Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

No RIC content but truly amazing.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=2uwz8GeLcPs&search=john%20entwistle

I absolutely love the headstock cam!

Nice clip Jeff, I thoroughly enjoyed it.

WOW!

Proof positive that the electric bass is the coolest instrument ever. It's hard to believe all that talent he'd been nuturing all those years just disappeared one night, gone forever. Was John an anatomical donor? Who got his right hand?? Damn...

I saw him about 5 years ago in a 100 seat club in Worcester Ma. from about 10' away, stage was 2' high, he was amazing. I saw him the next night in a small club in Prov. RI. These were with his own band. They had all their stuff in the Worc club, tripped the breakers on his side of the stage three or four times, the next night they only had half the stuff. When he did his triplets it was a like a butterfly touching the strings with it's wings, I never saw a bass player with such a light touch. He played both with fingers and a pick. Actually I think he was better the night I saw him in worcester, his solo was more fluid and connected and lasted longer.

I missed the chance to see him on that tour in Minneapolis...I saw a poster for it, and forgot about it when the day came. Someone recounted that gig, and said John was upset at the sound, but I would have loved to see his technique up close and get an autograph...who'da figured he die so prematurely. I wasn't aware of his appetites at the time. This same guy hung out and partied with him afterward, and he was amazed at how much booze John could handle...he easily drank over a fifth, and was still composed, and was still up wanting to party long after everyone else was blotto....maybe the cocaine was the key there. I dunno...maybe he figured the substances were part and parcel of what he did, and that if they did him in, that meant The Music's Over. Squire is another one who seems to have taken to hard drugs and drinking rather late in his career... maybe as a defense against feeling washed-up and past your prime? Funny thing is, tho, both men only became better players as time went on. Squire has recently said he can play things now he couldn't ten years ago. Around the Union era tho, he had some nasty habits, and one person clearly remembers how sick he looked at one of those gigs.
Bruford recounted that Squire "had gone down the tubes" around that time... I guess it was around the time of his divorce, and I"m sure he's cleaned up since he now has a new wife and young child, but it's really a shame to see talent of this level playing so fast and loose with their gifts when there's guys out there who'd kill for a smidgen of such talent.

Holy Shi*! I had no idea he was THAT good!
/drool

Fantastic bass player.

One of the best the world has ever seen.

Yeah, but if he didn't have those fret markers to help him....

Seriously, when he's hitting the strings with the front and back of his fingers, it sounds like he's playing with two guitar pics at once. I've never seen anyone else who's truly mastered the techniques he had.

His death angered me though, as it was drug related during a period in his life when he certainly should have known better.

Very cool. I'd have like to seen him and Squire on the the same stage dueling it out.

Check out how low his action is. Amazing.

Un-be-lie-va-ble!! I've heard those sort of gymnastics before, but I've never seen them! Thanks for the link, Jeff - that is a truly educational experience!

....think I'll put my 4003 back in its case and stick to guitars!

In a similar vein, there's a great bass solo on the "Live At The Acropolis" CD by Yanni. Hardly comparable music-wise but similar expertise.

Just watched it again,You know its funny, If I stood on stage at one of the local clubs around here and played that solo note for note, matched his tone perfectly, when I got done, everyone would be standing around staring at me.

But,,,,,,let me throw in a few slides, or pop a few notes in the middle of something like "Mustang Sally", everyone would go nuts.

Go figure.

That is a great solo, and a pretty good web site. Thanks for the link! A few Chris Squire videos there too, which led to a Roger Dean interview. You could end up spending alot of time in there!

Entwistle was amazing. Makes me miss him. THat solo kind of reminded me of one of my favorite bass players....Les Claypool. Any fans of his around here? I have been to a few Primus or other Claypool project concerts and he always gets alot of appreciation for his playing without throwing in token notes from things like Mustang Sally, Star Wars, Theme from Rocky, etc.

His death angered me though, as it was drug related during a period in his life when he certainly should have known better.

Marc, I agree totally.

John was/is my idol, and hs playing was truly amazing, but for some reason I can't fully forgive him for being that foolish.

Compare and contrast that with this neato footage from circa 1967 or so, John again but with a Slab Precision, you gotta love the tone- i think this was about the time he started using Roto's- for a P Bass it almost clanks:

http://www.youtube.com/w/The-Who---So-Sad-About-Us?v=skpeXx8hr9w&search=%22the%20who%22