Eddie Cochran & P-Bass Player

[PumpJockey]

Check out the early P-Bass rig.

Great song and he's having a ball.

[PeterUK]

Originally Posted by PumpJockey

Check out the early P-Bass rig.

Great song and he's having a ball.

1-minute 51-seconds of pure brilliance.

Thanks for sharing. I thoroughly enjoyed that.

Peter

[mudbelly]

So who was the guy, anybody got a name?

[pbenn]

And was that 2 x 18 looking thing the bass cabinet?

[Old Has Been]

Originally Posted by mudbelly

So who was the guy, anybody got a name?

His name is Connie "Guybo" Smith. He played bass, pedal steel, and mandolin. Eddie met him in junior high school and they were buddies ever since. He played on most of Eddie's recordings.

[soulman969]

Originally Posted by pbenn

And was that 2 x 18 looking thing the bass cabinet?

Can't really see the bass rig. There was a tilt back cab to his left down on the floor but they never got the whole thing on camera. To his right was the end of the piano. Not a speaker cab.

Like so many in that era the bassist was a thumb player ergo the tug bar on those early basses.

[Cadfael]

Originally Posted by PumpJockey

Check out the early P-Bass rig.
Great song and he's having a ball.

Great song, indeed!
One of my favourits even - and one (or the only?) song The Who ever covered! They knew why (and Entwistle was great 'answering' in a low voice). The Who at Rockpalast: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8kBgH_-29ZE
(gigantic bass, too!!!)

But this is no 'early P-bass rig' ...
The bass is a P-bass between 1954 and 1956 (if the show wasn't 1955).
I would imagine the amp is 'only' a Fender bassman from the area of the recording. Surely not older than 1954, too. The bass amps were so weak that every better version was used soon (to hear oneself).

Can't remember which mid-50s video it was, but there was a Rock'n'Roll P-bass player who turned back to his amp half of the recording, trying to hear himself! Even with a strong 40 or 60 watts bass amp it could be difficult to hear oneself when a loud guitar / piano / vocal group was involved ...

So, I would guess a 1954 P-Bass with a 115 or 410 bass combo ...

[bargoedboy]

much later probably 58-59, the P bass was out in 51 wasn`t it

[Manolete]

I love the swing of the original version of Summertime Blues. I've never 'got' the popularity of Blue Cheer or The Who's rather plodding interpretations. The bass is always quite prominent on Eddie Cochran tunes, which was surprising when I first heard them as I thought bassists were always undermixed and downplayed back then...

[Cadfael]

Originally Posted by bargoedboy

much later probably 58-59, the P bass was out in 51 wasn`t it

This is a P bass from 1954-56 (early 57) ...

Most P basses from 51-53 were Blonde - even though custom colours are (and black) were possible. From 1954-56 Sunbrust was one of the two standard colours (together with Blonde). The two colours had different body wood. Blonde was Ash and Sunburst was Alder.

You can see that it is a 1954+ model because the stronger roundings caused a smaller pickguard. This bass surely also had a contoured body (which you can't see in the video).

I didn't look, but you are right!
The Summertime Blues was recorded in 1958. So this video is maybe from 1958-59. The bass is from 1954-56.

Maybe the tilted amp in the background is a Fender 57 Bassman???

[promagnum]

The tilt-back amp is Joe Maphis' Standel amp. This show was a "plug and play" meaning you brought your guitar, and the amp was provided.

[Harvey]

I've been trying to get ahold of Conrad "Guybo" Smith for years. Got his daughter's Facebook page, but haven't heard from her yet. To me he was Eddie's secret weapon. Listen to the bass on C'mon Everybody and Something Else. That piledriver bass is like nothing else on record except for the drumming on "Slippin' and aslidin'" by Little Richard. I suspect that is where Connie got it. Really a forerunner of what was to come in the 60s. He was the only one from Eddie's studio band, the Kelly Four, that Eddie took to gigs. The rest of the guys in this Town Hall video are the house band. Nobody seems to have noticed that Mr.Smith is playing with a capo on his bass on some tunes!?!?!?!?

[Whoa Tele]

I used to be in a rockabilly band and we always got slammed by the roots rock crowd for not having an upright bass. I wish I had this video back then.