Tom’s Deep Trax & Seminal Sides Volume 2

 

 

MIKE WATT “Good God’s Urge” Pornos for Pyros

 

The alt-rock bass maestro vacillates between upper-register melodicism and pocket riffage on this trippy Peretz Bernstein composition. 

 

Live Acoustic Version: https://youtu.be/It1u7FtJ8gE  

 

Studio Version: https://youtu.be/lrN0f94W7Xw

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MELISSA AUF DER MAUR “Out of Our Minds”

 

The power of…one note! Dig Melissa’s hypnotic bass loop intro which morphs into airtight lower register grooves with Vince Nudo’s kick-drum.  

 

“Out of Our Minds” https://youtu.be/OHan_RwI_VU

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BILLY PETERSON, TONY BROWN: Blood On The Tracks Bob Dylan

 

Most bandleaders / producers would have opted for the doghouse. Waxed in the waning days of ‘74, Bob’s Blood on the Tracks stands among his (numerous) classics and an exquisite example of the subtle powers of the electric bass in an acoustic folk context.  Tony Brown anchored the September A&R NYC dates (“Simple Twist of Fate,” “You’re Gonna Make Me Lonesome,” Meet Me in the Morning,” “Shelter from the Storm,” “Buckets of Rain”). Billy Peterson (pictured) helmed the December Sound 80 Minneapolis sessions (“Tangled Up in Blue,” “Idiot Wind,” “Lily, Rosemary, and the Jack of Hearts”). Sans charts with minimal direction, the bassists fixated on Dylan’s every nuance whereas many other backing musicians who couldn’t “catch” Bob were dismissed one by one.  

 

Nowadays Americana artists aplenty opt for the upright, however the warmth of the Fender P and phrasing borne of an electric bass afford these recordings a modernist twist (pun intended) despite the fact that they were cut nearly a half-century ago. Everything new is old again.  

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NORMAN WATT ROY “Hit Me With Your Rhythm Stick” Ian Dury and The Blockheads

 

“He’s the man with the face, from outer space, on his faith and grace” bellowed the late, truly great Ian Dury of his virtuoso bassist Norman Watt-Roy. A rite of passage for players of my generation, Norm’s Jaco inspired (spot the “Teen Town” riff) motifs brilliantly underpin Dury’s lunatic libretto.  Sometimes busy is better!

 

Ian Dury “Hit Me With Your Rhythm Stick” https://youtu.be/0WGVgfjnLqc

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BENNY RIETVELD “Are You Ready” Santana / The Isley Brothers 

 

Notes From An Artist Radio / Podcast / Video Series guest Benny Rietveld takes the staccato 16th note Francis Rocco Prestia route replete with a dub resonance that would do Robbie Shakespeare proud on The Chambers Brothers classic “Are You Ready” from the amazing collaborative LP Power of Peace. Essential!

 

“Are You Ready” https://youtu.be/lHK9vzhxxLE

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GORDON EDWARDS: “Let’s Go Down to Lucy’s” Leon Thomas

 

The bass in the hands the master, Gordon Edwards, serves as the melodic hook and the anchor – double stop included! And that’s Bernard Purdie on drums…from the slab Blues & The Soulful Truth (1973).

 

“Let’s Go Down to Lucy” https://youtu.be/xx4uOZ77KLk

 

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JOHN GUSTAFSON / OVEREND WATTS / PAUL PAGE “Lounge Lizard” IAN HUTNER / MOTT THE HOOPLE ’74.

 

Yet another Ian gem, “Lounge Lizard” was originally intended as a B-Side for Mott’s “Saturday Gigs” swansong.  The original with Overend Watts was probably the last blast of Hoople bombast abetted by the profound plinkery of Morgan Fisher. The first released version appears on Ian’s s/t debut with bassist John Gustafson taking a more soulful / pocket approach. For the Mott ’74 reunion tour, KYBP On Film star Paul Page negotiates between his predecessors with equal measures of rhythm and bluster. Great songs make for great basslines….

