Aston (Family Man) Barret (The Wailers)

Aston Barret, (click to enlarge)
With his brother Carlton (drums) (left), Barret (right) is credited as the backbone of the Wailers. Catch a Fire (1973) marked a breakthrough for Bob Marley (center) to international stardom and was his inaugural collaboration with Barret. While "classic" rock diffueses Instrumental functionality as over-driven guitars, ride cymbals and walking bass are overlayed in concurrent emphasis, this is not the case in reggae. Instead, unadulterated chords are reduced to the upstroke and tom tom-centric drums accentuate the rythm's Africaness or "roots "( a synonym for reggae). As man and women are utterly distinct until mysteriously merged through the unlikely neurotic advance and restraint of the mating dance, so too are we moved by instrumental minimalism yielding a whole that exceeds the sum of its parts. Reggae knows no guitar heroes or 20 piece drum sets, or slap-and-snap. It only happens when it all happens . "Family man" is so named because he's said to have sired 52 children.

John Paul Jones (Led Zeppelin)

As bass links rythm with melody, cooridnating with your drummer is critical, which no one better exemplified than Led Zeppelin's John Paul Jones . In contrast to their iconic front men, Jones perched next to drummer John Bonham (1948-1980) from whom he appeared to take all cues. The verse to What is and What Should Never Be, finds 2 chords repitition (A 13 and E 9) and lounge lizard vocals, while Jones "walks"(sometimes jumping, sometimes hopping) through the entire rythmic and chromatic spectrum in seamless deference to the rules of Western music theory. Riding in on an impossible drum roll, the chorus crashes upon us and the roles are switched as screaming vocals and overdriven guitar "double" on the notorius choral riff ("catch the wind see us spin" etc). As any decent bass instructor insists that we practice with a metronome (always hearing every beat) your blogger upon joining other musicians found it natural to follow Jones' example from a parking spot next to the drums. Wanna be the chick magnet frontman? Play not the bass, but grow out your wavy locks, and repeat after me, "you need coolin, baby I aint foolin."

Outrageous Craigslist Posts

The Post:

BASS PLAYER NEEDED
WE'RE AN ESTABLISHED LOOKING FOR A BASS PLAYER UNDER THE AGE OF 25 TO WRITE AND PLAY GIGS OUR BANDS INFLUENCES ARE 70'S AND 80'S ROCK, COLDPLAY, FOO FIGHTERS, NO DOUBT, POSTAL SERVICE..ALL BRIT ROCK ETC (EVERYTHING BUT COUNTRY AND RAP) WE'RE AN ORIGINAL BAND.... IF YOU DON'T PLAY A FENDER BASS ...DON'T CONTACT

The Blogger's Comment:
Even if they were young enough, McCartney, & Entwistle would all be out of luck

"A rose by any other name would smell as sweet," but some names stink!

Thus far craigslist ads have led me to:

Great Bands/Crappy Names: Bandsaw (Apr 12), The Shock (May 3)

Great Names/Crappy Bands: Public Confessions (Apr 17) Soul Distraction (Apr 24)

Didn't get the joke: Chandra's Limit (Apr19), Twisted
Real divas avoid Yonkers and no one cares what brand of drumsticks Freddy uses!

Randomly generated:New York Mildew, Mangled fun& the entitled Jesus, June Jazz

New York Bass Essentials (4. GET THE JOKE!)

"And that's all I have to say about that"
- Forrest Gump

James Paul McCartney (The Beatles)

Likely the most famous bassist (and left handed person) ever, Paul too started on guitar before joining the other team in The Liverpool cave. His catchiest bass lines often appear on John Lennon songs (Come Together & Good Morning Good morning). Paul still plays upright as well as guitar and piano. 39 years ago he asked us, "will you still need me, will you still feed me when I'm 64?" The answer from here is a resounding yes. Rock on Paul We love you !!!(click here for 2005 review) (drawing by Matt Groenig (may be subject to copyright)

New York Bass Essentials (3. On-line Bulletin Board)

Craig's list is an online community where a visitor can find anything from a prostitute to a porsche. Unlike ebay, Craigslist does not act as a middle man through which anonymous transactions clear, but rather a massive electronic bulletin board where in very short order seekers and providers can identify each other and if they so desire, make contact. In earlier days, such notices were posted in the Village Voice or the New York Pres. Visit http://www.craigslist.org and the world is your oyster. The image at left is the greeting page from which you begin your search.

Bootsy Collins (James Brown, Parliament/Funkadelics)

Bootsy says, "The MF blogging mothership will defame all spammers!" We permit and encourage comments friendly or otherwise as relating to the posted content. Commercial solicitation will result in active defamation of all violators and their products here and on our widely read affiliate blogs. Bootsy Collins was James Brown's bassist before teaming up with George Clinton, and founding 70s acts, Parliament, The Funkadelics, Bootsy's Rubber Band etc. His nephew is Calvin Broadus (aka Snoop Dog).

New York Bass Essentials (2. Gear)

Joe Solomon (bass) and Stanley Jordon (gtr) will tell you, its not the song, its the singer. In other words do not focus on the equipment, but the music. But if you need to buy or service a bass, guitar or amp, you can not find more variety, or sheer dedication than offered by the Brewster brothers. They did not pay for this endorsement. Click Here for more. The place is a f# museum.

INNOVATORS & IDIOTS (1st in a series)

John Simon Ritchie aka SID VICIOUS 1957-1979 THE SEX PISTOLS. When Steve Jones (guitar) & Jonny Rotten (vocals) found their relationship non viable w/ original bassist/songwriter Glen Matlock, Ritchie was recruited and introduced to bass by Malcom McLaren(founder/manager) for his looks and lifestyle. Matlock played almost exclusively on their only album.