You know the drill: answer from the gut!
Have you ever attended a rave?
What is least promising, the recently released Brian Wilson album or the 83rd volume of the Bob Dylan Bootleg series, covering outtakes from those Daniel Lanois-produced albums even Dylan pretty much dismissed in Chronicles, Vol. 1?
Which musician who switched instruments at some point in his or her career do you feel was most successful in switching?
Whatever happened to John Mellencamp’s longtime drummer, Kenny Aronoff, you know, the bald version of Max Weinberg?
What’s your gut feeling on batting gloves?
What’s your gut feeling on drummers wearing batting gloves?
What’s your favorite use of fiddle or violin (unaccompanied – not part of an orchestra) on a rock song?
Which instrument switch by a musician within the same band most hurt that band?
Which crowd typically has the worst dancers, attendees of Dead shows or raves?
Sonny or Cher?
I look forward to your answers.
Least promising: Brian Wilson. Chronicles made me appreciate the struggle Dylan had with that Lanois stuff, although he clearly wasn’t thrilled with the overall results, a closer look at that struggle could be interesting.
Wasn’t McCartney originally a guitar playere?
I think of Aronoff as the “good” Max. Weinberg. His drumming, while a little obvious, has a certain swing. Weinberg is a total stiff!
Fine for batting.
Not for drumming.
My favorite violin part today is “I’ll Keep it with Mine” from the Rainy Day album, that David Roback recording of 60’s numbers by a variety of late 80’s LA underground folke . Susannah Hoffs sings that one. The fiddle plays pretty much the exact same string part as a full section did on Nico’s Chelsea Girl aoriginal version of the tune, but it works great.
Jerry Garcia switching from an SG to a Strat.
Dead Dancers are worse.
It’s close. I’m going with Cher
This rave question is a trick, innit? Whoever answers yes gets permanently banned from RTH, right?
Brian Wilson’s new one is poor – retread melodies, vocals that can’t hit the notes often enough, and “near perfect” Beach Boy arrangements.
Dylan’s album on the other hand is revelatory, with a small “r”. The non-Lanois versions of those songs show exactly why Dylan is right to dismiss the Lanois ones (why he released them is still an open question). You get to see a lot of Dylan’s mind here, which is interesting to see even if it brings you no closer to understanding how it works.
Gotta go with Cher as well.
Good points on the relative value of the Dylan album, you two. Bravo!
Rave: no
Least promising: Dylan. I really love the new Wilson album. If this was a comparison with Wilson’s last album before this,”Gettin in Over My Head”, then Dylan would win out.
The only song I’m not a big fan of the new album is “Forever She’ll be My Surfer Girl” which I can see where the rehashed melody criticism comes in. But the album as a whole is engaging and fun, especially the second half.
Switch instruments: Dave Grohl drums to guitar…although I think he was always a bit of a guitar player.
batting gloves with a little vaseline keep your hands, nice and soft.
Drummers with batting gloves: wouldn’t they be called drumming gloves? What about hockey gloves?
Violin: “Dirty Davey”, The Levellers
switch that hurt a band: Liam Gallahger from singer to songwriter.
Dead or Rave: Dead dancers by a nose. But both are full of stinky dirty hippies. the dance scene in the matrix makes me want to hurl every time.
Cher
YESS! Lots of them! The best one was in 1995 at a party called BUST IT! It was right when Josh Wink’s Higher State of Consciousness was the biggest dance record in the World and he was there that night spinning it at about 5 a.m. I took acid. I will remember it always.
I haven’t heard the “new” Dylan or Wilson records.
Petty goes from Bass to Guitar.
Stan Lynch and Liberty DeVito killed him and ate him.
I like batting style gloves for doing construction work. They protect the hands, while still making fine detailed work a possibility.
I only like them on shirtless drummers with white guy afros who are also wearing sweatbands, and short shorts with the flag of a European nation on them. preferably silk.
That track from the 1st Crazy Horse record. It Won’t be Long.
Mick or Roger Daultrey picking up a guitar. Didn’t really hurt either band, but was utterly pointless and stupid.
