondo" front tooth. The bondo broke about three notes in. Played the rest of the gig looking like a refugee from the nearest Walmart.
Then there's the time we were debuting a song I wrote...and I blanked on the words...that I wrote....

 

[Flatty]

I recently heard an interview with Chick Corea. The interviewer asked how do you handle mistakes when you're improvising, and his response was - if you make a mistake, play it three times - people will think you're composing it that way on purpose. .

 

[Swampish]

A few months back, our band was opening for a pretty popular local group and despite our qualms about going on stage at 8pm, it turned out to be probably the largest chunk of crowd for an evening of 3 bands (guess we're all getting older and need to get to bed earlier...sad).

One of my highlight songs was The Real Me. It's a challenge for me, but I love playing it WHEN all of the riffs come together. At the beginning of the second verse, there are several riffs trading between high and low note sequences. Unfortunately for me, I started re-playing the song's opening riffs which, while not the end of the world, was compounded by the fact that once I realized what I was doing, I tried to correct mid-riff and it did not go well. Worse, our singer's timing in the song was a bit wonky and since the bass really plays off of the vocal cues, it was several bars of s**t-show that eventually worked itself out.

It probably was only picked up on by a few musicians in the audience (the worst people to have in an audience, by the way, a la Spinal Tap, "Wanker!"), but I was so pissed off with myself that I really didn't enjoy playing one of my fave tunes.

Made up for it with Highway Star and Smokin', but that one little segment spoiled the set for me.