When The Who played a local high school in the Metro Detroit area in 1967, Mr Entwistle was sporting this intersting bass. Any ideas what it is?
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Entwistle Innovation
- Thread starter JohnnyPustular
- Start date
I believe that was the same bass he played in the film "TOMMY"
It's a custom 'Frankenbass' built by bassist / luthier Peter Cook from London UK.
The "Axe Bass": an amalgam of a Fender Jazz bass rosewood neck and electronics with a custom axe-shaped body with bound black finish.
The "Axe Bass": an amalgam of a Fender Jazz bass rosewood neck and electronics with a custom axe-shaped body with bound black finish.
I believe he had 2 of them, one with Jazz pickups and one with Thunderbird pickups.
To my understanding, he bought quite a few Thunderbirds fearing they'd be discontinued and out of stock. Some of them couldn't be adjusted to the low action he preferred, so he harvested the pickups from them for his other project basses such as the Fenderbird.
How many songs did he sing? I can only think of Boris the Spider off the top of my head. Cool picture.
Live with The Who on lead, he sang Boris, My Wife, Trick of the Light, Whiskey Man, The Quiet One, Heaven & Hell, Fiddle About, and Twist & Shout. Maybe a few more covers in the early years.
"Three part harmonies" probably isn't the first thing that pops to mind when most people think of The Who, but Entwistle's high harmony singing was, along with Pete's vocal harmonies [and select lead vocal sections]) a basic part of the Who's sound
- Mar 13, 2008
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I had to look around to find this pic, its from an old book of mine.
My Cataldo 7enderbird based on Peter Cook's work, it originally had a maple Precision neck which caused a lot of hand fatigue for me, so it was traded for a Jazz neck with some block. Now, if I could only play even kind of like JAE
My Cataldo 7enderbird based on Peter Cook's work, it originally had a maple Precision neck which caused a lot of hand fatigue for me, so it was traded for a Jazz neck with some block. Now, if I could only play even kind of like JAE
Johns singing on his solo album "Too late the hero" is actually pretty darn good!
I saw them at the Grande Ballroom in Detroit about 69 I think and I was surprised at the backup vocals of John and Pete live, they were quite good and don't know remember if they even had monitors back then the PA may have just been some Voice of the theaters.
The thing about the less-celebrated members of some of these bands is that they too were damn good musicians.
Ringo was a DAMN GOOD drummer, and a singer of professional quality. Sure, he didn't outpace Lennon and McCartney, but in any other setting he'd have been the star.
Similarly, Entwistle was a compleat musician, from low brass to vocals to innovative bass playing. He just didn't exude the stage presence of the other three or put himself forward in the same way.
Ringo was a DAMN GOOD drummer, and a singer of professional quality. Sure, he didn't outpace Lennon and McCartney, but in any other setting he'd have been the star.
Similarly, Entwistle was a compleat musician, from low brass to vocals to innovative bass playing. He just didn't exude the stage presence of the other three or put himself forward in the same way.
Ringo is also a really nice guy, which counts a lot as a band mate. He always played what was right for the song, not what was the flashiest or loudest. The other three knew what they were doing when they poached Ringo from Rory Storm's band.
I saw them live at the Deleware County Fairgrounds in Muncie Indiana circa 1969 they were touring with the Kinks so double the fun. Keith Moon had the exploding drums and Pete Townsend trashed a Les Paul Junior. I believe they did some of the music from Tommy as a suite. . I CanSee For Miles was transformative.
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I know John played some flat-out bizarre looking basses in Ken Russell's film Tommy, but,
-- as someone who as a wee teen glommed over the liner notes of that double LP and of the promotional booklet that was issued in a limited edition by the Robert Stigwood Organization when the film first was released (my dad's cousin worked for RSO, so I got some Tommy goodies) incessantly
-- I am supremely confident that John did not play that particular bass in the film Tommy.
Watch, now someone will show that I am wrong!
John had an incredibly wide vocal range: from the low notes of Boris The Spider and Summertime Blues, to the high harmonics in many songs. His regular singing voice sounded very similar to Roger Taylor, Queen's high harmonics singer, and I wonder if their slightly raspy overtones help with high register singing?
Same can be said about John Paul Jones from Led Zeppelin. He wasn't just an incredible bassist, but he also played keyboards, recorder, whistle, and every other instrument you can think of. He didn't have the presence of the other three, but he was smarter than all of them by staying out of the limelight. He was also a professional coming from the session musician scene in 1960s London. That's how he met Jimmy Page.
Also, why hasn't anyone mentioned that John Entwistle (RIP) looks like a giant compared to Keith Moon (RIP) in the original photo?
Entwistle also invented the modern death growl (listen to the choruses in "Boris the Spider") almost 20 years before Possessed released their first album.In China we say Keith Moon looks like a beagleAlso, why hasn't anyone mentioned that John Entwistle (RIP) looks like a giant compared to Keith Moon (RIP) in the original photo?
I'm about as tall as John but I feel I look like Keith sometimes.