 

Ian Hunter: https://youtu.be/lQ7Mm_TkJOE

 

Mott The Hoople: https://youtu.be/xPQByEZE8Y8

 

Mott The Hoople ‘74 https://youtu.be/dnf3z62mP9U

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BILL WYMAN “Jivin’ Sister Fanny” Rolling Stones 

 

Why this killer coldcocked Stones cut never found its way on an official slab is beyond me! Dig the former William Perks’ equitoxic quarter-note groove abetted with more supplementary fills and upper-register grace notes than the stone-faced bassist is typically noted for. Best B-side ever? Could be. Imagine if Joey Kelly. Michael Muller / Dave Donen covered this track…

 

Audio Link: https://youtu.be/LgVo0Krv6Yg 

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MICHAEL HENDERSON: “Right Off” Miles Davis 

 

The jazz police continue to debate these sides, which to my ears, reverberate magnificently decades after their release. With hypnotic repetitive motifs and piercing upper register fills Michael Henderson anchored Miles’ most controversial, groundbreaking, and influential jazz funk recordings. “Right Off” kicks off with a James Brown “inspired” motif in the universal funk key of E then abruptly jumps to Bb – though it took a few bars for Henderson to catch on. Regardless, “Right Off” is a jazz fusion touchstone. Following his tenure with Davis, Henderson forged a successful career as a contemporary jazz singer, composer, and recording artist. 

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DAVEY FARAGHER “Farewell, OK” / “The Boy Named If” Elvis Costello & The Imposters

 

Yes, Declan’s Imposters are indeed “The Subtractions” (as in minus Bruce Thomas), but there’s evidence aplenty on the last few EC slabs (especially Look Now / 2018) that bassist Davey Faragher has been studying the work of his irreplaceable predecessor with remarkable attention to detail. Ditto producer / engineer Sebastian Krys taking liberties (pun intended) from Nick Lowe’s approach to The Attractions classics in both sound and execution. Eschewing the (yawn) pocket for melodic motifs, glissandos, and upper register riffery – check out “Farewell, OK” and the title cut- Faragher gives further credence to the credo that imitation is the sincerest form of ….flattery!  Even the album art evokes comparison to Blood and ChocolateImperial Bedroom.  Oh well, if it worked the first time around….

 

“Farewell, Ok” https://youtu.be/eGcbRIX0Fjw

 

“The Boy Named If” https://youtu.be/9Tjuygr65SU

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JIM RODFORD “(Wish I Could Fly Like) Superman” / The Kinks 

 

During the 70s’ disco zeitgeist rockers aplenty including the Rolling Stones (“Miss You”), Sir Rod (“Do You Think I’m Sexy?” Macca (“Good Night Tonight”), Kiss (“I Was Made for Loving You”), and even The Clash (“Magnificent 7” with Blockhead maestro Norman Watt-Roy in the bass chair) all set their sights on the dance floor. All but Strummer sacrificed their street cred. Ditto Ray Davies with his self-effacing social commentary on the aforementioned single from their stellar Low Budget (1979) collection. The late, truly great bassist Jim Rodford eschews the usual cliches for a punchy descending motif which served the song well and translated note for note when The Kinks rocked this tune on-stage – as I was witness. That’s Jim and I at The Horn in St. Albans (2014) with his modded Fender Mustang which he used on most of the band’s sessions and gigs.  

 

“(Wish I Could Fly Like) Superman” https://youtu.be/DV-4Ge78OaI 

John Conte (Southside Johnny, The Contes, Crown Jewels)

Photo by Tom Parr

By Joe Gagliardo

Bassist John Conte’s illustrious career performing and recording music is in full swing! His credits read like a who’s who in the music industry, covering multiple decades, artists and musical genres. For John, music has always been a part of his life.

 

His mom was a jazz singer and his dad a serious jazz aficionado whose record collection provided the soundtrack to John’s early years. Recalls Conte “some of my earliest musical memories were hearing recordings by Frank Sinatra, Nancy Wilson, Dave Brubeck, Wes Montgomery & Cannonball Adderley…”

 

But there were also some pop records being played around the house as well, and after hearing Simon & Garfunkel’s Bookends album at age six, John was moved to ask his mom for a guitar. His older brother Steve started out on drums, before making the guitar his main instrument a few years later. By ages nine and ten, the two brothers had started a band with a school friend of Steve’s. Inspired by The Beatles, The Monkees, and the eclectic mix of pop music on AM radio, they began writing their own songs and recording them on a portable tape recorder in the living room.

