There are a lot of people here who are on a constant anti-Jeff Berlin rant.
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Rant against Berklee
- Thread starter brianrost
- Start date
No one ever knew who he was in the first place. Go to a coffe shop and ask everyone there if they know who Jeff Berlin is.
Aside from Paul McCartney, Bootsy Collins, Gene Simmons, Sting, and Tye Doller Sign, that's probably true of most bass players.
Cliff Burton, Flea, Thundercat, Mononeon, Sean Yseult, Crist Novocelic, Nikki Sixx, Wolfgang Van Halen, Mike Kerr, Duff McKegan, Geezer Butler, Jason Newsted, Robert Trujillo, Fieldy, Paul Grey...
I have no idea who Ty Dollar Sign is
All I know about Mononeon is he plays garish looking basses. I don’t know who Mike Kerr or Paul Grey are, either.I know who Jeff Berlin is because I saw Bruford once and attended a Peavey clinic where he had a lot of interesting things to say.
As another Taxachusetts resident, I‘ve played with a lot of guys who had been to Berklee, although many of them dropped out and hit the road. I’m envious because they all play at a level way above my pay grade. Sometimes it’s pretty embarrassing like the time Julian Lage came up to me after a show at Passim and told me he liked my playing. It wasn’t until I got home that it dawned on me who he was.
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Depends on your coffee shop, but I'm not sure non-musicians know all these names.
I think a lot of people would. I'm confident about Flea, Mononeon, Crist Novocelic, Nikki Sixx, Wolfgang Van Halen, Duff McKegan, Fieldy and Paul Grey. The others might get more noes than yesses, but I would still expect some yesses.
I'll add Tom Araya, Ronnie James Dio, Pete Wentz, and maybe Les Claypool.
So I went to look up Paul Grey. I’ve heard him because I did own at least one Eddie and the Hot Rods LP, but I never listened to UFO (sorry) or the Damned unless it happened to pop up regularly on the radio.
I also looked up Mike Kerr, I’ve never even heard of Royal Blood let alone heard their music.
I must have Sean Yseult because I've heard some White Zombie on the radio (or maybe just Rob Zombie?), and I might have seen a piece on her in some some issue of Bass Player, but I don’t recall it.
Gopherbassist, your list tells me something about what music you have listened to and consider to be popular. Being someone who grew up musically in the 1960s and 70s, I could make a similar list full of names that only other people my age would know about.
Back to the original topic, Facebook decided to show me another reel from Dani Rabin, despite the fact that I always click on "show me less of these” to get them off my screen. This time he ranted about saxophonists who screech…that only does back to Illinois Jacquet in the 1940s, reached it’s peak with Pharoah Sanders in the late 60s and continues to be a standard tool that saxophonists still use today, just like how bassists slap, use filters and fuzz.
Rabin should do a video where he jello wrestles Jeff Berlin.
I also looked up Mike Kerr, I’ve never even heard of Royal Blood let alone heard their music.
I must have Sean Yseult because I've heard some White Zombie on the radio (or maybe just Rob Zombie?), and I might have seen a piece on her in some some issue of Bass Player, but I don’t recall it.
Gopherbassist, your list tells me something about what music you have listened to and consider to be popular. Being someone who grew up musically in the 1960s and 70s, I could make a similar list full of names that only other people my age would know about.
Back to the original topic, Facebook decided to show me another reel from Dani Rabin, despite the fact that I always click on "show me less of these” to get them off my screen. This time he ranted about saxophonists who screech…that only does back to Illinois Jacquet in the 1940s, reached it’s peak with Pharoah Sanders in the late 60s and continues to be a standard tool that saxophonists still use today, just like how bassists slap, use filters and fuzz.
Rabin should do a video where he jello wrestles Jeff Berlin.
Wasn't Jeff Berlin banned from TalkBass decades ago for basically being a rage-baiting troll? Ken Smith as well?
Just goes to show... doesn't matter what your status in life is (legend or nobody). Anyone can be a rage-baiting troll on the Internet and if that's the online identity you wish to forge for yourself... well, as they say in the US South: "Bless your heart."
Just goes to show... doesn't matter what your status in life is (legend or nobody). Anyone can be a rage-baiting troll on the Internet and if that's the online identity you wish to forge for yourself... well, as they say in the US South: "Bless your heart."
Out of curiosity, what’s the yearly tuition at Berklee now, including room and board?
Edit: according to AI (which could be wrong) including tuition, room and board and fees, $76,920 per year. Sounds like a quick way to accumulate a huge debt with a really uncertain income after graduation. Tough Sell! A lot of people pay less with grants and scholarships, but they still graduate with that financial monkey on their backs. A situation I know all too well having paid for part the education for four sons. Sign of the times.
Edit: according to AI (which could be wrong) including tuition, room and board and fees, $76,920 per year. Sounds like a quick way to accumulate a huge debt with a really uncertain income after graduation. Tough Sell! A lot of people pay less with grants and scholarships, but they still graduate with that financial monkey on their backs. A situation I know all too well having paid for part the education for four sons. Sign of the times.
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I only knew two punk bands worth listening to, who actually seemed to know their instruments. One was The Damned, other was Black Flag. Both had excellent musicians.
I can listen to anything if its played very well.
A non musician may know one to three names, but probably won't get past the names from bands they know. The person who knows Flea, Nikki Sixx, Christ Novocelic, and Duff McKegan probably won't know Fieldy or Paul Grey, as the former are generationally different acts. Most non-musicians stop seeking new music in their 20s. I'm related to a lot of people that can literally only name me as a bass player they can name, as they only know the names vocalists, who are mostly rappers.
Do realize that there are two different bass players named Paul Gray…the American one(died 2010)was from Slipknot, the English one, a veteran of Eddie & The Hot Rods/UFO/The Damned, is a prominent Rickenbacker player.
As someone who recently paid off my student loans for a Masters in art I caution everybody to think twice and do some real soul-searching before taking on college debt. But the folks I know who attended Berklee didn’t regret it and it still seems to be a good place to get discovered if you’re a great player.
Someone on YouTube manufacturing controversy for clicks - golly gee willikers it must be a day ending in “y” today!
Someone on YouTube manufacturing controversy for clicks - golly gee willikers it must be a day ending in “y” today!
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He was banned from a few other places as well, like the old Bottom Line chat board, and lost his Bass Player magazine column too. He’s long since explained that he had issues to deal with and the rage is gone but he’s still talking about a lot of the same things that ticked people off back then. He’s not the only one, Carol Kaye was banned when some newby players started baiting her, especially the controversy over her Motown credits. Also Anthony Jackson and Ron Carter
A lot of it is just common sense. At that Peavey clinic I mentioned above, he said noone needed to go to school to learn rock bass. He suggested getting some list of "the greatest 100 albums of all time" and learn every song on every album by ear and you’ll be good to go because that is how most of the musicians who made those records did it. I agree since having to learn lots of tunes by Bob Dylan to play at an annual birthday tribute concert for over a decade taught me a lot. More recently I finally got into band doing some Beatles tunes and I’m learning a lot from working on those…augmented chords!!!
I don't think the average person would know all of them. But a group of 20 or so people from about 15 to 55? I expect that list would get a lot of hits.
