The Last Bass Outpost
Main Forums => The Bass Zone => Topic started by: Pekka on July 18, 2010, 03:17:07 AM
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Any fans? I discovered them about 14 years ago, a friend made a tape with "Battlescar", "In Context Of The Moon" and "Beyond The Moon". Of course I later discovered they were capable of much more than 'just' playing heavy prog and nowadays I think them as a hard rock's NRBQ if you get my point. :) Of the individual players my fav is Terry Watkinson: a great keyboard player, as underrated as, say, Hugh Banton of VDGG.
Samples from every studio album:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vwtFirrdNL4 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vwtFirrdNL4)
(The middle part reminds me of Little Feat)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jx5ZFO7SL7k (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jx5ZFO7SL7k)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kmWyu21pYbQ (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kmWyu21pYbQ)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mMb1Y2YaHOQ (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mMb1Y2YaHOQ)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KQVbaW6IZFo (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KQVbaW6IZFo)
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Saw them three times - supporting Rush and in their own right at London's Marquee Club, 1980 iirc - Kim Mitchell has carved out a little niche for himself back in the land of the Hosers... don't know about the other guys...
I can understand why you like Terry Watkinson but my interest was always the primary writer - I have pretty much everything Kim Mitchell has (legitimately) recorded, no having most of it on CD (including one exceptionally scarce CD on a label that went bust)
If you want to check out his solo stuff, start with Rockland...
Most people will go Max who...? The likliehood of ever seeing him on stage in the UK again...? Bob Hope and no hope (and one of those is dead...)
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If you want to check out his solo stuff, start with Rockland...
I have his first three albums and I like the first one (which is an EP actually) best. A bit too slick and AOR for me, lacks the zany edge that Max had.
You saw them in 1980? Was it after the "Universal Juvelines" and if yes, did they still have Terry on keys? There's some clips on youtube from 1980 that has Dave Stone (ex-Symphonic Slam, ex- Rainbow) on keys.
You don't happen to own any unofficial live recordings?
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"The Cat's In The Bag..."
Definitely Terry on keys and I can be certain of the dates as it was June 4th, 5th and 9th (just checked ticket stubs - 9th was my 21st and that was the Marquee) and the rush tour was for Permanant Waves...
I have never got hold of any boots though there are a lot of dedicated Cannucks that I have yet to try and contact...
I may still have a spare copy of the promo leaflet from the tour (with a flexi disc?) for A Million Vacations if you want one - pm if interested and I'll go look for one... I helped myself to a heap of them on the way out...
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Great fan of A Million Vacations etc. Nerdy prog hard rock was never any better. Kim's solo stuff sounds a little dumbed down to me, but he probably has a family to take care of.
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... and a regular slot on local radio...
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I saw them a few times back in their prime, since I lived/played on the same club circuit.
Billy Sheehan actually did a stint IN Max Webster in the late '70s between Talas incarnations but I've never seen him mention it, so I'm guessing that maybe it didn't go well.
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This is probably their best of the prog songs, or the "Moon" songs
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9eEnqCXNs84 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9eEnqCXNs84)
Dave Stone on keys. The studio version has a great synth bassline but Dave Myles doesn't do badly here with his Precision.:) Gotta love those Taurus pedals at the end too.
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Hooray!
http://www.rockcandyrecords.co.uk/catalogue/686
http://www.rockcandyrecords.co.uk/catalogue/687
http://www.rockcandyrecords.co.uk/catalogue/688
No bonus tracks but the booklets got me drooling already. Hope the rest will follow, especially if we could get an expanded "Live Magnetic Air".
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I'm a big fan from way back. Saw them open for Rush back in the day ...... many brain-cells ago so I don't remember exactly what tour ..... must have been around '79. I became a true believer and followed Kim Mitchell's career religiously (as did many Canadians of my generation) and saw him with his own band at least 5 times over the years. He does a radio show in Toronto on Q107 and has a huge following but he still goes out on tour every summer doing small festivals and soft-seaters, mostly in Canada I believe.
If you want to check out his solo stuff, start with Rockland...
Disagree. While it's arguably his finest hour both in terms of songwriting and production, Akimbo Alogo has a real live, raw feel to it (as does Shakin' like a Human Being) and was the culmination of all of his songwriting (angst) leading up to a major release post Max. Plus, the rhythm section of Robert Sinclair Wilson on bass and Paul DeLong on drums was the bomb! I think Peter Fredette switched over to bass from rhythm guitar for the Rockland album.
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The Rush tour of the UK in '80 was Permanent waves and Max were promoting Vacations at that time... simply stunning... Oh War really stood out for me...
Akimbo is a superb recording, agreed, but it's the ten men with ten lists syndrome... ;D
Rockland - Fredette is credited only with bgv's and bass is credited to Matthew Gerrard, who is googleable in his own right...