 

With John becoming more aware of Paul McCartney’s role in The Beatles, he began to gravitate toward the bass. For his tenth birthday he received a Harmony H-22 electric bass with the batwing pickguard.

 

While the Harmony was an inexpensive short scale bass, we now know that it was used by Muff Winwood on “Gimme Some Lovin’ and early hits by the Spencer Davis Group, as well as by Ronnie Lane on many Small Faces records. John still owns that Harmony bass, and it has been modified by substituting a P-Bass pickup for the original DeArmond pickup that was no longer working.

 

This bass has been a secret weapon for John when recording, because of its deep, resonant woody sound, and well defined “click” when played with a pick. John played that Harmony until high school, when he bought a ’77 Rickenbacker 4001, for $375.00. Playing in heavier rock bands, which began in middle school for John, would carry on through high school. “There really weren’t many other kids playing bass in a small suburban town back then, so it was known that I was a bassist,” says John. Eventually, the high school’s band director asked John to lend his talents to their jazz ensemble. This opened John’s ears to new sounds, techniques, and harmonic possibilities.

 

John received his first upright bass as a high school graduation gift and put it to use when he enrolled in the Jazz Studies Program at Rutgers. However, it was outside of the actual classrooms where John gleaned most of his learning. In setting out to learn the language of jazz, he immersed himself in the music, listening intently to classic albums while soaking up the bass lines of Ron Carter, Ray Brown and Paul Chambers.

 

Both on and off campus, John made it his business to make any jam session or accept any gig that he could, which sometimes included playing with future heavy hitters, Terence Blanchard (trumpet), Ralph Peterson (drums), and Frank Lacy (trombone).

 

After his college years, John began making the scene in New York City, hanging at open jam sessions, meeting other musicians and playing as much as possible. At this time, John’s musical focus was gravitating back towards and rock n’ roll, rhythm and blues, and pop. He began delving into the history of the blues, which seemed to be a natural outgrowth of his earlier affinity for the blues-based British rock bands such as Led Zeppelin, the Rolling Stones, Humble Pie, and Free.

 

Around this same time, John received a call from some of his former college mates, who were now on the road with Blood, Sweat & Tears. There was an opening in the bass chair, and John ended up on the road with BS&T, from 1985-1987. His first gig with the band was a trial by fire. “I learned the material by listening to a board tape from one of their recent live shows – no rehearsal. When I flew out to Seattle to do my first show, I hadn’t even met front man David Clayton Thomas.”

 

When not on the road, and back home in New York City, John became part of the “Under Acme Blues Night” with his band the Hudson River Rats. The ‘Rats’ were a blues / r&b band, and their fellow founding members included,Rob Paparozzi (harmonica, vocals), Steve Conte (guitar, vocals), and BS&T alumnus Tom DeFaria (drums).

 

The Blues Night was hosted by producer/writer/musician Jeff Kent, from the jazz/rock band Dreams. This weekly gig became quite the scene, with many other producers, musicians and celebs dropping by to sit-in with the band, including Phoebe Snow, Carole King, Cyndi Lauper, Etta James, Willy Deville, Bernard Purdie, Will Lee, and Julian Lennon.

 

The Rats’ residency at the Acme Bar & Grill helped put John on the map musically in New York City and led to another route as a session musician. John stayed busy for the next two decades recording for film, television, record dates and jingles. Among many memorable sessions was a date with producer Tony Visconti and David Bowie, working on a track for The Rugrats movie -the song was later cut from the film…. rats!

 

The studio work further sharpened John’s playing skills as the music was often put together in the studio, without charts, requiring focus and creativity in a compressed period of time.

