Bass Player, June 2014: Difference between revisions
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WITH HIS BITING LYRICS, RETRO IMAGE, AND jittery deportment, Elvis Costello was somehow more punk than punk when he hit the mainstream back in 1977. For his solo debut, ''My Aim Is True'', Costello relied on bassist Johnny Ciambotti and other players from Northern California's Clover to back a batch of tunes that showed Costello's true potential as a songwriter. [Note: That's bassist Steve Goulding's irie riddim on "Watching the Detectives."] For the following year's ''This Year's Model'', Costello put together the Attractions-drummer Pete Thomas, keyboardist Steve Nieve, and bassist Bruce Thomas-who would set a new standard for songwriting and creativity in a genre that often emphasized style over substance, pose over performance. | WITH HIS BITING LYRICS, RETRO IMAGE, AND jittery deportment, Elvis Costello was somehow more punk than punk when he hit the mainstream back in 1977. For his solo debut, ''My Aim Is True'', Costello relied on bassist Johnny Ciambotti and other players from Northern California's Clover to back a batch of tunes that showed Costello's true potential as a songwriter. [Note: That's bassist Steve Goulding's irie riddim on "Watching the Detectives."] For the following year's ''This Year's Model'', Costello put together the Attractions-drummer Pete Thomas, keyboardist Steve Nieve, and bassist Bruce Thomas-who would set a new standard for songwriting and creativity in a genre that often emphasized style over substance, pose over performance. | ||
For his part, Bruce Thomas took the groove sensibility of American R&B, the melodic sense of British pop, and the transatlantic energy of punk and new wave to create a signature style of bass playing that's every bit as exciting now as it was more than 30 years ago. Though well matched musically, Costello and Thomas had personal differences that came to a head-as things do-after years on the road and in the studio, with Thomas coming and going as Costello branched out to work with other bass players. When it comes to Attractions-era Costello songs, it almost doesn't matter who's playing them; the wildly inventive, harmonically opulent, intensely propulsive, structurally crucial bass lines are pure Bruce. Fresh off some recent sessions with British pop singer Tasman Archer and American folk-rock outfit the Weepies, Thomas took a tick to talk about the heyday of the Attractions, and of its most auspicious debut, "(I Don't Want To Go To) Chelsea." | For his part, Bruce Thomas took the groove sensibility of American R&B, the melodic sense of British pop, and the transatlantic energy of punk and new wave to create a signature style of bass playing that's every bit as exciting now as it was more than 30 years ago. Though well matched musically, Costello and Thomas had personal differences that came to a head-as things do-after years on the road and in the studio, with Thomas coming and going as Costello branched out to work with other bass players. When it comes to Attractions-era Costello songs, it almost doesn't matter who's playing them; the wildly inventive, harmonically opulent, intensely propulsive, structurally crucial bass lines are pure Bruce. Fresh off some recent sessions with British pop singer [[Tasmin Archer|Tasman Archer]] and American folk-rock outfit the Weepies, Thomas took a tick to talk about the heyday of the Attractions, and of its most auspicious debut, "(I Don't Want To Go To) Chelsea." | ||
'''I understand "Chelsea" came together the very first time the Attractions played together. How did that happen?''' | '''I understand "Chelsea" came together the very first time the Attractions played together. How did that happen?''' | ||
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'''What bass did you play?''' | '''What bass did you play?''' | ||
That was my 1965 Fender Precision. That was my main bass. I got it from Ashley Hutchings of Steeleye Span and had it for five or six years at that point. I shaved the body down to make it more lightweight, I sanded the neck for a flatter profile, I reverse-wound the pickups, and I did a few other things. That guitar had quite a "whiney" sound because of the pickup winding. The action was a bit too low, so there was a lot of fret buzz and string rattling giving it a funny sound. Fortunately, we had a bass player as a producer in Nick Lowe, so they got the bass to sound pretty good. The body was unfinished at that point, but I later had it sprayed. I asked it to be sprayed Salmon Pink, thinking that was the original Fender color. Of course, the original color was Fiesta Red. When Fender started importing instruments into the U.K. in the early '60s, everyone wanted a red finish like the ones Hank Marvin and Jet Harris played in the Shadows. The instruments would be shipped over, and Fender in Britain would spray red over whatever other colors they got. I think Fender U.K. didn't have the same DuPont lacquer they had in the States, and the Fiesta Red came out looking pink. [Note: Learn more on the matter on Bruce's website, [http://www.brucethomas.co.uk brucethomas.co.uk].] | That was my 1965 Fender Precision. That was my main bass. I got it from Ashley Hutchings of Steeleye Span and had it for five or six years at that point. I shaved the body down to make it more lightweight, I sanded the neck for a flatter profile, I reverse-wound the pickups, and I did a few other things. That guitar had quite a "whiney" sound because of the pickup winding. The action was a bit too low, so there was a lot of fret buzz and string rattling giving it a funny sound. Fortunately, we had a bass player as a producer in [[Nick Lowe]], so they got the bass to sound pretty good. The body was unfinished at that point, but I later had it sprayed. I asked it to be sprayed Salmon Pink, thinking that was the original Fender color. Of course, the original color was Fiesta Red. When Fender started importing instruments into the U.K. in the early '60s, everyone wanted a red finish like the ones Hank Marvin and Jet Harris played in the Shadows. The instruments would be shipped over, and Fender in Britain would spray red over whatever other colors they got. I think Fender U.K. didn't have the same DuPont lacquer they had in the States, and the Fiesta Red came out looking pink. [Note: Learn more on the matter on Bruce's website, [http://www.brucethomas.co.uk brucethomas.co.uk].] | ||
'''What kind of setup did your basses have back in the day?''' | '''What kind of setup did your basses have back in the day?''' |
Revision as of 16:43, 30 May 2017
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