What do Led Zeppelin, Chuck Berry, Queen, the Beach Boys, Diana Ross, the Grateful Dead, The Who, The Kinks, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Janis Joplin, Buddy Holly, The Doors, Bob Marley, and Neil Young all have in common?
None of these acts have won a Grammy.
Here are some more thought-provoking music-biz facts for you:
1. Ke$ha's “TiK ToK" sold more copies than any Beatles single.
2. Rihanna has 10 No. 1 singles and six Grammy Awards. Led Zeppelin has 0 and 0.
3. Lil Wayne has charted the most Billboard Hot 100 hits (109) of any solo artist. Before Wayne, Elvis Presley held the record with 108 Hot 100 hits. But let's remember the King's chart successes transpired over the course of 54 years, starting in 1958 when Billboard introduced the Hot 100.
4. Flo Rida's “Low" has sold 8 million copies in five years. The Beatles' “Hey Jude" has sold 8 million copies as well, but it took 44 years.
Has the world gone mad?
I've had my suspicions for a while that the world is, if not completely mental, not too far off. When police covered unarmed peaceful protesters with pepper spray at UC Davis, that felt pretty loco. It seemed clearly insane when a nut job in Albany, Georgia, firebombed a Taco Bell for not including enough meat in his chalupa. But those are just a few isolated lunatics.
Lil Wayne nabbed four Grammy Awards for his multi-platinum album, Tha Carter III.
I'm more concerned when the total communal semi-unconsciousness makes gaga decisions like embracing such unfunny comedians as Louie Anderson or Dane Cook, and celebrating unhealthy, malnourished supermodels. When the populace embraces mediocrity over brilliance, I sense a collective crazy.
Unlike other art mediums, great music does not cost any more than not-so-great music. It's like you could have an original da Vinci in your home for the same price as a Dale Earnhardt Commemorative NASCAR dinner plate. Sales figures indicate that people tend to ignore the work of the masters in favor of the less masterful. Why are people filling their lives with uninspired music when there's so much great stuff out there? There should be room in your iPod for the sublime in addition to whatever is currently trendy.
Personally it bothers me that Grammy-winning Creed has sold more CDs in the U.S. than my non-Grammy-winning hero, Jimi Hendrix. There's nothing wrong with Creed—they've done some good music and have enjoyed a ton of success, but most would agree that Creed's sound is derivative, while Hendrix's artistry was fueled by an incredibly creative mind. I'll bet if you asked Creed guitarist Mark Tremonti—a great player in his own right—he'd probably agree that his fans should pick up a copy of Are You Experienced or Axis: Bold As Love for their collections to play between “With Arms Wide Open."
In America, our music is a bit like our food. McDonalds earns $21 billion in annual profits and while no one over age 6 would argue this is the best food you can buy, a whole lot of us gravitate toward this not-too-fair fare. We see an advertisement with people apparently enjoying a Big Mac and the next thing you know, we're zombies placing our McOrder in the drive-in.
At a session in London, I heard a term that perhaps defines this phenomenon: shitegeist.
As defined by urbandictionary.com, shitegeist is: “That which is popular but ultimately worthless, often based upon media-based images and embodying a crippling shallowness. By its nature, transitory, so today's shitegeist is tomorrow's chip wrappings. Derived from Zeitgeist, but embodying the meaningless of postmodern culture."
Like low-rise, pre-ripped $300 jeans and blinged-out iPhone cases, our music drives our economy while driving us to a more superficial life experience.
But then again, who am I to criticize music taste? The media spills over with bitter bastards tearing down what others create. While doing research for this column, I found Blender magazine's “Top 50 Worst Songs of All Time." Blender's list contains plenty of refuse I'd rather not hear again, but it also held many songs I like—and some I love. What's wrong with these songs?
“The End" by The Doors
“What's Up" by 4 Non Blondes
“Sunglasses at Night" by Corey Hart
“We Didn't Start the Fire" by Billy Joel
“From a Distance" by Bette Midler
“Your Body Is a Wonderland" by John Mayer
“Kokomo" by The Beach Boys
Hell, I'm sappy enough to even like “The Greatest Love of All" and “Ebony and Ivory," (both on Blender's list). They seem kind of beautiful and poetic. I've had a few publishing deals and earned decent money writing songs that are not nearly this good. In fact, I've written plenty of terrible songs and got paid to do it. This makes me worse than the worst. And yet, as bad as much of my work may be, I've never had great success. I'll just keep aiming for the stars, hitting the gutter, and hoping for the best.
John Bohlinger is a Nashville multi-instrumentalist
best know for his work in television, having lead the band for all six
season of NBC's hit program Nashville Star, the 2012, 2011, 2010 and 2009 CMT Music Awards, as well as many specials for GAC, PBS, CMT, USA and HDTV.
John's music compositions and playing can be heard in several major label albums, motion pictures, over a hundred television spots and Muzak... (yes, Muzak does play some cool stuff.) Visit him at youtube.com/user/johnbohlinger
Gibson originally launched the EB-6 model with the intention of serving consumers looking for a “tic-tac” bass sound.