 

Notes John “there is a thrill in finding that crucial, perfect bass part that can help give a track its identity or even its hook. Whether it is a four-minute pop song or a thirty-second jingle, the part is always ‘out there in the air’ somewhere, you just have to keep plugging away until you find it. There are situations in which the music requires the bass to generate more interest or movement – and then there are situations where the opposite is true. I think it’s invaluable as a bassist to be sensitive to that.”

 

In addition to his reactionary and improvisational abilities, John has a great love for serving the song. He has a knack for being supportive while still creating interest for the ear, which could be a bass line that adds slight variations as the song progresses, or it can be that tasteful move into the upper register in the third verse or final chorus. It can also be deciding when not to play, like Andy Fraser not playing during the verses of Free’s classic “All Right Now.”

 

Often it’s just a certain bass sound that can inject the personality that a producer is looking for in a track, which is why John usually brings several different basses to a recording session.

 

Through the session scene, John and brother Steve also met singer / songwriter Kyf Brewer. Together they would form the band Company of Wolves with rock n’ roll veteran Frankie LaRocka (Scandal, David Johansen, Bryan Adams, Jon Waite) on drums.

 

They were signed to Mercury/Polygram records, and their eponymous release in 1990 is a hard-rocking effort, with great vocals, songs and musicianship. The Wolves, who have a kind of cult following to this day, toured extensively, had chart activity with album tracks, and released two videos to MTV, “Call of the Wild” and “The Distance.”

 

John’s bass on this record is driving and tasteful and can be heard clearly in the mix. John does a brief solo in the song “Can’t Love Ya, Can’t Leave Ya” and the first two bars of the solo are reminiscent of Danny Klein’s bass line in “Hard Drivin’ Man” from the J. Geils Band’s legendary Full House Live record.

 

According to John, he first heard the Full House Live record while in one of his early teenage bands. It rocked his world and informed him about what it was to be a great live rock n’ roll band. And back then John would have never dreamed that one day he’d be working with J. Geils’ front man Peter Wolf!

 

Company of Wolves carried on until 1992, and also released the albums Steryl Spycase and Shakers & Tambourines, the latter being a collection of their demos prior to being signed by Polygram. You can hear these titles on iTunes and Spotify or get a physical copy at www.ryfrecords.com

 

Post Wolves, John and Steve Conte have released other records together. Their band, Crown Jewels, released two LPs, Spitshine (1996) and Linoleum (1998). In addition, ‘The Jewels’ were voted one of the ten best unsigned bands in America by Musician Magazine in 1997. A few years later, and simply calling themselves ‘The Contes’, the brothers released the album Bleed Together in 2003. Many of the songs from all three of these releases have been licensed for use in film and television.

 

After a short tour in Joan Osborne’s band and a year on the road with Rosanne Cash, John joined up with the legendary Southside Johnny (SSJ) & the Asbury Jukes. John has been laying down the low end for The Jukes since 2008, touring the U.S. and Europe extensively.

 

He has also recorded several albums with the Jukes, their Pills & Ammo record being a highlight for him. He was also a member of another project called Southside Johnny & The Poor Fools, where all five of the band members served as rotating drummers. They released the album Songs From the Barn in 2012.

 

One memorable SSJ gig was playing at the annual Stone Pony Summer Stage Show before 4,000 loving SSJ fans, and having ‘that other guy from Asbury Park’, Bruce Springsteen, join them for an impromptu forty-five minute set.

 

John also mentions a SSJ gig that was challenging and bizarre: “we were playing outdoors for the NHL’s Hockey Winter Classic at Yankee Stadium. The temperature during soundcheck was seven degrees, and the cold wreaked havoc on the instruments as well as the band members. By the end of the that soundcheck, I was using my left elbow to fret notes on my fingerboard, sliding up and down the E string – and using a thumb pick on my right hand. My fingers were unusable!”

 

In addition to the SSJ recordings, John also appears on LPs by Peter Wolf, Fools Parade (1998) and Sleepless” (2002); Ian Hunter, Rant (2001); Rachael Yamagata, Happenstance (2004); Amy Rigby, Little Fugitive (2005); Garland Jeffreys, The King of In Between (2011); and Steve Forbert, Early Morning Rain (2019), to name just a few.

