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Berry Oakley's rig?

#141
I stumbled onto this thread like half the TB'ers. I loved seeing all the pics and the band performing. I love all the background stories. Like most boomers, I idolized Berry along with Phil Lesh, Chris, Jack C and Jack B from Cream. There were soooo many great bass players at this time. Like shooting fish in a barrel.

I would as bold to say most of the bands from the 70's through the 80's had pretty proficient bass players. Their focus was much more on being the Pocket and Groove of the band rather than whacking their basses with their thumbs. I'm old school and I prefer the old bass players. But thanks everyone for pitching in and sharing your own experiences and stories. I'm subscribed and glad this thread was resurrected! :thumbsup:
 
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#142
EBierke said:
I just joined this site and had to jump in on this thread. I was cruising around North Long Beach today (Jan 1st) and was looking into the 2nd hand stores. Being New Year's Day, they were all closed of course. I peered through the window of a pawn shop I have never peered through the window of before, and look what I found. It's a little hard to make out because of the security bars shadow on the cabinet, but here is the pic I took. What cabinets were made in St Louis, Mo?
View attachment 3651862
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Ampeg was based in St Louis before. That looks too new to be Berry's cab, most likely it was one of Berry Oakley Jr's cabs.
 
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#143
EBierke said:
I just joined this site and had to jump in on this thread. I was cruising around North Long Beach today (Jan 1st) and was looking into the 2nd hand stores. Being New Year's Day, they were all closed of course. I peered through the window of a pawn shop I have never peered through the window of before, and look what I found. It's a little hard to make out because of the security bars shadow on the cabinet, but here is the pic I took. What cabinets were made in St Louis, Mo?
View attachment 3651862
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Ampegs were made there I believe, St Louis Music (1986 to 2018) but way after Berry Oakley died, very interesting though. It looks like the back of an SVT cab.
 
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#145
KPJ said:
Ampeg was based in St Louis before. That looks too new to be Berry's cab, most likely it was one of Berry Oakley Jr's cabs.
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The tolex is all ripped up top and on the corners with just bare wood showing. I'll get back into the shop and try to get some better pics, but don't want to piss off the shop owner for not buying it if you know what I mean... Right now there is a spray bottle of window cleaner sitting on it next to a rag. It's obviously been in there for a while and I'm sure it's being used as a prop to get people like me inside his store. He has quite the lineup of used guitars and amps, even has three cellos hanging from the guitar racks.

As far as the St Louis goes, I agree it looks like the back side of an Ampeg. I wish I had taken another pic from a different angle to get the plate but didn't think of that at the time. I'll post more when I get back in there, and maybe I can get a back story on how the cabinet ended up in this guys shop.
 
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#146
OK, still trying to figure out the posting of pics, etc... plus my shift keys are stuck...

I finally made it back in to the pawn shop, and here is what I managed to get pics of. I asked the young kid who was working security at the place about the cab, he had no idea about it. I asked him if he knew the song 'Lord I Was Born A Ramblin' Man', he said no. I asked him if he had ever heard of the Allman Bros Band to which I received the same reply. So... Ampeg with 8 x 10's, sounds good to me [exclamation mark]



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#147
EBierke said:
OK, still trying to figure out the posting of pics, etc... plus my shift keys are stuck...

I finally made it back in to the pawn shop, and here is what I managed to get pics of. I asked the young kid who was working security at the place about the cab, he had no idea about it. I asked him if he knew the song 'Lord I Was Born A Ramblin' Man', he said no. I asked him if he had ever heard of the Allman Bros Band to which I received the same reply. So... Ampeg with 8 x 10's, sounds good to me [exclamation mark]

View attachment 3669329 View attachment 3669331
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I knew it. I remember seeing the ABB in Seattle and Berry had a Jazz and Ampeg SVT/810. It shook the room.
 
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#148
greybeard125 said:
And listen hard to the live at the filmore version of "might be your man" and how coming out of the jam he comes back in on the 4 instead of the 1 but then slides right back in. I still can't figure out he does it. You go wait a minute - what just happened-----wow.
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I think you mean the tune "One Way Out". If you listen, it's easy to hear what happened. Berry came in an eight note early. Clearly he got confused when Duane played a repetitive riff that featured repeated groups of three 16th-notes. The band then adjusted to Berry, not the other way around. Listen to it, it's all right there.
 
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#149
mark107 said:
I think you mean the tune "One Way Out". If you listen, it's easy to hear what happened. Berry came in an eight note early. Clearly he got confused when Duane played a repetitive riff that featured repeated groups of three 16th-notes. The band then adjusted to Berry, not the other way around. Listen to it, it's all right there.
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I have a few of the archival recordings from around that time. Filmore wasn't the only time it was caught on tape him missing the beat. Not a knock, as I have come in to soon anticipating the one many times on songs, just reassuring to know you're not the only one.
 
#150
KPJ said:
I have a few of the archival recordings from around that time. Filmore wasn't the only time it was caught on tape him missing the beat. Not a knock, as I have come in to soon anticipating the one many times on songs, just reassuring to know you're not the only one.
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I have played this song on cover gigs countless times over the past fifty years. I was 16 when this album came out, and was playing this song in bands back in the day, and it still comes up several times per year. Every year. You get the idea. Anyway, I wish I had a dollar for every time the drummer looks right at me just as this spots approaches. "Don't you dare" is the general vibe of the look.

My favorite Berry song on that record is #2, Must Have Done Somebody Wrong. And mainly for his arrangement. He starts very simply, and slowly builds on the complexity as the song progresses. It's a skillfully conceived part, and shows the essence (to me) of great bass playing, which is the ability to COMPOSE a part that helps define the song itself. Most players can display some degree of flash, not so many can write a part that defines the song. That's the money shot.
 
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#152
DennisM said:
The Warehouse concerts are the best.
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Totally agree! I have heard the recordings of lots of shows from the Duane and Berry era of the band, and none are hotter than the shows they played in '70 and '71. A long time ago I remember reading an interview with Butch Trucks in which he described the shows released on "Live at the Fillmore" as not being exceptional ones. I thought he was being modest. Then I heard the Warehouse stuff, particularly 71-3-20 and 71-9-16. He was right!
 
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#153
s_wood said:
Totally agree! I have heard the recordings of lots of shows from the Duane and Berry era of the band, and none are hotter than the shows they played in '70 and '71. A long time ago I remember reading an interview with Butch Trucks in which he described the shows released on "Live at the Fillmore" as not being exceptional ones. I thought he was being modest. Then I heard the Warehouse stuff, particularly 71-3-20 and 71-9-16. He was right!
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You're right. Warehouse Concerts best. Even one ,he mentions Fillmore album released one week ago,and selling great. I just keep looking up new concerts to save.
 
#154
mark107 said:
I have played this song on cover gigs countless times over the past fifty years. I was 16 when this album came out, and was playing this song in bands back in the day, and it still comes up several times per year. Every year. You get the idea. Anyway, I wish I had a dollar for every time the drummer looks right at me just as this spots approaches. "Don't you dare" is the general vibe of the look.

My favorite Berry song on that record is #2, Must Have Done Somebody Wrong. And mainly for his arrangement. He starts very simply, and slowly builds on the complexity as the song progresses. It's a skillfully conceived part, and shows the essence (to me) of great bass playing, which is the ability to COMPOSE a part that helps define the song itself. Most players can display some degree of flash, not so many can write a part that defines the song. That's the money shot.
Click to expand...

Wait a minute, it's Must Have DID Somebody Wrong! A bandleader says the other day that's it's corny to audibly count off a song He needs to listen to Greg Allman counting off this tune. UhOne, UhTwo , uhOne Two Three Fo.
 
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#155
Paul New said:
Wait a minute, it's Must Have DID Somebody Wrong! A bandleader says the other day that's it's corny to audibly count off a song He needs to listen to Greg Allman counting off this tune. UhOne, UhTwo , uhOne Two Three Fo.
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Good point, but I have to be annoying and say that Duane, not Gregg, spoke onstage. I was actually at a couple of the Fillmore East shows (early shows on March 13 and June 26), and, for example, I remember seeing Duane say, "You can put your hands together for this" before "You Don't Love Me." Gregg was a very shy person.
The funny thing is that in those days I was so focused on guitar players that I didn't notice what rig Berry was using. So, I'm useless for this thread. :)
However, when I started playing bass, Berry became one of my "teachers" (via the recordings) -- everything about his playing, but especially his note choices and ears, was phenomenal.
Listen to "Leave My Blues at Home", where his part starts on the sixth of the chord. Highly unusual and clever.
 
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#158
dougjwray said:
Good point, but I have to be annoying and say that Duane, not Gregg, spoke onstage. I was actually at a couple of the Fillmore East shows (early shows on March 13 and June 26), and, for example, I remember seeing Duane say, "You can put your hands together for this" before "You Don't Love Me." Gregg was a very shy person.
The funny thing is that in those days I was so focused on guitar players that I didn't notice what rig Berry was using. So, I'm useless for this thread. :)
However, when I started playing bass, Berry became one of my "teachers" (via the recordings) -- everything about his playing, but especially his note choices and ears, was phenomenal.
Listen to "Leave My Blues at Home", where his part starts on the sixth of the chord. Highly unusual and clever.
Click to expand...


Thanks. i should have known that.
 
#159
cusar5 said:
A lot of the magic of "At Fillmore East" comes from Tom Dowd's amazing production job. Recordings from the other nights the Allmans did at the Fillmore are floating around and all of them are much rougher around the edges than the original Fillmore 2xLP.

Pickup placement is key to getting Berry's sound - you want a big ol' humbucker just in front of where the neck pickup would be on a Jazz.
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No humbuckers in Berry's basses. They were Hagstrom BiSonic single coils.
 
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