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With regard to the bassist role, there is a school of thought that BF's loyalty to Graham S. ran deep enough to want the role sufficiently semi-vacant, just in case Graham should be able to resolve his emotional problems and return to the fold. As BF's autobiography looks likely to remain unwritten, we'll probably never know...

Rik K. was possibly recruited primarily to fulfill live commitments which had been agreed before Graham's departure; or perhaps he just wasn't a good fit in some way. Thereafter, BF was prone to saying in interviews that this bassist or that one looked like being a keeper, but none of them ever stayed! Johnny G. was hugely influential, but didn't seem to want to tour; Sal did the tours, but was coming to the end of his visa (and would presumably have required a work permit); John W. wanted to be a vocalist too and King Crimson offered him that freedom.

As for musicianship, the title of "virtuoso" would probably sit most comfortably with Eddie, IMHO; his academic studies were shelved in favour of joining Curved Air almost straight from school (I find it easy to understand the lure of standing next to Sonja Kristina in her youthful prime!), but his violin and keyboard skills have never been surpassed in either Roxy or BF's bands. I'd be surprised if the original intro to SFE wasn't penned at least in part by him, while As The World Turns holds a special place in the hearts of many here.

Musically Colin Good was very important to the jazz & swing related music (I suspect he probably assisted with recruiting and rehearsing the jazz musicians and with scoring their parts), but possibly less so with the rock stuff, to which he is not naturally suited. His value to BF was probably as much as Musical Director as it was as a band member.

As MD he would have taken some of the load off BF's shoulders and reduced the need for, or risk of, micro-management. I'm sure it would have been among CG's duties to get the band members to rehearsals, soundchecks and gigs on time and, on occasions, to supervise those soundchecks. I witnessed this at first hand in Dubrovnik, partly because Mrs Smudge & I stayed at the same hotel as the band and partly because the gig was in the old city square with difficult acoustics, which led to the soundcheck being lengthy and public (for which reasons BF chose not to attend it and to entrust matters to CG).

Author:	pianoman [ Sat Mar 06, 2021 9:48 am ]
Post subject:	Re: Here's a rare one
Cher Windswept, it wasn't my intention to take your words out of the context but as you explained it seems that I completely misunderstood you - sorry for that and thank you for your clarification. Have fun with your disc (or LP) of the day ! - pianoman -

Author:	Roger [ Tue Mar 09, 2021 12:03 am ]
Post subject:	Re: Here's a rare one
More BF on guitar: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Q1JKqwtgwM https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p4dkoe2LOtQ

Author:	pianoman [ Tue Mar 09, 2021 2:24 pm ]
Post subject:	Re: Here's a rare one
Roger wrote: More BF on guitar: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Q1JKqwtgwM https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p4dkoe2LOtQ Hi Roger, thank your for the links. Both fantastic songs from my fantastic favourite band . Obviously Bryan Ferry is a better guitarist than I had ever assumed. I watched his fingers and it suited to the music. I must have seen the Musikladen video of Eight Miles High on German TV but actually can't remember ... Interesting to watch Paul Thompson on drums (in 1980?). Who was the Farfisa keyboarder? Alan Spenner? And who was the drummer with the glasses in Take A Chance? Newmark? Schwartzberg? May Covid19 persist, Roxy/Ferry remains one of my biggest interests Stay safe! - Peter the piano man -

Author:	VivaRoxyMusic.com [ Tue Mar 09, 2021 2:48 pm ]
Post subject:	Re: Here's a rare one
pianoman wrote: ... Interesting to watch Paul Thompson on drums (in 1980?). Who was the Farfisa keyboarder? Alan Spenner? And who was the drummer with the glasses in Take A Chance? Newmark? Schwartzberg? That is Paul Carrack on the keyboards, The drummer is Steve Goulding who appeared with Roxy on a lot of TV stuff during the promotional period for Avalon. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_Goulding J.O'B.

Author:	pianoman [ Tue Mar 09, 2021 3:22 pm ]
Post subject:	Re: Here's a rare one
J.O'B. wrote: That is Paul Carrack on the keyboards,[/b] The drummer is Steve Goulding who appeared with Roxy on a lot of TV stuff during the promotional period for Avalon. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_Goulding J.O'B. Thanks John - I never knew anything about Steve Goulding. And shame on me that I didn't recognize one of my favourite musicians, Paul Carrack ...

