Deep Purple Bass Cover

[westen44]

Since Deep Purple rarely receives any attention here, I decided to do my part to change that a bit. 

[uwe]

Too tame! 

Glenn is ahead of the beat and sloppier - he never rehearses his bass playing und generally records everything first or second take - in his own ingenious way:

[westen44]

This guy seems to be best at the Allman Brothers and Cream.  It's strictly a guess, but I would guess someone requested this particular song.  He just got that SG recently.  Any time he plays it it instantly catches my eye, since it's an ebony SG just like mine.  Everything I've ever heard from Glenn Hughes, though, I've liked.  It's different from what I'm used to.  I tend to be more impressed by people like that who can do what I can't.  My tendency is to play behind the beat, which is very typical of Southern rock. 

[uwe]

It's near possible to even approximate Glenn's "snarling piano'"-sound on this track with a short scale Gibson - even though Glenn was initially a Fender guy, he played a Ric on Burn (the album) and during his first couple of months with Purple - no doubt wishing to follow Roger Glover's footprints (though Roger's Ric never sounded as snarly, he didn't pick as hard as Glenn either). Glenn didn't feel comfortable with a Ric and reverted  to Fenders pretty soon though.

[westen44]

Speaking of Glenn Hughes, if he isn't beating Sting at his own game on this, he is certainly coming very close.  Believe me, I appreciate Sting.  But damn, the vocals here are great. 

[uwe]

I defintely think so too, but Glenn's vocals rub a lot of people (my wife for one: "He sings well, but I hate his tone and those falsetto shrieks give me headaches ...") I know the wrong way - always have. A mystery to me, I find him to be the George Michael of hard rock. That good.

Yet ... for some reason, many music lovers I know find this little ditty here divisive ... 



But he can tone down as well. I guess that Stevie Wonder-derived throatiness is a matter of taste. (Glenn once even auditioned with Earth, Wind & Fire, they deemed him "too rock" .  )

[westen44]

This is subjective to a degree, but I think many people try to make it too subjective.  A person either does or does not have vocal talent.  I can see why some people might object a little to all the high notes in "Georgia on My Mind." but it's still a stellar performance.  Great singers are just so rare.  Vocals aren't valued as highly as they used to be.  We have auto-tune now.  Christina Aguilera expressed it best with her T-shirt which said "Auto-tune is for pussies." 

Edit

It should be noted for the record, I'm not actually a Christina Aguilera fan.  I wouldn't even be able to name one of her songs.  However, Jack Bruce once said in an interview that he would be interested in playing bass for her. 

[gearHed289]

I was just listening to Burn (the album) on the way to work today. I've been listening to You Fool No One repeatedly this week.  I can understand how Glenn's shrieks can grate on some people, but I've come to love and appreciate what he's done.

[westen44]

People make the same kind of complaint about Matt Bellamy's vocals.  I think they're fine, although Glenn Hughes is better than Matt Bellamy as a vocalist.  My complaint with Muse is that they went too much from rock to pop through the years.  I remember being in Ireland in 2006.  There was a magazine on the newsstand asking the question would Muse be able to top the "Absolution" album.  The answer I think is they were not.  But that's neither here nor there. 

[doombass]

This is subjective to a degree, but I think many people try to make it too subjective.  A person either does or does not have vocal talent.  I can see why some people might object a little to all the high notes in "Georgia on My Mind." but it's still a stellar performance.  Great singers are just so rare.  Vocals aren't valued as highly as they used to be.  We have auto-tune now.  Christina Aguilera expressed it best with her T-shirt which said "Auto-tune is for pussies."

Agreed. I hold Glenn Hughes as one of the greatest vocalists around, but that does'nt mean I worship everything he does with his voice. He often seems to get excited overdoing his performance. Still i kind of buy it because it shows his passion, even if it sometimes borders to cringeworthy. My favorite Glenn Hughes vocals are when he skips the falsetto and goes into pure soul or rock mode:

[westen44]

^^^
I totally agree with you and think you're right on target. 

[uwe]

Muse are a phenomenon I don't really get. I find their music bloated, pretentious, mannered und curiously devoid of life or grit. That is possibly horrendously unfair, but I have a couple of their CDs, old und new, sometimes dig them out to perhaps find something I overheard, but their music leaves me cold everytime. And the vocals sound "wailing" to me.

I'm not knocking them as musicians, they obviously have a concept and perform their stuff well. Horses for courses.

[uwe]

Since Deep Purple rarely receives any attention here, I decided to do my part to change that a bit ...

  That only registered with me now!!! I hate stealthy irony! 

[westen44]

Muse are a phenomenon I don't really get. I find their music bloated, pretentious, mannered und curiously devoid of life or grit. That is possibly horrendously unfair, but I have a couple of their CDs, old und new, sometimes dig them out to perhaps find something I overheard, but their music leaves me cold everytime. And the vocals sound "wailing" to me.

I'm not knocking them as musicians, they obviously have a concept and perform their stuff well. Horses for courses.

My friend who is a Gibson guitar aficionado feels pretty much the same.  She lives far away, but by coincidence was visiting here in December 2004 when I essentially discovered Muse by buying the "Absolution" CD.  I was immediately drawn to the post-apocalyptic vibe.  When she does make a comment about a Muse song, I usually have to respond by saying something like "but that's one of their worst songs."  So, the point is she doesn't relate to Muse, but understands why I do.  However, the main criticism I keep hearing is about Matt Bellamy's vocals.  I can adjust to that, kind of like I can adjust to Hendrix who also wasn't really a great vocalist.  It doesn't bother me.  It doesn't get on my nerves the way it seems to do with other people. 

However, like I've already indicated "Absolution" was their best album, IMO.  On some of the albums which followed, I have to skip over some of the songs and I can't even listen to an album as a whole.  Overall, I guess their music just became too commercialized and too much like pop music.  Being associated with teenage vampire movies didn't help at all.  That's something Chris Wolstenholme has said he wasn't too happy about, either.  Muse has a loyal fan base in the U.S., but I think there are still many people who never knew who they were.  I once was asking about a Muse CD in a store and the much younger clerk asked me if they were a band from the 80s. 

[westen44]

That only registered with me now!!! I hate stealthy irony!