"IIRC he already had the EB-1 when he was playing with Ringo's All Star Band in '97. Who knows, he may have owned it for years before that."
I now remember reading that Bruce actually got his EB-1 as a nod towards Macca when he joined Ringo's troop. Playing a real Höfner was out of the question for him, but the EB-1 suited the bill and was kind of a meeting of minds between the Jack- and Paul-instruments legacy worlds.
And outside of Gibson nerd forums such as the esteemed one here, that is what people actually think when they see an EB-1, "
Oh, that's a Beatle bass!", I just had that happen again at our rehearsal on Tuesday, when our (comparatively new) drummer pointed at the EB-1 I was playing. I then always do my little speech about Felix Pappalardi and Mountain, but let me tell you: Macca is far more famous!
Re BBM: The critics never left them a chance, but I liked their solitary album though I'm not a great fan in general of either Gary Moore's voice or his (no doubt skillful and recognizable) ultra-intense guitar playing.
For those of you that actually like Gary's blues phase, there is a heartfelt and well-executed tribute album (and let's face it: most tribuite albums are dodgy) under the guidance of Bob Daisley which has really excellent renditions which in many cases I even like better than Moore's originals: