Baba O'Riley...Epic!

[Pilgrim]

This cut makes the hair stand up on the back of my neck.  Showmanship in buckets...Townsend going nuts all over the stage, Daltry at his peak, some really nice shots of Entwhistle looking just like himself with his right hand at 78 PRM....this is probably my favorite Who number.



This also is a definitively bright, metallic sound from The Ox....easy to pick out in this recording.

Damn.  Simply DAMN!

For a totally different bass sound, check this cut:

[4stringer77]

Peter Cook beats Alembic to me.

[Rob]

Peter Cook beats Alembic to me.

Me2

You know I'm trying to find a video of a 1980's PBS show Rock school or school of rock.....
Ox was the bass instructor.  He hadn't really peaked yet but his advise and sounds were incredible.
If any of you guys have a link please post it 

[Pilgrim]

Peter Cook beats Alembic to me.

OK, I confess I don't understand what either Peter Cook or Alembic have to do with those cuts....?

[hieronymous]

John Entwistle is playing his Alembic Spyder in the Baba O'Reilly clip. For some reason, that's the sound I gravitate to.

[Chris P.]

I love this vid and it's also one of my most listened to Who tracks on a CD. Love the bass sound, love Pete's dancing at the beginning and the end and how he windmills his guitar

[4stringer77]

The Explorer bird was a custom build by Peter Cook. Cataldo makes an admirable copy.
http://www.thewho.net/whotabs/gear/bass/bass7485.html
http://cataldobasses.com/ExplorerBird.html

[Pilgrim]

Thanks...you guys are much better inculcated to the inner mysteries than I am  I just think those cuts absolutely kick butt.

[gearHed289]

You can REALLY hear the bass here.  Seeing the Kids are Alright as a teen set the tone for my approach to... tone.

I like both the Alembic and the Explorerbird. The Ebird gets a little more grind going toward the end of Who are You when he starts laying in with his fingers.

[Pilgrim]

Dang, I just can't believe the speed he gets with his style.  Very impressive.

That's an extremely bright, and I suppose, "piano-like" sound.  It sounds wonderful in this cut, but it's not a sound that I'd probably ever use.  He certainly didn't use that bright a sound all the time - other numbers of theirs are quite different.

[Chris P.]

Watched this isolated track a million times (also the one of Won't Get Fooled Again) and what always strikes me is that you normally almost only hear the three basic notes, while he plays a all kinds of walking lines to the G, an octave and much more. Cool.

[Pilgrim]

Check this track around 3:00 for early Ox finger work... (although the Tom Smothers intro is kinda fun, too...)

[eb2]

My favorite work from him kind of fades out after Who's Next, and I prefer the stuff from 66-8.  For tone I like Doctor Doctor, and that's pretty percussive and fat.  As he went through the 70s he got more clangy.  So the Alembic stuff is intriguing but I associate those basses with him the way I do with JPJ around Presence: clangy.

[Pilgrim]

My favorite work from him kind of fades out after Who's Next, and I prefer the stuff from 66-8.  For tone I like Doctor Doctor, and that's pretty percussive and fat.  As he went through the 70s he got more clangy.  So the Alembic stuff is intriguing but I associate those basses with him the way I do with JPJ around Presence: clangy.

I agree, the Baba O'Riley cut is extremely clangy. But I'm amazed at how well it works in that number.

[FrankieTbird]

You know I'm trying to find a video of a 1980's PBS show Rock school or school of rock.....
Ox was the bass instructor.  He hadn't really peaked yet but his advise and sounds were incredible.
If any of you guys have a link please post it 

I remember watching that one, pretty incredible stuff.  I also remember one episode that featured drummers (Ian Paice, Carl Palmer, some others???, Neil Peart maybe??)  I distinctly remember being blown away by Palmer, fantastic drummer, even if his band was rather long-winded...