That song, incidentally, was written by Adrian Belew, who never got any royalties for it. Grr.
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Tina Weymouth
- Thread starter Munjibunga
- Start date
That song, incidentally, was written by Adrian Belew, who never got any royalties for it. Grr.
Jim Carr
Dr. Jim
- Jan 21, 2006
- 16,223
- 7,614
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- fEARful Kool-Aid dispensing liberal academic card-carrying union member Musicians Local 72-147
Munji--
I met Tina in 1978 when the Talking Heads played a wedding reception for 2 of my friends. They were NOT famous yet.
She was nice, but very unskilled technically on the bass (the white mustang). However, her simple lines were very effective, and I complemented her on the bass parts. She said she had a "bit of help," but just ultimately went with what felt right. I always admired her friendly presence and effective bass work. I wish I had gotten to know her better.
I met Tina in 1978 when the Talking Heads played a wedding reception for 2 of my friends. They were NOT famous yet.
She was nice, but very unskilled technically on the bass (the white mustang). However, her simple lines were very effective, and I complemented her on the bass parts. She said she had a "bit of help," but just ultimately went with what felt right. I always admired her friendly presence and effective bass work. I wish I had gotten to know her better.
That is co-written by Belew from the information I googled, and he does have credit for it in some instances. I wonder if he gets royalties, that song's been sampled umpteen times on hiphop and pop records. It's got to be second only to the James Brown "Funky Drummer".
I was one of the original posters on Tina way back in 2000.... Dang, I'm old.....
I was a psych major as an undergrad in the early '80's (I told you I was old!), and a book I studied back then was called "In a Different Voice" by Carol Gilligan. Gilligan postulated that women were somewhat different psychologically than men, in that they tended to form networks, whereas men tended to be more individualistic.
Listening to Tina, I heard a bassist that obviously wasn't a master of her instrument, but viewed her role in the band as being a part of a network, rather than someone who was trying to draw attention to herself. She played simple, repetitive lines that served the groove and the song.
The insight that I gained from Tina leads me to rank her in the list of my mentors, alongside Jaco, Chris Squire, Geddy Lee, John Coltrane, etc......
I was a psych major as an undergrad in the early '80's (I told you I was old!), and a book I studied back then was called "In a Different Voice" by Carol Gilligan. Gilligan postulated that women were somewhat different psychologically than men, in that they tended to form networks, whereas men tended to be more individualistic.
Listening to Tina, I heard a bassist that obviously wasn't a master of her instrument, but viewed her role in the band as being a part of a network, rather than someone who was trying to draw attention to herself. She played simple, repetitive lines that served the groove and the song.
The insight that I gained from Tina leads me to rank her in the list of my mentors, alongside Jaco, Chris Squire, Geddy Lee, John Coltrane, etc......
It must have been an engineer because Eno was the producer. Although, he may have begged her to redo the parts I guess. Perhaps he drew one of his cards and it said, "have somebody replay a part already redcorded by me or David"?
i am very interested in tina weymouth and i am obsessed with talking heads and their bass lines. as far as i am aware, tina did not compose the bass lines, david byrne told her what to play. but this does not go against her because tom tom club were slick and she must have composed the bass on those tracks.
incidentally, i instinctively played the bass with my thumb and forefinger from the moment i picked it up. then a year thereafter i saw that this is how tina played in the 70s before she switched to using a plectrum for nearly every song.
i don't really know anything about technique. the important thing to me is that is sounds good.
it is interesting to read the posts about their 1980 period with busta. i have read quotes from tina online bitching about david byrne. my guess is that by the time they were doing remain in light, tina and byrne hated each other. as we can all see in the credits of remain in light, byrne, harrison, eno and tina are all credited as having played the bass lines. david byrne was in charge of talking heads stage shows and i would hazzard a guess that he recruited busta as a provocation of war hoping that tina would be so offended that she would leave the band. watching some videos on youtube of "drugs", "i zimbra" and others from 1980, tina is not even visible! on some of the songs she's playing some weak ass little keyboard parts or just maracas and stuff. then in other cuts like "born under punches" or "the great curve" she owns the stage. very odd- i find it hilarious.
another thing about the 1980 shows on youtube- some of dollette mcdonald's vocals are awful. it might be the fault of whoever is on the mixing desk but it just doesn't sound right at all. tina's voice really complements the few songs that feature her backing vocals (especially "houses in motion", but "crosseyed and painless" and "once in a lifetime" too). anyone who agrees with me should check out the videos on youtube from about the time of stop making sense. it appears to be about a year before they recruited mabry and holt. tina and mcdonald sing "crosseyed and painless" and tina's voice is very complementary. they also sing the chorus of "once in a lifetime.
