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Re: Yet More Chris and John



Jim wrote:
>What makes Entwistle's interplay more "crucial"? 

Okay, good point... how 'bout... I see John more crucial live because his
bass parts are the anchor that allows Keith to not use a high hat when he
plays and to do not stop tom rolls and its the glue that allows Pete to go
off like on Baba from the Kids... film. At one point its Pete flailing all
over the stage barely strumming while John IS the rest of the song... Chris
is crucial for his vocals and for his perfectionistic ways in the studio
getting the arrangements and band work done. They would literally spend an
hour discussing whether his next bass note should be F or F#. As far as the
songs go as a pure listening experience, both bands would suffer
dramatically without their input... on this I believe there is agreement.

>However, don't overlook the early motivations within the Who.  I think
there is an aspect of >Entwistle that pushed him toward melodic bass
because it would draw attention to himself. 

Its probably a combination of classic English propriety and the fact that
by doing nothing... the easiest thing for him to do, he drew attention to
himself. But, having to play live for that long and that intensely with his
gear, there is really not much else he could do - especially in the late
70's /80's using those Alembic basses. I used to jump around somewhat
playing bass and I can tell you its not easy to do what he does and throw
yourself across the stage while you're doing it.

> Pete and John are of the same class, 

Not being British, I'm not sure about this weird area. There is being of a
class, acting like a class, and climbing out of your class and blah blah...
not really sure on that as it pertains to the Who... I think you could be
right though now that I reflect on it...

>>[Tony Levin's] even a better player [than Chris]. 
>I can't comment if Levin's a better player--I don't play bass.  I saw the
8-man Yes from 91 >(Wakeman didn't use 20+ keyboards and Steve Howe's
"battalion" of guitars was rather >reduced--I mean Steve can only play one
guitar at a time, y'know).

For the Union tour, Wakeman had under the stage at least 20 keyboards that
he controlled from above... Strangely enough... Tony Kaye had more... like
30+ keyboards that he controlled from one main keyboard on the stage...
What I saw of Steve's guitars he had at least 8 different types of main
stage guitars not counting the back ups to those... and with Trevor also
playing guitar... that's a lot of different guitar sounds. Tony Levin is a
much better player technically than Chris, as a bass player myself, I can
attest to this. Does this mean that without Chris, Yes would be the same?
No, but I feel he is a cog that could be traded out if it were necessary
while John would be a little tricker. Only IMO. On record never. Without
him the records would not have been done period.

>Maybe Pete *wants* him buried in the mix...?

I would go so far as to say with typical big productions like this with all
the extra crap and musicians, the mix was a traditional mix... sloppy with
the bass low. The mind set was getting a good sound for the extravaganza
and not for getting a good Who sound. Perhaps Pete wanting him mixed low is
a bit strong... but any cry's from John for a decent sound were probably
drowned in the mix too ;)!

I think we've covered this territory though... or as Keith might say,
"we've buried it."

>Glad to see you're a Yes fan, too!

Oh definitely - watch for the new 2 disc live set in the next couple of
months... has Awaken, new tracks, and some TFTO stuff on it! And its the
classic AWWHS
line up.

Eddie