Having BassCliff Gig Report Withdrawals

[BassCliff]

Hi Chris,

It was another excellent GTG, Cliff - thanks again for hosting.

Here's a full account from a few years ago regarding the 1985 Chuck Berry/Bo Diddley All Star Jam we had discussed last night: Your Chuck Berry Story

Here are a few photo stills from the concert video which was released years later:
Phil Chen and (the hands of) John Lodge in front of 1 of the 4 Trace Elliot rigs we had supplied for the concert:
View attachment 3830546

Chuck Berry, Phil Chen, Rudy Sarzo, John Lodge and Ron Wood:
View attachment 3830548

Ron Wood trying to get Chuck Berry to play guitar during "Rock and Roll Music" before being waived off by Chuck. The other out of focus guys on either side are John Mayall, Chuck Negron, Kenny Jones and Carl Wilson:
View attachment 3830547

The guy in the black shirt behind Bill Champlin - that's me:
View attachment 3830549

Me with Carl Wilson after rehearsal on day 1:
View attachment 3830551

Chris

What a fabulous experience. Thanks for sharing. It's certainly fun for me to take part in something bigger, more talented, and better looking than myself. Your line of work has given you great opportunities to rub elbows with movers and shakers. I went searching for Youtube videos of that performance...



...but then saw your link to your other Chuck Berry story thread post with all the goods. Yes, good stuff.

I'll share a close encounter, but not as close as yours. Back in 1975 or 1976 I had purchased my brand new Fender Bassman 100 with the 4x12 cab:

(Without the cover.)

I still have the amp but not the disaster of a cab. It was my very first real amplifier. Soon after I was approached by my high school buddy [Invalid or Expired Link Removed], who was helping to put on a show at the old Albert S. Goode Auditorium in Bakersfield. Bob, a fellow musician and bass player, was just starting his music production career and I couldn't turn him down when he asked to borrow my amp for the backline. You see, Bob's father had co-signed the loan at the bank I used to pay for the amp, a staggering $600 for the whole rig.

Headlining the bill for the show was Michael Bloomfield, whom I'd never heard of because I was such a kid. But I went to the show to keep an eye on my amp, I think I even had to buy my own ticket, and I was blown away. I was such a wet-behind-the-ears dork that I didn't even bug my friend for backstage passes or anything. Of course Bob, being the same age as me, was probably pretty far low on the totem pole so I don't know how much pull he would've had. They were obviously putting together this show on shoestring budget.

More recently I let Vivi Rama use my GK rig as her backline when she filled in for me while I was on a family vacation.

I did meet Phil Chen one evening at The Ranch. I've got his card somewhere. (Found it!) He has a great business card. It's plastic with not one but four punch-out guitar pick perforations. Pretty clever. He's a really nice guy and was very complimentary of this old country bass player.

Anyway, sorry to go on like this. I'm just bored I suppose. Thanks, Chris, just for being such an interesting fellow and all around good guy. I'm glad to call you my friend.


Thank you for your indulgence,

BassCliff

 

[bluesblaster]

Thats a very neat business card, were the picks useable or more for show ? maybe just combine as many as you want for desired thickness, pretty cool though.

There must have been a lot of experimenting in speaker cabinet design in the 70's, I had some really weird Sunn cabs back then, set back angled speakers.....what were they thinking?, what was I thinking?

 

[Kitsapbass]

Hi Chris,



What a fabulous experience. Thanks for sharing. It's certainly fun for me to take part in something bigger, more talented, and better looking than myself. Your line of work has given you great opportunities to rub elbows with movers and shakers. I went searching for Youtube videos of that performance...



...but then saw your link to your other Chuck Berry story thread post with all the goods. Yes, good stuff.

I'll share a close encounter, but not as close as yours. Back in 1975 or 1976 I had purchased my brand new Fender Bassman 100 with the 4x12 cab:

View attachment 3831864 View attachment 3831865

(Without the cover.)

View attachment 3831874


I still have the amp but not the disaster of a cab. It was my very first real amplifier. Soon after I was approached by my high school buddy [Invalid or Expired Link Removed], who was helping to put on a show at the old Albert S. Goode Auditorium in Bakersfield. Bob, a fellow musician and bass player, was just starting his music production career and I couldn't turn him down when he asked to borrow my amp for the backline. You see, Bob's father had co-signed the loan at the bank I used to pay for the amp, a staggering $600 for the whole rig.

Headlining the bill for the show was Michael Bloomfield, whom I'd never heard of because I was such a kid. But I went to the show to keep an eye on my amp, I think I even had to buy my own ticket, and I was blown away. I was such a wet-behind-the-ears dork that I didn't even bug my friend for backstage passes or anything. Of course Bob, being the same age as me, was probably pretty far low on the totem pole so I don't know how much pull he would've had. They were obviously putting together this show on shoestring budget.

More recently I let Vivi Rama use my GK rig as her backline when she filled in for me while I was on a family vacation.

View attachment 3831920

I did meet Phil Chen one evening at The Ranch. I've got his card somewhere. (Found it!) He has a great business card. It's plastic with not one but four punch-out guitar pick perforations. Pretty clever. He's a really nice guy and was very complimentary of this old country bass player.

View attachment 3831913

Anyway, sorry to go on like this. I'm just bored I suppose. Thanks, Chris, just for being such an interesting fellow and all around good guy. I'm glad to call you my friend.


Thank you for your indulgence,

BassCliff

Another one of those fun cabs from back then. I vaguely remember a 4x15 that was similar that a friend had. Must have weighed 200 lbs.

 

[BassCliff]

Hi Scotty!

Thats a very neat business card, were the picks useable or more for show ? maybe just combine as many as you want for desired thickness, pretty cool though.

There must have been a lot of experimenting in speaker cabinet design in the 70's, I had some really weird Sunn cabs back then, set back angled speakers.....what were they thinking?, what was I thinking?

Well, I don't even know if the picks are usable. I haven't punched one out yet and I've had this card two or three years. I should give Phil Chen a call and see what he's up to. He might remember me. But I doubt it.

While I'm here, my dear friend and ex-bandmate Rick Schmidt posted this video to Facebook today. It reminded me of why I love to work with him, and in this video he's not even really showing off. Rick plays a great guitar, which is connected to a midi controller just for fun, plus he is really a kick-@ss pedal steel player, rock, jazz, country, you name it. He's very versatile.



The above clip is from his work with The California Rangers, an excellent old school honky tonk swing band. There are a few posts earlier in the thread with Rick working with me in The Running Kind. I think @mwbonsall had met Rick since he's moved to AZ. I gotta get out there and see you guys. Here are a couple more performances of Rick's that I found on his Youtube.






Thank you for your indulgence,

BassCliff

 

[mwbonsall]

The above clip is from his work with The California Rangers, an excellent old school honky tonk swing band. There are a few posts earlier in the thread with Rick working with me in The Running Kind. I think @mwbonsall had met Rick since he's moved to AZ. I gotta get out there and see you guys.

My wife and I saw The California Rangers in Oceanside a few years ago per your recommendation. We met Rick and his wife there a few months before they moved to AZ. Great guy and super musician. He has worked with a few of my musician buds and I hope I have the opportunity to work with him someday.

Mark

 

[nixdad]

Hi guys!



Wow Bill! I'm really sorry I missed that Zoom GTG. But I will send out invites for the next one tomorrow. If anyone would like to join us please drop me your email in a PM. Thanks!

Now just for fun, here are a couple of my video gig memories. The first one is a really fun song for me to play. I don't have to sing on this one so I can really concentrate. But still, can you find the clam?



Here is a compilation from a summer concert at Diamond Bar almost three years ago. This park is really close to where I work so it was a pretty special event for me because a lot of my coworkers from my day job showed up. It was fun.




I hope to see a bunch of you Thursday evening. Take care.

Thank you for your indulgence,

BassCliff

My garsh, Cliff! It's such a joy to hear music well played and executed with wonderful vocals. The mixes through the board at The Ranch are off the charts good.

Hello my friends,

I sent out Zoom GTG invitations this evening. I hope to see you Thursday evening. If anyone else wants to join please PM your email address to me and I'll put you on the list.

Here are a couple more video gig memories to pass the time, a couple of compilations. The first of my "somewhat daily" video gig memories is from a reunion gig of sorts with my dear friends in The Runnin' Kind. This is from about five years ago at one of those "snowbird" resorts in the Palm Springs area.



For the second of my video gig memories this evening is another compilation from my current band. This is from a couple of years ago at The Ranch. I kick off this mini-set with another of my favorite Hal Ketchum songs. Then Austin and Amanda finish it up.




That's it! I hope to see a bunch of you Thursday night. Take care and God bless.

Thank you for your indulgence,

BassCliff

Again, more excellence. Thank you again for sharing!

Pretty cool, I suppose after awhile it's just a job to you but looks pretty interesting to me.




Looks like a well attended meeting. Sorry to have missed it but the chance to practice could not be turned down. We definitely scraped some rust off!

I hope it went great, Chris!
We tentatively have our first rehearsals of the year scheduled for early July, so keeping our fingers crossed that the gigs were prepping for don't get canceled.

 

[bluesblaster]

The above clip is from his work with The California Rangers, an excellent old school honky tonk swing band. There are a few posts earlier in the thread with Rick working with me in The Running Kind. I think @mwbonsall had met Rick since he's moved to AZ. I gotta get out there and see you guys. Here are a couple more performances of Rick's that I found on his Youtube.








That's some god ol' honky tonk right there

Autumn leaves was really sweet too, first time I've heard it done on pedal steel... nicely done

 

[nixdad]

Hi Chris,



What a fabulous experience. Thanks for sharing. It's certainly fun for me to take part in something bigger, more talented, and better looking than myself. Your line of work has given you great opportunities to rub elbows with movers and shakers. I went searching for Youtube videos of that performance...



...but then saw your link to your other Chuck Berry story thread post with all the goods. Yes, good stuff.

I'll share a close encounter, but not as close as yours. Back in 1975 or 1976 I had purchased my brand new Fender Bassman 100 with the 4x12 cab:

View attachment 3831864 View attachment 3831865

(Without the cover.)

View attachment 3831874


I still have the amp but not the disaster of a cab. It was my very first real amplifier. Soon after I was approached by my high school buddy [Invalid or Expired Link Removed], who was helping to put on a show at the old Albert S. Goode Auditorium in Bakersfield. Bob, a fellow musician and bass player, was just starting his music production career and I couldn't turn him down when he asked to borrow my amp for the backline. You see, Bob's father had co-signed the loan at the bank I used to pay for the amp, a staggering $600 for the whole rig.

Headlining the bill for the show was Michael Bloomfield, whom I'd never heard of because I was such a kid. But I went to the show to keep an eye on my amp, I think I even had to buy my own ticket, and I was blown away. I was such a wet-behind-the-ears dork that I didn't even bug my friend for backstage passes or anything. Of course Bob, being the same age as me, was probably pretty far low on the totem pole so I don't know how much pull he would've had. They were obviously putting together this show on shoestring budget.

More recently I let Vivi Rama use my GK rig as her backline when she filled in for me while I was on a family vacation.

View attachment 3831920

I did meet Phil Chen one evening at The Ranch. I've got his card somewhere. (Found it!) He has a great business card. It's plastic with not one but four punch-out guitar pick perforations. Pretty clever. He's a really nice guy and was very complimentary of this old country bass player.

View attachment 3831913

Anyway, sorry to go on like this. I'm just bored I suppose. Thanks, Chris, just for being such an interesting fellow and all around good guy. I'm glad to call you my friend.


Thank you for your indulgence,

BassCliff

Hey Cliff -
Your kind comments are VERY much appreciated.
No doubts I was extremely fortunate to be in the thick of a lot of bass-related activity at the right time, and had the opportunity to meet and work with a lot of talented and well known people. I appreciate all of you guys listening to my stories as things come up, however, sometimes I'm afraid I come on too strong. My sincere apologies to all if that's the case.

