John Entwistle!

[moogboy]

The Who does My Generation on the Smothers Brothers show:



I love the way John kind of steps aside at the end when Pete and Keith are smashing up their stuff. He's holding his bass like "I ain't smashing up this bass!"

that performance was on the Kids Are Alright, and when i heard that i literally overnight became a HUGE fan of the Who.

 

[moogboy]

Entwistle was a natural bass genius and huge influence on my playing. Also, he was a very kind and good human being. His greatest downfall was the drugs though, unfortunately he knew no moderation.

He and Keith were THE rock and roll rhythm section! The synergy and intuitive interplay between them was amazing and unique.

His early death was tragic although in a way, it sort of began after Keith checked out. Watch the wonderful video "An Ox's Tale" to get a real sense of his life and playing. Very sad indeed though (if not outright painful) to watch/hear him near the end. For a bit of that, watch his bass "instruction" video (I forget the name of it) that was produced near the end. His tone is completely over the top treble and distortion...the whole thing is a mess and self-indulgent. I honestly wish I had never seen it.

Not to end on a negative note....I was fortunate enough to see him with The Who in Atlanta a few of years before he left us. Stood just maybe 20 feet away from him. Amazing player and an experience I'll never forget. The rock band in heaven has one hell of a bass player!!

John was the first bassist i really got into, i loved him because he was always playing incredible parts. i became an authority on Johns equipment from wanting to know how he got his great tone from one website that i still use all the time. so any questions you have about his gear are also welcome

 

[moogboy]

There's gotta be more John in the vaults somewhere. He was known but not nearly as appreciated as he should have been IMO. Anyone who can stay locked in with Keith Moon is a bigger man than I! I'm not insulting Moon's talents as a drummer, it was just magic. Heaven and Hell is a great song from him on Live at Leeds.

yeah, i agree, not to long ago i tryed to find all of the songs that John wrote for the Who and next to all of the songs that had an 8-string bass on them Heaven and Hell is my favorite. the first time i heard Heaven and Hell was on the Isle Of Wight dvd.
i actually tried to find other threads on John in the forums but i didnt find any

 

[Monk]

 

[Baird6869]

I heard Eminence Front on the radio today and it reminded me how seriously good and completely unique John was. What a crazy bass line! It is like he is avoiding the root notes on purpose.

It reminded me of a scene in a Cheech and Chong movie when they are jamming and after the song is done Chong says "Hey man, while you were singing I wrote this cool song".

 

[driver800]

For me, Entwistle was the man.

I only hope that at some point in my life, I can give just a few people the inspiration he gave me (and possibly millions of others).

 

[Pan]

awww you lot . . how am I supposed to resist this thread?

I grew up in London in the 60's and there were basically 4 groups of teenagers - swats(nerds), straights(suits and the default), rockers(bikies) and mods(cool people). I was in one of those groups.
The music you listened to and what you wore was determined by the group you belonged to.

Mods rode scooters (see Quadrophenia) and wore Levis and clean shirts, usually Ben Sherman button down collar etc. and DM's. And listened to The 'oo.

An ex-Shadows bassist called Jet Harris put out the first bass 'solo' I'd heard ('Diamonds') but that was in the days of suits and ties. The first 'angry' solo I heard was on 'Generation'. And so to a lifelong following of the Who.

I played bass at that time and Rotosound started making roundwound strings at a factory just up the road. John was a frequent visitor there. Not far from Vox HQ and Tom Jennings either. I don't remember any serious alternative strings to RS66's at that time.

We all seemed to evolve into the hippy era with long hair and what's now called 'prog rock' (just plain rock at the time). So Top 10 moved to LP's and cinema shows to concerts and festivals.

From Moptops in suits with AC30's we moved to other brands following Jim Marshall's remarkable new amps and Jimi's effect. Hi-Watt were a good brand at that time, Fenders etc. still being scarce and expensive.

The 'Ox' was a typical bassist of the time in one way - he was big, strong, quiet and didn't move around much. very different in other ways as he wore that skeleton suit and let his big sound do the talking.

As far as I remember (in my mind anyway), Daltrey was fairly quiet too, often with head down and an observer a lot of the time. Townsend was the boss and the orchestra leader, often going off into his own thing and dragging everyone else with him like it or not. You couldn't stop him.
Moon was the link to John Entwistle and Moonie watched Townsend most of the time. I think he played more along to the melody than doing fills. John would have to hold the whole thing together and I think is usually underrated (nothing new for a bass player!). My view anyway although I'm told time can play tricks . .

The peak of the Who for me was around '70-'72. Woodstock they were nearly there and they peaked at the Isle of Wight weekend festival in '70 followed by 'Leeds'. The set usually contained songs from '65 up. By the time 'Next' came out they were still peaking for me but with a changed set as the 'Fooled Again' era started.

I hadn't listened to them for years until just a few months ago when I bought a 'Leeds' double CD containg 'Thomas'.
It bought it all back and so I bought IOW DVD as well.
Now I remember why they were my favorite band for so long until Steely Dan moved in (I must have matured or something. . .).

