Ricky Minor on American Idol

[Frugle]

I was extremely impressed when I was watching American Idol last night.. Minor is incredible!

 

[GrooveWarrior]

After reading the posts again, I feel the need to say that it's OK to admit you watch Idol. You don't have to say you watch it because your wife watches it! We're musicians, and it's a show about somebody having a chance to record a CD, and maybe do well in the business.

Stand up, and repeat after me: Hello, my name is . . . . . . .

 

[Tony Oppenheim]

Rickey is one of my favorite bass players. I saw him with Al Jarreau many years ago at Radio City in NYC.

Aside from his great playing on everything else that night, he did a duet with Al on the song "Yo' Jeans" that Al had recorded as a duet with Bobby McFerrin.

Since Bobby was not touring with them, Rickey played his part on bass.

It was fairly amazing. I wonder if they ever recorded the voice and bass duet version?

Anyone know?

Cheers!

Tony

 

[Ed Goode]

Agreed with most everyone here, Ricky Minor is a great, great player. And I think the Smith was the only bass he used all night on the 14th.

One point of interest that maybe someone can answer for me ... It seems that there are tunes where RM plays a very conservative chart, yet others (like Signed, Sealed) where he is very busy (but in a great way ). I've wondered what the criteria is for his playing, for example, do some of the singers say "stick to the chart only" while others let the rhythm section loosen up?

There are also some tunes where RM is way up front in the mix, and other times blended in the background. Very curious ... Ricky got some serous chops, that's for sure .....

 

[mike sancho]

Ricky Minor is killer!! Signed Sealed Delivered line was Jamerson 2006!! I started watching last year with my wife and kids and was immediately on Ricky's playing. I love it!! who is the drummer by the way? The guitar player is Paul Jackson Jr also way killer.

 

[GrooveWarrior]

Agreed with most everyone here, Ricky Minor is a great, great player. And I think the Smith was the only bass he used all night on the 14th.

One point of interest that maybe someone can answer for me ... It seems that there are tunes where RM plays a very conservative chart, yet others (like Signed, Sealed) where he is very busy (but in a great way ). I've wondered what the criteria is for his playing, for example, do some of the singers say "stick to the chart only" while others let the rhythm section loosen up?

There are also some tunes where RM is way up front in the mix, and other times blended in the background. Very curious ... Ricky got some serous chops, that's for sure .....

I would guess that the contestants have very little say over the song other than arrangement ideas.

 

[dougjwray]

Jeez, I guess I'm in the minority here.
During "Signed, Sealed and Delivered" I was acknowledging the bass player's chops but thinking he was all about "LISTEN TO ME! LISTEN TO ME!" when the singer (lame, no doubt) was supposed to be the sole focus. Randy probably would've been more tasteful. Maybe that's why he didn't say anything.

 

[GrooveWarrior]

Jeez, I guess I'm in the minority here.
During "Signed, Sealed and Delivered" I was acknowledging the bass player's chops but thinking he was all about "LISTEN TO ME! LISTEN TO ME!" when the singer (lame, no doubt) was supposed to be the sole focus. Randy probably would've been more tasteful. Maybe that's why he didn't say anything.

What?

 

[BassJunkie730]

"One man's showboater is another man's good performance"

I support neither herre nor there because I didn't see it.

I'm sure he's a great player (when i met him I wasn't really in tune with listening to the bass in a mix and Aguilera's stuff isn't really arranged for difficulty)

But what rubbed me the wrong way was his attitude, for which he has no excuse because I met players that were on par or better than Ricky technically, but they had a great attitude toward the whole thing.

think about it - Dixie Chicks and Christina Aguilera. Two major acts with lots of managment pressure leaching down to everyone. I find that in such environments - how the talent treats the support speaks volumes on his or her character.

Using my experience with each of these men personally

Roscoe Beck gets the thumbs up

Ricky Minor get the thumbs down

But this is all about character right??? Not chops???

I also think that a person's character comes out in the way her or she plays.

It might explain the mixed reviews in Ricky's AI performance.

Hmmmmm

 

[BartmanPDX]

"One man's showboater is another man's good performance"

I support neither herre nor there because I didn't see it.

I'm sure he's a great player (when i met him I wasn't really in tune with listening to the bass in a mix and Aguilera's stuff isn't really arranged for difficulty)

But what rubbed me the wrong way was his attitude, for which he has no excuse because I met players that were on par or better than Ricky technically, but they had a great attitude toward the whole thing.

think about it - Dixie Chicks and Christina Aguilera. Two major acts with lots of managment pressure leaching down to everyone. I find that in such environments - how the talent treats the support speaks volumes on his or her character.

Using my experience with each of these men personally

Roscoe Beck gets the thumbs up

Ricky Minor get the thumbs down

But this is all about character right??? Not chops???

I also think that a person's character comes out in the way her or she plays.

It might explain the mixed reviews in Ricky's AI performance.

Hmmmmm

I've never met Ricky Minor, and almost certainly never will. Any knowledge of his character is limited to what I've heard from you (the validity of which I have no reason to doubt). He may well be a complete jerk-off as a person, or maybe he had a lot of crap going on in his life and he was in a terrible mood -- I have no way of knowing.

My only purpose in starting this thread was to acknowledge his great playing, which seems to get very little attention outside of boards like these. I'm a fan of great bass playing, which largely goes unnoticed by 95% of the population, even on busy songs like his work on "signed, sealed, delivered." I'd bet only 2 out of 100 people watching the show even noticed his playing. As for character, there are plenty of people who are terrible people but have great musical skills. If you have any doubts, think Michael Jackson. It's unfair, but it's life. The greatest singer and songwriter I ever worked with, who had the most amazing voice and wrote terrific, human, passionate songs was one of the biggest SOBs I ever had the displeasure of meeting.

In a perfect world, kharma would decree that those people who are true jerks would not be able to play well. Unfortunately, that's not always true. As for mixed reviews, all but two of the people who chimed in here thought he was good. Busy playing can be a distraction, but there are PLENTY of distractions on Idol, and most of them have little, if anything, to do with music.

 

[BassJunkie730]

Good post,

I am humbled

 

[The Lurker]

First off, I gotta say I hate this show, but my wife loves it, and as she let me buy four basses in the past year, I tolerate it for her sake.

While 95% of the show is crap, Ricky Minor's bass work is the one redeeming feature. Last night they did Stevie Wonder songs, and Ricky was in top form. On "Signed, Sealed, Delivered," (butchered by the girl who sang it) Ricky was positively smokin'. I couldn't believe Randy didn't give him some kind of nod for his incredible playing.

I'm pretty sure he would have-- he seems like the type-- just not on camera.