Phil's Playing Style...

[sonicus]

[5a quilt top]

Re: "Friend of the Devil" exercise - I've tried that.


His opening bass riff is enough to derail you right off. Where did THAT come from - ?


It's perfect and I can't imagine hearing the song without it, but it's certainly not what 99.9% of the bassists on this planet would choose to play - or be asked / allowed to play in that context.


I wish I could've been present at the rehearsal when he unleashed that little gem on the rest of the band...

[edwardofhuncote]

I went and listened to the studio cut of "Friend of the Devil". Found it interesting that in a live version from 1983 he still plays a variation on the same thing. Love that early-80's version btw... I'm so used to the literal translation newgrass-y way Harwell-Grice Band does it that the slower mellowed-out pace is a fun switch.

[rv_bass]

“Allowed to play”?  Bass players (and everyone else for that matter) should be free to play whatever pops into their heads. 

[David Houck]

Here's a wonderful video of an '83 Friend of the Devil; this may be the one you mentioned.

[David Houck]

Bass players .. should be free to play whatever pops into their heads. 

In the rule book, that one's right before "bass players can turn down the guitar players amp whenever the bass player finds it necessary to do so".  Or it was until the bass players' union was outlawed, and the singers and guitar players fought for dominance in the galactic music wars during the age of disharmony.  Then during the great hearing loss plague, musicians began seeking out the wisdom of the bass players, and a new harmonic paradigm began to emerge.

[edwardofhuncote]

Here's a wonderful video of an '83 Friend of the Devil; this may be the one you mentioned.

Yessir, that's the one. 

I gotta' forward that one to Josh and the guys.

[lbpesq]

Ahh, but never forget the rule of the jungle when the ominous sound of restless drums filters through the primordial vegetation.  Where all in the know fear the cessation of the relentless pounding skins.  As those who have experienced the primitive basics of survival are only too aware, the drums bring with them a great anticipation suggested by an ancient instinctual fear.  For, when the drums stop, bass solo!

Bill, tgo

[5a quilt top]

Re: "allowed to play" - when I am playing bass, I try to take as many chances as I can within a given context and, in the spirit of Mr. Lesh (a huge inspiration to me, along with Mr. Casady), I try to push the boundaries of whatever musical framework I am associated with.


On more than one occasion, I've been told this, or something very similar: "The songs we are playing were / are popular for a reason. It is not our responsibility to re-invent our individual parts on the fly as we see fit. Learn your part and play it like the recording."


Needless to say, I tend to lose interest in those projects fairly quickly...


If Phil would have received that admonishment and behaved as instructed, we would not be having this lively discussion.

[rv_bass]

Bill,
I grew up in garage bands in the 70s and bar jam bands in the 80s, so I have a mental image of your narrative branded forever in my memory!

David T, I know what you are saying.  For my most recent stint with a funk band last month I was told exactly what to play.  It was fun none-the-less, but I still found myself inserting fills now and then, subconsciously my brain makes my fingers do it.

I play jazz mostly now, so after the first pass through the form I’m free to add to the musical conversation as I see fit, which I find more enriching personally.  During a show I saw last year, Rufus Reed said one of the great things about playing bass is that you are soloing and improvising the entire time; I like that

Here is another nice Friend of the Devil...

[David Houck]

Thanks, Rob; that is indeed a nice one!

[pauldo]

Here's a wonderful video of an '83 Friend of the Devil; this may be the one you mentioned.

That was really enjoyable... was that whole show that magical?

[David Houck]

Here's a wonderful video of an '83 Friend of the Devil ...

That was really enjoyable... was that whole show that magical?

I don't think I've watched the whole show, (if I have, I don't remember).

Here it is, if you want to check it out.

[glocke]

Glad to see this thread still active..

Stupid question time...I never really gave much thought to his technique when it came to dropping bombs..I always thought it was just a matter of volume/attack...the quote below (from Reddit) makes me think otherwise though..is there more involved than volume/attack?

"Most people's definition of a Phil Bomb is vastly different than what we used to define a Phil Bomb as .... at least when I was on tour, they were very rare and far between ... not something that happened in the videos others have listed such as the Morning Dew video. Phil Bombs were somewhat rare occurrences when Phil would slam a note or chords very loudly and the bass would overwhelm the stadium and reverberate loudly. The bomb did not fit in with the sound levels of the band as it was overwhelming and quickly gone ... It usually sounded like his compressor or other limiters failed and was unintentional and other times it sounded like there was just a brief moment of too much gain and the notes screamed .... I only heard a few Phil bombs in my life and they were very few and far between. Sometimes he was really slamming and trying to get loud and one would pop out but it seemed like most of the time they were accidental as technically, they sound crew want to avoid such an overload of sound from any one instrument or voice ... Phil Bombs pretty much drowned out most of the other sound for that brief moment.... The stadium they were in played a role acoustically as well .... When you heard a Phil bomb, pretty much everybody would gasp and roar ... it wasn't like "oh, nice chord Phil, that was loud ... " ... it was f***ING loud and pretty out of control for that brief moment ... you could NOT miss it. Many late 90s shows had infamously low volume (UNLV comes to mind), so it was even easier for a real Phil Bomb to dominate ..."

[edited for unintentional formatting]

[pauldo]

Thanks for the link Dave.

Interesting quote Gregory, looking forward to others replies.