Bravo, Bruno

[toetoe]

Overheard by your humble correspondent this morning: Tony Bruno, doing his daily 30-minute guest segment with KNBR's Gary I'm-Blacker-Than-You-And-I-Have-The-Rap-Knowledge-And-The-Black-Trophy-Wife-To-Prove-It Radunich, came up with a beauty. A caller related that many years ago, David Macallum's father, a concert violinist, advised a rock guitarist (Jimmy Page?) to use a bow on his electric guitar. The kid followed the advice and got a huge hit out of it. Bruno: "Vio-lin bow? Mega dittoes to you, sir." :lol:

Now, THAT'S excellence in broadcasting. Byoooootiful, Gary.

[bigmack]

A caller related that many years ago, David Macallum's father, a concert violinist, advised a rock guitarist (Jimmy Page?) to use a bow on his electric guitar. The kid followed the advice and got a huge hit out of it. Bruno: "Vio-lin bow? Mega dittoes to you, sir."
http://battellemedia.com/images/walter_can.jpg

Hey Lebowski -

This was a gimmick he had incorporated into his bag of tricks back in his studio days. He had first used it on two tracks on the Little Games LP, "Glimpses" and "Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Sailor."

Page was not the first guitarist to use a violin bow. He was a favorite session musician of famed producer, Shel Talmy. Talmy had used Page on session work for the Who and the Kinks among others. One of Talmy's pet projects was a band called the Creation. Eddie Phillips, lead guitarist of said group, had employed a violin bow on his guitar on two 1966 singles, "Painter Man" and "Making Time." It's worth musing over whether Page ever happened to see Phillips use the violin bow in the studio.

Talmy himself had no doubts about it. In the book, Unknown Legends of Rock 'n' Roll, he shared his views on Eddie Phillips and Jimmy Page with author Richie Unterberger. "He (Phillips) was one of the most innovative guitarists I've ever run across. Jimmy Page stole the bowing bit of the guitar from Eddie. Eddie was phenomenal," Talmy said.

Page himself has claimed he didn't meet Eddie Phillips until Jim McCarty's 50th birthday party in 1994. Further, and to be fair, there are also pictures of Pink Floyd's Syd Barrett using a violin bow in concert. Eddie Phillips' underrated guitar work is now widely available with the reissue of the Creation's entire recorded legacy in the late '90s. Further, the movie, Rushmore, includes "Making Time" on the soundtrack.

There is a noticeable difference in the two guitar players' approach, however. Phillips' violin bowing is organic, much more integrated into the song structure itself. During the bridge in "Making Time," his bowing sounds very similar to feedback. When Page utilizes the effect, though, the song comes to a halt, with all attention being focused on the bowing. In "Dazed and Confused," Page followed up the violin bowing with a furious spitfire solo, which he had lifted from the flipside of the Yardbirds' last single, "Goodnight Sweet Josephine" b/w "Think About It." While it is undoubtedly his own solo, Page was exhibiting a tendency to recycle motifs and ideas.