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Interviewing Bassists Stories Pt. 3
- Thread starter Arthritic_Tom
- Start date
I've had a lot of bass heroes come and go, but the longest-lived is John Paul Jones. He's the reason I picked up the bass in the first place. My tastes changed; I grew to like more and more and more types of music, but Led Zepplein has always been there. Every now and then, when I'm writing or doing a drawing for a military book, I open a tab on my browser and listen to Led Zeppelin for a couple of hours.
My favorite album is Presence. My favorite song on that album is "Achilles' Last Stand." It has two of the most elegant lines ever written:
Oh, to ride the wind,
To tread the air above the din.
And the bass is just... perfect.
I'm not a preacher. We all make our own choices. But as an alcoholic and former drug abuser, I also admire John Paul Jones for staying clean. He belonged to one of the biggest bands ever, but he flew commercially and stayed in separate hotels from the rest of the band. Despite the overwhelming temptations, he kept his head.
Looking at this video, I'm struck by how much better he looks than his two surviving band mates and even Jason Bonham, who's had terrible problems with drugs and alcohol.
As I said, everyone is free to make their own choices. Still, all I can think of is the dead John Bonham and all the talent Robert Plant and Jimmy Page had, which was eroded away by booze and drugs. I think of Eubie Blake, who kept playing until he was in his nineties.
Talent is a gift. All gifts must be treasured, I think. They must be respected, because there are so many of us who were either never gifted or had our gifts taken away through no fault of our own. It's such a shame when people kill their gifts. Though I know it's their choice, it makes me angry. A little.
My favorite album is Presence. My favorite song on that album is "Achilles' Last Stand." It has two of the most elegant lines ever written:
Oh, to ride the wind,
To tread the air above the din.
And the bass is just... perfect.
I'm not a preacher. We all make our own choices. But as an alcoholic and former drug abuser, I also admire John Paul Jones for staying clean. He belonged to one of the biggest bands ever, but he flew commercially and stayed in separate hotels from the rest of the band. Despite the overwhelming temptations, he kept his head.
Looking at this video, I'm struck by how much better he looks than his two surviving band mates and even Jason Bonham, who's had terrible problems with drugs and alcohol.
As I said, everyone is free to make their own choices. Still, all I can think of is the dead John Bonham and all the talent Robert Plant and Jimmy Page had, which was eroded away by booze and drugs. I think of Eubie Blake, who kept playing until he was in his nineties.
Talent is a gift. All gifts must be treasured, I think. They must be respected, because there are so many of us who were either never gifted or had our gifts taken away through no fault of our own. It's such a shame when people kill their gifts. Though I know it's their choice, it makes me angry. A little.
Well, I don't credit wikipedia that much, but - according to Invalid Link Removed - it seems that JPJ wasn't that clean either, just had equilibrium and stayed low profile 
To be honest, I rather admire people like him who can keep the middle line, instead of abstinent monks I used to smoke 2 packs and a half a day and, for the life of me I couldn't do less so I had to quit
JPJ is a damn good musician, and probably one of the few with his balance unaffected by talent.
Looking forward to read your book
To be honest, I rather admire people like him who can keep the middle line, instead of abstinent monks
I used to smoke 2 packs and a half a day and, for the life of me I couldn't do less so I had to quit JPJ is a damn good musician, and probably one of the few with his balance unaffected by talent.
Looking forward to read your book
Thanks very much. I promise you'll love the book. It's got much more than the threads here. It has no limits.Well, I don't credit wikipedia that much, but - according to Invalid Link Removed - it seems that JPJ wasn't that clean either, just had equilibrium and stayed low profile
To be honest, I rather admire people like him who can keep the middle line, instead of abstinent monks
JPJ is a damn good musician, and probably one of the few with his balance unaffected by talent.
Looking forward to read your book
I'm sure John Paul Jones dabbled, but Page, Plant, and Bonham destroyed themselves with their excesses. Smoking a little pot every now and them isn't the same as being a heroin addict or dying of alcohol poisoning.
As I said, I'm not a preacher. I'll admit that as a drunk and former druggie, I'm militantly opposed to substance usage, much less abuse, but I know that my position is extreme. All my friends drink, and most of them smoke pot. Everyone has to make their own choices.
You'll understand my viewpoint better if you read the book. Drinking cost me almost everything.
Tom, I wish I wouldn't understand, but I already do, and all too well. Drinking also cost someone close to me almost everything. Luckily, he's alright now, trying to make up for all the crap I had to put up to
Be well!
Be well!
I'm not only well, I can laugh about it.Tom, I wish I wouldn't understand, but I already do, and all too well. Drinking also cost someone close to me almost everything. Luckily, he's alright now, trying to make up for all the crap I had to put up to
Be well!
Well said, and cheers from another BP writer.
"Achilles Last Stand" has always been my favorite Zepplin track as well... particularly after having seen the '79 live version from their DVD several years back.
"Achilles Last Stand" has always been my favorite Zepplin track as well... particularly after having seen the '79 live version from their DVD several years back.
The combination of Jones's tone and the notes he plays are just perfect.
