Guitar player... fired. We all saw it coming.

ANOTHER one of those things not in the course syllabus at Berklee: It ain't just the playing.

 

Shoulda told him to not be blue, keep his head up.

 

Did this happen live? If yes, he should have been fired on the spot in front of the audience. You don’t do that in front of a crowd. Ever.

Even Buddy Rich waited until everyone was on the bus before reminding people of the many ways in which they were not fit to breathe his air.

 

Being able to play your chosen instrument is the basic cost of admission to being hired. After that hurdle is cleared its things like being punctual, sober, diplomatic and a good team player that keep you IN the band. Good riddance, guitar players are dime a dozen.


Edited to say, I said all of that also having been a gigging guitar player.

 

In all fairness, the solo is over the chorus progression.
That said, I agree that the angry drama is better replaced with a simple exaggerated mouthing of "chorus" to get the band back. Good vibes are important, even when playing a song with that narrative.

 

Half of the formula is to have a band where everyone gets along and no egos. My band is like that, we make it fun.....The bastards.

 

Or you just make a huge cutoff sign, then say "Sorry guys, can we go through the changes under the solos rather than the pedal point?" then you can discuss; make a decision, and play it that way.

I just re-listened to the studio recording of this tune - first harmonica solo is over the verse i.e. no chord changes, then guitar solo over the chorus i.e. with changes - but if you're going to do an extended solo, you certainly could carry it out over the pedal point. I don't know what is the current real-world performance practice of cover bands for this tune.

 

Oh yeah, I remember the "bashin ol blue" post. Haha, serves him right.

He sounds like a real winner to me

 

You didn’t know to solo over the chorus? Seriously?!!! What are you guys, amateurs? How many times have you heard the song in your lifetimes? No wonder the guitarist was pissed. I would have done the same thing.







Just kidding! Good riddance to him!

 

I can understand that. My main band that I was in for 15 years (or whatever it was) always went through things methodically, no matter what it was or how simple it was. Nobody every yelled at anybody, ever. I don't know how many times we went through Love Me Two Times, because our drummer kept getting hung up. We laughed about it and worked it out. We've all heard that song eight jillion times, but that's just how it goes, sometimes.

 

"You've got to play the song!!"
that's pretty funny actually. Everyone should have taken up the cry mimicking the guitarist. "You've got to play the song!!" Drive him from the room with absurdity.
Also the bl's firing proclamation was pretty weird too.
was that in front of the the dude and everybody? "that guy" is a public shunning and it's cruel. hopefully guitDude was on his way home by then.

 

Sometimes even musicians need to behave like adults.

 

I'd much prefer fairly decent musicians that are cool people over superstar musicians that are jerks. As with most other things in life, getting along with people is 70% of success.

As for his outburst, you all were at a practice session. The whole point of a practice session is to practice. We often stop mid-song during our practices to give a suggestion or clarification of a song part - especially when a song is new.

Sorry it did not work out, OP. It's his loss.

 

Life is too short to play with jerks.

 

I guess I’ve been lucky, or just haven’t been around as many band dynamics as most TBers,( probably the latter) but any issues I’ve encountered with how a song is played, are generally easy to rectify, through basic communication.
Are we going back to the intro during the turn around?
Is that two full beats before the chorus? Etc.
While we have had players ranging from total neophytes ( me) to those who have played professionally for years, there has never been any drama, or anything but positive, constructive criticism. You may want to hang on that E a little longer. Etc.
Glad to hear the negative energy, is no longer part of your group. Hopefully, his replacement will be a better fit.

 

All musicians are at least a little crazy... just some "crazy" fits better than others.

I know there are things about me that make sense from my point of view, but seems odd to others... but I function well enough with most musicians, at least these days.

This is pretty much true of everyone, but the ego of the musician is on some other level. We can deny we have this, especially bass players contrasted with guitar players, but it's the nature of the beast.

Of course we are all different, and even though one "should" behave a certain way, we have to expect some level of this behavior. Then at some point we say enough, and roll the dice on another one. Sometimes we get lucky and find a good fit, then other times we wish we had tolerated a little more from the last one...better the devil you know.

Hopefully your next picker will play well with others.

 

Showing up stoned for a recording session, where time usually equates to money - and cratering because of it - would have been his de facto resignation notice right then and there with any band I’ve ever been in.

I’ve got no issues with whatever substances someone wants to indulge in. I ain’t their mother or a cop. However, I have zero patience when such use renders a person unfit for duty, or creates band drama. You can be strung out 7x24 for all I care as long as you can still: play well, remember the arrangements, show up on time, and not behave like a jerk.

@tb-player : No loss to your band losing that guitarist. His clock was ticking from day one based on your earlier post. Onward!

 

you're right, of course! glad it's working out. best of luck going forward!