Ok Edward Twining and La Forum, lets have a go with Brian Jones and Ronnie.

I attend many, many concerts. I watch Ronnie closely too. When he picks up another instrument to play on stage, (other than his guitar) he is very intense on that particular instrument. Ronnie's "intenseness," and his "ability," reminds me of Brian when he played his various instruments, (both totally committed).

Ronnie fills the same space as Brian did with the various instruments in The Rolling Stones.





Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2005-02-03 01:20 by Demon.

What other instruments does Ronnie play on stage other than guitar? I recall seeing him sitting down playing a slide guitar on Far Away Eyes.

He played a portable keyboard too.

.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2005-02-03 09:06 by Demon.

But if Ronnie or Brian had been MT, they would have played beautiful rolling melodies with vibrato that would have given new vibrato to vibratoness.

MT's personality was filled with swaying, superbly well rounded vibrato too.
His blonde mane outshone Brian's. That's why Brian was ousted.
Because of Mick's hair. And it's vibrato.

MT's clothes were better than anyone's too. The way they shimmered and shivered to the vibrato of his manly stance was a sight to behold.

Brian was short. Ronnie is short.

MT is so tall that this would have only enhanced his vibrato and melodic lines that gave queues to Jagger to remember how to sing. And when.

Without Taylor we would have missed out on that pealer of a track "Leather jacket".
Without Taylor I would have never realised there was a sun to rise.
Without Taylor there would be no threads on this forum.
Withjout Taylor Openg and ET would have nothing to talk about.
Without Taylor there would be no.....wait for it..........vibrato.

The Rolling Stones have gone from failure to failure without him and Taylor's career has flourished.

Because of his vibrato.



kyle m

Have you ever lent somebody $20 and never seen them again? It was probably worth it.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2005-02-03 05:05 by monkey man.

Please don't compare Ronnie's versatility as a musician with Brian's. Has Ronnie ever played another instrument besides guitar on an album track? Brian is the preeminent multi-instrumentalist in rock history. His contributions were nothing short of phenomenal. Ronnie is only a pretender . . .

ok Brian was a multi-instrumentalist...the Preminent in rock history is a bit of overkill!

I think this is getting rather silly now. It is true over the course of his career with the Stones Ronnie may have played lead, Rhythm, electic,acoustic, maybe piano but all these instuments are conventional when compared to Brian .
The sitar, marimbas,mellotron,dulcimer, flute etc are rarely heard in popular music and Brian played these as well as the more traditional instuments played by Ronnie. Brian brought great colour to the Stones sound and at no time after his leaving would the Stones have such a broad musical base.
I do find it rather ironic though that Brian would complain about the Stones musical direction when he was chiefly responsible for them achieving that.
I play the 66- 68 studio period of the Stones possibly more than any other period aside from Goats Head Soup but my very favourite period is live 69-73.

Brian and Ronnie are two different musicians and I was not saying they were one and the same. I was refering to the similarities because Ronnie seems to have taken on the responsibility of multiple instruments in the band, as did Brian.


neptune wrote:

"Ronnie is only a pretender."

I disagree, as Ronnie seems pretty intent on playing when I've seen him on slide or keyboard.

Now though, besides Bernard and Blondie, Mick does pick up maraches/shakers on occasion. And Mick does the Harp. So maybe the boys decided to share Brian's role throughout the band.

I have read many times that: "yes, Brian played many different instruments, he wasn't perfect at all of them. Brian was extremely good at wingin' it."

For myself,I don't think Brian winged it all the time, but sometimes, it seems likely that he did.

On Ronnie:
Keith said of Ronnie, "No one realizes how talented Ronnie really is."

I do though.

Yes, it's true that The Stones use more traditional instuments now.

They seem to have left the sweet sound of the Dulcimer, the Sitar, and Mandolin, etc., in the dust, as they changed with the times. Although you will hear a Tin Whistle or Flute on occasion.

I too listen to the Stones from their early days. It's remarkable how The Stones have managed to retain the original sound they had with Brian though. There is "much glimmer" that is still there in the more recent Stones music.

Don't forget that Ronnie also plays sax (various shows w other artists) and drums (Sleep Tonight)

Sax with Willy and the poor Boys

He plays Harmonica too - (but not with Stones)?

Actually. Mick and Keith are rather versatile themselves.

Don't forget Keith's bicycle on Continental Drift.

Looking forward to Micks drumming on next album!


And Kyle.......trust YOU to have to introduce Taylor into every thread!

You are SO right about Taylor. Saviour of the Stones. Your Eulogy has been sent to the Church of Rock for their due consideration. Expect a response very soon.


Shake a Tail-Feather, Darling.

neptune Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Please don't compare Ronnie's versatility as a
> musician with Brian's. Has Ronnie ever played
> another instrument besides guitar on an album
> track?


He played saxophone on Had it With You, he played a lot of drums during the recording of Dirty Work (don't know and doubt it if anything of it ended up on the record), he plays keyboard on You don't have to mean it live on stage.

Cheers,
Wuudy

<and doubt it if anything of it ended up on the record>

It ended up on Sleep Tonight only.

BTW, Mick J. played drums on Wanna Hold You. Don't know if they used his recording.

neptune Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Please don't compare Ronnie's versatility as a
> musician with Brian's. Has Ronnie ever played
> another instrument besides guitar on an album
> track?

bass, drums, keyboards, pedal steel, lap steel (Sweethearts together), dobro (break the spell, already over me), sax (dance, had it with you), percussion

Brian is the preeminent
> multi-instrumentalist in rock history.


more than, say, Prince? Hardly





Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 2005-02-03 15:19 by Gazza.

or Kravitz?

I absolutely disagree with the statement that Brian was a talented multi-instrumentalist. He was an encredible harmonica player, a good piano player and a mediocre guitarist. He was a pure amateur on all instruments mentioned here. His virtue is that he experimented with them, and took popular music of that time further, just like the Beatles, the Beach Boys and Pink Floyd did in 1965/1966. But to say he was a prolific musician on those instruments: no. In the eye of somebody who doesn't play any instrument it might look like he was great, but he wasn't. I sure don't want to compare myself in any way to Brian, but because I am a guitarist for 20+ years, I also can play some decent bass, mandolin, banjo, cello and violin. I.e. give me any stringed instrument and I can play a decent tune within a hour. Of course,a professional mandolin player will laugh his ass off, but to anyone not musical it sounds like a lot. The lead singer of Flip truly is a great pianist, and I am sure: give him anything with keys, and he plays something great within half an hour. A mellotron might sound exotic, but it basically is a sampler with a keyboard, so any piano player can play a tune on it.

Mathijs

He's right, you know.

Jagger's instrumental abilities are, in this respect, more remarkable than Brian's, Ronnie's or Keith's ventures onto other instruments; because he's "only a vocalist".

And to be a multi-instrumentalist can be to be a jack-of-all-trades and master- of-none. More true of Brian than Ronnie, who has been quite a unique talent on guitar. Yet Brian's inclination to dally and experiment did add an extra dimension to their sixties sound. Ronnie's 'multi-instrumentability' (find that in your Dictionary!) has had little or no effect on the overall sound. He's only playing instruments that would otherwise have been played by someone else. Brian, on the other hand, had the idea of adding distinct flavours.

But for pure ingenuity, you can't Beat a Bicycle.

Does any one know what model of bicycle was used. Was it custom made? And was it in standard tuning?

Deidre, it was a Batavus 1959 I believe.

Has anyone mentioned Ronnie playing bass on Fingerprint File (live) and on several studio tracks?

with snelbinders

Deidra wrote:

"But for pure ingenuity, you can't Beat a Bicycle."

Or a toilet, wonder what brand that one was. "Standard" maybe?

Shrimp,

Just as I thought!

Notoriously difficult to tune, but without question the raunchiest of beasts.

Trust Keith to choose the perfect musical vehicle.


Little baffled by Demon's allusion to use of pan or cistern in a Stones' song. But if he says so. As percussion?

The only toilet reference I recall is when Jagger, Richards and Wood destroyed a disabled person's toilet circa. '75, or early '76, while singing "We love violence, sex and drugs".

Some people!



"I'm too dangerous, darling, huh."



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 2005-02-03 22:39 by Deidre.

Yes, Keith mentions the use of a commode, twice I believe, once with a tape recorder, (beats me?) and then for the "flushing sound." Strange, but hey, if it works. I'll look around for that reference, as I can't recall which album/song they were working on.

Anyone know more on this?

Cheers

Btw: I was making a reference to "standard tuning" a joke, on the tuning part with the WC/commode/loo



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 2005-02-04 01:32 by Demon.

Fine. Just give me some time to acquaint myself with toilet-tunings. Bicycles are more my bag and their tunimgs are extremely complex, as any Shrimp will testify. Endless spoke configurations and nipple combinations. And that's without mentioning the sprockets, choice of frame-materials, saddle acoustics, etc.

Believe me, guitar is just child's-play, by comparison.

This could have cued a cheap Ronnie Wood joke. But I'm in free-wheelin' compassion mode.

Time here for a good defense of Brian. First of all, saying Brian was the PREEMINENT MULTI-INSTRUMENTALIST in rock history is certainly not overkill. Who was better than Brian? Gazza says it's Prince. I do agree that Prince is an extraordinary talent who plays many instruments well. He's an incredible guitar player and he's also pretty decent playing drums, piano, and brass instruments. Prince definitely gives Brian a good run for his money. However, I would have to say BJ wins out in the end. I believe Brian's abilities with the harmonica are as good as Prince's with the guitar. There were few harp players better than BJ. Just listen to Now I've Got a Witness and Look What You've Done. He was a true master! Aside from guitar, Prince is average with the other instruments. Brian, though, cannot be rated as an average guitar player. He was pretty damn good at it, especially on slide. I disagree with Mathijs when he says Brian was average with the guitar. His slide licks on LRR, I Can't Be Satisfied, No Expectations, Down Home Girl, and What A Shame are merely average? That's just crazy! Brian may not have been a soloist of MT, Clapton, or Duane Allman's caliber, but he was GOOD nonetheless. Soloing was not his style, for Brian was more interested in the Chicago Blues method of guitar playing. Lastly, Prince was mostly a vocalist whose instrumental contributions did not leave any significant imprint on rock music. That definitely cannot be said of Brian. His experimentation with various instruments led rock music to new paths. I cannot believe so many Stones fans have a hard time recognizing the importance and talents of Brian Jones . . .

What about the Bowl? Now, the bowl would take on a resonant round tone. The "O" ring would cushion any sharp piercing sound, and the hardware would add a special ring to the range of audibility. The water of course functions as admixture.

All in all a mellow, vibrant, rotund, and orotund sound, and all from such a simple thing as a...Commode/Loo. Brilliant, simply brilliant.

Now think of that the next time ya take a dump!






Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2005-02-04 07:24 by Demon.

Now I'm sad neptune, I really miss Brian, I always miss him, don't get me wrong, and think of him as #1 Stone as he really is, because he formed The Stones.

But now, I'm having a Blue Brian day. I had a Blue Jimbo (Jim M./Mr. Adonis) day yesterday, and now this.

ThankYaVerMuch.

Btw, I could beat both their butts for @#$%&' up and dying on us. Damn, such brilliance, a cryin' shame. Man, oh man.