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Pino Paladino: The Best Bass Player in the World
- Thread starter bassrich
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. Greetings All,
Seen Pino with the Who recently.
Do not agree.
Nor do I know if he's the worst, I doubt it.
From Pete's perspective Pino's probably the highest paid, but that doesn't make him the best.
While Pino is not Big John, I would not expect him to be.
I would, however expect him to know the material. HE DID NOT!!! Nor was what he playing particularly good sounding. Hence the Keyboards holding down the bass spectrum via bass for pedals.
It is not Pino's first tour with the Who, there are absolutely NO excuses for this!
Seen Pino with the Who recently.
Do not agree.
Nor do I know if he's the worst, I doubt it.
From Pete's perspective Pino's probably the highest paid, but that doesn't make him the best.
While Pino is not Big John, I would not expect him to be.
I would, however expect him to know the material. HE DID NOT!!! Nor was what he playing particularly good sounding. Hence the Keyboards holding down the bass spectrum via bass for pedals.
It is not Pino's first tour with the Who, there are absolutely NO excuses for this!
There is no best. However, he is one of the greats.
I've seen Pino with The Who twice, and highly disagree that "he didn't know the material."
You are proof that there will always be outliers who go against the grain. I am not attacking you for not liking Pino, you certainly are entitled to your opinion. I just think you are one of the few people who does not think Pino is a world class bassist.
Pino is without a doubt the greatest at doing what he does, and what he does gets him one great gig after another.
Greetings All,
I can usually get behind anyone doing the job. God knows it's a difficult proposition stepping in to fill anyone's shoes.
Oddly enough, I thought Pino played wonderfully on some of Townshend's more recent compositions. Previous songs seemed to have suffered more due to Townshend writing around a bassist that he no longer had, that being John. The latest tour, the "new" stuff was expertly played and was impressed, but alas the Who era stuff was lacking though there were a few tunes, that were done very well that seemed to be ones that John clearly used to enjoy playing.
Saw the first show, after The Who lost John. Usually in the first couple of rows, Pino was about 12' away. I could hear his rig without the house sound. He was mixed WAAAAY down and Rabbit was dancin' on the bass pedals. Didn't realize until about half way through that Pino wasn't supplying the lower end. Initially my ears weren't processing what I was looking at and hearing.
Several tours later........My Generation still suffers on the bass runs and about half of the early Who tunes seem to be subpar. While I don't expect it to be perfect, I don't expect his playing to detract.
There was a similar thread a couple of weeks ago. Had questions then.
Have seen numerous, surprised me when I gave it some thought, bands that have had personnel changes at inconvenient times. Death being one of the ones that I give a wide berth when it comes to a solution. Deep Purple, Allman Brothers, lots of examples there and Duane was before my time, Ozzy, and others.
My humble opinion, with the lack of time involved in the case of The Who, I might have taken a different tack.
I would have immediately auditioned a number of decent quality cover bands at least for the initial tour.
There are issues with this certainly. You're basically saying the guy that has been in the band is being replaced by someone who isn't up to the caliber of your original, and your paying them somewhat less, is that an insult to the deceased?
The good side to this hire, is its someone who would likely know the material exceptionally well. Not everyone can just grab the deceased's son, like Led Zeppelin did and get a great outcome, Jason has chops, deserves better than Foreigner.
Hiring Pino "on the fly" meant Pino clearly wasn't able to learn the material quickly in the time involved. The aspect of The Who paying a large sum of money doesn't automatically guaranty great results.
Not even sure Townshend cared initially "how" Pino played, was just hoping to fill the spot on the stage and the aural void as his grief most likely overwhelmed the former.
Pino has now been used in several tours, he should be up to speed, in light of his reputation. Only anecdotal but many of my musician friends, thought there was something lacking. We agreed that we expected more in the vein of "filling the void" as opposed to "filling his shoes" and yet that did not happen unfortunately.
Don't have issues with Pino's playing in other places, just don't think this is a good fit and believe that he should be capable of better, in light of his reputation.
I can usually get behind anyone doing the job. God knows it's a difficult proposition stepping in to fill anyone's shoes.
Oddly enough, I thought Pino played wonderfully on some of Townshend's more recent compositions. Previous songs seemed to have suffered more due to Townshend writing around a bassist that he no longer had, that being John. The latest tour, the "new" stuff was expertly played and was impressed, but alas the Who era stuff was lacking though there were a few tunes, that were done very well that seemed to be ones that John clearly used to enjoy playing.
Saw the first show, after The Who lost John. Usually in the first couple of rows, Pino was about 12' away. I could hear his rig without the house sound. He was mixed WAAAAY down and Rabbit was dancin' on the bass pedals. Didn't realize until about half way through that Pino wasn't supplying the lower end. Initially my ears weren't processing what I was looking at and hearing.
Several tours later........My Generation still suffers on the bass runs and about half of the early Who tunes seem to be subpar. While I don't expect it to be perfect, I don't expect his playing to detract.
There was a similar thread a couple of weeks ago. Had questions then.
Have seen numerous, surprised me when I gave it some thought, bands that have had personnel changes at inconvenient times. Death being one of the ones that I give a wide berth when it comes to a solution. Deep Purple, Allman Brothers, lots of examples there and Duane was before my time, Ozzy, and others.
