{"id":1744,"date":"2012-04-28T15:00:46","date_gmt":"2012-04-28T14:00:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.brucethomas.co.uk\/?p=1744"},"modified":"2012-05-02T17:27:53","modified_gmt":"2012-05-02T16:27:53","slug":"from-the-beginning","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.brucethomas.co.uk\/?p=1744","title":{"rendered":"I Never Knew That!"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>

Yes... the cheeky chappy with the big ears is me<\/p><\/div>\n

The following is a new interview I did\u00a0recently for Jon Liebman\u2019s For Bass Players Only<\/em> magazine.<\/p>\n

JL: Tell me about your musical upbringing. <\/strong><\/p>\n

BT: <\/strong>There was a piano in the house and it came as a great surprise to me when I started hitting the notes that a tune didn\u2019t come out at all, just a racket.\u00a0 After all, I was only doing what I\u2019d seen everyone else do when playing the piano.\u00a0 But my mother had a good ear for a tune, and picked it up very quickly without any lessons.\u00a0 My father, on the other hand, spent his childhood studying to be a classical violinist; but he had to give it up to go in the Army.\u00a0\u00a0Later he only ever played it occasionally.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

I had no formal music training myself, but as a kid I listened to Radio Luxembourg under the bed sheets. It was the only<\/em> pop music station at the time.\u00a0 They had a show from the Cavern in Liverpool, so I was actually listening to bands that would later become famous on the coat-tails of the Beatles. There were some good bass players; in particular, I remember Johnny Gustafson of the Merseybeats.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

JL: How did you become a bass player? <\/strong><\/p>\n

BT: <\/strong>One night, during the days of the great British R&B boom, I sat in with a local band called The Tremors. \u00a0I played a few tunes on harmonica, like \u201cGot My Mojo Working\u201d and some others, and they asked me to join as harmonica player. When the regular bass player failed to turn up for the gig one night, his bass (a blond Epiphone Rivoli) was handed to me and I had to wing it.<\/p>\n

At that point I didn\u2019t own a bass myself, apart from one I\u2019d tried to make using telephone parts as a pickup and a Spanish guitar bridge. It even had an eleven-note octave on it because, somewhere along the way, I\u2019d counted wrong! Anyway, I must\u2019ve been cut out to play the bass, as I kept the bass-playing job with the Tremors.<\/p>\n

Once I\u2019d been elected bass player, I practiced every waking hour, mostly copying parts from records. \u00a0I played a minimum of nine hours a day. I played along with the TV and even took the bass to bed.\u00a0 One of the first parts I learnt was \u201cGreen Onions\u201d because it was an easy three-note riff but, more to the point, it was probably teaching me how to play a groove.\u00a0 Paul McCartney and James Jamerson\u2019s bass lines were too complex for me at that time, so I stuck to riffy R&B parts, graduating from Bill Wyman, via Paul Samwell-Smith of the Yardbirds, to being able to play along with Jack Bruce\u2019s parts on the first Cream album, after about a year\u2019s practice.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

The Roadrunners, just before I joined them. Paul Rodgers, centre; Mick Moody, far right<\/p><\/div>\n

I could play most riffs after hearing them once and it was agreed by my school buddies that I had the makings of a good bass player. \u00a0But I\u2019m a firm believer in the repetition school of learning \u2014 the well-known \u201c10,000 hours\u201d theory.\u00a0 I certainly found the same to be true when I later took up kung fu training.<\/p>\n

I later joined another local band, The Roadrunners, which had Mick Moody (later of Whitesnake) on guitar.\u00a0 I took over the Roadrunners\u2019 bass playing duties from a guy called Paul Rodgers, who we thought would make a better singer!\u00a0 That was the band we all turned professional with.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

JL: How did you get the gig with Elvis Costello? <\/strong><\/p>\n

BT: <\/strong>I answered the proverbial ad in Melody Maker<\/em> the musician\u2019s paper at the time, which had all the Situations Vacant or Wanted pages where bands would recruit. \u00a0The ads would be something like: \u201cMindbeast seeks heavy metal guitarist. Must have own transport and long hair.\u00a0 No Timewasters\u201d\u00a0.<\/p>\n

