Guys,
here is one of the best John Entwistle solos.
What do you think?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2uwz8G...uwz8GeLcPs

Oliver

Technically I guess its quite good, and while his tone works well in the band context, it's a bit too much like noise for a solo (in my most 'umble opinion, guv)

Never liked his playing, its just totally haphazard!

Each to his own in terms of likes & dislikes, but as it appears to me solo starts in song key of G, restates a theme before modulating to A, restates the same theme in the new key, modulates to E and then resolves itself back to G so the band can re-enter...like I said you can love it or hate it, but "haphazard"? Hardly.

Wasn´t he one of the first bass players that used 3 fingers for pulling the strings?

"WHATEVER"

I read somewhere that entwistle wasnt happy with his solo happening in that song.. said something like..
"Due to the way the song goes over in the solo, im pretty restricted in what i can do"

not word by word, but...

This solo (done 3/4 of the way through the song "5:15" off Quadrophenia) evolved considerably from 1996 when it debuted at Hyde Park through 2002, when John died. At times, he just flurried to show his raw speed, at other times he took a more structured approach. In this vid (taken at RAH in 2000), he shows a pretty comprehensive gallery of his playing techniques.

Here are 3 very different examples of how he played this solo:

- Prince's Trust concert at Hyde Park in 1996 - the debut of the solo: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ekdb_7...kdb_7Errk0

- House of Blues, Chicago 1999: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L2jVSQ...ed&search=

- From 1997 US tour: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_mthl-...mthl-lBad8

As to playing melodically, here's John on an Alembic Series 1 live in 1975. This song, "Dreaming from the Waist", has bass leads at the beginning and end:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VNSSHs...NSSHsHzwbU

As to technique, he varied his right hand all the time. Empty-handed, he used 1-5 fingers to play "normal" or percussively, his original "typewriter" tapping, popping, raking, chords (using pretty much every technique possible), flicks, finger or thumb strums, and "crab claws" (plucking or popping 5th or octave chords with the thumb and 1st finger). When picking, he played "normally" or with right palm-heel damping. His left hand did regular fingering plus slides, hammerons, and pulloffs. He was a pioneer in all of these - his famous solo in "My Generation" was recorded in 1965, and the video of "The Kids Are Alright" from the same year shows him doing some of those techniques.

You can't knock the guy... even though he's not one of my fave bass players... I think the solo in My Generation is absolutely ground breaking stuff.... I see solo's be it guitar/bass/drums... or whatever... should comprise part of a song or tune... otherwise it just seems self indulgent

John's solos, fills, and leads on studio tracks were always leading-edge yet served the tune - examples abound on Who's Next (Fender P and/or Gibson Thunderbird), Quadrophenia (Thunderbirds/Fenderbirds), Who By Numbers (various, including Rickenbacker 8-string), the Tommy and Quad movie soundtracks (for which he re-recorded parts with Gibsons and Alembics respectively), Who Are You (various), Face Dances (Alembic), It's Hard (Alembic), and his solo albums - especially Too Late the Hero (Alembic), The Rock (Warwick Buzzards), and Music from VanPires (Status Buzzards).

When he played live, he liked to go way over the top in specific places designated for this. He never stole more than a measured amount of the spotlight from Townshend (whose playing style invited bass leads in any case), unless the music was built for him to do so - he also couldn't stray as far he wanted because of Moon's overwhelming drumming. His playing really stood out on the Who's 1979 tour (after Moon's death, when Kenney Jones - more of a classic timekeeper - became the drummer) - both he and Townshend really had a chance to stretch out on leads. If you can get ahold of it, check out the bootleg of their '79 show at Madison Square Garden (one of six straight gigs there) on Kenney's birthday (they sing "happy birthday") - astounding basswork on his his Alembic. Also of prominence are Live at Leeds (Fender P), the Kids Are Alright movie DVD (various), From The Blues to the Bush (1999 compiliation from concerts in Chicago and Shepherd's Bush - Status Buzzard), the Royal Albert Hall DVD from 2000 (Status), and his solo live albums from the King Buscuit Flour Hour series (1975 on his "Fenderbird" - amazing work) and Left for Live (expanded version from 2002 with his Status Buzzard). The DVD with full live versions of Tommy (1989 with Warwick Buzzard) and Quad (1997 with Status Buzzard) are good too.

As to My Generation, the studio track was one of several they cut (I think 4?). John said that it had the slowest and simplest solo of the lot. I've never heard the others, don't know if they survived.

Ditto

Have to say, i couldn't even get to the end of that solo.

Love the bass though.

JE is really like Marmite... you love it or hate it... no middle ground!

Having said all that, God bless his cotton socks... he did us proud by dying like a true rock hero... well done John!!

;)

Thank God that "Mark King" was born!

And Gary Willis!

and I'm not that crazy about Mark King...so there you go, everyone has their favorites.

couldnt agree more, i know hes like the god of the status forum, but... meh... atleast entwistle have some form of melody and form on that solo.. i must admit that i find Mark king in the same league as Bill dickens.. the "ticketicketick" league....

:o

had away and Bollocks! :D

:D The Irish................ Good answer!!!

I made myself listen to it again and.... 'melody'?? I'm still trying to find it through the annoying noise he was making with his fingers on the strings!!

:D

So not getting the Irish thing there...

Entwistle, King, Sheehan, et al often play/ed most of the night in a creative but disciplined way (i.e., standard style or just above that). When given a chance to jump out and solo, they go/went way over the top. This is part of the experience of live playing, where flash is more important than deep content.

These solos aren't material for a university music criticism course - they're prime examples of raw rock 'n roll energy and power, spontaneously delivered in a moment of live musical ecstacy. These (and many other) players have done wonderful works of music - simple and complex - on albums and live. These solos are their chance to really stand up and make everybody go "wow". When I saw The Who live in '89 in Washington, DC, one of the highlights of the show was Entwistle's tapping solo on My Generation - although not as "musical" as many of his "regular" lines, it was larger than life.