JAUQO III-X
Inactive
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Muzz Skillings (Living Colour) bass?
- Thread starter mmbongo
- Start date
Ugh. I've been defending Vernon Reid for 20 years, why stop now?
JAUQO said it best when most Vernon critics are only familiar with his Living Colour work (translation: the Cult of Personality solo). I think he had a kind of "mushy" tone on that first record and if I remember correctly, he was doing the 80s hard rock thing of adding chorus and maybe even a little short delay to his sound. That didn't help when he started playing fast. If you listen to "Stain", his tone was much more together. Listen to the solo on "Go Away", the "shred" parts are very clean.
I think the fact that Vernon emerged during the height of the 80s shred culture didn't help him any. Everyone was listening to Yngwie Malmsteen play precision scale runs -16 sixteenth notes per bar. Vernon did not come out of that Randy Rhoades/Michael Schenker/Uli Roth school. Instead, you can trace his playing to Sonny Sharrock, James Blood Ulmer and Pete Cosey.
Vernon said in a 1988 Guitar Player Magazine interview that he was trying to integrate the Hendrix/Clapton/Beck/Page/Santana blues-rock of his youth with the concepts of Eric Dolphy, Ornette Coleman and Coltrane. People who are not familiar with this type of music may hear Vernon and decry "slop." Spend some time listening to any of the players I've listed and you may get a sense of where he's coming from.
There are many "traditional" solos on LC records that are devoid of the "slop" you mention. "Middle Man", "I Want to Know", "Open Letter to A Landlord", "Broken Hearts", "Glamour Boys" and "Memories Can't Wait" are all off the first record alone.
I will admit that I'm a bit of a Vernon Reid fanatic and have many recordings he made before/outside Living Colour. However, if you can't hear that he is using chromatic lines, half-diminished scales, and whole tone mixed with his blues based playing, then you are not really listening.
Let those who have ears hear.
And back on topic, both Muzz and Doug have been huge influences on me. Muzz only used the B.C. Rich Eagle on the "Broken Hearts" solo. He was definitely using ESP's on that first tour. I think by the time they recorded "Time's Up" he was using a custom built Zigmar bass. When they did Lollapalooza he was using Warwicks.
JAUQO said it best when most Vernon critics are only familiar with his Living Colour work (translation: the Cult of Personality solo). I think he had a kind of "mushy" tone on that first record and if I remember correctly, he was doing the 80s hard rock thing of adding chorus and maybe even a little short delay to his sound. That didn't help when he started playing fast. If you listen to "Stain", his tone was much more together. Listen to the solo on "Go Away", the "shred" parts are very clean.
I think the fact that Vernon emerged during the height of the 80s shred culture didn't help him any. Everyone was listening to Yngwie Malmsteen play precision scale runs -16 sixteenth notes per bar. Vernon did not come out of that Randy Rhoades/Michael Schenker/Uli Roth school. Instead, you can trace his playing to Sonny Sharrock, James Blood Ulmer and Pete Cosey.
Vernon said in a 1988 Guitar Player Magazine interview that he was trying to integrate the Hendrix/Clapton/Beck/Page/Santana blues-rock of his youth with the concepts of Eric Dolphy, Ornette Coleman and Coltrane. People who are not familiar with this type of music may hear Vernon and decry "slop." Spend some time listening to any of the players I've listed and you may get a sense of where he's coming from.
There are many "traditional" solos on LC records that are devoid of the "slop" you mention. "Middle Man", "I Want to Know", "Open Letter to A Landlord", "Broken Hearts", "Glamour Boys" and "Memories Can't Wait" are all off the first record alone.
I will admit that I'm a bit of a Vernon Reid fanatic and have many recordings he made before/outside Living Colour. However, if you can't hear that he is using chromatic lines, half-diminished scales, and whole tone mixed with his blues based playing, then you are not really listening.
Let those who have ears hear.
And back on topic, both Muzz and Doug have been huge influences on me. Muzz only used the B.C. Rich Eagle on the "Broken Hearts" solo. He was definitely using ESP's on that first tour. I think by the time they recorded "Time's Up" he was using a custom built Zigmar bass. When they did Lollapalooza he was using Warwicks.
JAUQO III-X
Inactive
Alan,just a few weeks a go me and Vernon had a nice laugh about how people thing he just appeared out of no where with his band Living Colour and the song The Cult of Personalty.
And Alan,Pete Cosey was hanging as well.
Vernon really does know what he's,doing business wise and musically and he has a keen understanding of what people think of him as a musician.
And he's laughing all the way to the bank
And Alan,Pete Cosey was hanging as well.
Vernon really does know what he's,doing business wise and musically and he has a keen understanding of what people think of him as a musician.
And he's laughing all the way to the bank
Alan,just a few weeks a go me and Vernon had a nice laugh about how people thing he just appeared out of no where with his band Living Colour and the song The Cult of Personalty.
And Alan,Pete Cosey was hanging as well.
Vernon really does know what he's,doing business wise and musically and he has a keen understanding of what people think of him as a musician.
And he's laughing all the way to the bank
JAUQO, you put a big smile on my face. You, Vernon AND Pete Cosey?!? My brain would have exploded.
JAUQO III-X
Inactive
JAUQO III-X
Inactive
Damn Jauqo, I need to start hanging with you! I saw Living Colour a few weeks ago here in Austin, and those guys are still bringing it, they were on fire! I finally got to meet Vernon, after being a fan for years, and he was nothing but humble and gracious. A class act for sure.
dee
dee
JAUQO III-X
Inactive
living colour back in town again tomorrow night!!!! hoping to make it out to the show. had a blast at the last one (on my bday!!!) any other NY'ers heading out to the show tomorrow night?
This was always my idea of the greatest bass solo ever... this track.
I only wish there was more.
I can't believe he basically quit bass after LC. One of the truly greatest - and most accurate and most interesting and most showy - bassists I ever saw.
