“George Harrison got the hump when he left the Beatles because he said he had so many good songs that Paul and John didn’t want to know about. It was a tough decision to auction that bass in 2009, but I’d enjoyed it and I wanted someone else to enjoy it – and I got a few bob for it.” Writer blocked “Probably my favourite P-Bass of all was that one I used on All Mod Cons. But all it did was screw up a lovely guitar. In fact, it was sacrilege, but me and my guitar tech once butchered some Rickys, putting in P-Bass pickups to try to make it sound like a Precision. “It just had that more punchy bottom-end.
#PAUL WELLER LYRIC MOD#
But it was around about the time of All Mod Cons that I tried a Precision and just loved it.
I love the look of a Ricky, and because the neck is so slim on a 4001, my hands could go round it quite well. “I’ve still got my Rickenbackers from the Jam days. Those basslines were all just in the moment – whatever pours out.” Precision testing “The bassline for A Town Called Malice has a Motown vibe, whereas Down In The Tube Station At Midnight is quite spaced-out and goes hand in hand with the ominous lyrics. I think that came about because we were in the States at the time and listening to the Beatles’ Revolver album a lot, so it was probably in my head somewhere and when Paul presented me with Start!, it came out. “Well, it’s not quite like Taxman, note-wise – you couldn’t sue me for it. Obviously, people have said that Start! sounds like Taxman. “With my bass influences, I go back to the ’60s, John Entwistle and Paul McCartney. But those were the old days of pigeonholing bands, weren’t they? I’ve been guilty of it myself to a certain extent.” Jam sessions We were termed as the black sheep of the punk era because we had more going for us musically, and we wore suits, not bondage trousers. “There wasn’t a lot happening in the early 70s that appealed to younger audiences, so when punk came along it was like a breath of fresh air. A&R guys wouldn’t come out to Woking because they thought it was in the sticks.” Anarchy in the UK
#PAUL WELLER LYRIC CRACKED#
So we eventually cracked that circuit, which was great. He put feelers out up in town and we started getting London gigs at The Greyhound, the Red Cow and The Marquee.
“John Weller, he traipsed everywhere getting work for us, borrowing and begging transport to move our gear around. So we thought, ‘Hmm, they’re not really digging this, are they?’ We knew it was time to move on when you looked out at the audience – who were pretty old in those days, and they all had their fingers in their ears, the whole venue. “The working men’s clubs of Woking wasn’t really our audience, but it was like serving an apprenticeship. Like Stanley Clarke or whatever – I appreciate the quality of his playing, but it wouldn’t have suited The Jam, would it?” In the city “I’m not Mark King or one of those players, although I think there’s a couple of twangs here and there on Absolute Beginners. But when you couple, say, my bass with Rick ’s drumming and Paul’s guitar, it was just a formula that worked. “Sometimes you get three musicians and the standard of their playing is okay, but it’s not going to set the world on fire. He could be prickly, shall we say, in interviews or whatever – and I didn’t envy your job! I think 40 years down the line, he’s probably mellowed.” Power trio “Paul was just very determined and committed. “I wouldn’t say that Paul and I immediately clicked, but he literally didn’t want to do anything at all, work-wise, other than be a successful musician, and I thought, ‘That sounds good to me.’ That’s what I wanted, to be in a band that was working.
0 kommentar(er)