My humble opinion, with the lack of time involved in the case of The Who, I might have taken a different tack.
I would have immediately auditioned a number of decent quality cover bands at least for the initial tour.
There are issues with this certainly. You're basically saying the guy that has been in the band is being replaced by someone who isn't up to the caliber of your original, and your paying them somewhat less, is that an insult to the deceased?
The good side to this hire, is its someone who would likely know the material exceptionally well. Not everyone can just grab the deceased's son, like Led Zeppelin did and get a great outcome, Jason has chops, deserves better than Foreigner.
Hiring Pino "on the fly" meant Pino clearly wasn't able to learn the material quickly in the time involved. The aspect of The Who paying a large sum of money doesn't automatically guaranty great results.
Not even sure Townshend cared initially "how" Pino played, was just hoping to fill the spot on the stage and the aural void as his grief most likely overwhelmed the former.
Pino has now been used in several tours, he should be up to speed, in light of his reputation. Only anecdotal but many of my musician friends, thought there was something lacking. We agreed that we expected more in the vein of "filling the void" as opposed to "filling his shoes" and yet that did not happen unfortunately.
Don't have issues with Pino's playing in other places, just don't think this is a good fit and believe that he should be capable of better, in light of his reputation.
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Pino can play a ton of styles. I haven't heard the Who stuff but I always thought Entwhistle was a tad busy anyways, and I had ALL of their albums and saw them on the Who's Next tour. My other fave is Lee Sklar and I doubt he would do any better.
I like to call Pino, "The Chin". Therein lies his groove.
I like to call Pino, "The Chin". Therein lies his groove.
Pino is absolutely phenomenal -- one of the best for sure -- but I wouldn't vote him as *the* best. His neo soul work definitely changed the way I approach the instrument though.
Pino is absolutely the most versatile bassist on scene today...He can play a full range of styles and genres...As for those who would criticize his work on the WHO material...Pino stated when he first got the WHO gig at the last moment prior to going on tour with Johns untimely death, that his objective was NOT to be an Entwistle clone, which I believe to be a wise decision in that John was such a unique bassist, that copying his highly developed unque style would have been a huge mistake. Instead, Pino decided to base his WHO work on Johns earlier, more bluesy style with the band and Pino's own range of versatility with his largely Jamerson and (Motown) influenced style...It's worked with the WHO, and Pino could be called in on virtually any project and make himself a positive fit...
Townshend has no "more recent" compositions. The most recent Who album is ten years old and they haven't played anything from it on the current tour. The youngest song they are performing is from 1982.
There was no time to audition anybody for the 2002 tour. They decided to continue the tour without Entwistle because so many other people involved in the tour were counting on the work. (Daltrey and Townshend were covered by tour insurance, so they could have canceled and still made money).
Townshend said in a recent interview that Entwistle covered so much of the sonic spectrum that he needs three keyboardists along with a bassist to fill the space he left, hence the current lineup. That might not make total sense to the average fan, but it's Pete's philosophy. It's his band.
Pete has certainly been happy with Pino's playing, else Pino wouldn't have lasted 14 years with the Who. I don't think Pino tries to play like Entwistle. Nor do I think Zak plays like Keith Moon or Rabbit played keys like Pete or Nicky Hopkins. So what?
Best? No. I really don't think there is an overall best. There are some who are the best at what 'THEY' do. There is no other Rocco! There is no other Marcus! No other Wooten! No other David Dyson. Rhonda Smith. Me'Shel. And so on and so forth. Pino is good at what he does!
It shouldn't be a contest. They each bring a uniqueness that others want to emulate.
Pino is a top level pro. If you're a Pino fan you know where to go to listen to his best work.
eqvolvorama
Supporting Member
1. Lots and lots of people love Pino. I'm one of them.
2. Other people might not like Pino. That's okay.
3. Comparing bass players to one another, without any regard to style or type of music, is kind of pointless. It's like comparing Enrico Caruso to Roger Glover of Deep Purple. I suppose you could, but why bother?
4. Pino is not an Entwistle replacement in the style department. He was never intended to be, nor does he try to be. He's Pino. Pete and Roger could have picked a John clone, but they instead went down the session player call list. The first call they made got the gig.
2. Other people might not like Pino. That's okay.
3. Comparing bass players to one another, without any regard to style or type of music, is kind of pointless. It's like comparing Enrico Caruso to Roger Glover of Deep Purple. I suppose you could, but why bother?
4. Pino is not an Entwistle replacement in the style department. He was never intended to be, nor does he try to be. He's Pino. Pete and Roger could have picked a John clone, but they instead went down the session player call list. The first call they made got the gig.
This pretty much sums it up...
Pino is clearly great. The absolute best in the world? It's music, so who knows? (Thus, I didn't vote.)
The Who gig is a thankless (though no doubt lucrative) task, IMO. JAE is irreplaceable. That's why I haven't been to a post-Entwistle Who show, despite being a big fan of their work. But Pino's neo-soul/hiphop work is stellar.
The Who gig is a thankless (though no doubt lucrative) task, IMO. JAE is irreplaceable. That's why I haven't been to a post-Entwistle Who show, despite being a big fan of their work. But Pino's neo-soul/hiphop work is stellar.