Prince....playing a live bass solo

[westen44]

The 2014 "George Fest" tribute concert may have been the worst of all.  I agree with this RS review:

Too often, though, these covers suffocate in their own reverence. Excitement to pay tribute to a hero can easily turn into overeager worship, as the Cold War Kids ("Taxman") and Perry Farrell ("Here Comes The Sun") make all too plain. And while a concert full of fiercely faithful, off-the-cuff covers of a legendary songwriter can make for a fun night out, hearing Conan O'Brien sing "Old Brown Shoe" or Weird Al Yankovic perform "What is Life" is far less entertaining on record. With a lineup this eclectic and a songbook as undervalued as Harrison's, a little more adventurousness would have gone a long way.

[Dave W]

Good Lord, Dave, I forgot you were up there. Fatigue? That implies you could take a nap and it would go away.

I wish! Turned on the TV at 8 this morning to get the weather preview. Top story: A search warrant has been executed at the Walgreens where Prince had his prescription(s). This follows the search warrant executed at Paisley Park a couple of days ago. The DEA is involved. Second story: a grandniece of Prince has stepped forward to claim a piece of the estate. She's allegedly the heir of Prince's grandparents who allegedly would have had a share of the estate.

Turned it off and went to an online weather site. If I had kept watching, I might have had to sit through several more Prince stories.

Y'know what I wish for? I wish for people to stop marking a musician's passing with trite little observations like "I guess he's up there jamming with Janis and Jimi and Bonzo" or "They must have one hell of a house band up there.". As if the first thing one does in the Great Beyond is to find out where the nearest open mic night is. Furthermore, if those are anything like the ones they have down here, it might not be heaven.

Yeah, I hate that too. As if any religion preaches that.

Whenever someone says something like that, it reminds me of a co-worker from years ago who often said he wasn't concerned about heaven since he hated harp music and wasn't that fond of cool weather either.   

[Hörnisse]

You all do know that Clapton played the original solo on WMGGW?   

In an old Guitar Player Magazine interview Duane Eddy said that Clapton did the solo on Something as well.  He was at Abby Road studios at the time.

[Hörnisse]

Nicks has often told the story of how she wrote the song. She wrote it on the day of her marriage to Kim Anderson on January 29, 1983. The newlyweds were driving up to San Ysidro Ranch in Santa Barbara when Prince's song "Little Red Corvette" came on the radio. Nicks started humming along to the melody, especially inspired by the lush synthesizers of the song, and "Stand Back" was born. They stopped and got a tape recorder and she recorded the demo in the honeymoon suite that night. Later, when Nicks went into the studio to record the song, she called Prince and told him the story of how she wrote the song to his melody. He came to the studio that night and played synthesizers on it, although his contribution is uncredited on the album. Then, she says, "he just got up and left as if the whole thing happened in a dream."

[westen44]

You all do know that Clapton played the original solo on WMGGW?   

In an old Guitar Player Magazine interview Duane Eddy said that Clapton did the solo on Something as well.  He was at Abby Road studios at the time.

George asked Clapton to play on the song.  Eric was hesitant and said he wasn't sure it would be such a good idea--that the other Beatles might not want him to.  George said it was his song and he wanted Eric to play on "While My Guitar Gently Weeps."  The rest is history. 

However, that's George Harrison playing on "Something."  Eric played on many other songs on George's solo albums, though.  Every book I have ever read that mentioned "Something" says that Harrison played the solo.  This includes Beatles/George Harrison experts such as Simon Leng and Kenneth Wommack.  Plus, there are comments from George himself about playing the "Something" solo.  Although GH didn't take himself seriously as a musician or a songwriter, it is clear he considered "Something" to be his best song, including, of course, the guitar solo.  John and Paul also considered "Something" to be George's best song.  Their comments about it can be found in the "Beatles Anthology" book and George's quotes about his solo are in Leng's book. 

[Hörnisse]

Eddy's comments were just 9 years after the recording.  (Guitar Player February 1978) Something was also Sinatra's favorite Lennon/ McCartney song.   

[westen44]

Eddy's comments were just 9 years after the recording.  (Guitar Player February 1978) Something was also Sinatra's favorite Lennon/ McCartney song.   

I haven't read the Duane Eddy article, but I've heard about it.  I have heard several versions of what he said.  The one that made the most sense is that he was "misremembering" because he had been an observer at various recording sessions, including "The All Things Must Pass" sessions in which Eric Clapton played extensively on George Harrison songs.  However, 99.9 % of the world believes that George Harrison played the guitar solo on "Something."  Whatever Duane Eddy said, he was probably sincere but also inaccurate. 

Along with Sinatra, Michael Jackson also thought "Something" was a Lennon-McCartney song.  Also, George wasn't particularly fond of Frank Sinatra's version.  (But George did like Hoagy Carmichael songs.)

[Hörnisse]

When you find a live version of George playing that solo with similar nuances let me know because I haven't been able to find one.  Duane was born in 1938 so I'm sure his memory was still fine in 1978.

[westen44]

When you find a live version of George playing that solo with similar nuances let me know because I haven't been able to find one.  Duane was born in 1938 so I'm sure his memory was still fine in 1978.

I'm sorry, but this has reached the point of absurdity.  Please find anything that resembles proof to back up your assertions.  Are we really sure that isn't Pete Best playing drums on "Something?"