Definitely envy your side of the pond, musically, L2F... and the ability to still see the guy play... 8)
I'm still trying to source the Xmas song...
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I saw M.W. open for Rush too. I think it was the Moving Pictures tour. Whenever it was, Geddy had done some guest vocals on a song and all my friends were hoping Geddy would come out to sing with Webster. Didn't happen, of course. M.W. put on an enjoyable show and the bass player was amazing!!
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Plus, the rhythm section of Robert Sinclair Wilson on bass and Paul DeLong on drums was the bomb!
Indeed! Especially on the EP which still has some Max Websterisms left.
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I saw M.W. open for Rush too. I think it was the Moving Pictures tour. Whenever it was, Geddy had done some guest vocals on a song and all my friends were hoping Geddy would come out to sing with Webster. Didn't happen, of course. M.W. put on an enjoyable show and the bass player was amazing!!
The song was "Battlescar" that featured not only Geddy on vocals and second bass but also Neil and Alex.
Was the bassist playing an Alembic bass? If yes, then it was Mike Gingrich who replaced Dave Myles during that last tour. Do you recall if they had two guitarists? Steve McMurray was added to the line-up for those last days.
Dave Myles:
(http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-EvFARqjW9To/Tguky5vEFvI/AAAAAAAAAEw/qA4kHbBdQNQ/s1600/MaxWebster_013.jpg)
Battlescar:
http://youtu.be/PMM6Bhwpy0M (http://youtu.be/PMM6Bhwpy0M)
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I don't remember the bass but his name was something like Pie Du Bouis, which someone on another forum said was a stage name. That was the first time I had ever witnessed a bass solo in concert and was pretty impressed. I have some pictures packed away somewhere, but God only knows where. I remember Kim wearing pink & black striped pants and a pink jacket. Truth be told, I think they put on a better show than Rush did that night.
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Pye Dubois was the name of Max Webster's lyricist. He also co-wrote "Tom Sawyer" with Peart. His real name is Paul Phillip Woods.
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Clearly I don't know a lot about the band ;D They were quite fun to watch that night tho.
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I saw them in the spring of '81 opening for Rush on the MP tour in Chicago. Bass player had an Alembic that may have been a 6 string.
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Just received the first three remasters from Rock Candy and they are very recommended! Very insightful interviews with Mitchell on the booklets.
We got a couple of shows with Rush, who were starting to do really well locally, there was quite a buzz about them. I didn't see it, I thought they were trying to do Led Zeppelin and not doing it very well; that being said I did like Alex's playing, he had a really cool rock sound, and he did things a little differently.
Anyway, John Rutsey was leaving - and they asked Paul (Kersey, Max Webster drummer) to join them. He came to me, told me he'd been invited to join , and I was like 'do you really want to play that stuff? Do what you have to do, but I don't want to see you go', and he turned them down. Given how things turned out I'm surprised he didn't come gunning for me later and kick me in the onions!
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Interview from 1980:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=dm9xYkLxW0Y#! (https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=dm9xYkLxW0Y#!)
This is one of my favs from them. Laconic and quite melancholy.Great synth playing from Terry Watkinson, very pedal steel -like and Mitchell's guitar playing is again astonishing:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hpNV5Jx1Mns (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hpNV5Jx1Mns)
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Another interview from 1980 with some great rehearsal footage from the final 5 piece lineup:
http://youtu.be/38IW3tn4700
Spot Mike Gingrich' 5-string Alembic. Pretty early for 1980.
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Max Webster playing "Battlescar" during the final gigs of their career with Richard Nixon on backing vocals.
(http://www.maxwebster.ca/images/contrib/Ged_Max/geddy_max_01.jpg)
(http://www.maxwebster.ca/images/contrib/Ged_Max/geddy_max_02.jpg)
That 5-string Alembic, was it a Jimmy Johnson model?
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Not sure about the bass but keep up the trawling for clips... :popcorn:
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A Max Webster box. Never imagined it would happen but I'm happy to be wrong. My favourite Canadian band.
http://ventsmagazine.com/2017/08/10/ole-label-groups-imprint-anthem-legacy-release-definitive-max-webster-vinyl-cd-box-sets/ (http://ventsmagazine.com/2017/08/10/ole-label-groups-imprint-anthem-legacy-release-definitive-max-webster-vinyl-cd-box-sets/)
The cd version was quite cheap and I already have them all on vinyl (who wouldn't? :) ).
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I just saw this thread for the first time and it's hilarious to me that MW have any non-Cannuk fans in this day and age. Around here they've been relegated to bush radio - like you'll only hear them outa some local's truck when you stop off to get gas on the way camping.
