No, no, it's the AND of 4

[pc]

I got called to do a sub gig tonight (they called three days ago) with a band I've wanted to play with for a long time. I'd call them the second most popular R&B/Soul band in town. The band (in name) has been around almost 20 years with different members surrounding the founder, and they have a huge following--the kind I wish followed the band I normally play with. There's no chance of their regular guitarist leaving the band anytime soon, but just having the chance to show 'em my wares is exciting enough for me.

So I've been shedding the tunes of theirs I haven't played before, and although the repertoire for tonight is mostly Motown/R&B stuff, the Beatle's "Drive My Car" is among them. I always get so nervous doing this song with bands I've never played with before because of that damn opening lick.

I mean, I know it, they know it, no biggie. I play it verbatim, the band starts when they start, right? Well...

It's just that when I've played this tune twice before on sub gigs, both times the drummer has tried to give me 4 stick clicks before I start to let me know the tempo that particular band does the tune at.

Again, I'm fine with that, but both times, somehow the band then believes the lick starts on 1, when in fact it starts on the and of four, and all of the pulses felt in the lick really fall on upbeats (considered relative to the downbeat of the bar when the whole band comes in).

I've always wondered how that lick came into being. Was it part of a longer guitar intro that was spliced right there? Did Ringo come in a half-beat early? Did the song originally start with Ringo's drum pickup and then the guitar lick was overdubbed later?

It's just one of those Beatles things, I suppose. Like I said, if I just play the lick verbatim, bands always seem to know when to come in, but over-thinking it tends to screw it up pretty badly.

[pc]

Okay... well, I was hoping Beatles enthusiasts might know some fun trivia about that lick. I guess it's just a Beatles thang.

The gig went great last night, as did "Drive My Car." Just as I'd hoped, they all just waited for me to play the lick and then came in perfectly.

The best part about the gig was that the two guys I was subbing for (guitarist who only plays rhythm and sax player who does all the solo work) were able to come to the gig after their other gig was over, so then we became an 8-piece. We did almost entirely old school Soul, R&B and Funk. (The usual guitarist is also one of the two main singers, so they'd hired a second female vocalist to act as his vocal sub).

At that point there were three amazing lead singers and another three backup singers (keyboardist, bassist and drummer), so the harmony work was amazing to hear, let alone stand amidst and play along. It was probably the most fun I've ever had a sub gig. Great bunch of folks.

www.paradiseislandband.com

[pc]

Totally. The thing that's most disconcerting is the bass lick that noodles up to the tonic note, which just sounds like it should be on the downbeat of the measure before the band comes in, but it also hits on an up-beat. It just sounds to me like the guitar lick was added later, and when Paul added the bass "lick," it was actually him who heard the beat wrong. Even the mistakes the Beatles made changed the way we think of popular music.

Beep beep, beep beep, yeah.

[Mesotech]

I don't know of any interesting trivia about the song, just that it's a beast to play live without a trainwreck right out of the gates.

Good job on the sub gig. Sounds as if it were fun.

[detuned]

I've always started it out by yelling out a quick "1, 2, 3!", & off to the races. Never trainwrecked yet - I guess if they don't overthink it, most musicians can feel it out...

[greent]

Wow. And I always blamed the rest of the guys for screwing it up Another song that will drive you crazy is the intro in VH's Panama. Give that one a listen. Alex comes in all wrong but somehow recovers