Rock And Roll Dance Party 07/10/12

I like bass too, but THE HONEY HARLOWS use a 70's Fender Super Six 6X10 combo, everything turned up to "11", and it's actually better than the 5-piece Ampeg/Marshall assualt--don't get me wrong, I like that!--but the heavy low end and treble with reverb, you can't go wrong and our recording has a lot of punch and lo-end for a 2pc.! Possibly the equipment has a lot to do with what the ear hears, for me anyway.

Im more for the drummer/bass lineup.. but like many have said it's different between bands...

Also at John... I was the first Bass player in Head Cat with Lemmy. I played electric, he played acoustic guitar. Also.... someone mentioned baritone guitar. I also play baritone & I've been hired to do an occasional Rockabilly gig to play along with a standup. Basically I play bass lines exactly like I would on an electric bass, but since it's tuned to B you get a cool effect. And I add echo. BTW, don't confuse a baritone with a bass VI. They are different. Bass VI is 30 inch scale tuned to E, baritone is 27 inch, with lighter strings, tuned to B. I play both.

Well I have to admit, I'm biased about this topic.  Yes there are bands that sound okay without a bass player, but IMO, they would sound better with one. Just about any band I've ever seen live that had no bass player, whether it was Suicide, The Cramps, Black Keys, or even my good friends the Vooduo, when I'm there watching them play, I'm playing along with them, on bass, (in my head) & I hear things that would help tie everything together.  @ John B above...Lee Michaels played bass pedals on the Hammond live. Suicide used a bassy tone on their keyboards & played repeating bass patterns much like a bassist would do. No-one mentioned The Doors, they had no permanent bassist, In the studio they used session bassist Harvey Brooks & live Manzarek played Fender Keyboard bass. The Dead Boys used local NY musicians to play bass with them until Jeff made the move from Ohio. One of which was Rudi from The Fuzztones who played live with them at least once at CBGB's.

Also, IMO most of the bands doing the no-bass thing are doing so out of convenience.  Take my own former band, The Speedies. They played out for 6 months without a bassist before I came along. I saw them play at Max's and I could feel what they were missing. I walked up to Allen, the drummer & flat out told him, you need a bass player & I'm him. We tried it out the following week, and they never went back to playing without one.

ALL God's children gots to TALK.
 
James Porter said:

YIKES! We gots ta talk...
 
John Battles said:

JAMES! This has nothing to do with the Bass , but , drop what you're doing ,now! If you were'nt doing anything, do something , THEN drop it !!!  I just found something highly covetous concerning The Equals. The ever - elusive "EVEN WHITE PEOPLE !!" version of "Soul Brother Clifford" on vinyl!! A reissue , of course , but not the Astan comp that never turns up on vinyl , and my cassette copy has HAD it.
 
James Porter said:

I think the Equals had to have had a bass player in the studio. That instrument was usually the loudest thing heard on their records.
 
John Battles said:

The Equals , three Guitars , no Bass....centuries before it was cool.

 

YIKES! We gots ta talk...
 
John Battles said:

JAMES! This has nothing to do with the Bass , but , drop what you're doing ,now! If you were'nt doing anything, do something , THEN drop it !!!  I just found something highly covetous concerning The Equals. The ever - elusive "EVEN WHITE PEOPLE !!" version of "Soul Brother Clifford" on vinyl!! A reissue , of course , but not the Astan comp that never turns up on vinyl , and my cassette copy has HAD it.
 
James Porter said:

I think the Equals had to have had a bass player in the studio. That instrument was usually the loudest thing heard on their records.
 
John Battles said:

The Equals , three Guitars , no Bass....centuries before it was cool.

 

I think it depends , since the Bass CAN be so loud it's painful , or , just provide the bottom.

With The Dirtbombs , the two Bass , two Drums combination does'nt sound radically different , because it's all balanced out , to where it musically makes sense , even to my tin ear. But , I'm sorry , I never got it with Deadbolt , especially when I saw them live , two Basses just bleeding all over the place , cranked to "11". But , you're right , I don't see where two bassists is an improvement.

But , we both saw Lemmy's Rockabilly side project , The Head Cat. So , he had a Rockabilly standup Bass and his own Motorhead Bass , but , it musically made sense , even if it's too gratuitous for the average Rockabilly fan , and not gratuitous enough for the average Motorhead fan , I'll wager. NOW , if he had a proper Drummer , he'd REALLY be saying something.
 
James Porter said:

While we're on the subject of more than one bass...

When a band has more than one bassist, or drummer, I'll be damned if I can tell the difference. Either live or on record. It still sounds the same to me.

There is one Melvins CD I have where the sound is noticeably fatter with the additional bass/drums in the mix, but with everybody else, it doesn't really change the sound much. So you have two bass players? May as well have stuck to just one for all the good it did...

 

JAMES! This has nothing to do with the Bass , but , drop what you're doing ,now! If you were'nt doing anything, do something , THEN drop it !!!  I just found something highly covetous concerning The Equals. The ever - elusive "EVEN WHITE PEOPLE !!" version of "Soul Brother Clifford" on vinyl!! A reissue , of course , but not the Astan comp that never turns up on vinyl , and my cassette copy has HAD it.
 