Kim Mitchell solo is much more poppy and dumbed down as Uwe says, but just as nerdy (I appreciate the message of Might as well go for a Soda, but it ain't very rock n roll; Patio Lanterns is a slice of teen Canadiana; I am a Wild Party is a lie and merely a display of Kim's poor judgement as regards wardrobe, though not surprising considering the cover of Universal Juveniles). He's now a DJ on our local formerly-classic-rock (recent billboards rebranding the station said something to the effect of "we now acknowledge that there's classic rock from the 80s and 90s" and then they put Rock the Casbah and Smells Like Teen Spirit into rotation) and has gone complete bal'ead (looks better than he did during his solo heydey). Incidentally, Randy Bachman has a show on the same station.
Just don't please no April Wine threads.
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I just got a call yesterday from one of our vendors in Buffalo, NY. He started with a "stump Heslin with a song quote". I don't recall the line, but it was April Wine. ;D
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I just saw this thread for the first time and it's hilarious to me that MW have any non-Cannuk fans in this day and age.
Well, Finland and Canada have much in common. I know quite a lot Webster fans but of course a lot more Rush fans who know nothing about the mighty Max. A kid brother Rush? More like their weird uncle.
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A kid brother Rush? More like their weird uncle.
ROFL
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Is he still on the radio station...? Thought he'd lost the gig post his heart attack...?
I know he sporadically gigs now... following on FB...
Saw about the box set but rather loathe to spend the readies as I still have most of the original vinyl and CD's...
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Max Webster was hard to heavy rock for people who liked a little, but not too much Zappa with their denim dandruff headbang diet. ;)
A bit of a muso band (but so was/is Rush), they were held in high regard in Germany though cultish. Not as long faced serious as Rush who in the 80ies could be grating with their "please take us serious and don't make jokes about our music, we work so hard for it" po-facedness. Geddy Lee would write letters to rock journals that he did not wish to be compared to David Lee Roth after one journal had written something jokey about a fictitious rock star called "Geddy Lee Roth". :-X Sometime in the 90ies and onwards, Rush discovered self-depracating humor and their gigs became much better for it.
I have always had an avid interest in the Canadian rock scene, hey, I own albums by Moxy and (nearly) all David Clayton-Thomas solo albums!!! Only recently, I bought a 5 CD set of the Guess Who (I already have everything from BTO). Plus a boxed set from Pat Travers, the man who intrepidly wished to duel the Sex Pistols in a joint live gig offering to play with just three strings on his guitar (and two strings on his bassist's bass). Herr Rotten and his mates didn't take the bait, but I think they appreciated the PR aspect of Travers' invitation, long-haired Canadians playing a bluesy guitar had a hard time getting headlines in the NME in 1977 so you had to be creative. ;)
And yes, I'll buy that Max Webster Boxed Set in a heartbeat. :mrgreen:
And if you're serious about Rush, you must have heard of Max Webster!
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And yes, I'll buy that Max Webster Boxed Set in a heartbeat. :mrgreen:
Do you have the book? Written by Martin Popoff. Essential reading.
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Is there a band Martin has not written about? :mrgreen:
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Apparently he is Pye Dubois' neighbour, or was several years back...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hn1IvLPU5UM
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The boxed set arrived today, the cardboard box is incredibly flimsy and cheap, but the 8 albums (one of them under the Kim Mitchell moniker) are nicely packaged in mini gatefold sleeves. Today is gonna be Max Webster day at the office! :mrgreen:
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Enjoy... still got almost all of the originals... :mrgreen:
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The boxed set arrived today, the cardboard box is incredibly flimsy and cheap, but the 8 albums (one of them under the Kim Mitchell moniker) are nicely packaged in mini gatefold sleeves. Today is gonna be Max Webster day at the office! :mrgreen:
I was quite disappointed at the packaging and the lack of booklet (the box advertisements failed to mention clearly that the booklet and all the extra stuff is included only within the vinyl box) and the box is indeed flimsy as flimsy can be. Mini gatefolds are nice 'though all the original artwork is not included, for example there's no lyrics anywhere.
I did a bit of complaining and even suggested that the booklet could be made available as a download. We'll see...I won't be buying the vinyl box since I have the lot on vinyl. At least I'm against buying it right now...:D
But, the price was very cheap and they sound great. "Mutiny" seems to have gained a bit of extra low end which is a good thing. Plus the extra disc "The Bootleg" has some gems. "Walden 5" is a nice proggy pop from Terry Watkinson, reminds me a bit of The Tubes. Live "Research At The Beach Resorts" blows away it's studio counterpart. "Battlescar" demo sounds empty without "the other band".
On the other hand, all the 1979 extra live stuff left me wanting more. An expanded "Live Magnetic Air" for example.
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"Battlescar" demo sounds empty without "the other band"
I'd like to hear that just for kicks.
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Billy Sheehan actually did a stint IN Max Webster in the late '70s between Talas incarnations but I've never seen him mention it, so I'm guessing that maybe it didn't go well.
He retained this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o-SmPmjGRjo
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He retained this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o-SmPmjGRjo
Nice version. Love Sheehan!
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Looks like my old drummer, Mark Miller, playng on this one.