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Post by Gaz on Dec 15, 2015 3:07:55 GMT
Years ago when AL was in the band Francis was receptive to playing outstanding guitar solos. Nothing outstanding from him since Imo. I would go as far to say when it comes to great Quo guitar solos look no further than Alan Lancaster. AL (along with Pat Barlow) inspired Francis to perform at the highest possible level. Some say was it all a lie ? Best way to answer it for me is to say that AL used to play bass guitar as a 3rd guitar . He would do runs and fills and the riffs as well. That Dear Quo fans wasn't a lie! Glad to see you found this place TVQ....good to have you back, mate. I think we all need reminding of how great Alan was and the demise of todays version of Quo in regards to global sales. Re: Francis and his solos, well you just have to watch those reunion dvds to see how brilliant he played with good ol' Alan right up there next to him. Francis said not having keyboards there made him work harder but I still reckon knowing Alans thoughts on playing the songs as they should be played made an impact.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Dec 15, 2015 6:07:54 GMT
I don't have a favourite solo. The great thing about Francis' solos is, that they're part of the song. They fit in so perfectly that back then I didn't even notice them consciously. Every single solo belongs to the song it is in and you couldn't exchange them. With so many bands it's: verse-chorus-verse-chorus-guitarist shows how fast he can play scale variations-verse-chorus..
It was only through the talk on the old mb that I came to realise how beautiful the solos are, that most of them are perfect from a melody POV. Francis may not be the fastest or technically most accomplished player out there - I couldn't care less - but there sure aren't many out there with his feel for melody and the ability to create something perfectly complimenting it.
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Post by lazypokerblues on Dec 15, 2015 8:42:32 GMT
Favourites off the top of my head:
Someone's Learning Most of the Time In Your Eyes I Don't Wanna Hurt You Anymore
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Post by townsvillequo on Dec 15, 2015 11:36:39 GMT
Years ago when AL was in the band Francis was receptive to playing outstanding guitar solos. Nothing outstanding from him since Imo. I would go as far to say when it comes to great Quo guitar solos look no further than Alan Lancaster. AL (along with Pat Barlow) inspired Francis to perform at the highest possible level. Some say was it all a lie ? Best way to answer it for me is to say that AL used to play bass guitar as a 3rd guitar . He would do runs and fills and the riffs as well. That Dear Quo fans wasn't a lie! No offence, but that's complete bollox. Nuff is a good bass player, he could keep time well and had a great attitude towards the band going places, but in no time in Quo history did he inspire Frame's playing. Yes, he probably could've came up with riffs, but a Rossi solo?? No chance. Al did encourage and inspire Francis to play long, melodic and skillful guitar solos. Its quite obvious since AL left that Francis can't play a long melodic guitar solo to any newer Quo material. Also for another ex just look at a song like Fine Fine Fine. The solo arrangement had the notes all round the wrong way. It was AL who put all the notes in their right place thus allowing Francis to play the guitar solo correctly. Don't get me wrong Francis is a great guitar player but by far AL is the better musician. Even the main riff for ROLD it was AL again who came up with that one.
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Post by townsvillequo on Dec 15, 2015 11:39:17 GMT
Years ago when AL was in the band Francis was receptive to playing outstanding guitar solos. Nothing outstanding from him since Imo. I would go as far to say when it comes to great Quo guitar solos look no further than Alan Lancaster. AL (along with Pat Barlow) inspired Francis to perform at the highest possible level. Some say was it all a lie ? Best way to answer it for me is to say that AL used to play bass guitar as a 3rd guitar . He would do runs and fills and the riffs as well. That Dear Quo fans wasn't a lie! Glad to see you found this place TVQ....good to have you back, mate. I think we all need reminding of how great Alan was and the demise of todays version of Quo in regards to global sales. Re: Francis and his solos, well you just have to watch those reunion dvds to see how brilliant he played with good ol' Alan right up there next to him. Francis said not having keyboards there made him work harder but I still reckon knowing Alans thoughts on playing the songs as they should be played made an impact. Hi Gaz yes good to be back putting things right on AL's behalf. Its a tough job but someone has to do it !
