How else would I find this Bootsy - endorsed JAM from Stevie Salas?

http://www.steviesalas.co...lking.html
[This message was edited Thu Mar 4 10:44:30 2004 by otan]

Great clip!

Who is this guy and how much love does he have from that Asian crowd? Unfuckinbelievable.

It confirms what i already know; the world needs good music.
Just look at the reaction from that crowd and don't forget the funny hats (a must).

http://www.steviesalas.com/

Go check out his songs - I own a CD from 1988 - he was a part of the Living Colour funk rock spinoff.

THIS one is a BADASS SONG. I love the solo - "Aaaahhhh - PSYCHO BABAY!"
http://www.steviesalas.co...tsagun.mp3

otan said:

sweet.
thanks for the links, beau.

otan said:

Was that Color Code? He also played on the Run DMC stuff which changed music as we know it. Some mighty important licks he played on King of Rock. Actually I am wrong on the DMC stuff was it Eddie Martinez? None the less he was and is a hell of a player!!
[This message was edited Thu Mar 4 16:40:36 2004 by Kevlar]

Kevlar said:

That was Eddie Martinez. Color Code was his band. That Cd - ahem - cassette - that I had. Broke it, bought another copy. I'm glad he posted those songs online - the 2 Bullets song was my favorite by him!

Wow! I was wondering when someone would get around to mentioning Stevie Salas.
I think he's a fantastic musician. I got a chance to see him live when he opened for Joe Satriani in 1990. I'm suprised that he never had a larger following in the states.


If you really dig his material check out the 2nd Color Code CD "Back from the Living" or Nicklebag "12 hits and a Bump".


I'm gonna play dumb for a second, please explain about this "Living Colour funk-rock spinoff"
business? Otan I understand what you're trying to say....but c'mon "spin-off"?

otan said:

i thought u didn't like that guitar style (it was processed or something ) , the solo was the style u were bashing in the other thread.
U must just not like Vai or something.

this is not an attack on ur opinions, i'm just curious.
U are an amazing musician, and ur knowlege for recording and production is awsome.

.
[This message was edited Sat Mar 6 9:17:32 2004 by Jem]

kstrat said:

By Spin Off I mean, in 1986 there was no major band doing funk and rock. NONE. Prince, but he's pop. I'm talking Led Zeppelin rock.
Mick Jagger picks up Living Colour, "Cult Of Personality" becomes the huge success that it was, and suddenly, before you can say "PAYCHECK!" every record label on the planet has their own Living Colour and they're being pimped HARD: Bad Brains, 24-7 Spys, Stevie Salas, Fishbone, Faith no More, etc.. Yes, yes. ALL those bands had been around before Living Colour (with the exception of 24-7 Spys? maybe?) but the record labels that "owned" them weren't putting any money behind them. The bands were part of that wierd "college" movement.

But when all labels discovered that a band with a particular sound became ALL THE RAGE, all those labels quickly grabbed up the nearest similar band.

Sound familiar?

Nirvana - Pearl Jam - Stone Temple Pilots - Creed?

Korn - Limp Bizkit - Link Pork.

Or, Prince - Xavion, Ready For the World.

It happens all the time. I'm not saying those secondary clones are BAD. I'm saying they never ever ever would see the light of day without some OTHER maverick band breaking through.

He also was playing with Terence Trent D'Arby back in the days. I own his CD Stevie Salas presents the Electric Pow Wow and TTD introduces him on the first track .

Jem said:

I like funk. I play guitar. I was waay into Living Colour back in the day. And anything Living Colourish. And yes, I DO like Steve Vai - just not rabid about him. Salas' stuff is more like Vernon meets Hendrix - I don't hear tons of Vai in there, but that's not the point. I like Eric Johnson's first record, don't like the second one. I liked Stevie Salas' Colorcode record because back then, that's what I was all about.

But good catch - you're right - hard to say I'm batshit crazy for THIS guy and I can't stand Steve Vai. It's not that I can't stand him - I just feel that a little Vai goes a long way. Which is probably the same for any guitar virtuoso... if Prince just did guitar instrumentals, it would get boring, no matter how many different styles he attacked. Steve Vai tends to (in my opinion) focus on the Jazz Fusion and Heavy Metal thing. But i'm totally talking out of my ass on this - I've heard two, MAYBE three of his albums all the way thru. Most of my Vai experience is from David Lee Roth's EAT EM AND SMILE - which is just killer... but, that's playing sideman to the greatest frontman in the world, at the time.

otan said:

If you are gonna get Vai, just get Flexable and Flexable left overs. it was done on an 8 track ( I believe) way before the heavy metal hype thing happened. There are chops, but it is more a music album than a chops showcase, Very strong Zappa feel to it. Not an album I can listen to all the time, but there are some extremely beautiful moments that he has not been to on any album since. Well worth seeking out.

There's a song on Flexable called, "The Boy/Girl Song". It's quirky and catchy, and - believe it or not - there are no flashy Vai solos. The whole album is cool and experimental in a good way. It shows another dimension to Vai. Flexable Leftovers is cool today, especially "F*** Yourself", which Frank Zappa himself doing the vocals/commentary.

Do you guys know of a song - I only heard it once - where Steve Vai transcribed an entire Frank Zappa spoken word song about girls underwear or something - and Vai played guitar over Zappa - do you know what I'm talking about? Have I lost it?

otan said:

"The Jazz Discharge Party Hats"

u should have just Org noted me silly

In regard to the whole "funk-Rock" thing I have a decidedly different take on the it.

Musically speaking I never made the distinctiion of Living Colour being a "funk-Rock" band.
That's the whole problem with labels, sometimes an easy way to identify something, but not broad enough to tell the whole story. When Living Colour had their breakthrough in 1988
They opened quite a few doors, Suddenly being a black rock musicians wasn't such a strange idea in popular music & as a result a few more "black-Rock" bands got signed. I was already familiar with Vernon's work with the Black-Rock Coalition, The bands success was a tremendous validation for me.

I started out on guitar in 1986, Prince & Jesse Johnson were my primary inspirations. After doing quite a bit of research I discovered a whole lineage of Black Rock musicians, guitarist in particular. I like the whole idea of musical diversity, who cares what you call it as long as the music is good.


For me it was great to have some sort of visible role model, Vernon along with quite a few lesser known guitarist/musicians helped me feel a sense of community, I needed to know that I wasn't the only brother wanting to do this type of music.

kstrat said:

Absolutely. There is a difference between black rock and funk rock.

Except that Living Colour had funk rock tunes on their records, as did most black rock bands... from Mother's Finest to 247-Spyz to Fishbone. The only band I can think of that was black rock and not funk rock was Bad Brains. (off the top of my head - I'm sure there are thousands more bands that were one and not the other). MY point was that record companies struck oil with Living Colour and went after anything and everything that remotely resembled it. As they do with ANY musical trend that breaks through the usual pop crap.