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Interviewing Bassists Stories part 2

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#201
MR PC said:
That sounds about right since in every interview I've read he makes a point of stating he hates the fact that he plays rock and roll and didn't follow/pursue other avenues in music business early on. A real whiner. Around home base he's been known as..."complicated" A real...well....good bass player. Fortunately he has a family now, from all reports supports them quite well, so he's not threatening to bust heads anymore. You should be selling a boatload of your book Tom, based on this mega thread here (I've read the whole thing). I'll buy a copy. Have you thought of any subtitles like "Fear and Loathing in Los Gatos" or ...:D
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This is likely my last foray into nonfiction. What always happened before happened here, too. I needed only about eight photos of bassists, and only two came through for me. For all the others, I finally had to license images from photographers, which cost a bundle.

Since it was going to be so expensive, I went for broke and licensed the best image of Gene Simmons ever taken, one that I'm sure you've never seen before.

I asked four artists for blurbs. Only Steve Jay responded, and he did it the same night he downloaded my book. I think all the others have gatekeepers who never even bothered to tell the artist. Too bad. I think all of them would've loved to be associated with the book.

So, I'm done with nonfiction. Relying on others is too stressful, and stress aggravates Meniere's disease. I'm doing fiction from here on out.

Oh, and Thunes was 100 percent cooperative with this project. He asked for a few corrections and a couple things taken out here and there, which I didn't mind doing because he'd said them many years ago and no longer felt that way.

You should see the things from my own life I omitted writing about. Oy vey!
 
#202
Oooh - I like "The Eye of Carmin" :cool: .

And I'm gonna cut off the top of Scott Thunes's head when I get my copy as the Lord of the Bass himself commands :p

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#205
Roadkill said:
Oooh - I like "The Eye of Carmin" :cool: .

And I'm gonna cut off the top of Scott Thunes's head when I get my copy as the Lord of the Bass himself commands :p

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Yup. That's what he wanted.

In the book I include a photo Thunes took of me about one second after he showed me a nude photo of himself. He wanted me to include the nude photo, too, so you can see why I looked the way I looked.

None of you will ever be able to comprehend the level of gratitude you should feel for me for not including that photo in my book.
 
#207
Arthritic_Tom said:
Since it was going to be so expensive, I went for broke and licensed the best image of Gene Simmons ever taken, one that I'm sure you've never seen before.[/I]
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And the great Bob Babbitt's published letter to Gene Simmons, are you commenting on that?.....as I recall Bob was pretty upset about some of the things Gene said regarding proper credits.
 
#208
MR PC said:
And the great Bob Babbitt's published letter to Gene Simmons, are you commenting on that?.....as I recall Bob was pretty upset about some of the things Gene said regarding proper credits.
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I'm not aware of it. Until I began commenting here in March, I hadn't followed music since 2003, because it was too painful.

I just Googled "Bob Babbit letter Gene Simmons" and found nothing. Enlighten me.

I'm back to listening to music, by the way. Here's one of my current favorite songs:

 
#210
Arthritic_Tom said:
I'm not aware of it. Until I began commenting here in March, I hadn't followed music since 2003, because it was too painful.

I just Googled "Bob Babbit letter Gene Simmons" and found nothing. Enlighten me.

I'm back to listening to music, by the way. Here's one of my current favorite songs:

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What issue was the Gene Simmons cover story? The letter came in an issue soon after, I'll look through my back issues when I get a chance....( a heavy box of 'em')!
 
#211
MR PC said:
What issue was the Gene Simmons cover story? The letter came in an issue soon after, I'll look through my back issues when I get a chance....( a heavy box of 'em')!
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Here's the letter. It's in the October 1996 issue of Bass Player. What people need to understand is that Simmons says "outrageous" things to get attention. When I conducted my interview, he didn't know if he'd get the cover or not, so I fed him straight lines to make sure he really, really went over the top. He got it immediately and ran with it. That's why he gave me two hours instead of the one hour originally scheduled.

Also, I never understood threatening to beat people up for saying things. That's what they do in Third World countries. They burn down buildings over words. I'm sure when my memoirs are published people are going to say horrible things about not only my book but me. They'll call me a whiner, a flop, a latent gay, a misogynist, and a crackpot for believing in the various things I believe in. That's okay. As long as they don't physically assault me, they can say whatever they want about me and my book. I care about the opinions of less than six people on the face of the earth. Everyone else can say whatever they want about me.

In my book I didn't address the issue of whether or not Gene plays his own bass. As far as I know he played on the album I heard when I did the interview, the CD released as Carnival of Souls.

I've never heard the rumors that Simmons doesn't play his own bass. He's certainly capable of doing it himself, as live videos clearly show:



I myself used a pick because I liked the sound it got. When I was a guitarist, I was just a frustrated bassist, it turns out. As soon as I switched from guitar to bass, I was happy.
 

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#212
Kind of figured that was "Carmen" when I saw the photo. Most appropriate for your 2 central ghosts to occupy that back cover.

And, I'll just go ahead and extend a warm and heartfelt Thank You for your omission of the nude Thunes photo.
 
#214
TinIndian said:
Kind of figured that was "Carmen" when I saw the photo. Most appropriate for your 2 central ghosts to occupy that back cover.

And, I'll just go ahead and extend a warm and heartfelt Thank You for your omission of the nude Thunes photo.
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You're welcome. The nude Thunes photo is one of the most appalling images ever burned into my retinas. I wouldn't want to do that to people kind enough to shell out money for my book.

Carmen is the Cardinal Ghost, and Scott Thunes is the Collateral Ghost. The book is riddled with other ghosts. Thankfully both Carmen and Scott have un-ghosted themselves, or I un-ghosted them, or the three of us did it together. You got to witness Scott un-ghosting himself in real time on this very forum. It was the first time he and I had spoken since 2003.

Anyway, Carmen and Scott no longer haunt me.
 
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