James Porter said:

I think the Equals had to have had a bass player in the studio. That instrument was usually the loudest thing heard on their records.
 
John Battles said:

The Equals , three Guitars , no Bass....centuries before it was cool.

 

Whoa! Perfectly horrible.

 ...........!!!!!!!

Who buys these guitars, anyway? Misguided 15 year-olds? 

Terribly uncool.  Keep them coming!  

Mardy Pune said:

Dean guitars are pretty bloody awful to look at...

Dean guitars are pretty bloody awful to look at...

Yep, those are fugly... looks like someone vomited a rave party all over it...

John Carlucci said:

"God save the Queen" covered by Motorhead

Nifty thread thanx :):)

 Thanx for the kind words John! Much appreciated...

We actually had Gerard (singer/guitarist) in town last summer at a University convention (he's a linguistics Prof now) and we were able to do a mini-Deja Voodoo reunion (only half the band, as drummer Tony is on the opposite coast of Canada)...but man was that ever fun seeing Gerard up on stage with a guitar belting out Deja Voodoo songs!!! We had a Mist R. Eeee drummer who did an excellent job...there's pictures posted somewhere on this site. And that's about as close as we'll get to a Deja Voodoo reunion...

My wife caught the Toronto Deja Voodoo reunion with Bloodshot Bill on the tubs and said it was a TON of fun!!

Keep pumping out your work on those Roctobers John! We're diggin' it!!

John Battles said:

The Gruesomes , how could I forget.....I saw the reformed band a few years back , sounded great. Deja Voodoo were hilarious. Their first LP was like a Cramps bootleg (The Cramps are plenty hot'n'horny with me, bt , it's cool.). Bloodshot Bill played drums at a "Reunion" show a while back.

THIS was rebellion?!!! Oh , well. Sorry to get so longwinded. yeah , I have one of your magazines , Dave. Very cool.

Hey w. dave: Yup, that's a gem. Anyone remember Rods and Cones (they were labelled New Wave! :( ) Yeah, well, in Boston, you had the added advantage of some of the best uni radio stations in the country. One station (I'm told is now RIP) played top 20 of local indies every week, including local garage trash :). But, we have right here Ms. Joanie Lindstrom, still going strong on the Late Risers Club, as well as others keeping the garage and punk fires burning in Boston.

We also had several colleges, like Emerson, and others whose students made it their business to video stuff, myself included. Alas, I no longer am in possession of the video I did of Reign of Death (complete with trippy video feedback). Don't worry, I've castigated myself enough for the loss).

Feeling sad about the PM's as Boston just lost Jeff Sugarman - http://themusicsover.com/2012/06/21/jeff-sugarman/.

Of course, my eccentric scrapbook includes local nites of Chesterfield Kings, Scruffy the Cat, Dogmatics, Prime Movers, and of course, the H/O's (didn't play I'm Love with Mo Tucker for nuthin' ya know). But it's hard to explain to people how strange the PM's looked when the local scene was moving into the Boston Hardcore days and they we're still bashing tambourines and growing their hair over their foreheads...

And yeah, a lot of those bands were known as 'punk' but of course we know their roots were still firmly planted in the garage.

Keep the garage door open and turn up your amps; the neighbours will thank you for it, Mel

whatwave dave said:

Cool vid Mel, haven't seen that one before!

And i still haven't left the garage since entering in the early 80's....saw as many of those bands as was possible back then, and bought as many records as i could afford. Still digging most of that stuff to this day as well as most of the new garagepunk stuff. We did a zine in the 80's/90's that covered the garage zine from a Canadian perspective...ie Gruesomes, 10 Commandments, UIC, Deja Voodoo etc. Even releasing some records and many compilation cassettes that came with the zine.

Like John says about Plan 9, they were just amazing live, and each time you'd see them they would be different. First time we saw them they were straight 60's punk, next time some psych influences, then some jazz influences and last time more rock'n'roll. One of the best live bands from that era, but overlooked by many as they weren't straight 60's clones.

Some of my fave bands from that era include; Miracle Workers, Crawdaddys, Gruesomes, Tell-Tale Hearts, Fuzztones, Fleshtones, Morlocks, Hypstrz, Barracudas, Plasticland, Brood and so many more....gotta go spin some vinyl now that i've whet may appetite!

melissa scott said:

Some of us were hanging out in the garage in the early '80's. And some of us never left ;) Check out this interview from Boston with the Prime Movers.

The Gruesomes , how could I forget.....I saw the reformed band a few years back , sounded great. Deja Voodoo were hilarious. Their first LP was like a Cramps bootleg (The Cramps are plenty hot'n'horny with me, bt , it's cool.). Bloodshot Bill played drums at a "Reunion" show a while back. We were all just watching the sexual revolution slip right out of our hands , and listening to our older friends BRAG about it. Nothing revolutionary about that . Yeah , Hardcore alienated people that were'nt into the violence, the asexual stance, and the refusal to be influenced by anything pre- 1980.  Now, I liked some of it , to a point , but , it had a short shelf like with me , and there was so much more going on , IF you were willing to look......    Someone else got the memo , because , when The Butthole Surfers started to become popular , the press and the patrons alike mistook them for a Hardcore band ,all because of their name.   They were slow as HELL I when I first saw'em , in 1982.  But , they found their thing , and it was very Psychedelic .Evenif it had a short shelf life , too.  