I really hate to say it, but i never went to a Dead show. I did have a few chances. Should have gone for it.
Cher. If I could turn back time era.
I have attended a rave.
Tough one, I haven’t been moved by the new Wilson stuff, and outake collections usually are noteworthy for reminding me why they were outtakes to begin with.
Joey Ramone from drummer to vocalist or McCartney taking up Bass from guitar after the departure of Sutcliff.
Will end up on some CMT reality show
Gloves holding wood is an fashion no-no
“Was There Anything I Could Do?” by the Go-Betweens.
Phil Collins from drummer to vocalist
don’t they both do that stupid Charlie Brown twirl dance. I can’t say one is better than the other.
Sonny Bono
let me state that my attending a rave was by accident and I left as it was pretty annoying. This is torture.
Never attended a rave. Couldn’t find a store that sold any giant glow-in-the-dark pacifiers.
Haven’t heard either the Dylan or Wilson album. I like Dylan better in general, but I’d probably listen to the Wilson one first. His next album, though, the concept album about those dudes findin’ that island with all those chicks on it…that I’ll listen to!
Positive musician instrument switch: Geo called it, McCartney taking over on bass for Stu because nobody else wanted to do it and subsequently becoming the Paul McCartney of Bass Players.
Batting gloves: I’m fine with them, but for pros only. The plus on a batting glove is that it gives you something non-sack-related to adjust when you call time if you don’t wear jewelry to bat, which you shouldn’t.
Is this the Curley from Of Mice And Men school of drumming?
Batting gloves for drummers? Only if it’s a baseball-themed band. Or, preferably, a Baseball Furies-themed band.
Unaccompanied fiddle/violin: probably not my favorite, so maybe I’ll come back to this, but first that came to mind is Poodle Rockin’ by Gorky’s Zygotic Mynci.
Worse dancers: Dead Dancers are worse than rave dancers, because with all that spinning, they require more space to suck at dancing.
Sonny. Better on Scooby-Doo, led the brief caveman-chic fashion trend and had the decency to quit while he was ahead. Sort of.
Hey, geo! You never answered my question about the Knife & Fork Band (or maybe just your singer) doing a song about puffins! Go back and search recent All-Star Jams for the scoop.
Your pal,
HVB
Have you ever attended a rave?
No
What is least promising, the recently released Brian Wilson album or the 83rd volume of the Bob Dylan Bootleg series, covering outtakes from those Daniel Lanois-produced albums even Dylan pretty much dismissed in Chronicles, Vol. 1?
I don’t even like Pet Sounds which is supposed to be Wilson at his peak so I’ll go with Dylan.
Which musician who switched instruments at some point in his or her career do you feel was most successful in switching?
Iggy Pop and Steven Tyler switching from drums to vocals.
Whatever happened to John Mellencamp’s longtime drummer, Kenny Aronoff, you know, the bald version of Max Weinberg?
I’m okay with Kenny. I agree with Geo, Mighty Max is mighty stiff.
What’s your favorite use of fiddle or violin (unaccompanied – not part of an orchestra) on a rock song?
“Baba O’Reilly” or “Blimps Go 90” by GBV
Which instrument switch by a musician within the same band most hurt that band?
More of an expansion than a switch but when I saw Costello, Steve Nieve played a Theremin solo in about 4 songs which is about 3-4 songs too many.
Which crowd typically has the worst dancers, attendees of Dead shows or raves?
I never went to a rave but the dancing cannot be any worse than a Dead show.
Sonny or Cher?
Cher, if only for Gypsies, Tramps and Thieves
Never went to a rave.
That Brian Wilson album is way less promising. I don’t think I ever need to hear it. I’ve heard one song from the Dylan thing and it was cool.
For now, I’m going to go with Iggy going from drums to vocals.
I think Arnoff is still a session fixture. Anyone remember his stint in Smashing Pumpkins? He’s also played a lot with John Fogerty I think. Wow — Mellencamp, Corgan and the man himself: That’s a trifecta of Fogerty Syndrome.
