What i love about him is he doesnt try to make the bass sound like a guitar. Dont get me wrong, i love solo bass like marcus miller, Victor and micheal manring (learning monkey businessman now), but i cant listen too some of it, especially stuff that sounds cheesy because it sounds like there playing Guitar on bass. Les just plays bass and doesnt go to the 17th fret and start soloing mark king fingerstyle. He also has some of the best sence of percussion i have ever heard. Just got the DVD with the new CD and its nice as. he is Truly eclectic
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Your opinion on Les Claypool
- Thread starter BassesOfDeath
- Start date
]Originally posted by xolin
Oh...My love for Primus has just doubled...on the tour de fromage (coming to TO which i already got tix for) they are gonna play one set with some random stuff and their new stuff...then they will play the entire Sailing The Seas Of Cheese Album (their best studio album imo)! I love this album...i wanted them to play a lot from it..BUT THE WHOLE THING...F'n, eh, man!
Les is great, gotta meet him after show...anyone else goin to TO...ill be with my brother
I cry as the tickets are already sold out in my area
This just in...
PRIMUS RETURNS TO THE ROAD
More Tour de Fromage Shows Planned
We are happy to announce that Primus will be extending the Tour de Fromage into 2004 with dates in the South and South East in late February and early March. Stay tuned to the Primus site for details.
what you see above is courtesy of a email from prawn songs fan list.
Apparently the boys got too many emails from angry fans in my part of the country.
PRIMUS RETURNS TO THE ROAD
More Tour de Fromage Shows Planned
We are happy to announce that Primus will be extending the Tour de Fromage into 2004 with dates in the South and South East in late February and early March. Stay tuned to the Primus site for details.
what you see above is courtesy of a email from prawn songs fan list.
Apparently the boys got too many emails from angry fans in my part of the country.
I love Les. He show me every day, that you can be yourself, and have a completly unique style. Cause I think that he is sooooooo original, that is really hard to play his song in the same way. I `ve played tons of primus songs in many many gigs. And they sound cool. But I can`t get it completly right, not a matter of notes, speed or technic, is the way he plays them(Bob is a good exaple). For the Singing/playing issue. I play and sing all of his songs except a fex ones. I always found harder singing and playing rush songs.(Besides, Les singin is cool, but Geddy is a true singer(also, I can´t sing most of rush material... To high man!)).
The sloopy issue, Yeah, that`s true. Im sloppy too. And I like that. I like being sloppy. I belive that his sloppiness is part of his style.
And i completly agree that Les can be a good traditional bassist. Jus hear any of the large amount of covers they `ve play.
Stanley is not his biggest influence. He is one, but Les mentor is Geddy. He loves Geddy.(I can`t hear any Geddy influence on his playing... except for the YYZ intro).And you can hear a lot of Stanley... but he always mention Geddy as his number one. And i ve done the same thing groove machine... And i bought Moving Picures(if you don`t have... buy it).
My fav albums are: frizzle, Seas, Antipop(idon`t know why everyone hates it), Suck on this, and the oysterhead one.(Steward is one of my fav drummers)
Anyway... Is just a matter of opinion
Mike
P.s: Primus sucks... but my favorite member is Ler. Another one w/ a unique style. He is one of my favorite guitarrist and a HUGE influence on me.
The sloopy issue, Yeah, that`s true. Im sloppy too. And I like that. I like being sloppy. I belive that his sloppiness is part of his style.
And i completly agree that Les can be a good traditional bassist. Jus hear any of the large amount of covers they `ve play.
Stanley is not his biggest influence. He is one, but Les mentor is Geddy. He loves Geddy.(I can`t hear any Geddy influence on his playing... except for the YYZ intro).And you can hear a lot of Stanley... but he always mention Geddy as his number one. And i ve done the same thing groove machine... And i bought Moving Picures(if you don`t have... buy it).
My fav albums are: frizzle, Seas, Antipop(idon`t know why everyone hates it), Suck on this, and the oysterhead one.(Steward is one of my fav drummers)
Anyway... Is just a matter of opinion
Mike
P.s: Primus sucks... but my favorite member is Ler. Another one w/ a unique style. He is one of my favorite guitarrist and a HUGE influence on me.
Les is definitly insane. I alaways liked the fact that ge can play a 4 string to 6 string back to 4 string to upright bass back to 4 then to 6 again during a show.
Music has been so unoriginal and dulled down for the masses over the past decade or so, it's good to see a band like Primus. Unfortunitly most people won't appreciate a band like Primus.
To those who said Primus is mainstream I beg to differ. I think the anti-pop album was their peak but i don't know, i was never into Primus until a couple years ago. They really aren't known as a whole, they just have a large "underground" following. I don't listin to the radio anymore but at a time when i did it was very very rare to hear primus, and it was alawyas that beaver song, which isn't that good.
Music has been so unoriginal and dulled down for the masses over the past decade or so, it's good to see a band like Primus. Unfortunitly most people won't appreciate a band like Primus.
