Which Celebrity Bassist Influenced You To Buy A Ric?

[wayang]

Yeah, it's a cool little toon...we used to play 'Four Holes In The Ground' from the album 'The World Became The World', and our keyboard player accurately copped all the accordion parts. His parents wouldn't let him play rock when he was younger and forced him to play the accordion instead...when he turned 18, he moved out and bought a Hammond...he could still rip on that squeezebox, though...

[FretlessOnly]

Jeffrey, reading your espoused enthusiasm for Jon Camp is what helped me finally get Renaissance. I watched the YouTube video of "Black Flame"

Good tune; Annie sounds a great deal like Joni; which isn't a bad thing. And Jon Camp hits the Rick pretty hard and sports a great 70s porn moustache. I listened to a huge amount of music from 1971-1980, and I missed them, so thanks!

[jps]

Jeffrey, reading your espoused enthusiasm for Jon Camp is what helped me finally get Renaissance. I watched the YouTube video of "Black Flame"

Good tune; Annie sounds a great deal like Joni; which isn't a bad thing. And Jon Camp hits the Rick pretty hard and sports a great 70s porn moustache. I listened to a huge amount of music from 1971-1980, and I missed them, so thanks!

Renaissance is by far my all time favorite band!

[johnallg]

There is no option for any other influence. My first influence was Jon Camp, then Chris Squire.

Yeah, I noticed Jon Camp was missing too. As is Gary Strater, Mike Rutherford, and the bassist for Nektar.

[johnallg]

There was a host of great melodic players that followed Macca and Squire out of the UK in the 70's.

Sadly, I don't think we'll see that creativity again...

Andy, in the present corporate music environment, that just isn't possible like it was back then, when visionaries behind the vinyl allowed visionaries to make the vinyl. Now its all about fitting the money-making mold.

[aceonbass]

I'm hoping that pendulum swings back the other way again. As with any extreme, it usually does.

[FretlessOnly]

I'm hoping that pendulum swings back the other way again. As with any extreme, it usually does.

The music business corporate model is imploding upon itself. The old, stodgy music executives have been almost as forward-thinking as newspaper executives. I'm not saying that the more internet-savvy executives will be any less mercenary in their actions, but any change seems like a positive thing at this point.

At the very least, more access to lesser-known bands and artists will be possible. That's a plus, but it will also require wading through more material to find the gems.

[Becky]

Yeah, I noticed Jon Camp was missing too. As is Gary Strater, Mike Rutherford, and the bassist for Nektar.

Like many others, Geddy Lee was my main inspiration for buying my Rickenbacker, but Chris Squire hammered the point home.

Two weeks ago I started noodling around with the radio on iTunes, and happened upon one of the progressive rock stations; two weeks ago I had never heard of Starcastle; today I gave their eponymous album a whirl in my CD player. I'm actually seriously impressed with Strater's playing (though I bumped up the low EQ a bit on my hi-fi!) and I can feel a series of workout sessions coming up.

[12stringbassist]

Paul McCartney and Bruce Foxton.

[aceonbass]

You should give the rest of Starcastle's material a listen too Rebecca. Stay away from Reel to Reel though.

[johnallg]

Yeah, I noticed Jon Camp was missing too. As is Gary Strater, Mike Rutherford, and the bassist for Nektar.

Like many others, Geddy Lee was my main inspiration for buying my Rickenbacker, but Chris Squire hammered the point home.

Two weeks ago I started noodling around with the radio on iTunes, and happened upon one of the progressive rock stations; two weeks ago I had never heard of Starcastle; today I gave their eponymous album a whirl in my CD player. I'm actually seriously impressed with Strater's playing (though I bumped up the low EQ a bit on my hi-fi!) and I can feel a series of workout sessions coming up.

Becky, how about the middle break in Lady of the Lake? That first album was so good for a first effort. How about the bass part in Diamond Song (Deep is the Light), especially the opening riff?! Of Fountains?!

It is leavening to think that a road accident almost ended Starcastle (lives) before, or just as, they were breaking out.

Article from 2000 about the new recordings: http://www.globalbass.com/archives/mar2 ... castle.htm

Starcastle website: http://www.starcastlemusic.com/

[haw]

Chris Squire and Bruce Foxton - in both cases it was the tone that I first noticed, and then when I finally saw them both with the same kind of bass, the penny dropped.

I also noticed the basses looked great too, which always helps!

[cassius987]

In most any of these cases it seems like you hear the awesome tone first on a recording, are wowed, and then find out that one or more artists that you love to listen to above the others are playing these pretty looking fish. That's the final blow, the sexiness.

[Mossman]

They are dead sexy... I used to think of my Jazz bass as sexy, but now; I think of the Jazz as my wife, and the Rick as my mistress.

In regards to who most influenced me to buy a Rick; I would have to say that McCartney was an indirect influence. When I was a young Beatles freak, (about 12 or 13 years old) I hadn't seriously considered learning to play guitar or bass just yet, but I loved the look of Rickenbackers in general... I wanted a 325, a 360/12 and a 4001 (or any Rickenbacker, for that matter) regardless of whether I could play it or not... Then, not much later, I got turned on to Rush via the "Exit...Stage Left" album, and was utterly blown away by Geddy's playing, as well as his tone. I had never heard a bass sound like that before... Never knew a bass could sound like that! From that point forward, I was determined to become a bassist, and my holy grail was the Rickenbacker 4001. Not too long after that, I bought my first Yes album, which happened to be "Tormato"... Not exactly considered one of Yes' finer studio outings, but when I heard "On the Silent Wings of Freedom" it further cemented my love of the Rick and fostered my admiration of Chris Squire as a bassist and Yes as a band.

Oddly, the only reason I decided to buy a Yes album was because I heard the bass player played a Rickenbacker! By this time, I equated Ricks with exceptional musicianship, like playing a Rick implied a pedigree of excellence. I surmised if Chris Squire plays a Rick, then he must be freakin' awesome! I chose "Tormato" completely at random... Didn't matter to me.. I figured all their albums would be great. I wore out the needle listening to that record, and I still like it...

Oh, by the way, the bass that Les Claypool is most associated with is the Carl Thompson bass. Carl Thompson also invented the "piccolo bass" played by Stanley Clarke, and the six-string bass. They're made on a custom order basis, and cost more money than I can imagine.

[jps]

The only Carl Thompson I have seen and played is the one Mike Gutierrez had Carl make for him; Mike brought it to MARF III. The thing that surprised me the most was trying to figure out wherre he hid the helium in it!