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Here's a rare one http://vivaroxymusic.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=3254	Page 2 of 2

Author:	Richard [ Wed Apr 28, 2021 9:30 am ]
Post subject:	Re: Here's a rare one
Interesting thread Roxy played their most of their songs a lot faster from 2001 onwards although there was a little slowing down on the 2011 tour. From what I understand this was a conscious decision and not just something that happened or something TGPT came up with. Compare the tempos with the Avalon tour and Country Life/Siren tours for example. Colin Good was given the job of pulling all the musical elements together and making sure the additional musicians were an integral part of the band. I have no doubt the CG worked closely with Ferry, Andy, Phil and Paul throughout rehearsals and examined the original tracks to get the band sounding amazing. For example I thought Zev Katz really did a good job of reproducing the relevant parts from the different bass players. It had been nearly nearly 20 years since the band had played live and technology had changed so much. CG and Eddie are top class musicians in different ways. Both have the classical training and whilst CG seems to concentrate on the piano, Eddie has expanded his horizons with synths. Eddie was definitely a prodigy. I think the bass player thing is that they hoped GS would get better and come back. Apparently Rick Kenton wanted the band to record some of his songs which was met with a form no. After that I think it just became a thing of having different bass players. John Gustafson was the original choice for the 2001 tour but was too ill at the time.

Author:	DCJ [ Thu Apr 29, 2021 2:38 am ]
Post subject:	Re: Here's a rare one
To me, in this clip Steve Goulding looks like the first drummer for Spinal Tap (played by Ed Begley jr. I think...) I think the early revolving door for bass players can be (at least partially) explained by a reluctance to include anyone new into the business partnership that was/is "Roxy Music." Rik Kenton was clearly a "hired hand" and he set a pattern. After Kenton, Roxy featured a lot of very talented bass players, but they were never allowed to participate in the business on an equal financial footing with the original members... At least that's my take...

Author:	wrighta [ Thu Apr 29, 2021 8:23 pm ]
Post subject:	Re: Here's a rare one
Which could explain why Eddie Jobson was never a full member of the band. I wonder if TGPT was fully reinstated in 2001 or if after having to audition for the drum stool he was merely a hired hand.

Author:	Richard [ Fri Apr 30, 2021 8:47 am ]
Post subject:	Re: Here's a rare one
Smudge wrote: With regard to the bassist role, there is a school of thought that BF's loyalty to Graham S. ran deep enough to want the role sufficiently semi-vacant, just in case Graham should be able to resolve his emotional problems and return to the fold. As BF's autobiography looks likely to remain unwritten, we'll probably never know... Rik K. was possibly recruited primarily to fulfill live commitments which had been agreed before Graham's departure; or perhaps he just wasn't a good fit in some way. Thereafter, BF was prone to saying in interviews that this bassist or that one looked like being a keeper, but none of them ever stayed! Johnny G. was hugely influential, but didn't seem to want to tour; Sal did the tours, but was coming to the end of his visa (and would presumably have required a work permit); John W. wanted to be a vocalist too and King Crimson offered him that freedom. As for musicianship, the title of "virtuoso" would probably sit most comfortably with Eddie, IMHO; his academic studies were shelved in favour of joining Curved Air almost straight from school (I find it easy to understand the lure of standing next to Sonja Kristina in her youthful prime!), but his violin and keyboard skills have never been surpassed in either Roxy or BF's bands. I'd be surprised if the original intro to SFE wasn't penned at least in part by him, while As The World Turns holds a special place in the hearts of many here. Musically Colin Good was very important to the jazz & swing related music (I suspect he probably assisted with recruiting and rehearsing the jazz musicians and with scoring their parts), but possibly less so with the rock stuff, to which he is not naturally suited. His value to BF was probably as much as Musical Director as it was as a band member. As MD he would have taken some of the load off BF's shoulders and reduced the need for, or risk of, micro-management. I'm sure it would have been among CG's duties to get the band members to rehearsals, soundchecks and gigs on time and, on occasions, to supervise those soundchecks. I witnessed this at first hand in Dubrovnik, partly because Mrs Smudge & I stayed at the same hotel as the band and partly because the gig was in the old city square with difficult acoustics, which led to the soundcheck being lengthy and public (for which reasons BF chose not to attend it and to entrust matters to CG). Nicely put

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