Mark Spencer

ensilager · Post by **ensilager** » Sat Jul 31, 2010 9:37 am

Are you trying to say all those folks sound the same?

I guess my point was....I felt Straightaways had a different tone from Trace, and Wide String Tremolo was definitely a departure from the Trace sound. So, I don't usually lump them together in my head.

Be that as it may, I will end my ravings about Mr. Rice here and now. His work stands on its own.

Dr. Zapatos · Post by **Dr. Zapatos** » Fri Jul 30, 2010 3:39 am

ensilager wrote:What the hell are you talking about? What IS the Son Volt sound? You people are weird. I guess you want all Son Volt records to sound like Trace or some shit. IMO, Brad Rice did Son Volt a favor.

The Son Volt sound IS the same as the Jay Farrar solo sound, and the Uncle Tupelo sound, and the Wilco sound, and the Billy Joel sound. WTF, are you tone deaf or something?

megaballs1 · Post by **megaballs1** » Thu Jul 29, 2010 8:56 pm

Pound for pound, I think Brad Rice was the best lead guitarist Jay's played with. Meth and Afterglow, etc all great great play.
With that said, Rice just for some reason did the two studio albums and was never really with the band touring...and every guitarist before and since that Jay's played with has been different degrees of great.

You can't shit on Brad Rice unless you have some personal ax to grind IMO

unchartedthickets · Post by **unchartedthickets** » Thu Jul 29, 2010 4:51 pm

camaroheadus wrote:

i hope there was a lott'a haters in that train...

camaroheadus · Post by **camaroheadus** » Thu Jul 29, 2010 11:16 am

ensilager · Post by **ensilager** » Thu Jul 29, 2010 9:23 am

Actually, I think Keith Urban did Brad Rice a favor--at least monetarily. Brad records his solo work as well, and used to play for Tift Merritt. If you don't enjoy his playing, it's your loss.

Spark Mensa · Post by **Spark Mensa** » Thu Jul 29, 2010 8:46 am

ensilager wrote:What the hell are you talking about? What IS the Son Volt sound? You people are weird. I guess you want all Son Volt records to sound like Trace or some shit. IMO, Brad Rice did Son Volt a favor.

Keith Urban did Son Volt a favor.

ensilager · Post by **ensilager** » Thu Jul 29, 2010 7:48 am

What the hell are you talking about? What IS the Son Volt sound? You people are weird. I guess you want all Son Volt records to sound like Trace or some shit. IMO, Brad Rice did Son Volt a favor.

Dr. Zapatos · Post by **Dr. Zapatos** » Thu Jul 29, 2010 12:47 am

Say what you will about Rice, but he wasn't exactly the "keeper" of the Son Volt sound.

unchartedthickets · Post by **unchartedthickets** » Wed Jul 28, 2010 5:09 pm

Thomas_J_Foolery wrote:"Thats ridiculous....Jay Farrar is the original anti-marketing guy...to state that Jay was trying to "Captialize on the cache of the name" is a huge stretch imho..

...

Sorry, but that's just total horsesh*T. Haven't you seen his clothing line at JC Penny? If he's not trying to capitalize on his fame, I don't know what else it can be called.

Also, Brad Rice was a bad fit and I certainly think Mr. Spencer would have made the record more palatable if he had a prominent place in the arrangment of the OATMOR production - Afterglow 61 - about the worse guitar solo in recent history. From what I understand, the producer told Rice to rip it up, and instead, he wet his pants.[/quote]

this could be a stretch but i think Brad really played some tastey guitar in that there rekkid. Yngwie Fucklestein it's not or any of the hair bands you and I might rock out to on occasion but the point was not to be a wankersaurus - it was to play the song. Certainly there must have been an extra 15 minutes to re-do the pants wetting solo but I think the mastermind of it all was cool with it and said let's burn it to disc and send it off to be mastered. I have been in my share of studios and witnessed take after take after take etc... . Capturing the moment may be anguishing or sometimes you nail it. I strongly think that Brad didn't struggle too hard through tracking. He played tastefully and strong, played through some killer gear and got captured quickly then had enough time to get a south-side crazy buritto.

ensilager · Post by **ensilager** » Wed Jul 28, 2010 2:59 pm

Yeah, well my panties get wet when I listen to it. So to each his own.