Seriously, it's hard to find George Harrison playing live performances after the 1974 Dark Horse tour.  There are a few examples, but even they are unofficial for the most part.  If Eric Clapton hadn't pressured George Harrison to tour Japan in the early 90s, we would have very little any of any live performances that were substantive,  Even that isn't very well known, although it was officially released as an album in 1992. 

[Hörnisse]

Eddy States that he was at Abby Road Studios when The Beatles were recording Abby Road, not at a George Harrison recording session and that he saw Clapton record the solo.  Do you have any photos of George playing the solo or are you just going by what was recollected years later and put in a book?  Pete Best played on 6 tracks that were included in the Anthology series and because of this he was able to collect royalties.

[Dave W]

Back to Prince and the local media insanity.

Last night there was an in depth story of a visit to the JW Kingdom Hall where Prince was a member. We were told that no, Witnesses aren't anti-medicine or anti-surgery, and "Brother Nelson" went door to door sometimes like other Witnesses, where a woman once asked him if anybody had ever told him he looks just like Prince. Wow, never saw that one coming. 

Yet another in-depth story featured some kind of therapist trying to explain why people get so wound up in grieving for somebody they never met. The story was complete with attention-seeking neurotics blubbering and bawling for the camera outside Paisley Park. And wouldn't you know it, turns out the therapist herself had made a pilgrimage to Paisley Park. What a surprise. 

Yet another story informed us that Prince gave some large donations to local organizations with the provision that he remain an anonymous donor. And of course now that Prince is dead, a director of one the charities can't wait to get his face on camera and violate that confidence.

After all that, I couldn't bear to watch today.

Apparently sales of Prince's music increased by 42,000 percent in the first four days after his death. I mean no disrespect to longtime Prince fans, but I have to wonder how many new buyers of his music will now claim to have been big fans all along.

[westen44]

Eddy States that he was at Abby Road Studios when The Beatles were recording Abby Road, not at a George Harrison recording session and that he saw Clapton record the solo.  Do you have any photos of George playing the solo or are you just going by what was recollected years later and put in a book?  Pete Best played on 6 tracks that were included in the Anthology series and because of this he was able to collect royalties.

First of all, the solo does not sound like Eric Clapton.  It sounds like George Harrison.  There were 37 takes of "Something."  Except for Duane Eddy's comment, literally no one on earth has ever said that that was Eric Clapton playing.  I am not just talking about one book.  I am talking about all the books, articles, and observations that have been made through the years.  If anyone has paid attention to what Duane Eddy said or taken it seriously, it would be common knowledge by now.  Instead, one person after the other still talks about George's solo on "Something" as a factual event.  I suspect that I could go through my entire life and never meet even one other person who believes that Eric Clapton played the the guitar solo on "Something." 

However, in conclusion, I'd certainly be curious to check out anything Duane Eddy had to say, if it can even be found.  As of now, I'm going with the musicologists, music critics and historians, all of which believed George Harrison played the guitar solo on "Something."  I'm being completely serious in saying this.  Would it be theoretically possible for Duane Eddy to be right and the rest of the world to be wrong?  Of course, it is possible.  But unless I see some kind of proof I would remain extremely skeptical.  The burden of proof is on the Duane Eddy account, not the other way around.  By the way, I'd be very interested in hearing what Eric Clapton has to say about this matter.  He also might be able to clear up the question of whether Jack Bruce also used an EB-3 on Disraeli Gears rather than just the Dano that he has in the pics.  I think he did, but others disagree.  It would be great if Eric could elaborate some day. 

My reference to Pete Best, by the way, was just a joke.  I had heard about him being able to collect royalties from the Anthology recordings and think that's very good, too. 

[lowend1]

Back to Prince and the local media insanity.

Last night there was an in depth story of a visit to the JW Kingdom Hall where Prince was a member. We were told that no, Witnesses aren't anti-medicine or anti-surgery, and "Brother Nelson" went door to door sometimes like other Witnesses, where a woman once asked him if anybody had ever told him he looks just like Prince. Wow, never saw that one coming. 

Yet another in-depth story featured some kind of therapist trying to explain why people get so wound up in grieving for somebody they never met. The story was complete with attention-seeking neurotics blubbering and bawling for the camera outside Paisley Park. And wouldn't you know it, turns out the therapist herself had made a pilgrimage to Paisley Park. What a surprise. 

Yet another story informed us that Prince gave some large donations to local organizations with the provision that he remain an anonymous donor. And of course now that Prince is dead, a director of one the charities can't wait to get his face on camera and violate that confidence.

After all that, I couldn't bear to watch today.

Apparently sales of Prince's music increased by 42,000 percent in the first four days after his death. I mean no disrespect to longtime Prince fans, but I have to wonder how many new buyers of his music will now claim to have been big fans all along.

I dont have a comment. I only quoted Dave because when you do so, it gets highlighted in a purple-y color. It's just appropriate. (insert "fart of sarcasm" here)

[Highlander]

Purple...? Does that mean a certain well-known British guitarist, who shall not be named, as he ends all threads, according to one of our mentors, can be included in this conversation...?  (can we have a :mrpurple: smiley please Dave...? insert "NO" here )

[westen44]

Purple...? Does that mean a certain well-known British guitarist, who shall not be named, as he ends all threads, according to one of our mentors, can be included in this conversation...?  (can we have a :mrpurple: smiley please Dave...? insert "NO" here )

When it comes to guitarists, you've only got one list that really matters--

1)  RB
2)  Everybody else