 

In 2013 John was tapped to do a brief tour in the UK with Billy Joel, just as the piano man was coming off a four-year hiatus. One of the highlights of that tour was playing the song “Blonde Over Blue”, which Billy had never performed live before. John was also part of the Billy Joel and Twyla Tharp Broadway show, Moving Out, subbing often for bassist Greg Smith.

 

Billy Joel “She’s Always A Woman To Me” and “Blonde Over Blue” https://youtu.be/CUhkHYxFsBs

 

John’s versatility as a bassist has enabled him to perform with a diverse group of artists, including: Rosanne Cash, Gavin DeGraw, Joan Osborne, Jon Bon Jovi, Rachael Yamagata, Natalie Merchant, Patti Smith, Marshall Crenshaw, Sarah Bareilles, Ian Hunter, John Waite, Marc Cohn, Oz Noy, Jeff Golub, Paul Shaffer, Rita Wilson, Steven Van Zandt, Felix Cavaliere, Donovan, Chuck Berry, Howard Tate, Darlene Love, Eddie Brigati, Al Kooper, Denny Laine, Leslie West, Willie Nile, Peter Yarrow & David Johansen.

 

In his youth, The Who Live at Leeds was another LP that blew John away. He feels it’s like “the blue-print for playing in a ‘power trio’ -in the Who’s case, with an additional front man!”  As a result, John has gigged in many trios over the years, and is currently involved in two such groups.

 

One of them is a “Piano Power Trio” called, The Early Elton Trio. It features fellow Asbury Juke Jeff Kazee on keys/vocals, and Rich Pagano (Patti Smith, Roger Waters, The Fab Faux) on drums/vocals. Inspired by Elton’s loose and live 11-17-70 album, the band focuses on Elton’s early records and the jamming sensibilities of the Dee Murray and Nigel Olson trio tours of 1970-1972. According to John, it has been described as “Elton – before the duck suit, blow, and binge shopping!”

 

Early Elton Trio “Take Me To The Pilot” https://youtu.be/r86QcA99nk0

 

Another trio where all the three members get to stretch out and jam is The Prisoners of 2nd Avenue. The band features guitarist/vocalist, Jimmy Vivino (Conan O’Brian band leader, Levon Helm, Donald Fagen) and drummer/vocalist, Rich Pagano. This power trio celebrates the music of the Fillmore East days, covering an era of music from 1968-1972.

 

In terms of basses, John has quite a collection, not as a collector, but rather to be able to get the right sound for whatever gig he is playing. In addition to the Fender Precision, John is also a huge fan of short scale and semi-hollow basses and he has several in his collection, including his Harmony H-22, a ’67 Gibson EBO, ’64 Silvertone w/single lipstick pickup, Gibson EB3 reissue, a ’73 Fender Music Master, and a Guild Starfire 2 reissue.

 

With Early Elton Trio, John mainly uses his sunburst ‘64 Fender Jazz bass. His go-to basses with the Asbury Jukes are a Fender Precision bass, and a short scale Jerry Jones Longhorn. For the Poor Fools, where they were doing Americana, folk and blues, he mostly played a 1960’s German-made Hoyer. It is a semi-hollow, short scale bass with two F holes, and it can mimic an upright bass quite well.

 

His upright bass is a Kay from the early 1960’s (see photo above). John’s current rig with the Asbury Jukes is an Aguilar AG500 Head, with Aguilar DB 4×10 and 1×15 cabinets. As with his instruments, he has an array of bass heads and cabinets that he uses depending on the gig.

 

There are many ways you can see and hear John play live-with the Asbury Jukes, Early Elton, The Contes, Prisoners of 2nd Avenue, or whatever band / project he is currently performing with. Simply follow him on Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/john-contebass/

 

Check out John’s playing below, along with background from John about what he was trying to achieve in those songs!

