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My old band the Space Cossacks played the Rendezvous Ballroom reunion
show in Santa Ana (or wherever it was, I'm blanking out now) back in
2000. One of the acts was the Belairs, with Eddie Bertrand on lead
guitar. I was extremely excited about this, as I'm a huge Eddie &
the Showmen fan. I think he was even better than DD back then.
Well, I was extremely disappointed. Not only was his technique
really sloppy, but he really ruined most of the song by playing them
with a tone with a lot of distortion and modern techniques. His
stage demeanor was utterly embarrassing, as well - a throwback to '74-
'78 guitar-hero/cock-rawk type of stuff. I mean, this is NOT
bringing in modern influences - this is simply bringing in
other 'outdated' influences (in this case 25 years old).
don't get me wrong: I grew up with all of the shredding guitar stuff
from the eighties, and still enjoy quite a bit of it. I even
acquired Yngwie's first four albums on CD earlier this year. I think
he's got a killer tone (and obviously an incredible technique). I'm
absolutely obsessed with Ritchie Blackmore, too, as well as a bunch
of other metal with shredding playing (like Iron Maiden). Though I'm
not terribly enthusiastic about musical cross-breeding between these
styles and surf music, there is a right and a wrong way to do it.
Unfortunately, I couldn't come to another conclusion than that Eddie
did it the wrong way. In order to play eighties shred style you've
got to have an impeccable technique, and he didn't. Like I said, he
was very sloppy. The Surf Coasters guitarist shows how to do this
correctly and with taste. The non-original guitarist in the
Chantays, though not my cup of tea, also does it quite well. In
addition, there is a type of a song that works with that style of
playing - Yngwie's "Black Star" and "Far Beyond the Sun," or Dokken's
(with another awesome shredmeister George Lynch) "Mr. Scary." The
Belairs' version of Three Blind Mice is NOT a song where you start
shredding - it just sounds ridiculous.
As a impartial observer and fan, I understand Eddie's desire to grow
as a musician. but what I saw that day was not an example of
positive growth. I found it cringe-inducing, and would not pay money
to see it again. I may be in a small minority, but I have not heard
any positive reviews of Eddie's modern playing on any list or in any
magazine since I've started following them back in '95. So, maybe
Eddie should take a hint. Almost all great guitarists become trapped
in their styles to a certain extent, but it doesn't mean that one
cannot progress and grow while sticking to the tone that made you
well-known in the first place. Just my opinion...
Ivan
PS BTW, Eddie was using a humbucker eqipped Strat through SEVERAL
silverface Quad Reverbs, or something strange like that. I can't
remember exactly now, maybe somebody else will. It's funny that the
Belairs broke up over the whole debate about how much reverb Eddie
should be using, when four years ago he just stomped over all those
classic songs with excessive volume and distortion, which is much
more damaging to guitar interplay in that setting than reverb.
There's irony for you....
PPS I have not heard any Get Wet stuff, Les, so I can't comment on
your own playing. This was strictly about Eddie.
--- In , Leslie Fradkin <lfradkin@e...>
wrote:
> Eddie hates this incident, and regrets doing it. He was tricked by
the
> producer and although he insisted his name not be used, it was
anyway.
>
> We used a real drummer (Peter G.) on the stuff we did together and
will
> continue to use real drums.
>
> And no, it's not his updated sound.
>
> Les
>
> On Tuesday, September 7, 2004, at 10:43 AM, Phil Kucer wrote:
>
> > I posted an MP3 ripped from the porn movie he did a few years
ago. The
> > song was awful. Not only the crappy song, but the crappy over-
processed
> > guitars and crappy electronic drums.
> >
> > Since this the last thing I've heard from Mr. Bertrand, I was just
> > wondering if this his 'updated' sound?
> >
> > Tell Eddie he needs to get back in the surf. We miss him.
> >
> >
> > And leave the drum machine on the beach...
> >
> >
> >
> > Phil Tiki
> > __________________________
> > The Cocktail Preachers
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > On Sep 7, 2004, at 10:38 AM, Leslie Fradkin wrote:
> >
> >>
> >> "That's great that you are trying to navigate into some new sonic
> >>> territories. However, I've heard Eddie's newer version of "Mr.
> >>> Rebel" (the on that Phil Tiki posted for us all to hear) and I
have
> >>> to say it pales in comparison to the original."
> >>
> >> Your statement contradicts itself. Eddie & I both believe in
uncharted
> >> territory. That philosophy is one of the prime reasons he's
doing this
> >> project with me. We do his old hits live, BTW. We just update
them a
> >> little bit for modern ears. We performed "Mr. Rebel"
and "Squadcar" at
> >> the KFJC show. They were extremely well received and sounded
great.
> >> That's because we played them with passion and heart, which to
us,
> >> matters more than the gear we choose to use.
> >>
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > .
> > Visit for archived
> > messages, bookmarks, files, polls, etc.
> >
> > Yahoo! Groups Links
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