In my case, the ad I replied to was for a bass player for a \u201crocking pop combo\u201d.\u00a0 I rang the number on the ad and a girl answered, \u201cStiff Records.\u201d\u00a0 As she was taking my details, I heard a voice in the background (later confirmed to be EC) saying, \u201cAsk him who he likes.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat bands do you like?\u201d the girl said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Rumour and Steely Dan,\u201d I replied.<\/p>\n

\u201cGet rid of him,\u201d the voice said.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo, I think you should give him a chance,\u201d said the girl.<\/p>\n

An audition was scheduled in Putney for the end of the week. Being sneaky \u2014 or resourceful \u2014 I went out and bought some EC records and learnt the bass parts.\u00a0 I\u2019d already done quite a bit of session work by this point, so it wasn\u2019t too tricky.\u00a0 At the audition, though, I made like I was hearing the songs for the first time and doing a really good job of learning them. \u00a0In the end, I was offered the job, despite his disapproval of my flared trousers!<\/p>\n

It\u2019s just as well I got the job; otherwise there\u2019d have been no Attractions. EC was set on calling the band the Sticky Valentines (ugh!) rather than the more Motown-sounding Attractions we persuaded him to adopt.\u00a0 Come to think of it, I must\u2019ve been on a roll that day, as I also came up with Steve Nieve\u2019s name. And it wasn\u2019t only a gig with the Attractions I got that day either. \u00a0I ended up being married for twelve years to the girl who\u2019d answered the phone.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

JL: You were with Elvis for a long time.\u00a0 What can you share with me about that experience? <\/strong><\/p>\n

BT: <\/strong>Where do I start? Have you read War and Peace<\/em>?! \u00a0It went in phases.\u00a0 The first few years were probably the best, all round.\u00a0 In the beginning, it was a tight unit. We roomed together \u2014 me with EC and Steve with Pete. \u00a0That\u2019s when we did our best body of work as a band and what most people would honestly think of as EC\u2019s best body of writing. \u00a0I think we had only five days off in the first two years.\u00a0 We were running like a well-oiled machine, so much so that we recorded seven tracks for This Year\u2019s Model<\/em> (which became a #1 album) in one afternoon.\u00a0 Looking back, I\u2019m quite surprised at the consistency of the playing and material from that period. \u00a0There aren\u2019t many bass parts from This Year\u2019s Model <\/em>through to Punch the Clock<\/em> that cause me any real embarrassment.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Not always seeing eye-to-eye ...<\/p><\/div>\n

But gradually the Spinal Tap<\/em> clich\u00e9s set in: the WAGs chipping in, self-indulgence, etc, then a period of forgiveness and rededication; eventually, though, the old dysfunctions resurfaced.\u00a0 Though since it\u2019s the same band now, only minus me, it would appear that they have learned to manage quite happily without me \u2014 though I suspect some of the fire, creative or otherwise, has diminished.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

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 <\/p>\n

JL: You must have at least one really good Elvis Costello story \u2026 maybe a good road story? <\/strong><\/p>\n

BT: <\/strong>There are quite a lot of them in my book The Big Wheel<\/em>. \u00a0Pete was always good value for an anecdote or ten, due to his prodigious capacity for drinking and other recreational aids.<\/p>\n

I once came down for breakfast and found him asleep on top of the bar in a tartan suit, even though he didn\u2019t own a tartan suit! \u00a0He once also fell into a deep sleep on the lawn of a hotel we were staying in and didn\u2019t wake up in the morning, even when the sprinklers came on.\u00a0 He eventually appeared looking somewhat bedraggled.<\/p>\n

While we were recording Get Happy<\/em> in Holland, we were in a hotel a mile or two from the studio.\u00a0 After a late-night recording session, a bit squiffy as usual, Pete and I decided we\u2019d return to the hotel on foot. \u00a0Only we wouldn\u2019t just totter gently down the road.\u00a0 Rather, we\u2019d pretend that it was in the war and we were members of the resistance, stealthily making our way to the front line through peoples\u2019 back gardens.<\/p>\n

At some point in this ill-conceived journey, we stumbled on a club, which was open and still going strong.\u00a0 We went in and found, to our amazement, that the whole venue was full of Dutch women. \u00a0Of course, it didn\u2019t take me long to figure out we\u2019d stumbled on a lesbian nightclub. \u00a0But Pete was just a bit more pissed and a bit slower on the uptake. \u00a0One Dutch girl, resisting the advances of a certain percussionist, said, \u201cBut you don\u2019t understand! I like women!\u201d, \u201cYes,\u201d said Pete, \u201cYes! And so do I!\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