Next thing you knew , more bands were moving away from Hardcore and more toward Psych.  In Dallas , where I lived , we had two key Psych bands ,The Peyote Cowboys and Lithium Xmas , but there was no Garage scene at all , except the Shitty Beatles (The originals. accept no substitute.) , but ,they were'nt widely accepted at  the time , as they were in their mid 30's , looked nerdy , wore glasses and , well , some of 'em were a bit on the  heavy side , and did'nt have that "Underground" look , you know , Led Zeppelin locks , but that made them more human. Of course , to look like that , NOW , and maybe throw in a baseball cap or some sweatpants , the ladies would have to take a number , you'd be booked solid !      I've mentioned those bands before.....Burning Rain , Hash Palace , and a revamped Other Side (Who were previously more Hendrix/Cream HARD ROCK) formed in my absence , AND TRIED TO KEEP THE PSYCH GAME GOING , But  , without stealing the still - active Lithium Xmas' thunder. ....... SO , WHEN i FINALLY GOT TO WHAT Garage  fans called "The Promised Land" , L.A. , IN 1987 , IMAGINE MY SURPRISE , Cruisin ' The  Sunset Strip , seeing none of the "Bogus Sky Saxons" promised me in "KICKS " MAGAZINE, but , instead a lot of Bogus ROBERT PLANTS. BAD METAL WAS KICKING PUNK , ROCKABILLY , AND GARAGE OUT TO THE CURB.  Some of those bands could gig on occasion , but , it was METAL UBER ALLES.

THIS was rebellion?!!! Oh , well. Sorry to get so longwinded. yeah , I have one of your magazines , Dave. Very cool.

whatwave dave said:

Cool vid Mel, haven't seen that one before!

And i still haven't left the garage since entering in the early 80's....saw as many of those bands as was possible back then, and bought as many records as i could afford. Still digging most of that stuff to this day as well as most of the new garagepunk stuff. We did a zine in the 80's/90's that covered the garage zine from a Canadian perspective...ie Gruesomes, 10 Commandments, UIC, Deja Voodoo etc. Even releasing some records and many compilation cassettes that came with the zine.

Like John says about Plan 9, they were just amazing live, and each time you'd see them they would be different. First time we saw them they were straight 60's punk, next time some psych influences, then some jazz influences and last time more rock'n'roll. One of the best live bands from that era, but overlooked by many as they weren't straight 60's clones.

Some of my fave bands from that era include; Miracle Workers, Crawdaddys, Gruesomes, Tell-Tale Hearts, Fuzztones, Fleshtones, Morlocks, Hypstrz, Barracudas, Plasticland, Brood and so many more....gotta go spin some vinyl now that i've whet may appetite!

melissa scott said:

Some of us were hanging out in the garage in the early '80's. And some of us never left ;) Check out this interview from Boston with the Prime Movers.

I still have the Speedies release for sale on Itunes& Amazon. It's also on spotify. A friend of mine found the vinyl copy of the Radio Heartbeat lp at Amoeba in LA. Otherwise Ebay is your best bet.

For any Speedies fans out there living in the NYC area, my new band Kiss Kiss Bang Bang is playing at Cavestomp on July 28th, and we will have a special guest (Eric Hoffert, my former Speedies bandmate) will join us on guitar for one song.

 
Duke Of Earl said:

Where can you buy the crushed butler and speedies records?

Been wondering myself.

No google search, I rarely see Radio Heartbeat Releases. I made sure I got the Hubble-Bubble records though, I had a white label boot of the Raxola album(trust me its cool), and heard a few more. Does anybody know where you can mailorder things on the label?

It takes longer to find a RadioHeartbeat record than it does to grow those lamb-chops.

 
John Battles said:

i DON'T KNOW....I JUST SAW THE CRUSHED BUTLER CD ONE DAY , GRABBED IT , PAID FOR IT , THEN , WONDERED WHERE THE HELL I WAS , LATER.  I SAW A GUY THE OTHER NIGHT WITH BURNS THAT WOULD PUT JESSE'S TO SHAME. KIND OF REVOLTING , YET , FASCINATING , TOO. GOOD LUCK. DID YOU DO A  GOOGLE SEARCH?

i DON'T KNOW....I JUST SAW THE CRUSHED BUTLER CD ONE DAY , GRABBED IT , PAID FOR IT , THEN , WONDERED WHERE THE HELL I WAS , LATER.  I SAW A GUY THE OTHER NIGHT WITH BURNS THAT WOULD PUT JESSE'S TO SHAME. KIND OF REVOLTING , YET , FASCINATING , TOO. GOOD LUCK. DID YOU DO A  GOOGLE SEARCH?

Where can you buy the crushed butler and speedies records?