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09.19.24, 04:17 PM #1
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- Favorite VH Album
Fair Warning - Favorite VH Song
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Questions about Big Bad Bill (is Sweet William Now)
I rarely see this discussed, but it has bothered me for a long time, maybe 30 years.
When discussing Big Bad Bill, most people only talk about "hey, so sweet, Jan VH is playing clarinet solo with his sons, etc." Which I do agree is cool to hear ole pops VH, and see his solo is not un-Ed. You get that he influences Ed.
But I've always had totally different thoughts about Big Bad Bill. How come it sounds so GOOD?!?!?!
It's totally different from any VH song. It's an ole jazz tune. If you've been in bands, like many of us have, me included, you can't just give a double bass to your bass player, and then stick a mic in front of it, and it sounds like Michael Anthony on Big Bad Bill. You do that, it's gonna sound like shit, sorry. And here, it's not like they were playing songs like Big Bad Bill in the club days and backyard parties.
Second, AVH sounds really good on the brushes, but maybe that's easier.
When it comes to Ed, the myth of "Ed not reading music" is immediately debunked. Think about HOW. LONG it would've taken for him to lear the Big Bad Bill chord changes by ear! They were under huge time pressure during the recording of Diver Down. 100% Ed was reading charts during that recording. No other way. Even so, his timing seems impeccable. Remember, there's no protools, there's no copy and paste. They really played that tune.
Dave did a great job, but maybe he sings that kind of music in his shower, who knows.
Still, it's a mystery how good VH sounds on this song - no other band from that era could sound as good on a song like that. There hasn't been any report from Ted like "we had to do 87 takes to get Big Bad Bill to sound right." I'm imagining Ed is playing a Dobro on this? Again, this is from a time period where he says he didn't even have an acoustic guitar at home. It's all very strange.Little Dreamer
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09.19.24, 04:21 PM
#2
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Always loved BBB. Critics of it surprise me sometimes. It's raw talent.
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09.19.24, 04:23 PM
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It's no mystery.
A lot of folks don't hear it, 'cause of their metal roots, but VH is a pretty bluesy band, if you listen to the foundations of their Dave era tone.
Heck, I'd have killed for Ed, Al, Dave, and Mike to do a full blown blues record. I'm sure Dave would've loved that, but the Rat Salad-Crossroads Dutch boys, less so.
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