After agreeing that Howard would be our target for a drummer and filling what we had considered as the band’s final personnel slot with Jeff, Bruce and I suddenly realized that we were still without a bass player.
“We are still without a bass player” I perceptively noted.
“Right” said Bruce, who was never short for words.
I couldn’t guess how long we sat, silently entangled in our quandary, but at some point I recall wondering “just how hard could it be to play bass?” I mean a bass only has four strings, and they are all big and fat so they had to be fairly easy to hit or thump or what ever it was bassists did; and mostly you only had to “thump” one at a time. Come on, how hard could it be?”
And before I could fully comprehend the depths of my foolishness I heard myself blurt out the words that I would ultimately live to regret… “You know what? I think I could play the bass”.
Well, crap! I couldn’t play bass! In fact I never even touched a bass before. But I did see some one play one on T.V. and I did know we were talking guitars here and not fish. So I rationalized that despite these limitations, my qualifications for the bass job, with a good tail wind, where essentially similar in nature to Chapman’s with the piano; So therefore, and fundamentally speaking, weren’t my credentials “meeting or exceeding our established minimum standards”. Ok, ok! He had taken lessons, but then I’m thinking “Isn’t taking lessons kind of like cheating?” I mean it’s almost like needing to read maps. Guys don’t read maps! That’s cheating! So, I just figured I didn’t need lessons! ...See! Minimum standards!
However, once we started rehearsing I was quick to discover that singing and playing the bass was indeed a challenge; like patting your head and rubbing your stomach; which I am pleased to report I have mastered over the years; though playing the bass and singing still remains fundamentally elusive.
Thankfully, when the band embraced the “and Friends” concept and added bassist Paul Ross to the group for the “Feed the World but Feed the Band First” tour, I was instantly relieved of my former responsibilities and “just plain relieved” to be able to focus on the guitar, now my primary instrument. Ahhh…no more thump, thump de dump!
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Bass By Default to add