Best violin in rock: “Your Sister’s Clothes” by Pulp.
Bad instrumental switch: Elvis Costello from rhythm to lead guitar. If that doesn’t count: Gene Holder from the dB’s from bass to lead guitar.
Never been to a rave OR a Dead show.
Sonny, for “Needles and Pins.”
Ixnay on rave
I haven’t heard the Dylan set yet. Brian’s latest is pleasant, but short & is not a Pet Sounds by any means. The difference between Brian & Dylan is the the latter has always been in control while the former, especially post-Smile, needs to be led around.
Did Ted Williams, the best god-damm hitter in baseball ever use hitting gloves?
There was a pretty mean fiddle in Slade’s “Cos I Luv Ya”, which was a left-field surprise to me when I first heard it.
Seconds on Macca turning to base & Joey turning to vox.
If I hadda pick, I would pick the 1965 model Cher.
I’m cheerfully ignoring the remainder of the questions.
Nope.
I’ve gotta go with Dylan here, but I’m a far bigger Beach Boys/Wilson fan, so I’m biased. Then again, I’ve heard the Brian Wilson album, but not the Dylan outtakes thing. I’d much prefer a literary sequel to Chronicles, honestly.
Ron Asheton and no, I didn’t write that just to piss you off, Mr. Mod. 🙂 Then again, I think you know my feelings on Fun House being my favorite Stooges album but I still love Raw Power. I just don’t think it should be mutually exclusive.
Good question. I think he played on a mid ’90s Graham Parker album called 12 Haunted Episodes, but otherwise I have no clue. I always confuse him with Kenny Aronson, who’s also a drummer.
I have no problem with them. Now aluminum bats and the DH, that’s another story…
It’s wrong. Batting gloves should only be used for baseball.
Well since VU is on the brain, what about the viola on “Venus in Furs”. Does that count? I’m also thinking of the oboe solo in The Go-Betweens “Bye Bye Pride”, but again I don’t know if it should count.
Andy Shernoff of The Dictators switching from bass to keyboards on their 2nd album Manifest Destiny. After Mark Mendoza (who played bass on that record) left for Twisted Sister (yes that one), Shernoff was back on bass for their 3rd album, which is way better though not quite up to the standard of their classic 1st Lp.
I’ve never been to either, so I’ll pass.
Sonny for writing all those ’60s hits, including “Needles and Pins”.
1. No. Now that the rave era is over, I’m more interested in electronic music, and I wish I knew of a club that would play the hipper electronic stuff.
2. I’m definitely getting the Dylan and passing on the Wilson.
3. I don’t know that he’s the most successful, but no one has yet mentioned that it was good for Rock that Bobby Gillespie gave up drumming for JAMC and started Primal Scream.
4. The last time I saw him he was playing in John Fogerty’s band.
5. I have no problem with them. The problem comes in with the constant fiddling with them, wasting time that should be spent in the batter’s box.
6. When I played drums they came in very handy. Playing drums is no fun unless you really wallop them, and you can’t build up the proper callouses unless you play every day. In other words they’re better than blisters.
7. It’s hard to beat Rag Mama Rag.
8. When the Replacements would switch instruments and play even more badly.
9. As the saying goes, ‘dance like no one’s watching.’ What’s important is that you let the music move you. I’m certainly not going to be the one to throw stones at someone else’s dancing.
10. Matt beat me to it. Anyone who wrote Needles and Pins is ok by me, even if he did turn into a Reagan revolutionary.
I’ll play:
No, I was terrified enough checking out one of those pounding bass drum exhibitions upstairs at Revival in 1986 or so.
The Wilson album. I’d be curious to hear some of the Dylan outtakes just because of that great segment in Chronicles.
McCartney was a great answer, although he switched before being known to the public as a guitarist. I’ll go with Al Kooper, whose made a career out of his fortuitous, last-second switch to organ for “Like a Rolling Stone”.
Mellencamp’s never been the same without Kenny.
Never used ’em. A man’s gotta feel the wood.
I don’t like the Look.
I was going to say “Baba O’Riley” until BigSteve said “Rag Mama Rag”. THAT’S my choice too!