incidentally, i instinctively played the bass with my thumb and forefinger from the moment i picked it up. then a year thereafter i saw that this is how tina played in the 70s before she switched to using a plectrum for nearly every song.
i don't really know anything about technique. the important thing to me is that is sounds good.
it is interesting to read the posts about their 1980 period with busta. i have read quotes from tina online bitching about david byrne. my guess is that by the time they were doing remain in light, tina and byrne hated each other. as we can all see in the credits of remain in light, byrne, harrison, eno and tina are all credited as having played the bass lines. david byrne was in charge of talking heads stage shows and i would hazzard a guess that he recruited busta as a provocation of war hoping that tina would be so offended that she would leave the band. watching some videos on youtube of "drugs", "i zimbra" and others from 1980, tina is not even visible! on some of the songs she's playing some weak ass little keyboard parts or just maracas and stuff. then in other cuts like "born under punches" or "the great curve" she owns the stage. very odd- i find it hilarious.
another thing about the 1980 shows on youtube- some of dollette mcdonald's vocals are awful. it might be the fault of whoever is on the mixing desk but it just doesn't sound right at all. tina's voice really complements the few songs that feature her backing vocals (especially "houses in motion", but "crosseyed and painless" and "once in a lifetime" too). anyone who agrees with me should check out the videos on youtube from about the time of stop making sense. it appears to be about a year before they recruited mabry and holt. tina and mcdonald sing "crosseyed and painless" and tina's voice is very complementary. they also sing the chorus of "once in a lifetime.
I always felt very affectionate towards Tina Weymouth, she seems like a really nice person. i've sometimes thought that she kind of got tricked into being a really cool bass player. Talking Heads were so different early on: very sparse artsy-fartsy with David Byrne playing a lot of acoustic. They were an art school band, and then the became a downtown New York art- scene band. Next thing you know, David Byrne decides they are going to get funky. The results were great, but it's not exactly what Tina originally signed up for and she adjusted with aplomb.
Getting back to that mid-90s "Bass Player" interview referenced earlier...
If I remember correctly, the interviewer asked her about a particular track that had a signature bass line of hers, and she admitted that it was actually played by a studio assistant because her hands were too tired! I give lots of credit for admitting that. Anyway, it's hard for me to watch her play in the concert film "Stop Making Sense" without acknowledging her excellent sound, time and feel. (Even if Byrne did tell her what to play!)
If I remember correctly, the interviewer asked her about a particular track that had a signature bass line of hers, and she admitted that it was actually played by a studio assistant because her hands were too tired! I give lots of credit for admitting that. Anyway, it's hard for me to watch her play in the concert film "Stop Making Sense" without acknowledging her excellent sound, time and feel. (Even if Byrne did tell her what to play!)
There is a Bob Babbitt interview around where he says he ghosted on the first Talking Heads album.
This IS a old thread, I was still trying to preserve bandwidth when it started.
This thread is so old it has lost my avatar!!
But I did listen to "Fear of Music" the other day and I love every bass line - it still sounds great!
But I did listen to "Fear of Music" the other day and I love every bass line - it still sounds great!
Wow, Bob Babbitt ghosted on 77? Jeez.
As far as if she recorded them or live or what, Kim Gorden from Sonic Youth said "Punk's style of bass playing was not meant to be played for over 5 years". So for Tina to maybe have a little help here and there I think if fine, especially if she did it live, which really is where it matters the most.
That being said, I dare anyone to watch Stop Making Sense and not be floored, not only by musicianship but also stage presence of all the musicians. You try running in places playing a pretty tough syncopated ostinato for 5 minutes straight and not mess up once!
As far as if she recorded them or live or what, Kim Gorden from Sonic Youth said "Punk's style of bass playing was not meant to be played for over 5 years". So for Tina to maybe have a little help here and there I think if fine, especially if she did it live, which really is where it matters the most.
That being said, I dare anyone to watch Stop Making Sense and not be floored, not only by musicianship but also stage presence of all the musicians. You try running in places playing a pretty tough syncopated ostinato for 5 minutes straight and not mess up once!
Yeah that freaks me out too. I used to play along with that album (on vinyl) all the time. Always imagined it with Tina.
In a recent interview, Tony Levin cited Tina as playing from very interesting grooves. That's high praise in my book.
Ironically, Tony Levin is one of those bassists who I can't watch because his technique looks so awkward and "unschooled" -- but i think we all know how naive it would be to claim Tony is unskilled or a crappy bassist just because of appearance!
