He came and sat in with us at a show we did in Los Angeles and he just kicked the shit out of me on stage, it was unbelievable. In fact I got the chance to play with him just recently. (Image credit: JazzSign/Lebrecht Music & Arts/Lebrecht Music & Arts/Corbis) Stanley Clarke The other guys are no slouches but he is the reason I was listening.” Prev of 11 Next Prev of 11 Next "His presence, his tone is huge, his phrasing, it’s just spectacular. I mean I could play it but I wasn’t playing it correctly and I still don’t know the whole thing in its entirety but that’s one my favourite riffs to go to every now and again. "When I grew up that was a rite of passage to be able to play Roundabout and I was never able to play it. “There are certain records that I’ve bought multiple times over the years because I’ve either worn them out or they got stolen or you wanted the new format, Yes’ Fragile was one of those records. "I would imagine he’s an intimidating force when sitting around a mixing console and he says ‘Turn up my bass.’” I met him once, I would imagine he’s an intimidating force when sitting around a mixing console and he says ‘Turn up my bass.’” "I would assume that they let him sit that large in the mix because he’s a pretty big dude. His parts and the way he sat in the mix were always really incredible to me. “Chris Squire always had and still has the most amazing bass tone. (Image credit: Lynn Goldsmith/Corbis) Chris Squire I brought my Fungi band which was cello, marimba, drums and bass, and we played Spirit Of Radio.” Prev of 11 Next Prev of 11 Next I helped induct them into the Canadian Songwriters Hall Of Fame. "There’s one song we have in particular called Moron TV that was off the last record where the middle section is very much Rush and it’s an homage to those guys. The way he phrases his runs when he’s improvising, I’ll hit a run every now and then and go, yep, that’s Geddy. Geddy was the one, he was my first big hero. "One of those albums I got was All The World’s A Stage which was Rush’s first live record. "The way he phrases his runs when he’s improvising, I’ll hit a run every now and then and go, yep, that’s Geddy" "When I was a kid I didn’t have a lot of money so I joined one of those RCA Record Clubs where you got ten records for a penny and then you spend the next three years trying to pay back the albums that they send you after you don’t get back to them in time. “He was the one that when I was a fourteen-year-old fellow I thought, ‘Boy, I’d sure like to make those sounds.’ I’m still trying to do that. (Image credit: Robert Wagenhoffer/Corbis) Geddy Lee Tue 23rd June - London O2 Academy Brixton.For the full tour dates and tickets, visit UK dates The Primus and the Chocolate Factory is hitting Europe and the UK in June. I look at what I’ve done and I’m happy and proud of the progressive growth and where I am as a human being – as a father and husband and all those things. "It’s like anything else, as you move through life there are elements of reflection where you go, ‘What the hell was I thinking?’ Then time goes by and you go, ‘Wait a minute, that’s pretty cool.’ You grow to appreciate those things. Now people don’t want to see this guy with his shirt off on stage. I was like, holy shit, I’ve got to learn to do that.” ‘Wait a minute, that’s pretty cool’Īsked how he compares now to the young thumper and plucker who cut Frizzle Fry and Sailing The Seas Of Cheese, Claypool replies, “I hear him but I don’t see him because the guy back then was running around on stage with his shirt off and a pair of shorts with a braided Mohawk. To this day I’ve never seen anybody thump their bass as hard as that guy. He would pop his thumb off that bass, his thumb would come a foot and a half off the bass. “Louis Johnson was from The Brothers Johnson and his style was unbelievable. “I remember the first time I witnessed somebody doing the thumping and the plucking was Louis Johnson on the old Don Kirshner’s Rock Concert,” he says. While he’s often considered one of rock’s foremost proponents of slap bass, he’s not a fan of that term, preferring thumping and plucking. “I remember the first time I witnessed somebody doing the thumping and the plucking was Louis Johnson on the old Don Kirshner’s Rock Concert" In a career spanning the twisted rock of Primus, whose most recent album saw them tackle the soundtrack of the 1971 movie Willy Wonka And The Chocolate Factory, to Oysterhead, The Frog Brigade and Duo de Twang, Claypool has shown an almost gleeful disregard for ideas about genre limitations and the traditional role of the bass as a supportive part of the rhythm section. “As far as my early days it was Geddy Lee and Chris Squire, those were my two guys,” says Les Claypool about his first two bass heroes.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |