Geezer Music

[Dave W]

Some friends of mine (husband & wife, in their 40s) advertised on Craigslist for a second guitarist for their band. Pretty straightforward, I thought.

Here's a response they got:

Please take this with a grain of salt and dont bother flaming me, but honestly? zappa, replacements, stones, ramones? Unless you are all in wheelchairs I have no idea why anyone would want to play these bands covers. Is there still a market for this stuff? Perhaps in the 90's you could do those bands and be labeled a 'classic' band, but ... See Morenow days other than bingo halls do you actually have bars and clubs that have an audience for this music?

I am a guitar player and hence I keep checking EC area and I do see your ad often, so just my 2c's worth. I honestly can not see any guitar player wanting to play that type of music unless they are in their mid 60's etc. Perhaps you should change your style a bit and play newer rock like...ohhh...CCR or Lynard Skynard (sad when I am calling that 'newer' rock) but for your band it would probably be very new rock. Then I think you might be able to land a few players and then slowly inject those super old songs. Sort of a marketing scheme if you will. But I do wish you luck in your findings, however I think it is a fruitless endeavor.

I'm dangerously close to my mid-60s now, I'd better get on down to the bingo hall where I can listen to some Replacements and Ramones, 'cause that's what us geezers like. Not those young whippersnappers like "Lynard Skynard." 

[Highlander]

Damn... where the heck did I park my Zimmer...

[patman]

Amusing AD...

BTW we play geezer music.  I like geezer music. People pay me decent money to play geezer music.  I've got a Friday and a Saturday gig this week at 2 nice nightclubs that serve dinner and drinks and take reservations.  Old time Rock and roll, R & B, country & rockabilly...It's all good.

[OldManC]

If I like playing it, that's one point in my favor. If someone else likes listening to it, that's even better. If they'll pay it's that much more to be happy about. Some dumbass calling me an old man for playing it? Couldn't care less.  And that guy's attitude sounds more like an old fogey than the piss and vinegar it takes to do The Replacements any justice...

[jumbodbassman]

geezer is good...  If i had my way i would never play anything recorded after 1974.  A little tough to make good money but most of us are way beyond that a this point.  Showing up to $100 gigs with $10,000 in equipment is normal course.

guess he wants to only play "guitar rock from the 80's".  I don't have enough hair.....  

[Lightyear]

Since when has CCR and LS been "newer" than the Ramones?  The plane went down before DeeDee first yelled/counted out "ONETWOTHREEFOUR!"

I certainly hope the responder lives, and plays long enough to see 50

And speaking of NYC punks where'e Skate Rat?

[GonzoBass]

So covering Miles from "Kinda Blue" (1959)
makes me what, a fossil?


Everyone's got a opinion
but I'd say play the music you enjoy playing.




P.S.- ...and here, I thought this was gonna be a Black Sabbath thread.

[luve2fli]

The very fact that he mentions Zappa and this quote:

I honestly can not see any guitar player wanting to play that type of music

..... in the same response means one thing to me. He can't play that style of music anyway. I challenge ANY guitarist to adequately cover Zappa's material ..... not an easy task.

[uwe]

"The plane went down before DeeDee first yelled/counted out "ONETWOTHREEFOUR!""




And I thought this thread was about Geezer Burtler!

[Highlander]

Isn't Geezer some place in Egypt...?

I challenge ANY guitarist to adequately cover Zappa's material ..... not an easy task.

I remember the story of why Zappa hired Steve Vai, post discovering that he had transcribed a load of FZ's solos...

[Psycho Bass Guy]

Tell 'em not to sweat it. That douchebag's idea of 'classic rock' is probably Korn and Limp Bizkit and his definition of musicianship the pitch correction and time quantize functions in Protools. They should reply that if they ever intend on covering some Hannah Montana songs, they'll have a gig he can handle.

[Pilgrim]

I can sum up that response in a few points:

- He's young
- He has a big mouth
- He's an asshole
- None of us would want to play in a band with him

There are plenty of young people who think they know everything when they aren't even old enough to have a clue about the vast amount they don 't know.  They amount to white noise that we can happily ignore.

I play surf music...THERE'S geezer music for you.  People love it, they don't get to hear it often, and although we don't play much for avant-garde events, there are tons of car shows, town events, biker runs and other occasions when we're the best fit around.

I like it!

[Muzikman7]

In my band we don't announce the artist of the song we're about to play, most younger people don't know who has done what. so far there was only one comment from somebody roughly my age that said "You guys play classic rock don't you" but it was because of the look of some members not the music. The thing that stays the same is the bands ability to get people to participate.

[chromium]

Nickelback rawks!!

[uwe]

 

Oh well, he's just a kid. He'll grow out of it. Or end up in a bingo-nintendo hall one day playing Nickelbag covers to his then elderly generation peers.