JL: Tell me about the <\/strong>Bruce Thomas Profile Signature Model Bass<\/strong><\/em>. <\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>BT: <\/strong>The well-known pink bass I used for twenty years (on and off) with the Attractions was stolen from my car while I was in LA doing some session work after I \u201cleft\u201d the band.\u00a0 Though I tried, in vain, to find a suitable replacement, it wasn\u2019t simply a matter of replacing an early 1960s P-bass, as I\u2019d made many modifications to it.\u00a0 I\u2019d reshaped the body and the neck, rewired it and re-sprayed it.\u00a0 I came to the conclusion that I\u2019d have to start again and try to reproduce it from scratch.<\/p>\n

I\u2019d been a customer and friend of Barry Moorhouse at the Bass Centre in London for many years. When I told him what I was doing, he reckoned that other people would be interested in having a similar bass, so he offered to make a BT signature model bass as part of their new British Bass Masters series.<\/p>\n

The name Profile<\/em> came about as I literally created a new body profile, different to the superficially similar-looking Fender.\u00a0 It was a very timely meeting because Barry was kind enough to provide me several basses to experiment on. \u00a0I sanded them down till I got the right shape.<\/p>\n

The first prototype is the one you will see on my website and on YouTube. They\u2019re being manufactured in the Czech Republic and Korea and will be appearing any time soon.\u00a0 We\u2019re making three models: an entry-level version, a pro model and a top-end customizable version \u2014 all of which I\u2019ve worked on and tested and all of which I\u2019d be more than happy to use both for recording and performing.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

JL: You\u2019re quite a prolific writer; what\u2019s <\/strong>The Big Wheel<\/strong><\/em> all about? <\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>BT: <\/strong>The Big Wheel<\/em> is a thinly-disguised account of a day in the life of a bass player in a rocking pop combo.\u00a0 It was written after 10 years of touring and recording when quite a bit of road-weariness and tension had taken hold. \u00a0But it was the sheer repetition of touring that was the key image of the turning wheel. It comes across as humor in adversity I think \u2026 that and trying to prick a few bubbles along the way and having a general moan about things.<\/p>\n

I revisit the book on my website, where I\u2019ve pointed out that it wasn\u2019t all as bad as I made it out to be.\u00a0 It was a good band and we did make some good records and did some great shows here and there.\u00a0 And even though we had a fairly hectic schedule, I did get to go round the world four times and have some experiences that money can\u2019t buy. \u00a0The urban myth is that I was sacked for writing the book, though it\u2019s not true. I was, though, quite happy to encourage the idea as a bit of myth building to help its notoriety\u00a0… and sales.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

JL: How about <\/strong>Fighting Spirit<\/strong><\/em>? <\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>BT: <\/strong>When I lived in west London, I was mugged outside my house one evening, returning home from a late-night shop at the supermarket.\u00a0 I felt like such a fool that I decided to get self-defense or martial art training to make me more aware, as much as give me the skills to tackle any aggression towards me. I was lucky enough to stumble on the guy who turned out to be the best martial arts teacher of his generation, Master Derek Jones, who had a school in Shepherd\u2019s Bush.<\/p>\n

At this time, I hadn\u2019t even seen a Bruce Lee film and knew very little about him.\u00a0 But it turned out that Derek had learned the w<\/em>ing chun<\/em> <\/em>style of kung fu<\/em> from two of Bruce Lee\u2019s fellow students under Yip Man in Hong Kong.\u00a0 Just as Bruce Lee did, Derek eventually evolved what he\u2019d learned into a more-complete system.<\/p>\n

Derek reckoned he\u2019d learned a massive amount from studying Bruce Lee fight scenes from his films and documentaries and had edited all of these onto one tape, which he brought round to my house one day.\u00a0 Once he\u2019d explained so I understood what I was looking at, I knew I had to find out everything I could.\u00a0 So I ended up writing a book about Bruce Lee, not because I was an expert and wanted to teach, but because I wanted to learn everything I could.\u00a0 I reckoned I was in the same position as a reader going to the subject for the first time.\u00a0 In the end it took four years of research, involving interviews and material from over fifteen hundred sources.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

