Tim Clark Posted September 12, 2003 Share Posted September 12, 2003 I've dusted off the first three Elvis C. cds and am really curious what that whiney / nasal sounding organ is that they used on "This Years Model" and "Armed Forces"...particularly on "I don't want to go to Chelsea" and "Pump it Up"...Is this a Farfisa or something? sounds so cheezy, but so characteristic of his sound... My music is like a movie for your ears - Frank Zappa Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Zeger Posted September 12, 2003 Share Posted September 12, 2003 I think Steve Nieve played a Vox Continental on those albums, but I wouldn't tell the difference between a Farfisa and Vox in a blindfold test. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Fiala Posted September 12, 2003 Share Posted September 12, 2003 We cover "Pump it up" in our band. The Motif (rack) has a preset in the organ bank (can't remember the name of it offhand) that has that farfisa / vox sound down very nicely. Tom F. "It is what it is." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eric Posted September 12, 2003 Share Posted September 12, 2003 Definitely Vox Continental. I'm a huge Steve Nieve fan and have covered a number of the Elvis Costello songs over the years. I had a Vox Continental for a few years back in the early-mid 90's. It was really cool-looking on stage, but not terribly reliable. I sold it to a collector who made an incredible offer that helped me buy some other gear that I needed more than a Vox organ. Steve Nieve also used a Prophet 5 and Yamaha CP electric grand. In the studio, he played a fair amount of acoustic piano. Last time I saw him play live, it was a solo performance on a 9' grand, opening for Squeeze. After he pounded out a conservatory-worthy classically-tinged performance of mostly original piano works, he joined Squeeze for a rock set, playing piano and keyboards. I highly recommend the entire Elvis Costello catalog to anybody. There are some new re-releases of some of the albums coming out, which have bonus secret tracks and different versions of the songs as well. Great stuff! Regards, Eric Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marzzz Posted September 13, 2003 Share Posted September 13, 2003 Steve Nieve accompanied Elvis on a tour a few years back, I saw them at the Hardrock Cafe in Vegas (hey! I saw Elvis in Vegas!!!). He played an acoustic grand, with ocassional Kurzweil K2500 (2600?). GREAT show! He definitely played a Vox Continental with The Attractions. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dementia13 Posted September 13, 2003 Share Posted September 13, 2003 My fist reaction was Farfisa, but they're right- I remember now seeing pictures of him with a Vox. Saw the Attractions in concert once- great show. They ran through almost 40 songs in their set. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Magpel Posted September 13, 2003 Share Posted September 13, 2003 You know what they say about certain very distinctive guitarists, Eddie, or Carlos or Dickey Betts or the like: give them any rig, a les paul through a marshall or a silvertone through a pignose--and they'll sound like themselves. I've always had the same feeling about Steve Nieve: gave him any keyboard and he'll make it sound like Steve Nieve, which is to say chattery, blinkering, cascading, with a touch of self-aware cheesiness. He's a strangely baroque palyer for rock and roll, and I mean that in the adjectival, not hisotrical, sense of the word: ornate and a little fussy. Sometimes he's a busy little bee, but the rare magic of the Attractions is that they were all kind of busy, and it worked in a gloriously chaotic way. They might actually be my favorite rock and roll band ever. I just can't get over the rift between EC and Bruce Thomas. Davey Faragher does a good job trying to sound like Bruce on When I Was Cruel (and his playing really is an obvious BT impersonation), but close don't count when classic band chemistry is at stake... What the hell am I on about? Oh yeah, Steve Nieve. Yeah, we really started to hear what he was capable of on Trust, with songs like Shot With His Own Gun. Steve's great, and he and EC are great as a perfroming duo, sometimes with guitar, sometimes without. I'm afraid that EC's new album is going to be nothing but torch songs for Diana Krall, and I don't love Elvis as a crooner, but, sigh, I'll probably get it anyway. If I lived through Bacharach, if I lived through the Brodsky Quartet, I can probably live through this. EC uber fan rant off. Check out the Sweet Clementines CD at bandcamp Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Philip OKeefe Posted September 14, 2003 Share Posted September 14, 2003 Personally I thought the Bacharach collaborations were brilliant. To each their own. But I am looking forward to the new CD. Yes, it was definitely a Vox. OT - Bruce is one of my favorite bassists of all time. And - has anyone else noticed that EC and The Attractions have the tendency to individually avoid chords? Sure, chord changes are there, often in an implied way... but a lot of time they're doing individual lines as opposed to playing chords... This isn't a hard and fast rule, but it does tend to show up a lot in their arrangements. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Magpel Posted September 14, 2003 Share Posted September 14, 2003 Originally posted by Philip O'Keefe: Personally I thought the Bacharach collaborations were brilliant. To each their own. But I am looking forward to the new CD. And - has anyone else noticed that EC and The Attractions have the tendency to individually avoid chords? Sure, chord changes are there, often in an implied way... but a lot of time they're doing individual lines as opposed to playing chords... This isn't a hard and fast rule, but it does tend to show up a lot in their arrangements.I actually like a lot of the songs he cowrote with Burt; I just struggle with Elvis in that singing role. I love much of the Juliet Letters, too. But, alas, whenever he releases something like Brutal Youth or When I was Cruel, it reminds me of the the Elvis I want him to be... BTW, Phil, I know exactly what you mean about the absence of a clear, ryhtmic chord playing part in many of the Attractions tunes. I attribue a lot to that to Bruce's melodicism--he's not a root-bound rock 'n roll bassist. Check out the Sweet Clementines CD at bandcamp Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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