Getting back to it, yep, just watching the first several seconds of that video with Chuck Berry is pretty sad. While Bo Diddley was fantastic and mixed it up with everyone for 2 days (including cooking ribs for during rehearsal everyone the day before,) Chuck may as well have stayed home. This was a 1 time event with such a lineup, so it's unfortunate that he decided to ruin this for everyone. It could have truly been amazing if Chuck had chosen to participate. No doubt HBO lost their a$$ on the filming and production costs as the media event they had planned was all for naught.

I love the photos of the Fender amp & cab. My older brother had that same cabinet in the early 70's (and maybe the same amp as well.) Fender's bass cabs were atrocious - poor design and WAY too shallow. I remember a customer in the early 80's who had spent about $500 on 2 new JBL 15's to put into his Fender 2x15 cab, only to have it still sound awful because of the cabinet dimensions. What a waste.

So cool to read your stories about Bob Bender and Michael Bloomfield. I got a good chuckle about you not knowing about Mike Bloomfield (there are many people I met through the years that I knew nothing about until being "informed" by my co-workers,) and with you being SOOOOO concerned about your amp - heck, we've ALL been there! And my goodness, Vivi Rama has quite a career and list of credits, huh!?! How did Arnie find her to sub for you?

Phil Chen is a good guy, and very gracious - I'm so glad you met him. Phil is how I first heard about James Jamerson in the early 80's when he first visited The Guitar Store (where I worked at from '80-'86.) All Phil talked about was JJ! Years later when Allen "Dr. Licks" Slutsky was writing the "Standing In The Shadows of Motown" book and called The Bass Centre to ask for help in making contact with west coast bassists (and bassists in England due to our "London/Los Angeles" footprint) to interview & record for the book, Phil Chen was the first name I mentioned. No doubt Phil was probably more responsible behind the scenes for the success of the book than we'll ever know (he was also involved with the movie years later.) When the book was eventually launched in 1989, a private party was held at Ray Parker's studio in North Hollywood on a Friday night. It was a fantastic event, with Allen, James Jamerson, Jr, dignitaries from Fender and lots of the bassists who participated in attendance. I decided to bring my modded '64 Jazz Bass to the event to have it autographed, and you guessed it, Phil was the first person I had do the honors:

The next day we held the public launch party at The Bass Centre, which again involved Allen Slutsky, many members of the Jamerson Family (including Annie Jamerson, James' wife,) Phil Chen and a bevy of bassists. The store was freakin' wall to wall with people! Needless to say, we sold a lot of books that day making Hal Leonard very happy.

Besides my Family, lifetime friends and playing music with my bandmates, I find joy in our friendships (local and long distance) here on TB. I appreciate all of you putting up with me. Hearing all of the stories and us sharing our experiences is truly special. I'm glad you're my friend as well, Clifford!

Thats a very neat business card, were the picks useable or more for show ? maybe just combine as many as you want for desired thickness, pretty cool though.

There must have been a lot of experimenting in speaker cabinet design in the 70's, I had some really weird Sunn cabs back then, set back angled speakers.....what were they thinking?, what was I thinking?

Hey Scott -
Years ago I had a Sunn 2x15 folded horn cab which was tough to hear on stage, but plastered people in the audience; later, when Bi-amping was the rage, I had the full rack system with a Gauss 18" Carlson cab with a 2x10" on the top. What the hell were any of us thinking?
Fun times!

 

[bluesblaster]

I hope you had that bass framed, very nice.

occasionally I see old photos of me in bands from back in the day and I look at the amp I was using and kind of scratch my head trying to remember ever owning those rigs, I guess I went through a bunch of stuff, Sunn, Ampeg, Kustom , Peavey, all the usual suspects. And then it was the pre/power amp rack craze of the 80's and 90's .....lord have mercy. Life is so much simpler these days and thats just fine by me.

 

[McG]

I appreciate all of you guys listening to my stories as things come up, however, sometimes I'm afraid I come on too strong. My sincere apologies to all if that's the case.

Great story Chris. You don't come on too strong at all. I think all of us enjoy your tales of bass industry past. Hey, who doesn't like reliving glory days?

