• TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
    Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
    Join free Log in
    Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.

Got fired today.

I

Itzayana

Guest
Aug 15, 2012
767
26
Oakland Ca
#1
One of the bands that I have been doing some work for fired me today. I had been working with them for about two months. Played six gigs casual gigs. A blues band. Very traditional blues. Guitar, drums, harmonica, bass. The guitar player, who is the band leader, said that I was too jazzy. Said that in real blues the bass just repeats the same riff throughout the entire song. No variation, no stretch.
He would show me what he wanted to be the bass part and to me they were really guitar riffs. When I would play what he wanted it simply didn't work with the drummer. It had no groove, swing, or feel. The BL would pick very obscure songs from the 50's and want to "do them just like the record".
For a while I was just playing what I felt would work better and the band was developing a pretty unique style. The drummer and harp player were real happy with the sound and we got great response from audience and club owners alike.
Any one else experience this sort of thing?
Should I have just done what the BL wanted at the cost of sounding better?
 
#2
Itzayana said:
One of the bands that I have been doing some work for fired me today. I had been working with them for about two months. Played six gigs casual gigs. A blues band. Very traditional blues. Guitar, drums, harmonica, bass. The guitar player, who is the band leader, said that I was too jazzy. Said that in real blues the bass just repeats the same riff throughout the entire song. No variation, no stretch.
He would show me what he wanted to be the bass part and to me they were really guitar riffs. When I would play what he wanted it simply didn't work with the drummer. It had no groove, swing, or feel. The BL would pick very obscure songs from the 50's and want to "do them just like the record".
For a while I was just playing what I felt would work better and the band was developing a pretty unique style. The drummer and harp player were real happy with the sound and we got great response from audience and club owners alike.
Any one else experience this sort of thing?
Should I have just done what the BL wanted at the cost of sounding better?
Click to expand...

So everyone but the BL digs your style, but the BL fired you anyway. I cant for the life of me understand the concept of a band leader.
 
#3
That's a bummer man sorry to hear that ... it happens.
Depends .... Was the band playing big paying gigs and the bl was a well know headliner would could pick and choose any sidemen ... then maybe yes ..... if he was just the same as everyone else in the band then be happy to move on and be done with the drama.
 
#6
Any BL that's gonna tell me what to play on every song had better be prepared to pay me for every gig, every rehearsal. That said, the job entailed you playing them just like the recording ... and that's what you should have been doing. Was it?
 
#7
There is a time to play things like the record and there's a time not to. Playing obscure, traditional blues from over a half a century ago falls into the latter category. Based upon what you said in the original post, I think the BL did you a favor.
 
#8
Itzayana said:
One of the bands that I have been doing some work for fired me today. I had been working with them for about two months. Played six gigs casual gigs. A blues band. Very traditional blues. Guitar, drums, harmonica, bass. The guitar player, who is the band leader, said that I was too jazzy. Said that in real blues the bass just repeats the same riff throughout the entire song. No variation, no stretch.
He would show me what he wanted to be the bass part and to me they were really guitar riffs. When I would play what he wanted it simply didn't work with the drummer. It had no groove, swing, or feel. The BL would pick very obscure songs from the 50's and want to "do them just like the record".
For a while I was just playing what I felt would work better and the band was developing a pretty unique style. The drummer and harp player were real happy with the sound and we got great response from audience and club owners alike.
Any one else experience this sort of thing?
Should I have just done what the BL wanted at the cost of sounding better?
Click to expand...

Your band leader is a small minded person. He would really hate my bass playing. Has he never heard Jack Bruce?

Those old songs if played the way they were recorded will be really boring.

It is good to leave a band like that.
 
#11
I would talk to the other guys in the band and see if you can put a project together without the pain in the butt "bandleader". They'd probably be happy to get away from the guy!!

Give it a shot, you may be pleasantly surprised.

It seems that I'm not the only one that thinks this way...
 
#16
WillieB said:
That's a bummer man sorry to hear that ... it happens.
Depends .... Was the band playing big paying gigs and the bl was a well know headliner would could pick and choose any sidemen ... then maybe yes ..... if he was just the same as everyone else in the band then be happy to move on and be done with the drama.
Click to expand...

Sorry to hear the news and there may be some communication problems with that BL. I feel the same way about guitar licks as I do about some basslines. If they define the song (try playing the Beatles "Taxman" without that bass riff) then they are needed. If you are playing a genre, then interpreting the music may be what is called for especially if the guitar (and other instruments) are also NOT "playing it like the record" and everyone is trying to find the common groove together. Somebody who's really in my face about what I'm doing (maybe everyone) better be pretty well known, a great musician, paying me well and be playing their own parts spot on too. If thats all happening, it could be a very professional situation and worth the effort. Pickup bands, bar bands, jam bands and hack bands should be fun and offer a lot of latitude for interpretation. Just sayin... You likely have a better opportunity coming your way from the sound of it so look forward.
 
#17
I'm actually surprised your ex-BL could find bookings for a band that played obscure 1950's blues. And I doubt that there's a blues aficionado on the planet who would recognize the original bass line from more than one or two songs per night. When you start your new project, I'd also look into some major changes in the set list.
 
#18
Itzayana said:
He would show me what he wanted to be the bass part and to me they were really guitar riffs. When I would play what he wanted it simply didn't work with the drummer. It had no groove, swing, or feel. The BL would pick very obscure songs from the 50's and want to "do them just like the record".
Click to expand...

Some of the blues recorded in the 50s used two guitars and no bass (neither URB or BG) with one guitar played the bass lines. That's why they sound like guitar riffs...they are! Many of the bass lines are super repetitive, my main rule is that whenever I feel like playing a fill I don't :D

As far as "doing it like the record" that is actually very common. Many modern big name blues acts do in fact play stylistically just like bands from the 50s. Of course, many others sound contemporary, i.e. post SRV with lots of rock and soul music influences.

It's certainly not unusual to be fired from blues bands for what is seen as overplaying. Jack Bruce and Andy Fraser (Free) both got fired by John Mayall for it.
 
#19
WillieB said:
Was the band playing big paying gigs and the bl was a well know headliner would could pick and choose any sidemen ... then maybe yes ..... if he was just the same as everyone else in the band then be happy to move on and be done with the drama.
Click to expand...

+1

In my band it has to be unanimous to kick someone out, not just one person can do it on a whim. A band like this would give you a major headache anyway in the long run.
 
#20
mikecd1 said:
Sorry to hear the news and there may be some communication problems with that BL. I feel the same way about guitar licks as I do about some basslines. If they define the song (try playing the Beatles "Taxman" without that bass riff) then they are needed. If you are playing a genre, then interpreting the music may be what is called for especially if the guitar (and other instruments) are also NOT "playing it like the record" and everyone is trying to find the common groove together. Somebody who's really in my face about what I'm doing (maybe everyone) better be pretty well known, a great musician, paying me well and be playing their own parts spot on too. If thats all happening, it could be a very professional situation and worth the effort. Pickup bands, bar bands, jam bands and hack bands should be fun and offer a lot of latitude for interpretation. Just sayin... You likely have a better opportunity coming your way from the sound of it so look forward.
Click to expand...

+1, my sentiments exactly.

In a similar situation with a new guitarist who's locally well known and wants the bass waaaaayyyyyy backed off ("just play the roots, that's it!" is his quote). Ain't gonna happen, esp in an Allman Bros cover band :rollno:
 

Latest posts

Top Bottom
Back