 

The Contes “So Much For Love” https://youtu.be/uz0odMf_Ovs

 

My brother Steve and I had self-produced our previous two albums and for this one we wanted an outside ear. We asked Producer Andrew Hollander to co-produce with us and help pare down a list of thirty songs to twelve songs. “So Much For Love” was a song that Steve had written a decade before, and had done a 4 track demo of it that sounded sort of like a Buddy Holly song – with emphasis on “strummy” acoustic guitar & a bright tempo. We knew we wanted to do something different with it but had never played or performed the song as a band. We were using the amazing Charley Drayton on drums for the session (Keith Richards, B-52’s, Paul Simon, Fiona Apple). He was just getting into town the day of the session, so there had been no opportunity to rehearse or to talk anything over. Andrew suggested we slow down the tempo considerably and get away from such a poppy feel.

 

We wanted to get a dirtier vibe and feel to it, so I decided to make the bass a bit overdriven and play as if it were the rhythm guitar – the main drive of the track was coming from the bass. I was playing my old Harmony H-22 bass through an Acoustic 140 amp into an Ampeg 4×10 Cabinet. The 140 head is only 120 watts – and despite it being solid state it breaks up nicely with a pleasing distortion. We talked about the arrangement & rehearsed it once.

 

When we decided to hit record, the first take was magic, so that’s the take that we used! I’d say that on this track, I was channeling the phenomenal Colin Moulding, bassist for XTC.

 

The Contes “Bleed Together” https://youtu.be/WglNRVRcoXY

 

This is another song that came together in the studio. It was also a song written by my brother many years prior, and his original 4 track demo was very folky sounding and a bit more up tempo. Brother Steve came up with some beautiful guitar parts & sounds, which along with his poignant/soulful vocal, inspired my playing on this beautiful ballad. I played a 1964 Hofner Club Bass on this- with flat wound strings of course.

 

Ian Hunter “Purgatory” https://youtu.be/gPbpJox3cjs 

 

I used my Acoustic 360 with the amazing built in fuzz engaged – Think, Larry Graham on some of those Sly records, or Jaco when he kicked in some fuzz with Weather Report. I played my ’73 Rickenbacker 4001 and used a direct signal along with the amp – although it sounds like ALL amp on this track. Thinking about it, I was going for a soul/funk/rock hybrid… somewhere between Sly & Family Stone, Kool & the Gang meets Zeppelin, Mountain, and MC5.

 

Funny – when Ian saw me pull out my Rickenbacker in the control room he said: “I hate Rickenbackers”, and he mumbled something about Chris Squire. I mean, I love what Chris Squire does, but I assured Ian that I don’t go for that type of thing on the Ric. I told him that I used flat wound strings and that I think more like McCartney or Tommy Stinson from the Replacements, who had used a Rickenbacker bass for a while, with a more gritty, punk attitude.

 

My good friend Andy York, who was producing the record with Ian, encouraged me to stand my ground with the Rickenbacker. In the end, everyone loved the way it turned out, including Ian.

 

Peter Wolf “Pleasing To Me” https://youtu.be/zML4VaUUZIY

 

This is the one song I played upright bass on for the Fools Parade album. Before we would record a track, Peter would have us all go into the control room- this was in the days before iPods. He had his huge CD binder he would take out, then he would start that manic fast talking DJ lingo that he is so skilled at, and he would whip out a disc, begin de- scribing the track that he was about to play by such & such an artist, when it was recorded, what was going on at that time in history, and how it made him feel when he heard it. The songs he played for us were mostly old soul and R&B, often some obscure stuff that I hadn’t heard of. He’d play three or four different tracks from different artists…he’d whip us up, and get us in a certain mood or headspace. Then we would go out and cut the track.

 

Drummer, Shawn Pelton and I had done a lot of recording together, and I remember this one coming together pretty easily. I love the sound & feel of this track- it’s really got an old soul thing to it. Hats off also to my good friend and brilliant musician, Kenny White, who produced these sessions.

