One year ago today: August 24, 2016, it replaced weaker theories.
Five years ago today: August 24, 2012, only 78 years after Columbus.
Nine years ago today: August 24, 2008, Saint-Simon, 1819.
Random years ago today: August 24, 2008, a generic day.
This is your lucky day, you get to hear the same old story for the hundredth time or more. (Actually, I can be more exact than that. This is the 88th time in Florida that I’ve started, jammed, auditioned, rehearsed, or played with a different guitarist. It just seems like more than a hundred.) Of all the days for me to wake up with water on the ear, I got a callback from Smokin’ Joe, who I’ll call Joe.
We arranged a quick rehearsal and I just got back from there. Let me describe how it went. First, Joe and I are on nearly the same page. Two days difference in age, like myself he’s a survivor of the fat-head lead player groups. Good, now he won’t go near them. As luck would have it, he’s used to working with a bassist over the years as the core of a larger group. I could hardly ask for better experience. Yes, he does have some guitar player habits, like chords that are not in the originals, but he is so good at it this is overlooked. It is not true that any band is better than no band. When something like this comes along, you put up with most anything.
The zero effort band startup. I told you, whenever I get close to getting my solo act together, along comes another guitar player. Except this one, if it doesn’t fly, won’t cost me anything and this time I know I can get along without must wasted effort should it cave. You know how I sometimes startle guitar players with slang terms over what they do? Well, this guy threw a few of the same back at me. This one knows what he’s doing.
We breezed through all 30 songs we would need to play out. Four hours music in two hours, made possible because you got professionals working on it. Eliminate all the repeat parts, just play the intro, the first verse/chorus, any instrumentals and the outro. That’s all you need to prove the other guy can play the song. I could tell he was expecting another rhythm player but the sound we had quickly put an end to that. Actually, I hope he does go through the same crowd of yahoos I did. And he’s got a sense of humor. This guy belongs on stage.
In the next 48 hours we’ll swap song lists and pick four sets. This is instant startup, we can already play everything we need, but we’ll need time to run through them and then find a get-paid-to-practice venue. Between us we own four PA systems. How good are we? Right off the bat, good enough to deliver the wow and that says most of it in these small towns.
The only other duo is the mother-daughter group and they’re on some wild goose chase up in Nashville. They look great, but their music, well, let’s just say there are a lot of excellent recording musicians up there who will stand in with an all-girl group. Joe and I were both astonished to connect so fast that we both had already made plans for the next couple weeks. He’s got to fly to Minnesota and I’ve got more medical tests in Miami. But I am targeting the weekend of September 15/16 for an opening gig somewhere. I emphasize, we are ready to go. And in a matter of hours, we will be virtually unbeatable. If we don’t mess up. That’s the big “if”.
Sun City, Arizona.
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Joe is also a Legion member, so we’ll not lack places to play. And an excellent strummer. Like Pat-B, he can play riffs without breaking the rhythm, something I believe is called the CAGED system. Well, he’s got it down. And the riffs that he can’t do, he already heard me play them on bass. It’s not all roses, since we both have highly individualistic backgrounds. Like many guitarists, he likes the big production numbers with a zillion chords and John Prine styles. Where there is no real even pattern, the guitar changes to match whatever the guitarist is doing so you get weird time signatures—greatly loved, provided you are the guitar player.
One potential hitch is guys like this worship jazz progressions. I don’t and I can tell you why. It locks the bass into a simplistic 4/4 “walking bass” pattern and you can’t change it without altering the character of the song. That’s a severe restriction. Most jazz bass sounds the same because it is the same, it’s mechanical. It is all 4/4 comping and you know how I feel about comping. In return, Joe had some real trouble with basic country progressions and does not know his circle of fifths. But with 30 songs on a first trial, we’d be coo-coo not to get out there and kick this around.
Some of his tunes I’m familiar with due to my old 5-piece orchestra, though we are talking maybe four or five total. “Secret Agent Man” is an example. That helps. I’m quite aware that during the entire session, he was very cautious to not reveal any specific songs on his list and we’ve seen this before. He’s holding back something. Is he planning to wait until I’ve committed to a few practices and then springing a surprise? In the past six months that’s happen four times. Remember those? Here, let me jog your memory.
1. Wants every other gig to be for free at the church.
2. Informs us we will now be using Karaoke backing tracks.
3. Too busy to learn my list so I should exclusively learn his.
4. Decides he’s going to play electric instead of acoustic.
“If stupidity got us into this mess,
then why can’t it get us out?”
~ Will Rogers
My evening was taken up by putting together the songs I want to play. We’ve agreed to hold off on musical tastes and opinions until after we slap some gigs together. Don’t you non-musicians laugh, you’d be surprised how many bands fizzle over this. The momentum has to be kept up until we are out there. He understands for me to play his favorite tunes, I would have to learn a whole new style of bass playing and we don’t have that much time.
What went right is I was impressed by his rhythm playing on the spot. You don’t know how may people claim to play rhythm and can’t even spell it. This guy has spent time in a studio. By the same token, my “rhythm bass” method made a definite impact on him, especially when he heard me play riffs without breaking the bass line. And he was definitely not ready for the way I covered lead breaks on the bass. Good.
This is why good-time bass players hate jazz bass:
[Author's note: don't get me wrong, I perfectly understand how the above music would appeal to some people. And their farm animals, as well.]
Did I mention this new guy once played with Lynyrd Skynyrd? If this goes, I predict we will be a major cut above what else is available in Polk County. There are some fine musicians here, but I’m talking entertainment, not virtuosity. Another plus, both of us can each sing all of our own songs. And you know what I’m like if all I got to do is stand there and play bass.
That’s all you get for today. I woke also with a crimped neck, I had no coffee break, no nap, no lunch hour, and my rice was lumpy. I got a scrape on my left hand, a pain in my left underarm, a gouty ankle, a bruise on my right arm from that lumber, and a sore back. I’m turning in early, if that’s okay with everybody here.
Last Laugh
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