To those who said Primus is mainstream I beg to differ. I think the anti-pop album was their peak but i don't know, i was never into Primus until a couple years ago. They really aren't known as a whole, they just have a large "underground" following. I don't listin to the radio anymore but at a time when i did it was very very rare to hear primus, and it was alawyas that beaver song, which isn't that good.
claypool is one of these bassists that u can tell from his sound, and chops, and tone. I dont anyone else that plays like that. He is very sloppy, but ryhtmically he's outstanding!! Just listen to Tommy the cat. its all so rythmic! its superb!
u cant say he's the best, but u can say he's one of the most influencial, and unique! which, IMHO, counts for alot more!
u cant say he's the best, but u can say he's one of the most influencial, and unique! which, IMHO, counts for alot more!
old Primus is awsome! les does amazing work. Also, if anyone has time, listen to Oysterhead ( mix of les claypool, Phish's guitarist and the police's old drummer )or les Claypool and the flying Frog Birgade ( seen them live )
The New CD/DVD was ok, the CD is only 5 tracks long and nothing compared to the old Primus, of course, they havent had anythign new sicne 1999 so I give htem credit, and they have interestign things on the DVD part of it
When a new bassist hears someone like Les Claypool and Flea, they probably think it is awsome, but if your a new bassist starting out * like I was, this happened to me * and See les Claypool or Flea live, 2 things will happen, you will either get pissed and throw your bass across the room, or get amazed and try to play better then you have been.
Oh, Guitar World has a bass Guitar magizine out, in the 2nd issue , they had Tommy the Cat in it, teaches you how to play it, too bad I got the issue AFTER that one...grr......
The New CD/DVD was ok, the CD is only 5 tracks long and nothing compared to the old Primus, of course, they havent had anythign new sicne 1999 so I give htem credit, and they have interestign things on the DVD part of it
When a new bassist hears someone like Les Claypool and Flea, they probably think it is awsome, but if your a new bassist starting out * like I was, this happened to me * and See les Claypool or Flea live, 2 things will happen, you will either get pissed and throw your bass across the room, or get amazed and try to play better then you have been.
Oh, Guitar World has a bass Guitar magizine out, in the 2nd issue , they had Tommy the Cat in it, teaches you how to play it, too bad I got the issue AFTER that one...grr......
Actually the primus lineup on the new dvd/cd hasn't released anything since 96', and it's rather good, better then anything (besides professor nutbutters...) on punchbowl.. Herb the gingseng drummer is insane.
Evaluating Les as a bass player brings to mind the old distinction between a singer and a song stylist. To me, Les is a bass stylist. His musical personality is so strong and so idiosyncratic that you almost have to look at him differently than you would most other bass players. Les is sloppy, admittedly. Is that a good thing for a bass player to be? No. Is that a defining aspect of Les' personality as a bass stylist? Yep. Because with him, it's all about the moment, the energy, the Peformance with a capital P that is intrinsically bound up with the nasal twang and the big stomp and the loopy cast of characters--the whole off kilter, goofball package. It's like a filmmaker like David Lynch or Tim Burton or the Coen Brothers. They have a certain point of view that's a little off. The one thing that has boxed Les in a bit, and it's the fate of any stylist, is that the style is so well defined from the outset that he tends to feel redundant after a while, IMO. Recent compositions smack of old ones. I think that projects like Oysterhead are good for him in that regard. It's a context where his style is not the only or even the defining one. It's not always his voice. It's not always his composition. And I think that forces out other dimensions of the man as bass player, not simply as bass stylist.
very well put. Couldn't agree with you more. You just took the argument I try to articulate to people and made it far more coherent. Thank you.
He's the only fretless player that I've ever heard that I like. I'm wondering what that says about me.....
I think that he is way too sloppy, too percussive, and harmonically disinterested.
I don't relate to his image either....which many times seems to be bigger than his playing.
Just my take on it.
I don't relate to his image either....which many times seems to be bigger than his playing.
Just my take on it.
Originally posted by Da_Niet
He's not exactly the cat I look up to or the bag I'm in.......but he certainly deserves the attention that he's gotten. I wonder if Frank Zappa had lived, would he have written something for Les to play.
..........food for thought, anyways.
More than likely Zappa would have ripped him up.
Zappa controlled absolutely everything in/about his respective bands over the years.
>>>More than likely Zappa would have ripped him up.
Zappa controlled absolutely everything in/about his respective bands over the years.<<<L
I agree you couldn't be that off the mark with Zappa.....the Zappa Band was a heck of a finishing school though.
Zappa controlled absolutely everything in/about his respective bands over the years.<<<L
I agree you couldn't be that off the mark with Zappa.....the Zappa Band was a heck of a finishing school though.
I have heard some nasty horror stories about his treatment of musicians who tried to work with him. Well nothing too over the top, but some pretty harsh treatment of people who didn't display his own vision. Les doesn't seem like the kind of personality who would find such a situation stimulating, or fruitful.
About Les, I think he's Extraterrestrial.He's very original, I haven't heard or seen anybody playing like him.
I am a giant Primus and Claypool fan, he's one of my first influences, there isnt a day that goes buy that I dont think about les, but I'm allways puzzled with people when they say its hard to find there influences, Primus sound like a bunch of bands simply sewn together, Zappa, Stan Clarke, XTC, the residents,Rush, a little bit of Pink Floyd, Isley Brothers, King Crimson just bands that were really outhere, but yes, lord love Primus for bringing them all together to make the Progressive Minor Funk Rock that they are, I also oplogize that I am basically going to be famous one day for playing bass (and all you lot will say Im just a claypool wannabe, which is completely true) but check my band out in a couple of blossoming
