off:Cactus

[John McIntyre]

From: "Ted O. Jackson" <TOJACKSO at HAWK.SYR.EDU>

>> Cactus!
>
>Right, and before that Vanilla Fudge.  Or how 'bout the greatest:
>Beck Bogert and Appice?  Bogert's the best.  Anyone know what he's up
>to these days?

Well, the last two sightings I had of him were an ad in _Guitar Player_
for the Ben Schultz Band and an instructional video _Rock Bass Step One_.
Apparently he joined the Ben Schultz Band after most of the album was
already recorded as he's only on about three of the cuts.

I'm very upset about the video as I think it is very misleadingly packaged.
It is *not* step one at all.  Yeah, yeah, it would be a waste of Tim's time
to really do a true beginner's video but why call it such if it isn't?
He shows you a few riffs (you can learn "Stand By Me" and "My Girl" from
the tape) but he never really explains why.  The box promises the tape will
teach you how to play in a band.  Well, Tim does say, "Be sure to lock in
with the drummer" but the instruction ends there.  Don't you think a
beginner could use some advice on *how* to lock in with the drummer?  Maybe
just a definition of "lock in"?  The video does make use of split screen:
you get a close up of the left hand and a close up of the right hand while
the music is displayed in tab along the bottom of the screen.  But don't
you think somebody at step one is entitled to an explanation of what tab is
and how to read it?  But the thing that bothers me the most is Tim is
playing a six string bass.  He points this out early one and promises to
only play the inner four strings, but a beginner does not need the visual
distraction.  Are we supposed to believe Tim Bogert no longer owns a four
string bass?  That he couldn't have borrowed one for the video?  That's
just poor teaching.  Worse, it's laziness.

I'm a big Bogert fan (anybody else own the Pipedream album?) and I'll be
able to get some stuff from the tape, but he should be ashamed of that
video.

John McIntyre
Physics - Astronomy Domine Dept
Michigan State University
mcintyre at pa.msu.edu