The genre is 60s TV rock. Whenever they had to represent a rock band on TV they used these older session guys and this is sort of what they thought rock sounded like.
You're closer to the truth than you may realize. A lot of those same studio musicians actually played on most of the classic rock records of the 60's and early 70's.
I came down here to say this. I remember this sound on shows like the Munsters or the Beverly Hillbillies or Dragnet. Where ever they want some non copywritten "rock" sounds. I used to think it was called, "Mod". Guys in sport coats and sunglasses saying things like, "Daddy-0".
Kid of 15. already gave up on Band sax. My Dad wanted me love it. three years of band.Just wanted to play guitar "That sounds like a bass". Sab, Give me a chance,,, Mexican Black Bird from ZZ a couple years later. "Hey that sounds good".
Started out with power chords like Sab when i was 15 in '72. My Dad "That sounds like a bass. When you gonna learn some chords?" Give me a chance. Year or three later. and i 'm jamming with ZZ Tops "Mexican Blackbird', thru an amp. "Hey, that sounds good!'' Meant alot.
Great video! My uncle is Melvin Ragin aka Wah Wah Watson! Let’s Get It On, Papa Was A Rolling Stone, Car Wash countless other hit records!! RIP to Wah Wah Watson!
I still have my copy of this cardboard record (and the rest of the rectangular sheet of which it was originally part). It was sent to me in about April 1967 by Jennings Musical Industries. There is no chance whatsoever that Jimi Hendrix or any other rock player could have been heard using a wah pedal before Del Casher made the record in February 1967. That is because the Vox Wah-Wah pedal was not released for sale until May 1967, at least not in the UK. I had the great fortune to meet Del Casher at Deke Dickerson's Guitar Geeks' Festival at Anaheim during NAMM week 2012. We got into conversation and I mentioned that I still have the record. Del was good enough to return the next night with a copy taken from the master tape and transferred to CD-R. No more clicks, pops, or surface noise. A real gentleman. By the way, the tune identified by Josh as (Neal Hefti's) theme from the "Batman" TV series was actually closer to "Wipeout" by The Surfaris, though just enough notes were changed that no composer royalties would have been due. The group's version had composer credits listed as "The Surfaris".
I still use the first part of PT as a warm up to get my fingers moving. At the time, didnt realize it was wah. I just knew I wanted distortion on my bass. Ah...to be back in my shed in 1986...
Cream used a wah pedal on "Tales of Brave Ulysses" which was the B side of the "Strange Brew" 45, and the song also appeared on their "Disraeli Gears" LP from 1967. So they must have been among the first to use it? And The Electric Prunes rock!
Found this list. Hiding it because I thought it was a stupid question Metallica - Seek & Destroy Metallica - For Whom The Bell Tolls Metallica - Anaesthesia (Pulling Teeth) Metallica - The Call of Ktulu Pantera - Uplift Black Sabbath - Bassically (intro to NIB) Red Hot Chili Peppers - Coffee Shop
Del Casher jamming on a new pedal with his drummer friend was the first episode of The JHS Show. If you look closely at the back of that cardboard record, you can see Josh in a group photo like the end of The Shining.
Very cool. The first demo I had heard of the Vox Wah Wah before was the Electric Prunes one. I didn't know Del was on it. The Prunes one made it onto a either a Pebbles compilation, or a Turds on Bum Ride compilation, I don't remember which. Both similar compilations mastered from forgotten 60's psychedelic vinyl and played in the Crypt club, London, in the 80s, where I first heard a lot of these kinds of records.
I'm not half way through this video, but f3elt the need to stop and say this is the best and most important video JHS has made. You are preserving history knowledge here and it's fascinating and funny at the same time.
Outstanding historical overview of the vaunted Vox Wah. There's no shortage of guitar channels on TH-cam but few are as entertaining, educational and overall enlightening as JHS's. Josh & the gang are laying it down for the homies in the guitar community and we all should be grateful.
'Joy of a Toy' is a song by a British band called The Soft Machine that uses a bass played through a wah by Kevin Ayers. Both Soft Machine and Kevin Ayers' solo stuff are amazing, by the way.
Yea, was looking for this comment! Mike Oldfield plays something that sounds like wah bass on Ayer's whatevershebringswesing as well. Ayer's must have been one of the first.
the bass player for electric prunes filled in for the smashing pumpkins around 2010, he sadly passed away a few years after that, but Billy corgan was a fan of the band and asked the bass player to join the band.
