Old Grey Whistle Test

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Originally posted by steveb:

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I watched the first OGWT last night and have set the recorder for the rest of them, but alas it's true. Definately mimed. Most noticable with Fairport's when Dave Swarbrick forgot that a fiddle part was going to start without him, and the bass player with Lindisfarne did a violin part while the bass continued to play. Then there was Roxy Music where Phil Manzanera was clearly not familiar with the guitar part and Wishbone Ash having a third guitar part doing the wailing while Ted Turner & Andy Powell get mixed up who is playing which part. To top it off though was Dave Mattacks wearing a T-shirt that read "MIMING".
All my schoolboy illusions shattered.

Rasher
Yes, Lidisfarne and Fairport were obviously mimimg but Wishbone Ash- No

"We were young lads trying to be men. I remember trying to grow a moustache. It looked absurd! like a marmite stain!"

"We played live. That made us feel secure. It was kind of reassuring because we didn't know how to mime!"
Martin Turner, Wishbone Ash, Feb 2003
http://www.bbc.co.uk/southampton/music/ogwt_artists.shtml

Steve

Sorry but I'm also as sure as I can be that Wishbone were miming - Jailbait sounded too much like the record (if you know what I mean)
Apparently the principle was that bands recorded their tracks live earlier in the day and subsequently mimed to those tracks when the show was actually recorded .....rumour has it that most bands supplied the actual album master tape to the beeb and mimed to that (to literally "sound like the record" ....note The Who doing "Relay" on another show ..surely that was the original master they were miming to? (Keith Moon was obviously not even trying to look convincing!)
The stupid thing is ALL those bands could play live in their sleep - so why the subterfuge?

Wishbone were miming, unless they had another two guitarists hidden round the back

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Originally posted by J.N.:
One of the gems in the OGWT vaults for me, is Nils Lofgren's stonking electric version of 'Keith Don't Go'.

John.

Had the great privilige of seeing him playing to an audience of less than 100 people where he actually walked up and down in amongst us and played some stinging guitar. One of the best gigs I ever went to. This was just after the first solo album came out where he played low key gigs. He invited a few of us to the bar afterwards for a drink so a good laugh and night was had by all.

Then saw him again with Tom Petty as support. Where he was back to his old trampolining days of Grin. Tom Petty blew them off the stage. A vg friend of mine who was doing the electrics for the tour told me that Nils wanted Tom off the tour as he was getting better reviews and more encores.

Maybe we expect too much now. Remember that OGWT was early to mid 70's when there was nothing else on offer, and now we've got concert DVD's to buy and festival coverage on TV, so it isn't so bad really, it just hasn't aged too well in comparison.
At least it isn't full of naff videos (I always laugh at videos of bands playing on tops of mountains in the snow, or on a beach of a desert island - with full drum kit and electric instruments all facing the same way towards..... no-one but a camera in a helicopter. What the hell is all that about? Why don't the band say..."Nah...that's really really cheesy. Not doing it"? But then again, maybe the band had the idea).

I actually really enjoyed the footage, Bob Harris did admit that not all the acts played live due to technical limitations but most of them did. The other thing I noticed was that the camera would often focus on the wrong instrument when a solo was being played; this could make the performance seem ersatz.

Bob Harris mentioned that some bands mimed because their stage sets were too big to fit in the OWGT studio which wasn't that big.

I agree that the Who, Fairport Convention and Lindisfarne seem to be miming. You hear an acoustic guitar on Relay by the Who, when Peter Townsend is playing his Gibson SG with P90's.

However they were other Artists like Rory Gallagher playing Walk On Hot Coals and Lynyrd Skynyrd with Freebird, who were live.

Wishbone Ash also sounded live to me as well, and were close to the sound of the live recording of Jailbait, from their Live Dates album recorded in 1973.

OGWT 2 DVD set £3.99 delivered!
http://www13.cd-wow.com/detail_results_2.php?product_co...6=4SDHZ8&CID=0&CTY=8

Bob Harris mentioned that some bands mimed because their stage sets were too big to fit in the OWGT studio which wasn't that big.

I agree that the Who, Fairport Convention and Lindisfarne seem to be miming. You hear an acoustic guitar on Relay by the Who, when Peter Townsend is playing his Gibson SG with P90's.

However they were other Artists like Rory Gallagher playing Walk On Hot Coals and Lynyrd Skynyrd with Freebird, who were live.

Wishbone Ash also sounded live to me as well, and were close to the sound of the live recording of Jailbait, from their Live Dates album recorded in 1973.

Agree. Who admit to miming, Moon too drunk for one performance. Watched the 4 DVD discs, only a handful of performances are obviously mimed, those from the first series or so. Why because a few mime do some members jump to a conclusion that all must then be miming!!?
I also have listened to Wishbone Ash Live version of Jailbait ( On remasterd Argus), the OGWT version is similar and from the many times i saw them in the 70's the sound from OGWT is the live sound, find it odd that i can post a quote from band ("We played live. That made us feel secure. It was kind of reassuring because we didn't know how to mime!" Martin Turner, Wishbone Ash, ) stating they were live but this is not believed , obviously some people know more than the band.

Steve

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obviously some people

That's me then. I'll watch it again this evening, but I wouldn't necessarily believe what was written in Popswap 35 years ago.
Hey, does it matter? I saw them with Laurie Wisefield around Wishbone IV era and they don't have to prove anything to me.

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Originally posted by Rasher:

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obviously some people

.... I saw them with Laurie Wisefield around Wishbone IV era and they don't have to prove anything to me.

Wishbone Ash much better than the Eagles IMO. Argus is a superb album.

Sorry to bang on about this Wishbone thing, but I've just watched it again very, very carefully in full nerd mode, and I can say without a shadow of a doubt that apart from the vocals, it's mimed.
Follow it right from the off with the wailing guitar - count the guitar parts - there are 3. Then when the rhythm guitar starts they trade solo phrases and the other takes the rhythm part (forget that the Strat and Flying-V sound the same for now), except where they do a twin guitar harmony part - where the phantom rhythm guitar carries on - and no, Martin Turner can't achieve that register just by chording up high on his Riccy. Ted Turner also leaves a solo line early not playing the last few notes in order to get back to his "rhythm" part.
No doubt. It was mimed. Watch it again if you think I'm wrong.
I'll tell you what might have happened though; the beeb might have remixed it with studio tracks if they were unhappy with their recording at edit stage. It's possible, and not unlikely. Whatever, you are not hearing what they are playing.
Anyway, enough of that.
For me, I would trade each and every Whistle Test series just for Richard and Linda Thompson's A Heart Needs a Home. If that doesn't choke you up every time then you need a blood transfusion.

I don't care if it was mimed I still prefer Wishbone Ash to the Eagles.

Me too. I bought Pilgrimage recently on CD which was the first WA album I bought, even before Argus came out, probably as a result of watching OGWT.