Re: Who vs ZepSun Dec 7 14:51:22 PST 1997

[kob1@ix.netcom.com (Kevin B. O'Brien)]

On Wed, 29 May 1996 17:17:59 -0400, ScottyTee@aol.com wrote:

>I just want to add something to your comments on JPJ's bass playing.  There
>are different schools of thought on what a bassists' role is.  There is the
>Entwistle school, and no one could argue with his greatness.  There is also a
>school of thought that the bass player should work in conjunction with the
>drummer to set a groove and play the bottom of the chord.  Say what you will,
>but as an example, Bill Wyman and Charlie Watts were ONE.  I have a friend
>who is a phenomenal bass player (he worked for years with Johnny Winter, and
>does many jingles and album dates).  We were talking about Zep, and I asked
>him what he thought of JPJ.  "Incredible-that's what bass-playing is all
>about".  As you know, Page wasn't the only former studio player in Zep.

If by the Entwistle school you mean the bass as a "lead" instrument,
Entwistle was not the only nor the first to do it, although he is
certainly one of the best at it. In rock, Jack Casady of the Jefferson
Airplane played a similar role, although his playing does not sound
the least like JAE. And no bass lover should overlook the work of
James Jamerson, the premier Motown bass player. You've all heard his
work, even if you never knew who did it.

I'm a bass player myself, and because of an early exposure to people
like Entwistle and Casady, I never really did develop as good a sense
of how to support the groove in the background as I perhaps should
have. To me, the bass is a melody instrument!


Kevin B. O'Brien
kob1@ix.netcom.com
"God made an idiot for practice. Then He made a school board."
                                         Mark Twain