So...what did Paul actually play on?

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IkarisOne
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So...what did Paul actually play on?

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When Ralph interviewed Nick he made mention of Watt Roy playing on Cut the Crap and implied that Paul not playing on Clash records was SOP for The Clash. There's been rumors of Paul's tracks been rerecorded since day one. Listening to 'The Crooked Beat' it's pretty hard to imagine that bass player playing on 'Hitsville UK', for instance. Listening to Clash soundboards you get the pretty clear impression that Paul really didn't understand the concept of "beat" all that well, which seems problematic when The Clash were increasingly playing syncopated beat music. There are things I can imagine are definitely him- say the rock version of 'Cool Confusion' for instance, but past that it starts to get a lot murkier. What can you imagine Paul actually playing on and what do you see someone else- Joe, Mick, Topper, Watt Roy, whoever- re-recording Paul's parts on? I never thought Paul played on 'One More Time', for instance. It's simply too fluid and limber and Paul could never approximate it live. Overpowered by Funk? Forget it. Maybe the Paul bass tracks are the minority and the non-Paul the majority....

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Re: So...what did Paul actually play on?

Post by TeddyB Not Logged In »

I don't know but his live playing with the Gorillaz was very cool. It's funny/interesting that a musician can improve while not actually playing very much in the interim.

bazarboy75
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Re: So...what did Paul actually play on?

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I've got serious doubt on all the young punks....

Heston
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Re: So...what did Paul actually play on?

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I doubt Pearlman would have sent him upstairs to practice for days on end if he wasn't on GEER. This stuff doesn't bother me anyway, I think records are about getting the best performance over, no matter what it takes. And unless you're recording straight up live, it's all a bit of a cheat anyway, innit?
There's a tiny, tiny hopeful part of me that says you guys are running a Kaufmanesque long con on the board

IkarisOne
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Re: So...what did Paul actually play on?

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Heston wrote:I doubt Pearlman would have sent him upstairs to practice for days on end if he wasn't on GEER. This stuff doesn't bother me anyway, I think records are about getting the best performance over, no matter what it takes. And unless you're recording straight up live, it's all a bit of a cheat anyway, innit?
He could have sent him to practice and still decided it wasn't good enough. But I'm more interested in the trickier stuff, not so much the straight eights.

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Re: So...what did Paul actually play on?

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In other way i read in a French newspaper an old article about sandinista, Mick Paul and Joe were itw.
About look here it's Paul, he said this one gave him hard time and made mistake all the time, but at the end it's him on the track

But not on Lightning strike (For Paul the Slap don't even exist)
I've got serious doubt on Version city, rebel waltz, Hitsville UK, M7, Broadway, Junkie slip

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Re: So...what did Paul actually play on?

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bazarboy75 wrote:In other way i read in a French newspaper an old article about sandinista, Mick Paul and Joe were itw.
About look here it's Paul, he said this one gave him hard time and made mistake all the time, but at the end it's him on the track

But not on Lightning strike (For Paul the Slap don't even exist)
I've got serious doubt on Version city, rebel waltz, Hitsville UK, M7, Broadway, Junkie slip
M7 and Lightning we know is Watt Roy, I'd say HUK most definitely is as well.

bazarboy75
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Re: So...what did Paul actually play on?

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Stay Free is surely Mick
Rock the casbah is surely Topper

Heston
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Re: So...what did Paul actually play on?

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IkarisOne wrote:
bazarboy75 wrote:In other way i read in a French newspaper an old article about sandinista, Mick Paul and Joe were itw.
About look here it's Paul, he said this one gave him hard time and made mistake all the time, but at the end it's him on the track

But not on Lightning strike (For Paul the Slap don't even exist)
I've got serious doubt on Version city, rebel waltz, Hitsville UK, M7, Broadway, Junkie slip
M7 and Lightning we know is Watt Roy, I'd say HUK most definitely is as well.
Didn't Paul miss a lot of the Sandinista sessions because he was making that movie? It's well documented that Mick, Joe and Norman played a lot of bass on the album.
There's a tiny, tiny hopeful part of me that says you guys are running a Kaufmanesque long con on the board

Heston
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Re: So...what did Paul actually play on?

Post by Heston »

Also, remember the Mick/Paul argument about the bass EQ level on Know Your Rights? I doubt that would have happened if Paul's parts were being replaced.
There's a tiny, tiny hopeful part of me that says you guys are running a Kaufmanesque long con on the board

white man
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Re: So...what did Paul actually play on?

Post by white man »

Norman told me personally that he played on 16 tracks on Sandinista. :cool:

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Re: So...what did Paul actually play on?

Post by Inder »

The tone is sometimes a giveaway. Compare Charlie to Version City, for example.

Heston
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Re: So...what did Paul actually play on?

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white man wrote:Norman told me personally that he played on 16 tracks on Sandinista. :cool:
So...less than a third?
There's a tiny, tiny hopeful part of me that says you guys are running a Kaufmanesque long con on the board

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Re: So...what did Paul actually play on?

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Inder wrote:The tone is sometimes a giveaway. Compare Charlie to Version City, for example.
Didn't Watt Roy take credit for the Charlie bassline?

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Re: So...what did Paul actually play on?

Post by Inder »

If he did, wouldn't be surprised if that's one of the ones Paul re-recorded. Sounds like flatulent mid-range thunka-thunk compared to the silky smooth undergarments of tracks like VC.

Or I could be entirely wrong. :shifty:

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