The edge of reason...
Although much modern
day wit passes The Hat by – I'm more with Oscar Wilde and Peters
Cook and Ustinov than with late night stand-up innuendo on Dave TV –
original humour will always appeal. The comedian Bill Bailey is not
only a funny and interesting man but he happens to have a prodigious
musical talent as well. He has many videos and has toured the country
a good few times and there is one part of his repertoire that has
always had popular appeal. Bill has this unnerving knack of imitating
famous musicians and producing their signature sounds, usually on the
guitar, in an hysterically accurate way. He can also switch his
Roland from Georgie Fame to Dr Who via Jaques Loussier in a
nano-second and still keep us falling about. Do go and look on
Youtube for his hilarious portrayal of U2's The Edge having a sudden
technical crisis and you will get my point.
Bill's spoof guitar
pieces have one thing in common – the Effects Pedal or board –
that many musicians now have on stage as a matter of course. The Hat
has nothing against the notion of changing your sound for an
appropriate effect – indeed, what would life be like without Pink
Floyd and Dave Gilmour's Fabulous Flanger or Luscious Loop and the
idea of Them Wicked Vultures playing without their Moog Moogerfooger Analog Delay, FatBoost, Space Echo and Low Pass Envelope Filter
seems absolutely unthinkable (for goodness sake, keep up, keep up – or go and ask a
passing lead guitarist!)....
However, the thought
did occur to The Hat the other day that maybe this has got to the
point that the 'Mine's Bigger Than Yours' syndrone could be taking over.
It now seems to be quite normal for every young band setting out to
have a glittering array of expensive kit lined up underneath their
twitching trainers. Also – and I wouldn't say that they are
essential reading - there are now numerous internet websites taken
up with the minutiae of famous pedal boards, simply so that us
mortals can copy their interesting sounds....or (please) not. After
all, let us remember that the seminal moment in Spinal Tap where it
is revealed that their amplifier goes up to '11', is now writ large
in our musicological history – to the point that nobody laughs any
more - and special effects are now as ubiquitous as CSI television
repeats. It comes as no surprise that Bill Bailey produces a six-neck
guitar at one point in his act.
The Hat was provoked
down this rockety and contentious road recently by two major
guitarists. Although, Robert Cray is careful with his choice of amps,
switches in and out on his guitars and has someone tuning them after
every number, he has always been intent on getting a clean
uncluttered line between guitar and amp and few can recall ever
seeing any pedals in action. The Hat would concede that this may not
be to everyone's taste so let me offer another 'Go Listen'
suggestion. The guitarist Robben Ford, who should be on your 'Must Have' list and who has played over a very
long and distinguished career with everybody from Miles Davis and
George Harrison to Kiss, is another talent who has only very slowly
taken to the pedal effects board, although he now seems to have a full
house. However, looking at and listening to some of his videos,
particularly the earlier stuff, it is quite evident that pedal
effects are not a major part of his axe armoury. Like many others,
amplifiers are a very carefully considered choice but, in the end, the line from his guitar strings to those amps speaks
eloquently for itself. It is obvious that this lack of Effect does
not seem to have Affected his appeal.
So here's an idea. When
you are next listening to some blues in your local bar instead of
sizing up their chops take a sneaky peak at their footwork and see if
their beautiful bits and pieces are the real thing or just cosmetic
enhancements. Oh, and just in case guitarists think I am being
unfairly picky and I die under an avalanche of shiny Fuzz Boxes (some of my best friends have really impressive whammy
bars, by the way) – did you know that many decades ago, Alice Cooper's drummer had
an Absolutely Enormously Massive nineteen piece drum kit......??
Pip Pip!
The Blues Man in The Hat