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John Entwistle!

#461
Pan said:
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 . .
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What a great story!:D
 
#462
I first saw The Who in 1989 on the Tommy tour. It was an amazing show, but certainly not how I'd prefer to remember them. I had tickets to the '82 farewell tour, but they slipped right through my fingers for logistical crap. Seeing footage of that show and listening to Who's Last makes me glad I don't have that memory, either.

Since the '89 show, I've never missed them when they came through Chicago (and even drove to Toronto to see them right after Entwistle passed). I've also seen every tour Entwistle did with JEB...always standing close enough for him to kick me in the face (which he might have wanted to do:p ). The first time I saw JEB, he was transitioning from his Modulus/Warwick Buzzard to Status, so I'm guessing it was around '94 or '95 (???). He still played a red Modulus/Warwick Buzzard 4-string, but had a Status Series 2 (now S-2) in red which was his 8-string.

I've also had the opportunity to meet him twice.

At least Status still makes the B-2 (formerly Buzzard II). There's footage of John playing one in his last rehearsals with The Who.

As a side bar, I've never played a Buzzard, but talked to a guy that has both Status models. He said the necks are very thick, much moreso than other Status models. I know John preferred a P-bass neck, but never really thought he liked 'em THAT big.
 
#463
12stringbassist said:
Pino is not the bassist for The Who.
I don't know who is, except John.
I have no desire to see them without him.
Endless Wire was almost total crap.

The band seem blase about losing the greatest bassist that ever lived. Sod 'em.
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Pino has the official position as bassist, but all he does is keep the bottom in my opinion.
 
#464
driver800 said:
I doubt they are blase about it at all. I've seen the Who 4 or 5 times (never with Moonie though,:( ) and they always put on one of the best shows I've ever seen. I saw them last November for the first time since Entwistle's passing. Yeah, The Ox left a huge vaccuum and the show wasn't quite the same.

However, it was the first opportunity for my kids to experience a Who show. My kids were blown away. As we were walking out of the concert, my 15 yr old daughter (who hates everything) said "Why can't all bands be that good?". I'm just glad Roger and Pete are keeping the music (somewhat) alive and taking the show on the road for the new younger fans to experience. Even if it just gives a glimpse of what it used to be, the music still has the power and influence of Entwistle and that's worth carrying on as long as they can put out a great show.
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i can imagine the fact that there was a lot missing, considering that is what i felt when i saw them in September. the fact that they keep touring is great, since they didnt tour for a while and when they did, it was Tommy of Quadrophenia in their entirety. but this every-other-year schedule is great.
 
#465
Horny Toad said:
Don't be anti-Status. I've read that the reason they no longer offer the Buzzard is because John Entwistle's son made a deal with Warwick that they would have exclusive rights to the name "Buzzard". Status is no longer permitted to produce the instrument.





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i hate legal bull****. why Chris cant be nice is beyond me.
 
#469
RAM said:
I first saw The Who in 1989 on the Tommy tour. It was an amazing show, but certainly not how I'd prefer to remember them. I had tickets to the '82 farewell tour, but they slipped right through my fingers for logistical crap. Seeing footage of that show and listening to Who's Last makes me glad I don't have that memory, either.

Since the '89 show, I've never missed them when they came through Chicago (and even drove to Toronto to see them right after Entwistle passed). I've also seen every tour Entwistle did with JEB...always standing close enough for him to kick me in the face (which he might have wanted to do:p ). The first time I saw JEB, he was transitioning from his Modulus/Warwick Buzzard to Status, so I'm guessing it was around '94 or '95 (???). He still played a red Modulus/Warwick Buzzard 4-string, but had a Status Series 2 (now S-2) in red which was his 8-string.

I've also had the opportunity to meet him twice.

At least Status still makes the B-2 (formerly Buzzard II). There's footage of John playing one in his last rehearsals with The Who.