I think it was Post Cereals that had a collection of 4? records on the back of the back of the box in the 60's. I had the Johnny Cash single. I think it was Orange Blossom Special.
I remember a record on the back of a cereal box in '72 - 74. I think it was Sugar Crisp and the song was by the Jackson Five. It might have been the ABC123 song. My foggy memory thinks it coincided with the Jackson Five cartoon. Yes, I watched it and yes my sister was in love with little Michael Jackson. I just liked the groovy music.
Guitar magazines (like Guitar Player) used to come with "cut-out" records stapled to the middle of the magazine, super thing plastic, they sounded horrible but they worked? Like getting a "demo" with your magazine. Different times. Now we just google whatever we want to know about.
Hendrix's "Up from the Skies" was the ultimate wah demo. The bass player for Brian Auger had a Bass Wah Pedal. He used it very sparingly but it was very effective. I heard that at a concert in 2008 (2009?).
One hot minute Chili peppers song is Falling into grace Rage against the machine - Mic check, Born of ghosts, war within a breath. He actually uses two wahs at the same time with a board over them to control them same time.
I always thought 'Falling Into Grace' was played with a vibrator (I'm serious, Dave Navarro used to hold a sex toy over the pickups, kind of like an e-bow)...
Was gonna make this EXACT comment, glad someone beat me to it. Pretty sure he's got the wah sandwiched between dirt pedals as well so it'd add to Joshes point about using a way with dirt.
"what the 🤬 is wrong with my guitar" "🤬 This pickup is out of phase or something and I never noticed 🤬 I gotta take it apart again" "Did I touch my amp? Did I bump it? Is my amp broken? Are my tubes still biased?" Ohhhhh my wah is on
If you can find the album, "end of the game" by Peter Green, lot's of Wah Wah, people really put it down, as Green was undergoing emotional and mental health issues. I am a Peter Green freak and looked past the endless jamming and noodling to try to make sense, and there's a lot there, I love most of it. PAG was a guitar genius and great singer/writer. RIP PAG and thanks for your great demos.
I Had Too Much to Dream Last Night was one of my favorite songs of the 60s! It is a classic rocking psychedelic 60s song with great production value and awesome effects. Get hip to the trip, brother.
I met Del Casher a few years ago. I was leaving work and carrying my guitar. Del pulled up in an old Cadilac and stopped to chat with me. He had (still has?) a recording studio just down the street in Burbank.
It sounds so cute, it actually creates a new sound to express yourself. Ot doesn't matter your reaponse to it. The wah sound creates a new expressuon. Thank you very much.
I don't usually comment, but I love this format of the show. Pedal demos area great, to but hear Josh walk us through his thoughts as he plays an ultra rare demo for a now super popular tool is absolutely fantastic. Loved every moment of this!
The Electric Prunes Mass in F Minor was actually the creation of producer extradrodinare, David Axlerod (NOT the politics guy of the same name). Axlerod, initially signed on as producer but basically took over the band and the album is pretty much his creation. The rest of the band hated it and quit one by one. The name 'Electric Prunes' was owned by the label and so they re-formed the band with completely different members. This is all documented in the wikipedia for the Electric Prunes. I highly recommend that you check out some of Axlerod's other stuff from the period, such as Songs of Innocence, Songs of Experience, and Earth Rot. These and other albums were frequently recorded by Axlerod with whatever session musicians were available to Axlerod at Capitol Records in Hollywood. We're talking Earl Palmer on drums, Carole Kaye on bass, Howard Roberts on guitar. Often huge classical string sections back these players up. The sessions were frequently short and the finished pieces are a credit to David Axlerod's vision and production skills. As you can tell, I'm a great fan. If you are shopping for records and you see 'Produced by David Axlerod' on the back, BUY THAT ALBUM! Axlerod was all over the place on Capitol's discography during the 60's to mid 70's- Jazz, Rock, Soul, Country. The one thing tying these records together is the awesome production.
That Electric Prunes song is so killer. Maestro Fuzz-Tone/bass in one ear, and a wah tone in the other ear. We don’t have modern rock without bands like the Electric Prunes
The first song on The Electric Prunes Mass in F Minor (Kyrie Eleison) was used in the Mardi Gras scene in Easy Rider. The band by this time were a group of musicians put together by their manager, who owned the name, and none of the original members were in this group.