Not the same after Moon for me and now without John too?
But if I could think of anyone to play bass with them then Pino would be a great choice - he gets some attention I know but also underrated by miles.

There's my $19.99 worth on John Entwistle . .

 

[ibnzneksrul]

awww you lot . . how am I supposed to resist this thread?

I grew up in London in the 60's and there were basically 4 groups of teenagers - swats(nerds), straights(suits and the default), rockers(bikies) and mods(cool people). I was in one of those groups.
The music you listened to and what you wore was determined by the group you belonged to.

Mods rode scooters (see Quadrophenia) and wore Levis and clean shirts, usually Ben Sherman button down collar etc. and DM's. And listened to The 'oo.

An ex-Shadows bassist called Jet Harris put out the first bass 'solo' I'd heard ('Diamonds') but that was in the days of suits and ties. The first 'angry' solo I heard was on 'Generation'. And so to a lifelong following of the Who.

I played bass at that time and Rotosound started making roundwound strings at a factory just up the road. John was a frequent visitor there. Not far from Vox HQ and Tom Jennings either. I don't remember any serious alternative strings to RS66's at that time.

We all seemed to evolve into the hippy era with long hair and what's now called 'prog rock' (just plain rock at the time). So Top 10 moved to LP's and cinema shows to concerts and festivals.

From Moptops in suits with AC30's we moved to other brands following Jim Marshall's remarkable new amps and Jimi's effect. Hi-Watt were a good brand at that time, Fenders etc. still being scarce and expensive.

The 'Ox' was a typical bassist of the time in one way - he was big, strong, quiet and didn't move around much. very different in other ways as he wore that skeleton suit and let his big sound do the talking.

As far as I remember (in my mind anyway), Daltrey was fairly quiet too, often with head down and an observer a lot of the time. Townsend was the boss and the orchestra leader, often going off into his own thing and dragging everyone else with him like it or not. You couldn't stop him.
Moon was the link to John Entwistle and Moonie watched Townsend most of the time. I think he played more along to the melody than doing fills. John would have to hold the whole thing together and I think is usually underrated (nothing new for a bass player!). My view anyway although I'm told time can play tricks . .

The peak of the Who for me was around '70-'72. Woodstock they were nearly there and they peaked at the Isle of Wight weekend festival in '70 followed by 'Leeds'. The set usually contained songs from '65 up. By the time 'Next' came out they were still peaking for me but with a changed set as the 'Fooled Again' era started.

I hadn't listened to them for years until just a few months ago when I bought a 'Leeds' double CD containg 'Thomas'.
It bought it all back and so I bought IOW DVD as well.
Now I remember why they were my favorite band for so long until Steely Dan moved in (I must have matured or something. . .).

Not the same after Moon for me and now without John too?
But if I could think of anyone to play bass with them then Pino would be a great choice - he gets some attention I know but also underrated by miles.

There's my $19.99 worth on John Entwistle . .

Wow.

Your account of musical history transported me right back there to that time.

BTW, I saw Steely Dan on their first tour as headliners ('73, '74?), "Reelin' In The Years" era. What a show, but not The Who.

 

[Pan]

ouch! Dan did a UK tour around '72 and I had a choice of a London ticket or an out of town last gig of the tour ticket.
I chose the latter and the tour got cancelled midway . . .

I did see the Who at IOW and a dozen other places so I did ok. Glad someone liked my piece and it wasn't all waffle!

 

[Thunder_Fingers]

Thomas = Tommy? i wish i was born 25 years before i was

 

[Pan]

Thomas = Tommy? i wish i was born 25 years before i was

You'd be old like me ifyou were!
Pete T's pet name, yup. He introduces it as 'Thomas' in a posh voice at the 'Leeds' gig with Moon tapping the rims baton-style to get the crowd to quieten for a 'serious' opera.
The onstage banter between numbers was half the fun of The Who.

 

[Thunder_Fingers]

Yeah. some dry humor aswell..

i have the "live at Royal albert hall" DVD and CD:

John:
"I wish i had a few thusand quid everytime i anounced this.. oh! i have! MY WIFE!"

 

[moogboy]

that was off of the Kids Are Alright special edition dvd, correct?. those were really inspirational for me as well. in fact, i use to play a messed up version of Wont Get Fooled Again every time someone told me to play something

 

[moogboy]

I heard Eminence Front on the radio today and it reminded me how seriously good and completely unique John was. What a crazy bass line! It is like he is avoiding the root notes on purpose.

It reminded me of a scene in a Cheech and Chong movie when they are jamming and after the song is done Chong says "Hey man, while you were singing I wrote this cool song".

i used to hear only about 3 Who songs on the radio, Wont Get Fooled Again, Baba O'Riley, and You Better You Bet. i solved that problem by going back to using cds for my music, and my radio sucked and it had to be somewhere where it would not get any vibrations

 

[moogboy]

For me, Entwistle was the man.