As a side bar, I've never played a Buzzard, but talked to a guy that has both Status models. He said the necks are very thick, much moreso than other Status models. I know John preferred a P-bass neck, but never really thought he liked 'em THAT big.
Click to expand...

the 89' tour seemed to have a pretty interesting concept, where they did Tommy and then had an intermission and did a second set, or at least that is how the dvd was. at the JEB shows, did he play 'Success Story'? also, did he have a synth-y tone or was it a distorted sound?
 
#473
I was a Who fan before I was a bassist. Who's Next was either the first or second album I ever bought and The Kids are Alright was the first rock movie I ever watched.

Nobody else sounds remotely like the Who and certainly John's huge talent on the bass played a huge role.
 
#474
Thunder_Fingers said:
me neither, i want a buzzard way to much for that..

Though im wanting more to give my money to Status when that time comes. but i have heard that rob are working on something "buzzardy" wich can pass by warwick..
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if anybody should follow through on one of Johns basses it is Lakland. John was working with them on a 'FenderBird' bass copy of what he used to play in the 70's. the bass had a Thunderbird body and had a P-Bass neck.
 
#475
dangnewt said:
I was a Who fan before I was a bassist. Who's Next was either the first or second album I ever bought and The Kids are Alright was the first rock movie I ever watched.

Nobody else sounds remotely like the Who and certainly John's huge talent on the bass played a huge role.
Click to expand...

i got into the Who about 3 months after i began playing. The Kids Are Alright was the best thing that has happened to me since i began playing music in general
 
#476
Thunder_Fingers said:
me neither, i want a buzzard way to much for that..

Though im wanting more to give my money to Status when that time comes. but i have heard that rob are working on something "buzzardy" wich can pass by warwick..
Click to expand...


In my opinion, the best Buzzardly bass you can get is the Alembic Dragon's Wing, though it's great to hear Status has something in the works.

Dragon's Wing:
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And of course you can order a Spyder from them as well.
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#477
moogboy said:
if anybody should follow through on one of Johns basses it is Lakland. John was working with them on a 'FenderBird' bass copy of what he used to play in the 70's. the bass had a Thunderbird body and had a P-Bass neck.
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[Invalid or Expired Link Removed] ;)

Horny toad:
Alembic is far to expensive for me, i would probaly buy a used Status Buzzard if i collected enough money to buy anything alembic.
Go to the first page of this thread and see my Entwistle tribute bass :p

I dont think roman number inlays would fit very well on a Dragons wing(i also thing the current inlay is a little overkill..), and i have grown very found of Roman numbers on "special" body basses.
 
#478
moogboy said:
the 89' tour seemed to have a pretty interesting concept, where they did Tommy and then had an intermission and did a second set, or at least that is how the dvd was. at the JEB shows, did he play 'Success Story'? also, did he have a synth-y tone or was it a distorted sound?
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He played Success Story at least a few times I'd seen 'em (I think I caught a total of 4 JEB shows). He was so damned loud that I can still hear it in the back of my head. And, what was interesting was how different his tone was with the JEB from The Who. With JEB, his tone was much more distorted and over-the-top. I'd read he programmed something like 22 custom patches in his midi controller, and used them all (although not all in a single show)! :eek:

From the time I saw Tommy until the time I saw them in John's last show in 2000, I never saw them with a backup band. The first time I saw a backup band was in 2002 when The Counting Crows opened up in Toronto.
 
#479
Thunder_Fingers said:
[Invalid or Expired Link Removed] ;)

Horny toad:
Alembic is far to expensive for me, i would probaly buy a used Status Buzzard if i collected enough money to buy anything alembic.
Go to the first page of this thread and see my Entwistle tribute bass :p

I dont think roman number inlays would fit very well on a Dragons wing(i also thing the current inlay is a little overkill..), and i have grown very found of Roman numbers on "special" body basses.
Click to expand...
At this point, if you came across a used Status Buzzard, it might actually cost more than the Alembic Dragon Wing. I vaguely remember there was a Status Buzzard on e-bay a year or so ago going for somewhere in the mid-teens (thousands).
 
#480

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