JL: Tell me about your new book, <\/strong>Another Roll of the Dice<\/strong><\/em>. <\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>BT: <\/strong>It takes up the same themes as a novel called The Dice Man<\/em>, which was the best-selling novel of the last fifty years. \u00a0It\u2019s been called the best novel ever written and also the most dangerous book ever written. \u00a0It\u2019s basically about the role chance and fate can play in our lives and what happens if we try and increase the chances.\u00a0 The Dice Man<\/em> was written by aNew York psychiatrist and psychology teacher who was quite shy and started making decisions based on options he chose by rolling dice. \u00a0He was too shy to chat up girls but he would say to himself, \u201cIf I roll a six, I\u2019ll go back and talk to that girl I just saw.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0 That\u2019s how he met the woman he married.\u00a0 \u00a0But it\u2019s also the way he decided to leave his wife and child.<\/p>\n

The themes in The Dice Man<\/em> are picked up and developed in my upcoming book Another Roll of the Dice<\/em>. They\u2019re about the relationship between choice and chance and between intention and fate. \u00a0The book is also about challenging habits and social conditioning and opening up new possibilities.\u00a0 Ultimately, it\u2019s about \u201cwho I am\u201d, about identity and how my sense of myself determines what happens to me in life.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

JL: What else is keeping you busy these days? <\/strong><\/p>\n

BT: <\/strong>Well, I\u2019m pretty new to being a website administrator and blogger, so \u201csocial networking\u201d is the answer to that question. \u00a0I\u2019ve yet to set up a Facebook page and start tweeting and getting, but we\u2019ll get there.\u00a0 A friend of mine was encouraging me to set up online session work, but to be honest I\u2019d rather have a trip to California.\u00a0 You have to have a break from the computer sometimes!<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

JL: What does the future hold for you? What else would you like to do that you haven\u2019t accomplished yet? <\/strong><\/p>\n

BT: <\/strong>The immediate future is going downstairs and making avocado on toast for my lunch!\u00a0 My long-term ambition is to get out of life alive! \u00a0In between, I believe I\u2019ve got a few more good records left in me and a couple more books.\u00a0 There are even a few performances in there, once I get an offer I can\u2019t understand.<\/p>\n

Other than that, what I\u2019d like<\/em> to do that I haven\u2019t accomplished yet is be able to dance like Michael Jackson could, play a solo like Eric Clapton, hit an overhead shot like Wayne Rooney, ride a bike like Bradley Wiggins and duff up Chuck Norris … all before tea-time.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

JL: What would you be if you weren\u2019t a bass player?<\/strong><\/p>\n

BT: <\/strong>The obvious answer is a writer, but I do that already.\u00a0 My first job was in an advertising agency as what was then known as a commercial artist and what\u2019s now called a graphic designer.\u00a0 I\u2019d enjoy doing more painting, but only a handful ever makes the grade in that line of work.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve always taken the \u201cRenaissance Man\u201d approach of trying to create a balance between the emotional (music), mental (writing) and the physical (martial art), although I soon found out that they all crossover and only work if you take an integrated approach to any of them.<\/p>\n

I\u2019d like to have trained in kung fu full-time for about twenty years and see where that took me.\u00a0 \u00a0Other than that, I like to get a shot at the job of \u201cBeach Tester\u201d for the Caribbean Tourist Board!<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00a0Visit Jon Liebman\u2019s website<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The following is a new interview I did\u00a0recently for Jon Liebman\u2019s For Bass Players Only magazine. JL: Tell me about your musical upbringing. BT: There was a piano in the house and it came as a great surprise to me when I started hitting the notes that a tune didn\u2019t come out at all, just a racket.\u00a0 After all, I was only doing what I\u2019d seen everyone else do when playing the piano.\u00a0 But my mother had a good ear … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[14,15],"tags":[27,20,61,60,59,58],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.brucethomas.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1744"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.brucethomas.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.brucethomas.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.brucethomas.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.brucethomas.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1744"}],"version-history":[{"count":36,"href":"https:\/\/www.brucethomas.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1744\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1787,"href":"https:\/\/www.brucethomas.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1744\/revisions\/1787"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.brucethomas.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1744"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.brucethomas.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1744"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.brucethomas.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1744"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}