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Post by Deleted on Dec 15, 2015 13:09:18 GMT
No offence, but that's complete bollox. Nuff is a good bass player, he could keep time well and had a great attitude towards the band going places, but in no time in Quo history did he inspire Frame's playing. Yes, he probably could've came up with riffs, but a Rossi solo?? No chance. Al did encourage and inspire Francis to play long, melodic and skillful guitar solos. Its quite obvious since AL left that Francis can't play a long melodic guitar solo to any newer Quo material. Also for another ex just look at a song like Fine Fine Fine. The solo arrangement had the notes all round the wrong way. It was AL who put all the notes in their right place thus allowing Francis to play the guitar solo correctly. Don't get me wrong Francis is a great guitar player but by far AL is the better musician. Even the main riff for ROLD it was AL again who came up with that one. I don't think it is that Francis can't play a long melodic solo to any newer Quo material - its just that CQ songs are, mostly, crafted differently from the rock 'epics' that the FF used to play in the 70's. I think that even with the FF, the recorded material become more truncated in this sense with the last few albums in the 80's - with songs condensed down into smaller packages. This happening, even though the live act remained close to the same as the early days - and with Francis guitar work therefore very similar in length and style
Francis has continued to develop as a musician (and singer) through the decades. However it certainly doesn't follow that these developments have been to every fans tastes, because clearly he frustrates and disappoints numbers of fans. The Heavy Traffic album as everyone knows, is the album that has songs with longer guitar bits in, that probably comes closest to the earlier days. His playing more generally though, is geared more towards rock/pop these days and not the virtuoso stuff he played with the FF.
There still have been quite a few glimpses of his individual innovative brilliance though with the solo in Got To Get Up and Go as just one example. I'm no music techy expert, but its still possible to pick out a good piece of individual skill when it is heard
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Post by townsvillequo on Dec 15, 2015 13:32:18 GMT
Well yeah. Put it this way. Its no small coincidence that when AL went to Australia Francis's long melodic guitar solos stopped. A producer was brought in namely Pip Williams and the band worked in a completely different way to how they used to. In all surveys Ive ever seen its Quo's earlier albums like HEllO QUO OTL Piledriver that are in the top 5. They produced their own albums then and I know AL played a big part in that including urging and coercing long melodic solos out of Francis.
Quo built their name and reputation on non commercial style albums. They then got in experts who used the Quo name to go commercial with their music. It was wrongly thought that Quo would get bigger most likely even cracking the USA market . It was a mistake. And when AL tried to tell them so for ITAN album no one would listen.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Dec 15, 2015 14:07:46 GMT
I don't quite subscribe to Alan having walking on water status and being miracle worker with all that assuages him exactly , but I do think that although Francis wouldn't admit it, the presence of Alan on stage did have a very positive effect on him at the reunion gigs in just the way as it did in the old days. In this way it created, at least with me, a stark impression of differences of attitude between old and new bands
On the basis that the FF ethos was evolved through the live act inspiring the studio product (and not the other way around like CQ) it also makes sense that song endeavours between the two of them in the studio were, and still could be (hypothetically) also filled with uninhibited inspiration potential. The type of inhibition that might bring Francis out of CQ 'coasting mode' back into the type of virtuoso style being discussed here.
Ricks role, essentially is the same one as usual, but a bigger engine room as before with the keyboard layers taken away much more than in CQ.
Although there were song writing partnerships within the FF in the same way as there are with CQ, and that add up to a total album of songs - the crucial difference is that the CQ product comes together in segments that are pieced and layered over each other rather like a car assembly plant. Its a manufactured product rather than the organic raw phenomenon that came together spontaneously as one in the classic way of the FF.
Its no surprise really therefore that the CQ product is much more polished than the FF one. Although together for a very long time, the CQ members earn their understanding with each other through a mechanical and precise efficiency - but for all that time together there is lacking the instinctive dynamic that rather reigns in individual virtuouso musicianship (even though it might reduce technical error rate), and also makes the difference between a rock gig and a professional entertainment show on the live stage.
On that basis not difficult to see how Francis was a very different animal on stage at the reunion tours to the rather autopilot and playing within himself one that we have become accustomed to seeing with CQ
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gav
Veteran Rocker Rollin'
Posts: 2,162
Favourite Quo Album: On The Level
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Post by gav on Dec 16, 2015 0:38:48 GMT
All speculation, so here's mine...
Francis was more influenced by his love of a good smoke than by AL.
But at the end of the day, it was them 4 in the magic circle that did it. This we KNOW. Once the circle was broken, the magic was too. And the extended solos with it.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Dec 16, 2015 3:10:15 GMT
Backwater 4500 times Most of the time slow train
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whoami
Rocker Rollin'
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Post by whoami on Dec 16, 2015 12:06:25 GMT
Dont think it matters
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paul70
Rocker Rollin'
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Post by paul70 on Dec 16, 2015 21:23:01 GMT
Don't drive my car... but, its 'Backwater''.
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nino
Rocker Rollin'
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Favourite Quo Album: Hello!
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Post by nino on Dec 16, 2015 22:12:53 GMT
He is such a great guitarist and capable of playing awesome solos. As someone said, Francis may not be the fastest player, may not be the most technically skilled player, but he is incredibly melodic. His solos are beautiful and perfectly fitting the songs they're in.
I love all of his solos up to '81 and most of the later ones as well. But the one, that is just a tad above all other solos in my eyes is the one in Little Lady. I always loved this one, studio and various live versions, it's quite short, has an incredible feel to it, a beautiful melody and a breathtaking build-up. The perfect solo!
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