New Toys

Posted on July 27, 2015 by Bruce

$_57dano rumor bassThese are a couple of Danelectro basses recently imported from the US. Left, is a Hodad with three lipstick tube pick-ups and a state-of-the-art “Selectomatic” tone switch. The other, is the Rumor Bass (also known as the Danoblaster) which has a built-in chorus effect. Both are long-scale and, as they are made from plywood and Masonite, are pretty lightweight. Both have that Mosrite body shape and a sparkle finish, too – very “surf”. I’ll be doing YouTube clips with them in the near future.

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Who did it?!

Posted on July 10, 2015 by Bruce

2015TheWho_JF_6_280615.article_x4

The Who claim that their set at Glastonbury was one of their worst they’ve ever done because the equipment was sabotaged.

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Chris Squire 1948-2015

Posted on June 29, 2015 by Bruce

Another one bites the dust.

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Who

Posted on May 6, 2015 by Bruce

With all this talk about the Who — I thought it might be a good time for a pic of the band.

 

 

 

 

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Andy Fraser 1953-2015

Posted on March 17, 2015 by Bruce

So another great bass player passes. Free’s Andy Fraser had a very original approach to playing … ‘less is more’  …as exemplified in the classic track, All Right Now, which he co-composed with my ex-Roadrunners cohort, Paul Rodgers.

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A Pensioner Writes

Posted on March 5, 2015 by Bruce

Y0u may recall that not long ago I was involved in an exchange with those two grand gentlemen of letters, Wilf Turnbull and Derek Philpott, who write to various pop songsmiths to point out the anomalies in their lyrics. For example…

 

 

 

 

Dear Mr. Costello,

Re: Everyday I Write the Book

I am perplexed my bespectacled friend. Either one is to assume that you pen a tome every twenty-four hours, or you have been working on the same one for some decades now. The former suggests works of dubious quality and the latter a case of writer’s block. Please clarify.

Yours etc.,

 

They’ve now decided to publish all their letters and have set up a webpage to invite crowdfunding of their project. You can read about it and join in here.

 

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My Top 10 Albums

Posted on February 24, 2015 by Bruce

As suggested earlier, here’s a post we can all dance around… Here are my Top 10 Albums with a sentence or two about each as a template to get you started. The Moderator has kindly given us a bit of leeway to include compilations, soundtracks and greatest hits … so here we go…

 

John Lennon: Plastic Ono Band

Hard to describe the impact this had after Abbey Road. Raw, honest and brave. Probably has to go at No. 1 as the best album ever made. Followed by, in no particular order…

 

 

Steely Dan: Can’t Buy A Thrill

The Dan’s first and most pop-oriented album. Well-crafted songs, original and intelligent lyrics, beautifully sung by David Palmer, great arrangements, great playing and benchmark production with absolutely no filler.  Still stands up over 40 years on. Timeless.

 

 

Nick Drake: Five Leaves Left

The most original songwriter of any era — and an exquisite record with Robert Kirby’s string arrangements. Everybody believed in him — except the one person that really needed to…  Nick Drake died at the age of 26 in enigmatic circumstances.

 

 

Van Morrison: Astral Weeks

The album was recorded in a day, semi-improvised, with the premier jazz players of the day. This album set a benchmark which only Nick Drake managed to touch.

 

 

The Verve: Urban Hymns

Every track is a winner here.  Great band sound. Like all great albums, not simply music, but a friend for life.

 

 

Brian Eno: Another Day on Earth.

A delicate ‘less is more’ chilled album you will not tire of listening to.

 

 

 

Jimmy Guiffre Trio: The Train and the River

My favourite jazz album. Bluesy jazz guitar, bass and sax trio. Having no drums allows the fluid rhythmic playing that expresses the album’s title.

 

 

Peter Gabriel: Passion (soundtrack)

My favourite ‘world music’ album — real world.

 

 

 

Jimmy Cliff: The Harder They Come (soundtrack)

My favourite reggae album — all the top artists, all their best tracks.

 

 

 

Abba: Greatest Hits

All the great songs in one place — a pantheon of 3-minute wonders, neither cynical nor clever, just one indestructible diamond after another. (I’m including Vol. 1 and Vol. 2 ‘cos my list goes up to eleven 🙂

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Mustang

Posted on February 13, 2015 by Bruce

This is a quick post of my Mustang Bass for Boris. It won’t be up long — there’ll be a new one on the way shortly. You can hear what I was playing on the link.

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