Gene Holder’s move to guitar, robbing the dB’s of their big bottom, was as harmful to the band as Stamey leaving.
Neither appeal to me, but I typically find Deadheads more attractive than ravers, so I’ll say ravers are the worst dancers.
Cher the Actress – can’t stand her as a singer or a supposed sex symbol.
Have you ever attended a rave?
-Nope. Or used a Chinese lathe.
What is least promising, the recently released Brian Wilson album or the 83rd volume of the Bob Dylan Bootleg series, covering outtakes from those Daniel Lanois-produced albums even Dylan pretty much dismissed in Chronicles, Vol. 1?
-I have no idea how to hoop myself into a position to answer how much less least could be.
Which musician who switched instruments at some point in his or her career do you feel was most successful in switching?
-I agree it was the grudging Paulie. You don’t see Jeff Tweedy playing the bass much anymore, but I think that’s similar to the front man issue that Tom Petty has.
Whatever happened to John Mellencamp’s longtime drummer, Kenny Aronoff, you know, the bald version of Max Weinberg?
-The third round of chemo didn’t take?
What’s your gut feeling on batting gloves?
-They are for pussies! Pee on your hands to toughen them up says Felipe Alou.
What’s your gut feeling on drummers wearing batting gloves?
-They are for pussies! Pee on your hands to toughen them up says John Bonham. Well, he SHOULD have said it.
What’s your favorite use of fiddle or violin (unaccompanied – not part of an orchestra) on a rock song?
My gut says mrruurrrgh, but since you didn’t ask it, the first one my other parts though of was Take The Skinheads Bowling by Camper Van Beethoven. It strikes a whimsical tone if I had to pin down the effect. I’ll spare you the alley pun.
Which instrument switch by a musician within the same band most hurt that band?
-Whenever Monkee Davy Jones had something besides a rhythm instrument in his hands.
I prefered watching them lip sync without a bass at all, to having to believe he could PLAY anything.
Once Sting was playing a standup bass, you could tell that band was done.
Which crowd typically has the worst dancers, attendees of Dead shows or raves?
Does Dead Can Dance answer this? Logic would indicate the Dead attendees would be worse, because rave stuff is somewhat designed for dancing, right? You can go anywhere and floek out to dope without dancing being an issue.
Sonny or Cher?
Sonny. Although he’s not my favorite Cordeleone.
Was Davy supposed to be the bass player? I guess it makes sense, if he was supposed to be their Paul, but all this time I just assumed that we were supposed to believe that Peter Tork was playing every other instrument in the band that wasn’t a guitar, drums, tambourine or microfilm-filled maracas.
Davy “played” bass in the pilot episode only. And I think when they began playing live shows, he would play or hold a bass while Tork played keyboards.
I always found it perplexing when Davy wound be deputized to mime drum parts.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ImG5hd1gIbs
Incorrect. Kenny Aaronson played bass with Stories, Sammy Hagar, Hall and Oates and I believe Billy Squier.
Kudos to the RTHer who wrote in “Bottle of Jack filled with turkey gravy.” You have my retroactive vote for that one!
HVB
Ravers think I look like a narc. No way.
Anything Brian does just makes me sad. Saw him on the Pet Sounds revival tour, and he would just stare blankly into space when he wasn’t playing or singing, and his quotes are just this side of Roky. Hearing his new stuff just makes me bummed.
Mr. Clean, didn’t Rodney start on drums for early early Dead Milkmen? Big boost having you guys in your rightful places.
He could be sitting next to me and I wouldn’t know it.
I agree anything leading to more fiddling about in the batter’s box is way wrong. Game’s already too long.
prefer oven mitts.
Nigel Tufnel using it as a bow during his signature solo.
Dylan played keyboards almost exclusively last time I saw him. He’s the good kind of crazy, but still.
I think you go to rave specifically to dance. I think Deadheads dance because they have nothing else to do during a 20 minute guitar solo. Give the ravers their due.
I’ve never voted for a Republican before, and I’m sure not starting here. Cher.