Bass Culture
Snowy thinks that I oughtta put some of my confusing punk novel up but it is upstairs in my room and I am too lazy to go get it. Instead I offer a brief study of the people concerned, song lyrics included.
As of today, the only song I can play on the guitar is "The Guns of Brixton" by Paul Simonon. To my dismay, I found I could only play it in A-minor (no barre chords-HURRAH!) which is the wrong key. But it is still a fantastic tune, written by the fantastic bass player of a fantastic band.
Bass players in the Punk movement weren't very concerned with actually learning their instruments. Sid Vicious's role on the Sex Pistols album was so minimal that he used to ride a bike around the studio roof. Passerby: "You'll die if you fall off!" Sid: "Oh, is that all?"
An exception to this rule was Paul Gustave Simonon, (1955- ), the artistically talented bassist for groundbreaking punk band The Clash. He didn't originally intend to be a bass player; in fact, while Joe and Mick went to art school to meet bands, Paul got in on a scholarship because his paintings were so good. He tried to learn guitar but opted for the simpler, four-stringed bass instead. He didn't start composing his own basslines until 1979, after smashing his instrument onstage at the New York Palladium.
Earlier that year, the band had been practicing in Vanilla Studios to work on new material. Paul began playing a simple reggae bass-riff to warm up, and the rest of the band joined in. Finally, he approached Joe with a rumpled piece of paper, saying "it's got lyrics an' all..." Joe eventually convinced him to sing it, and the song remains a Clash classic.
When they kick out your front door
How you gonna come?
With your hands on your head or on the trigger of your gun?
And when the law break in
How you gonna go?
Shot down on the pavement or waiting in Death Row?
You can crush us, you can bruise us
But you'd have to answer to
Oh
The Guns of Brixton!
Fragments of the plot of the confusing Punk novel are based on this song. I can play the bassline relatively well... Perhaps I'll give up guitar...
Mr.Simonon is currently a painter. He lives in London with his wife and two sons.
(And since you ask, no, I don't have a life.)
Cheers,
Jasper
As of today, the only song I can play on the guitar is "The Guns of Brixton" by Paul Simonon. To my dismay, I found I could only play it in A-minor (no barre chords-HURRAH!) which is the wrong key. But it is still a fantastic tune, written by the fantastic bass player of a fantastic band.
Bass players in the Punk movement weren't very concerned with actually learning their instruments. Sid Vicious's role on the Sex Pistols album was so minimal that he used to ride a bike around the studio roof. Passerby: "You'll die if you fall off!" Sid: "Oh, is that all?"
An exception to this rule was Paul Gustave Simonon, (1955- ), the artistically talented bassist for groundbreaking punk band The Clash. He didn't originally intend to be a bass player; in fact, while Joe and Mick went to art school to meet bands, Paul got in on a scholarship because his paintings were so good. He tried to learn guitar but opted for the simpler, four-stringed bass instead. He didn't start composing his own basslines until 1979, after smashing his instrument onstage at the New York Palladium.
Earlier that year, the band had been practicing in Vanilla Studios to work on new material. Paul began playing a simple reggae bass-riff to warm up, and the rest of the band joined in. Finally, he approached Joe with a rumpled piece of paper, saying "it's got lyrics an' all..." Joe eventually convinced him to sing it, and the song remains a Clash classic.
When they kick out your front door
How you gonna come?
With your hands on your head or on the trigger of your gun?
And when the law break in
How you gonna go?
Shot down on the pavement or waiting in Death Row?
You can crush us, you can bruise us
But you'd have to answer to
Oh
The Guns of Brixton!
Fragments of the plot of the confusing Punk novel are based on this song. I can play the bassline relatively well... Perhaps I'll give up guitar...
Mr.Simonon is currently a painter. He lives in London with his wife and two sons.
(And since you ask, no, I don't have a life.)
Cheers,
Jasper
posted by RACL at 5:17 PM
1 Comments:
It rules!
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