 

Southside Johnny  & The Asbury Jukes “Umbrella In   My Drink” https://youtu.be/iMu7RdeXVPE 

 

This track was done for the Pills & Ammo album back in 2010, a really good time song written by Johnny & Jeff Kazee and also features Gary U.S Bonds singing with Johnny. I used my Jerry Jones Longhorn on this. I was going for that muted thing like NRBQ’s Joey Spampinato, who’s playing I am pretty infatuated with. Shawn Pelton on drums again here. We know each other’s playing quite well, so it was a lot of fun to play. It really swings in that N’awlins fashion.

 

Rachael Yamagata “Letter Read” https://youtu.be/JhFiChQtB6Q

 

I can’t say enough about Rachael as an artist, writer, singer, and performer. I consider it an honor to have played on her major label debut. All the tracks I played on for this album were recorded in a very organic fashion. The basic tracks all being done live at Compass Point Studios in the Bahamas.

 

The drummer on this track is the Spin Doctors’ Aaron Comess – another buddy of mine who I have logged many musical miles with. Aaron is also a frightening jazz player- and we can intersect there. With a lot of space to improvise, we take some turns that make this track a bit of a wild ride, but we always come back to support the song. On this track, I played a late 90’s Epiphone Rivoli reissue. I often play with a pick and my fingers in different sections on the same take or performance.

 

I have a way of tucking the pick away in my hand and switching to my fingers, and then switching back again. It sounds like I am doing that on this track – but honestly, I can’t be sure. It could be that I am just alternating between playing staccato really far back near the bridge on certain lines in a higher register, and then moving back toward the neck for other sections.

 

That’s the thing about that bass – it’s like two different instruments in one – two very distinct sounds when you play in those two different positions with your right hand or left, if you’re a lefty!

 

 

Courtesy of Aguilar

Overend Watts: The Rock Star Who Hated Walking and Lived to Write About It!

This feature appeared on Huffington Post Books, December 2013

 

 “A lot of books about people in the rock music business are boring to me…the drugs, the women…the bankruptcies…it’s all so repetitive. When I approached publishers and told them my story isn’t anything like that …it’s all about back-packing — they said ‘great!” – Overend Watts, Mott the Hoople

 

Though Mott the Hoople hardly achieved the commercial success of the innumerable bands they spawned — you can count The Clash, Def Leppard, and Wilco among them — their sacrosanct status in the pantheon of rock ‘n’ roll lore is time honored. Mott were the first band to headline Broadway (with Queen in support, no less) and their David Bowie-penned anthem “All The Young Dudes” defined a generation that urgently needed to separate itself from the idyllic hippie culture which permeated the early 1970s. Since Mott the Hoople’s untimely split in 1974, their albums have never gone out of print, nor has their relevance -top rock artists continue to name check the five lads from Herefordshire.

 

Mott’s chief singer/songwriter Ian Hunter, unquestionably in a peer group which includes such iconic rock poets as Bob Dylan, Lou Reed, and Patti Smith, enjoys an acclaimed solo career that spans nearly forty years. Guitarist Mick Ralphs’ fame and fortune as a founding member of Bad Company was no surprise — Jimmy Page inked Bad Company to Led Zeppelin’s fledging Swansong imprint and the rest, as they say, is history. And the fact that Mott, Hunter, nor Bad Company, have yet to be recognized by the so-called Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall of Fame — is outright heresy. Even Rush fans would agree!

 

However no member of Mott the Hoople embraced the joy, pageantry, and excess of the band and the era than bassist Peter Overend Watts. A silver haired towering figure atop platform hip-boots (which he also wore off-stage: “I couldn’t get them off after a gig!” ) whilst plying mighty riffs from his self- painted white Gibson Thunderbird, Watts would adorn himself in outrageous outfits that would render Lady Gaga and her minions ridiculously passé. Watts left the music business in the early 1980s and never looked back — not that he needed to, thanks to his dealings in antiques and collectibles for many years, among other endeavors.

 

Watts’ first official foray into “literature” — The Man Who Hated Walking, available now by way of Wymer Publishing — is a laugh-out-loud, riveting documentation of his 650 mile (actually 680 miles if you include Overend’s several missteps) two month journey of the South West Coast Path in 2003 — one of the most expansive way-marked long distance trails in the UK — spanning Minehead in Sumerset, along the coasts of Devon and Cornwall, to Poole Harbour in Dorset. That’s almost four times the height of Mount Everest — glam rock footwear not included.