Thomas_J_Foolery · Post by **Thomas_J_Foolery** » Wed Jul 28, 2010 11:08 am

"Thats ridiculous....Jay Farrar is the original anti-marketing guy...to state that Jay was trying to "Captialize on the cache of the name" is a huge stretch imho..

...[/quote]

Sorry, but that's just total horsesh*T. Haven't you seen his clothing line at JC Penny? If he's not trying to capitalize on his fame, I don't know what else it can be called.

Also, Brad Rice was a bad fit and I certainly think Mr. Spencer would have made the record more palatable if he had a prominent place in the arrangment of the OATMOR production - Afterglow 61 - about the worse guitar solo in recent history. From what I understand, the producer told Rice to rip it up, and instead, he wet his pants.

Muddy Waters · Post by **Muddy Waters** » Wed Jul 28, 2010 10:49 am

I happen to dig Farrar's solo albums. I also dig American Central Dust. However, calling either one "Son Volt" is false advertising. The first 3 SV albums are the best thing Farrar was ever involved with - even better than UT imo. And calling ACD a "Son Volt" album is simply trying to capitlize on the cache of the name that was built by the original 4 guys. Those first 3 SV albums were a full team effort. Any album credited to "Son Volt" in which the Boquists and Heidorn don't appear on is not a Son Volt album. Farrar alone does not make it Son Volt.

Understand?

Thats ridiculous....Jay Farrar is the original anti-marketing guy...to state that Jay was trying to "Captialize on the cache of the name" is a huge stretch imho..

Jay certainly could have named the new incarnation something else...that he chose not to....who cares...not me..

While I like the Boquists and particularly Mike who still live here in town (St. Louis)..Son Volt the sequel is pretty darn good..

Son Volt 2.0 while different...compare favorably (particurlaly with the subtraction of the former keyboard player and Spencer joining)...I did like the fact that the original Son Volt had more stability, consistency and soul in the lead guitar slot..but that's no fault of anyone..just logistics..I think Duplantis is the shit...

unchartedthickets · Post by **unchartedthickets** » Tue Jul 27, 2010 3:11 pm

Rick V wrote:Dcarter, you're all excited b/c you think you've uncovered some contradiction and you're all proud of yourself, huh?

Well, try again.

I do indeed think that Farrar, the Boquists, and Heidorn are the real Son Volt. The only Son Volt. Those 4 guys created the name, the band, the sound, the songs - not just Farrar. Any other incarnations featuring Farrar and 3 other guys, however good or great, is not "Son Volt" any more than a Jay Farrar solo record is "Son Volt".

I happen to dig Farrar's solo albums. I also dig American Central Dust. However, calling either one "Son Volt" is false advertising. The first 3 SV albums are the best thing Farrar was ever involved with - even better than UT imo. And calling ACD a "Son Volt" album is simply trying to capitlize on the cache of the name that was built by the original 4 guys. Those first 3 SV albums were a full team effort. Any album credited to "Son Volt" in which the Boquists and Heidorn don't appear on is not a Son Volt album. Farrar alone does not make it Son Volt.

Understand?

Think what you want to and an interesting take although I would speculate that Jay is the mastermind/creator of SV and therefore he's the one key element that says whether or not something is SV or a Farrar solo project. I'm super fucking happy that SV and Farrar solo projects and Gob Iron etc....are out there in the world. I would suspect that neither of these Jay
involved projects would exssist if it weren't for......teh Boquists??????

ensilager · Post by **ensilager** » Tue Jul 27, 2010 2:09 pm

My favorite SON VOLT cd has got to be Okemah and the Melody of Riot. I like the first 3, sure, and the Boquists were cool. The line-up including the awesome Brad Rice was my favorite musically. That album is fucking great--all musicians on it are terrific--Rice's playing thrills me, seriously. I enjoy the variety of the SV catalog. Blah, blah, blah......