Entertainment For Lively Minds
Who was the ur-Bez?
Posted by stimpy on 14 October 2008 - 2:38pm.
Watching the DVD of 'Born to Boogie' it struck me that, live, Mickey Finn did bugger-all.
In spite of his armoury of congas (8 of 'em?) he spent most of his time strutting around the stage brandishing his maraccas (oo-er missus)
That got me thinking; was he the first Bez? Any earlier ones? Must be someone who *looks* like a musician but is obviously only there because his dad owned a van - female backing singers, dancers and Stacia don't count.
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Wasn't Mickey Finn 'Bez the second' in the Bolan camp?
Or am I doing Steve Peregrine Took a mighty disservice?
Good point
I should have thought of that!
But, I'd contend that SPT was a conga player in a quiet, acoustic duo where he had a genuine role, rather than banging away alongside an electric band.
Mickey Finn was a Bez, SPT wasn't :-)
The Monkeys
The one on tambourine keeps almost-joining-in:
'The one on tambourine' (hmph!)
fails to meet the criteria for being a Bez on one simple criterion - he sings.
Gladys Knight's dad
No, not that Gladys Knight; I mean the one who's dad was Pedro Knight and who's mum was Mrs Knight - better known to the world as Celia Cruz. Pedro was the rather bewildered-looking white-haired gentleman who always used to hang about at the side of the stage while his good lady wife was strutting her stuff and pursing her bemba colorá, waving his arms about with great energy as if he were conducting the orchestra, but to no effect whatsoever. The musicians never even glanced at him - they were already firmly in the grip of a certain Tito Puente or a certain Johnny Pacheco, and so were in no need of any further direction from the likes of Don Pedro.
The effect of this charade was disconcerting at first but soon became quite endearing - not unlike a child with one of those reduced-scale toy steering wheels attached with a rubber sucker to the car's dashboard, alongside the real one. Brrm, brrm.
Sid Vicious...
well he certainly wasn't there to play bass...
True dat...
but around six years too late to pre-date Mr Finn unfortunately.
Please keep up Patrick.
Sorry...
half asleep I was.
Chas Smash
The trumpet was a late addition. (Could he really play it?)
Didn't Spandau Ballet have a "percussionist" who doubled on pretend sax also?
(Early bearly, so I didn't read it either, but, like Patrick, I've got the general hang, I think......)
Steve Norman...
and I think he could really play!
Stuart Sutcliffe
was only there cos he looked cool wasn't he?
Andrew Ridgely
"Okay Andrew, is your hair done? Good. Now, just stand over there and wiggle your hips a bit. Do what you like with the guitar: no-one's listening and it isn't pugged in anyway. What's that? No, I don't know what you're here for. That's George's problem..."
Not pre-T-Rex, but I couldn't let it pass.
Sort of related.....
Apropos of the suggestion that Steve Norman could actually tootle those much loved saxophony lines from the "Gold"en days of (shut up!), I wonder about how many silent instrumentalists there are/were about the place. This is often the lead singer, needing to be more "cred", I guess, or needing something to occupy the hands, to avoid ending up like dear old Joe Cocker. I'm thinking Richie from the Manics, RIP, and Billie C Reilly in the Lost Planet Airmen. And maybe Linda McCartney fell into the same camp. (I know she sang because I have heard that sound desk recoding!!!)
Does Chick Churchill in 10 Years After count, given their recent podcast mentions; nobody could ever hear him, certainly, but that may have been Alvin Lees decision...
When not singing...
Ian Gillan used to have a set of unmiked congas at the side of the stage that he'd 'play'
well Gillan had to have something to do...
... during those interminably l-o-o-o-n-g versions of "Space Trucking", "Wring that Neck" etc .... when you're the frontman, you have to pass the time somehow during the noodly bits. Hence congas, and perhaps some "headbanging" , then nipping off stage for a leak during R.Blackmore's solo (I'm guessing now - I for sure wasn't there).
The whole band
Milli Vanilli? Both of them?
IT's CRUEL BUT...
... it has been said the only member of The Byrds to play on Mr. Tambourine Man was Jim (Roger) McGuinn with the rest having been replaced by session musicians for the record. The story goes that the producer recorded the band but didn't rate them so he wiped their parts and called in the sessioneers overnight. Which means, despite their abilities and later successes, that ALL The Byrds except Roger were passengers - at least until the next record!