The hardest bass line on Presence? "For Your Life." Almost impossible. It has some weird little flamenco-style rakes that defy explanation since the part is played with a pick. The timing is demonic, and the tone killer. I love "Achilles' Last Stand" for the emotion, while "For Your Life" is John Paul Jones at his technical, artful best.
I'm still a Bass Player writer in my mind. I never stopped. I've conducted interviews over the years that would've been amazing. The exceptional Spanish film Sex and Lucía, starring the gorgeous Paz Vega, says that if we don't like the way our story ends, we can simply rewrite it.
That's what I've done.
I haven't been able to read all of the posts in all three parts, so I'm not sure if this has been posted before. But the man in this pic looks strikingly like our beloved Mr. Thunes...
Link Removed
Probably not him, but I find the resemblance hilarious.
Link Removed
Probably not him, but I find the resemblance hilarious.
Tom,
Read your first book: primed as I was by the threads, Gene Simmons rather forceful personality was still a shock, and even Hooksey took me by surprise. The Thunes interview...there's nothing like it. Its' too big to describe, except to say how completely open he is. It doesn't feel like it belongs in the same book really, its that exceptional.
But I have to say the one that actually got under my skin was Jerry Casale: I didn't know about his unique technique and I didn't expect to sympathise with his viewpoint. When I was in high school, devolution was a serious message we got along with the music but then you're expected to grow up and leave that youthful nihilism behind. I guess it caught up with me. I was really glad he still felt that way, I think I would have been crushed if he'd joined the corporation.
Thanks too for picking a couple of guys that got to grips with electronica and made it their own. It should be required reading.
Read your first book: primed as I was by the threads, Gene Simmons rather forceful personality was still a shock, and even Hooksey took me by surprise. The Thunes interview...there's nothing like it. Its' too big to describe, except to say how completely open he is. It doesn't feel like it belongs in the same book really, its that exceptional.
But I have to say the one that actually got under my skin was Jerry Casale: I didn't know about his unique technique and I didn't expect to sympathise with his viewpoint. When I was in high school, devolution was a serious message we got along with the music but then you're expected to grow up and leave that youthful nihilism behind. I guess it caught up with me. I was really glad he still felt that way, I think I would have been crushed if he'd joined the corporation.
Thanks too for picking a couple of guys that got to grips with electronica and made it their own. It should be required reading.
Wow. Thanks so much for your kind words.
Jerry got under my skin quite a bit, too. He's extremely intense and angry, and there's an enigmatic quality about him that makes him scary. And yet at the same time he's affable and cooperative. Interviewing him was like what I would imagine it would be like to interview a Delta Force operator or one of the late 1940s test pilots that Tom Wolfe wrote about in The Right Stuff. These people are all members of exclusive clubs, and they're aware of their exalted positions. They do their best to communicate what it's like to the rest of us, but we can't really understand.
Jerry was the least knowable of my interviewees on a personal level, but he also was one of the least inhibited in expressing what he really felt. It's very strange to experience such a deep connection with someone who's also unreachable. Without intending to, he made me feel really stupid.
And all these years later, there's still nothing like "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction." The song is timeless, eternal art of which he should be very proud. That bass tone!
When I first met Scott, I thought he looked like an amalgam of Karl Malden and Michael Keaton.
Woo-hoo! Update from Amazon:
Hello,
We have received new release date information related to the order you placed on January 26, 2013 . The item(s) listed below will actually ship sooner than we originally expected based on the new release date:
Thomas Wictor "Ghosts and Ballyhoo: Memoirs of a Failed L.a. Music Journalist"
Previous estimated arrival date: August 01, 2013 - August 05, 2013
New estimated arrival date: March 05, 2013 - March 07, 2013
Very cool!
Hello,
We have received new release date information related to the order you placed on January 26, 2013 . The item(s) listed below will actually ship sooner than we originally expected based on the new release date:
Thomas Wictor "Ghosts and Ballyhoo: Memoirs of a Failed L.a. Music Journalist"
Previous estimated arrival date: August 01, 2013 - August 05, 2013
New estimated arrival date: March 05, 2013 - March 07, 2013
Very cool!
Hey, Tom-
Saw a book review in the local Sunday newspaper (from the AP) of Peter Hook's book, "Unknown Pleasures- Inside Joy Division." It states that he goes into the initial organization of the band and Ian Curtis' suicide, and the follow-up success of New Order, with the focus of the book on Curtis. It says Hook doesn't hold back on the details, and is written in Hook's "plain-spoken, if not coarse," style (which was apparent from your book). It was quite a favorable review, for what that's worth.
Sorry about giving you a 'review of a review', but as my free-reading time is limited, I thought you might find it of interest. Once I get a chance to get through your book, I might give this one a shot.
Jim
Saw a book review in the local Sunday newspaper (from the AP) of Peter Hook's book, "Unknown Pleasures- Inside Joy Division." It states that he goes into the initial organization of the band and Ian Curtis' suicide, and the follow-up success of New Order, with the focus of the book on Curtis. It says Hook doesn't hold back on the details, and is written in Hook's "plain-spoken, if not coarse," style (which was apparent from your book). It was quite a favorable review, for what that's worth.
Sorry about giving you a 'review of a review', but as my free-reading time is limited, I thought you might find it of interest. Once I get a chance to get through your book, I might give this one a shot.
Jim