 

[nixdad]

I hope you had that bass framed, very nice.

occasionally I see old photos of me in bands from back in the day and I look at the amp I was using and kind of scratch my head trying to remember ever owning those rigs, I guess I went through a bunch of stuff, Sunn, Ampeg, Kustom , Peavey, all the usual suspects. And then it was the pre/power amp rack craze of the 80's and 90's .....lord have mercy. Life is so much simpler these days and thats just fine by me.

Yep - all kinds of amp rigs, most of them HEAVY! It was a badge of honor at the time.
I'm thankful we have countless lightweight options at our disposal these days.

Great story Chris. You don't come on too strong at all. I think all of us enjoy your tales of bass industry past. Hey, who doesn't like reliving glory days?

I appreciate that, Grant. I too, enjoy hearing all of the stories and experiences during our GTG's, gear talk, life talk, etc.

 

[WI Short Scaler]

Lots of great stories on here, thanks for sharing them everyone!

 

[nixdad]

Hi Scotty!



Well, I don't even know if the picks are usable. I haven't punched one out yet and I've had this card two or three years. I should give Phil Chen a call and see what he's up to. He might remember me. But I doubt it.

While I'm here, my dear friend and ex-bandmate Rick Schmidt posted this video to Facebook today. It reminded me of why I love to work with him, and in this video he's not even really showing off. Rick plays a great guitar, which is connected to a midi controller just for fun, plus he is really a kick-@ss pedal steel player, rock, jazz, country, you name it. He's very versatile.



The above clip is from his work with The California Rangers, an excellent old school honky tonk swing band. There are a few posts earlier in the thread with Rick working with me in The Running Kind. I think @mwbonsall had met Rick since he's moved to AZ. I gotta get out there and see you guys. Here are a couple more performances of Rick's that I found on his Youtube.






Thank you for your indulgence,

BassCliff

Thanks for sharing, Cliff. My goodness, Rick is talented! Love to hear him play.

 

[WI Short Scaler]

Love the conversations about heavy amps and cabs.

Here's the lowdown on the first "real" bass amp I bought back in college for $75. Every dollar I saved on the purchase was later "spent" moving this beast around. I'm 5'6" and on the casters this thing was up to my shoulders, stupid big. But that "waveform modulation" effect was so cool at the time. At around 130 pounds and at that size it was a 2 person job to get it in the trunk of my car or anyplace there were stairs.

Eventually one of the tubes went out and I had to haul around a seperate head to power it, that was really dumb on my part. I've gotten a little smarter over the years. Love my 36 lb Rumble 500 now!

 

[nixdad]

Love the conversations about heavy amps and cabs.

Here's the lowdown on the first "real" bass amp I bought back in college for $75. Every dollar I saved on the purchase was later "spent" moving this beast around. I'm 5'6" and on the casters this thing was up to my shoulders, stupid big. But that "waveform modulation" effect was so cool at the time. At around 130 pounds and at that size it was a 2 person job to get it in the trunk of my car or anyplace there were stairs.

Eventually one of the tubes went out and I had to haul around a seperate head to power it, that was really dumb on my part. I've gotten a little smarter over the years. Love my 36 lb Rumble 500 now!

WOW, Chris - what a beast!
I remember seeing these from time to time, but never played through one, and until now, I had no idea these were tube amps. I don't think big, heavy combo amps ever sold well, but it didn't stop manufacturers from building them.

It's funny to think back when we were kids starting off with small underpowered amps that we couldn't wait to have a "big" amp.

You now play a 500 watt Rumble that weighs 36 pounds - we couldn't wrap our heads around that possibility years ago!

 

[WI Short Scaler]

You now play a 500 watt Rumble that weighs 36 pounds - we couldn't wrap our heads around that possibility years ago!

A beast is right. It had 3 or 4 tubes if I remember correctly. That "case" it was built into was a wall destroyer too, if you bumped into any hallway or wall corner moving it? Forget about it, time to call a drywall guy. Such a silly monstrosity. And I truly can't remember where I ever got rid of it either,

 

[bassWR]

Love the conversations about heavy amps and cabs.