 

Akin to those of us who fell in love with Mott at a young, impressionable age, Watts’ fascination with hiking stems from his childhood. “Back in the 1950’s I saw a lot of tramps in England…many of whom were War World II veterans. Perhaps they had shell shock. They were Dickensian characters. Amazing to look at, dressed in rags with great, big beards. I was mesmerized by them — what do they do? Where do they go? Where do they sleep? Where did they walk? So a little seed was sown in me — things do hit you harder when you’re young…they go straight to the heart.”

 

The Man Who Hated Walking officially commences when the self-proclaimed couch potato becomes obsessed with the idea of long distance walking in the midst of a late-night Cadbury Fruit & Nut chocolate induced viewing of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? Host Chris Warrant’s interview of a contestant who had conquered the aforementioned Path inspired Watts — who normally rises at two in the afternoon — to embark on the journey of a lifetime.”If I had to crawl I would have done it!

 

Watts’ conversational tone and vivid descriptive narratives peppered with hysterical Brit vernacular affords the reader the feeling that they are indeed walking with the author every step of the way — through his arduous preparations; agonizing spells of foot and back pain; the numerous bouts of self-doubt; his moods of terror and triumph; Watts’ exhilarating scenic views; the wayward diversions borne of both nature and error (“You can’t get a mobile phone out when you’re stranded on a ledge…and even if you do, how are they going to rescue you?!”); awaking to pigs and ponies; insomnia; confrontations with batty bread and breakfast matrons; the rescue of a stranded swimmer; and the anxiety that comes with the myriad of hygienic and bodily function challenges in public restrooms and in the wild; just to list a few.

 

Among Overend’s various whacky encounters includes a happenstance summit with a German hiker desperately seeking the famed house wherein seminal metal rockers Deep Purple recorded their classic Fireball album in 1971 (which was released shortly before Mott’s far superior Brain Capers LP for those of you keeping score). When Watts, who never, ever reveals his rock ‘n’ roll pedigree, casually informs the gent of his Mott past — the torrid Teutonic trekker turns purple with rage, accusing the retired bassist of being an imposter! “That poor prog-rock bloke…I’ll never know if he found his house…”

 

Since Watts’ completion of the South West Coast Path, the author continues to traverse the UK by foot. In 2008 Watts completed a marathon 1,250 mile walk from Land’s End to John O’Groats in sixty-three days — a sojourn which incorporates The Cotswold Way, The Heart of England Way, Staffordshire Way, Limestone Way, Pennine Way, Cheviots, Grampians and Cairngorms.

 

“You only have one life to live haven’t you?” opines a jovial Watts just a few hours before Mott the Hoople’s final re-union performance at the 02 in London in November 2013. In addition to walking himself into physical fitness worthy of a man several years his junior, Overend is quick to note that the residual effects of his newfound hiking lifestyle included a healthy dose of self-discovery. “I found that I was more resilient and had more will-power than I thought…walking does that for you…it’s really simple, like Confucius said ‘just take it one step at a time, mate!” Well, in Overend’s world, the Chinese philosopher just may have been a scouser!

 

Mott Literary Postscript: Mr. Watts is not Mott’s sole scribe. I strongly advise readers of rock autobiographies to seek out a copy of Diary of a Rock ‘n’ Roll Star, written by Overend’s bandmate Ian Hunter, which was first published in 1974. Unlike the current crop of tomes composed by marquee rockers (and their ghost writers) who somehow remember everything that happened to them in decades past despite their massive intake of mind-altering substances that cause most addicts to forget what they did five minutes ago, Hunter’s book is an honest, illuminating, and entertaining portrait of life in a band on the road. And, Hunter also affords the reader great insight into the sartorial splendor of Peter Overend Watts.

 

My deep appreciation and gratitude to Peter Purnell of Angel Air Records and Mark Preston for helping me track down the most elusive rock star who ever walked the earth!