I only hope that at some point in my life, I can give just a few people the inspiration he gave me (and possibly millions of others).

im hoping that we all become inspirations for at least one person. he is THE man who made it possible to take your bass and stop being Paul Mccartney which was still mainly keeping the beat. he also was great, he never wore weird stage costumes, it was mainly suits in bright colors.

 

[Pan]

he never wore weird stage costumes, it was mainly suits in bright colors.

hehe . .that skeleton suit at the IOW was pretty unusual at the time . . .

 

[moogboy]

awww you lot . . how am I supposed to resist this thread?

I grew up in London in the 60's and there were basically 4 groups of teenagers - swats(nerds), straights(suits and the default), rockers(bikies) and mods(cool people). I was in one of those groups.
The music you listened to and what you wore was determined by the group you belonged to.

Mods rode scooters (see Quadrophenia) and wore Levis and clean shirts, usually Ben Sherman button down collar etc. and DM's. And listened to The 'oo.

An ex-Shadows bassist called Jet Harris put out the first bass 'solo' I'd heard ('Diamonds') but that was in the days of suits and ties. The first 'angry' solo I heard was on 'Generation'. And so to a lifelong following of the Who.

I played bass at that time and Rotosound started making roundwound strings at a factory just up the road. John was a frequent visitor there. Not far from Vox HQ and Tom Jennings either. I don't remember any serious alternative strings to RS66's at that time.

We all seemed to evolve into the hippy era with long hair and what's now called 'prog rock' (just plain rock at the time). So Top 10 moved to LP's and cinema shows to concerts and festivals.

From Moptops in suits with AC30's we moved to other brands following Jim Marshall's remarkable new amps and Jimi's effect. Hi-Watt were a good brand at that time, Fenders etc. still being scarce and expensive.

The 'Ox' was a typical bassist of the time in one way - he was big, strong, quiet and didn't move around much. very different in other ways as he wore that skeleton suit and let his big sound do the talking.

As far as I remember (in my mind anyway), Daltrey was fairly quiet too, often with head down and an observer a lot of the time. Townsend was the boss and the orchestra leader, often going off into his own thing and dragging everyone else with him like it or not. You couldn't stop him.
Moon was the link to John Entwistle and Moonie watched Townsend most of the time. I think he played more along to the melody than doing fills. John would have to hold the whole thing together and I think is usually underrated (nothing new for a bass player!). My view anyway although I'm told time can play tricks . .

The peak of the Who for me was around '70-'72. Woodstock they were nearly there and they peaked at the Isle of Wight weekend festival in '70 followed by 'Leeds'. The set usually contained songs from '65 up. By the time 'Next' came out they were still peaking for me but with a changed set as the 'Fooled Again' era started.

I hadn't listened to them for years until just a few months ago when I bought a 'Leeds' double CD containg 'Thomas'.
It bought it all back and so I bought IOW DVD as well.
Now I remember why they were my favorite band for so long until Steely Dan moved in (I must have matured or something. . .).

Not the same after Moon for me and now without John too?
But if I could think of anyone to play bass with them then Pino would be a great choice - he gets some attention I know but also underrated by miles.

There's my $19.99 worth on John Entwistle . .

its great hearing from somebody who was around at that time when the Who were still doing the Marquee with Marshall amps and cabs that are worth thousands today and the Who just beat them to hell! the IOW dvd was great for me, i used to watch that before i practiced my clarinet, i used to model my finger movement after John! i should start doing that again, this time for sax

 

[moogboy]

ouch! Dan did a UK tour around '72 and I had a choice of a London ticket or an out of town last gig of the tour ticket.
I chose the latter and the tour got cancelled midway . . .

I did see the Who at IOW and a dozen other places so I did ok. Glad someone liked my piece and it wasn't all waffle!

man, IOW would have been awesome to see! all the IOW shows used the Who's giant PA at the time. although i understand there were a few problems with sound systems breaking down. The IOW dvd with a bunch of other bands on it turned me on to the Who, the song was Young Man Blues and the dvd was called Message To Love.

 

[moogboy]

Thomas = Tommy? i wish i was born 25 years before i was

i wish i were born in 1960, that would give me the oppurtunity to get hooked on the Who and go to lots of their shows (especially with Keith Moon). i was born in 1994, so that would make me 34 years older than i am.

 

[moogboy]

You'd be old like me ifyou were!
Pete T's pet name, yup. He introduces it as 'Thomas' in a posh voice at the 'Leeds' gig with Moon tapping the rims baton-style to get the crowd to quieten for a 'serious' opera.
The onstage banter between numbers was half the fun of The Who.

that was and still is my favorite part of the Who dvds that i have! it was great with Moonie, he could make you fall over laughing and then dumbfound you with his drumming. my favorite version of My Generation is off of the Monterey Pop dvd. the whole band just went absolutely crazy and Keith was bouncing sticks off of drums and just being Keith Moon