Here's the lowdown on the first "real" bass amp I bought back in college for $75. Every dollar I saved on the purchase was later "spent" moving this beast around. I'm 5'6" and on the casters this thing was up to my shoulders, stupid big. But that "waveform modulation" effect was so cool at the time. At around 130 pounds and at that size it was a 2 person job to get it in the trunk of my car or anyplace there were stairs.

Eventually one of the tubes went out and I had to haul around a seperate head to power it, that was really dumb on my part. I've gotten a little smarter over the years. Love my 36 lb Rumble 500 now!

Yeah it’s hard to imagine all the heavy gear we used to move around. My heavyweight was an Ampeg B25-B rig. Now if I even use an amp then it’s a Berg 112 and a Mark Bass Big Bang but 90% of the time I run direct with in ear monitors.

 

[BassCliff]

Hey err'body!

I've just sent out the invitation email for our weekly Zoom TB GTG to all the usual suspects. If anyone else would like to join in I'd love to see you. Thanks to everyone who participates. It's fun for me to just hang out with other bass players, talk shop, swap stories, share pictures, and generally goof off for an hour or so. You guys are a good hang.

@/\/\3phist0 @wintremute @nixdad @ak56 @WI Short Scaler @Bassed in NZ @dbase @Kitsapbass @Tony In Philly @Bunk McNulty @McG


Thank you for your indulgence,

BassCliff

 

[BassGuyFL]

Hi Chris,



What a fabulous experience. Thanks for sharing. It's certainly fun for me to take part in something bigger, more talented, and better looking than myself. Your line of work has given you great opportunities to rub elbows with movers and shakers. I went searching for Youtube videos of that performance...



...but then saw your link to your other Chuck Berry story thread post with all the goods. Yes, good stuff.

I'll share a close encounter, but not as close as yours. Back in 1975 or 1976 I had purchased my brand new Fender Bassman 100 with the 4x12 cab:

View attachment 3831864 View attachment 3831865

(Without the cover.)

View attachment 3831874


I still have the amp but not the disaster of a cab. It was my very first real amplifier. Soon after I was approached by my high school buddy [Invalid or Expired Link Removed], who was helping to put on a show at the old Albert S. Goode Auditorium in Bakersfield. Bob, a fellow musician and bass player, was just starting his music production career and I couldn't turn him down when he asked to borrow my amp for the backline. You see, Bob's father had co-signed the loan at the bank I used to pay for the amp, a staggering $600 for the whole rig.

Headlining the bill for the show was Michael Bloomfield, whom I'd never heard of because I was such a kid. But I went to the show to keep an eye on my amp, I think I even had to buy my own ticket, and I was blown away. I was such a wet-behind-the-ears dork that I didn't even bug my friend for backstage passes or anything. Of course Bob, being the same age as me, was probably pretty far low on the totem pole so I don't know how much pull he would've had. They were obviously putting together this show on shoestring budget.

More recently I let Vivi Rama use my GK rig as her backline when she filled in for me while I was on a family vacation.

View attachment 3831920

I did meet Phil Chen one evening at The Ranch. I've got his card somewhere. (Found it!) He has a great business card. It's plastic with not one but four punch-out guitar pick perforations. Pretty clever. He's a really nice guy and was very complimentary of this old country bass player.

View attachment 3831913

Anyway, sorry to go on like this. I'm just bored I suppose. Thanks, Chris, just for being such an interesting fellow and all around good guy. I'm glad to call you my friend.


Thank you for your indulgence,

BassCliff

I had one of those cabs back in the 80's. No matter what I put through it it sounded like mud with a blanket over it.

 

[BassCliff]

Hi!

I had one of those cabs back in the 80's. No matter what I put through it it sounded like mud with a blanket over it.

Really!?!? You had one of those Fender "pyramid" 4x12 cabs? Cool, sort of. When I was looking at it in the store I thought it was the most amazing thing I'd ever seen. Once I started gigging with it, not so much. Who ever thought pointing speakers at each other was a good thing?


Thank you for your indulgence,

BassCliff