The Gibson EB-6 was announced in 1959 and came into the world in 1960, not with a dual-horn body but with that of an elegant ES-335. They looked stately, with a thin, semi-hollow body, f-holes, and a sunburst finish. Our pick for this Vintage Vault column is one such first-year model, in about as original condition as you’re able to find today. “Why?” you may be asking. Well, read on....
When the EB-6 was introduced, the Bass VI was still a glimmer in Leo Fender’s eye. The real competition were the Danelectro 6-string basses that seemed to have popped up out of nowhere and were suddenly being used on lots of hit records by the likes of Elvis, Patsy Cline, and other household names. Danos like the UB-2 (introduced in ’56), the Longhorn 4623 (’58), and the Shorthorn 3612 (’58) were the earliest attempts any company made at a 6-string bass in this style: not quite a standard electric bass, not quite a guitar, nor, for that matter, quite like a baritone guitar.
The only change this vintage EB-6 features is a replacement set of Kluson tuners.
Photo by Ken Lapworth
Gibson, Fender, and others during this era would in fact call these basses “baritone guitars,” to add to our confusion today. But these vintage “baritones” were all tuned one octave below a standard guitar, with scale lengths around 30", while most modern baritones are tuned B-to-B or A-to-A and have scale lengths between 26" and 30".)
At the time, those Danelectros were instrumental to what was called the “tic-tac” bass sound of Nashville records produced by Chet Atkins, or the “click-bass” tones made out west by producer Lee Hazlewood. Gibson wanted something for this market, and the EB-6 was born.
“When the EB-6 was introduced, the Bass VI was still a glimmer in Leo Fender’s eye.”
The 30.5" scale 1960 EB-6 has a single humbucking pickup, a volume knob, a tone knob, and a small, push-button “Tone Selector Switch” that engages a treble circuit for an instant tic-tac sound. (Without engaging that switch, you get a bass-heavy tone so deep that cowboy chords will sound like a muddy mess.)
The EB-6, for better or for worse, did not unseat the Danelectros, and a November 1959 price list from Gibson hints at why: The EB-6 retailed for $340, compared to Dano price tags that ranged from $85 to $150. Only a few dozen EB-6 basses were shipped in 1960, and only 67 total are known to have been built before Gibson changed the shape to the SG style in 1962.
Most players who come across an EB-6 today think it was a response to the Fender Bass VI, but the former actually beat the latter to the market by a full year.
Photo by Ken Lapworth
It’s sad that so few were built. Sure, it was a high-end model made to achieve the novelty tic-tac sound of cheaper instruments, but in its full-voiced glory, the EB-6 has a huge potential of tones. It would sound great in our contemporary guitar era where more players are exploring baritone ranges, and where so many people got back into the Bass VI after seeing the Beatles play one in the 2021 documentary, Get Back.
It’s sadder, still, how many original-era EB-6s have been parted out in the decades since. Remember earlier when I wrote that our Vintage Vaultpick was about as original as you could find? That’s because the model’s single humbucker is a PAF, its Kluson tuners are double-line, and its knobs are identical to those on Les Paul ’Bursts. So as people repaired broken ’Bursts, converted other LPs to ’Bursts, or otherwise sought to give other Gibsons a “Golden Era” sound and look ... they often stripped these forgotten EB-6 basses for parts.
This original EB-6 is up for sale now from Reverb seller Emerald City Guitars for a $16,950 asking price at the time of writing. The only thing that isn’t original about it is a replacement set of Kluson tuners, not because its originals were stolen but just to help preserve them. (They will be included in the case.)
With so few surviving 335-style EB-6 basses, Reverb doesn’t have a ton of sales data to compare prices to. Ten years ago, a lucky buyer found a nearly original 1960 EB-6 for about $7,000. But Emerald City’s $16,950 asking price is closer to more recent examples and asking prices.
Sources: Prices on Gibson Instruments, November 1, 1959, Tony Bacon’s “Danelectro’s UB-2 and the Early Days of 6-String Basses” Reverb News article, Gruhn’s Guide to Vintage Guitars, Tom Wheeler’s American Guitars: An Illustrated History, Reverb listings and Price Guide sales data.
Billy Gibbons is an undisputable guitar force whose feel, tone, and all-around vibe make him the highest level of hero. But that’s not to say he hasn’t made some odd choices in his career, like when ZZ Top re-recorded parts of their classic albums for CD release. And fans will argue which era of the band’s career is best. Some of us love drum machines and synths and others don’t, but we all love Billy.
This episode is sponsored by Magnatone
Originally released in the 1980s, the Victory has long been a cult favorite among guitarists for its distinctive double cutaway design and excellent upper-fret access. These new models feature flexible electronics, enhanced body contours, improved weight and balance, and an Explorer headstock shape.
A Cult Classic Made Modern
The new Victory features refined body contours, improved weight and balance, and an updated headstock shape based on the popular Gibson Explorer.
Effortless Playing
With a fast-playing SlimTaper neck profile and ebony fretboard with a compound radius, the Victory delivers low action without fret buzz everywhere on the fretboard.
Flexible Electronics
The two 80s Tribute humbucker pickups are wired to push/pull master volume and tone controls for coil splitting and inner/outer coil selection when the coils are split.
For more information, please visit gibson.com.
Gibson Victory Figured Top Electric Guitar - Iguana Burst