Not really. From Wikipedia: "When the existing band - singer James Lowe, guitarists Ken Williams and Mike Gannon, bassist Mark Tulin, and drummer Michael "Quint" Weakley - came to record the album, it became apparent that the complex arrangements largely outstripped the band's ability to perform them to the standards expected by Axelrod, or within the time set aside for recording. Although Lowe, Tulin (the only band member who could read music) and Weakley appeared on all the tracks, and Williams and Gannon also appeared on the first three tracks ("Kyrie Eleison", "Gloria" and "Credo"), the album was finished by studio musicians working with engineer Richie Podolor on guitar, and a Canadian group, the Collectors. The choral-style vocals were by Lowe, double-tracked. Hassinger was credited with producing the album."
@@pauldwyer Also from the Wikipedia page: "Some later reissues of Mass in F Minor incorrectly credited a later incarnation of the band with recording the album." I guess wherever I read that, it stems from this error.
I have one Josh, it's still fixed in the VOX promo material. It's in my late fathers collection. He left me some great vintage Guitars, accessories. Just loads of gear, Records, lots of great things. My Dad was right handed though and i am left handed so it's a real bummer. Their heirlooms anyway. Thanks Josh, great stuff as always.
The cardboard records were a thing in the 60s. The Post cereal company put records by bands like the Archies and the Jackson 5 on the back of Alphabits boxes.
I'm a wah addict and have quite a few including a couple still in construction . My favourite one though is a one which someone gave me with a broken inductor which I replaced with one from ebay -can't rem which type inductor I subbbed . Its a very light plastic -cased JHS WP-100 which sounds magnificent. Thanks for putting this together -it was fun.
The Electric Prunes are a great band! They were produced by David Axelrod, a very talented arranger and composer who worked with them on a few records. Make sure to check out Release of an Oath by the Prunes and Axelrod's solo records, very nice mix of psych rock and jazz.
I so remember The Electric Prunes Josh. Too much to dream last night was not only a great play on words, but was a great song. Keep up the great work Josh I really appreciate what you do. Peace, love and Bobby Sherman✌️
The Vox/Jennings factory was in Dartford, Kent, U.K. The Charring Cross Rd. store was the retail shop in mid London!! Del Casher's been a friend of mine for a couple of decades.. He's a really great guy!!
I really appreciate your honesty when you talk about pedals, many of them your competitor's pedals. This episode is definite one of the best episodes ever! You didn't just show us a vintage pedal like you normally do but we were able to hear that bit of history first hand. Greetings from Sweden.
Agreed, if anything its the reason i ended up buying a jhs 3 series chorus, needed a good, reliable, cheap chorus. I dont think ill ever take it off my board now lol
In the fall of 1968, I was playing in a frat band, bought a VOX WaWa and apparently used it on every solo according to my band mates. Sill have the box, cover and the unit. It always travels in my back line work box.
Killer episode! I remember that cardboard demo disc-I think it came bound into an early issue of Guitar Player magazine, which started in ‘67. I thought the songs were a bit hokey, but the guy obviously could play. As I recall, those first Vox Clyde McCoy wah pedals were around $40, and as a 17-year-old in ‘67, I didn’t have that kind of money-that was two weekends worth of gigs! I didn’t get a wah pedal until 1972-first effect I had that wasn’t tremolo or reverb built into an amp. Many years later, on one of my NAMM show trips in the ‘90s, I found myself in a very long line waiting to get into a restaurant to have dinner, and in front of me was none other than Del Casher. He invited me to share a table, and we had a great conversation. Really nice guy. Incidentally, the Electric Prunes got a lot of mileage out of doing albums based on religious music. In addition to Mass In F Minor, they also had one based on Kol Nidre, from the Jewish Yom Kippur service. And the Clyde McCoy connection was because Clyde was known for getting a wah sound by manipulating a mute on his trumpet. I used to wonder why Vox used a trumpet player to promote a device for guitar players.
It's definately up there but I gotta go with Hendrix 'Voodoo Chile (Slight Return)' or 'Machine Gun'. That wah lead Clapton does on 'Presence of the Lord' from the Blind Faith album is bitchin' also.
13:02 While not a traditional wah wah, My bassline on the track Natural by The Credentials features a Q-Tron+ Envelope Filter during the last part of the song if anyone is interested in hearing an example. Wah Wahs and auto wahs/envelope filters the best 🤟🏼
Say 'wha’ again. Say 'wha' again, I dare you, I double dare you Mr. Scott , say wha one more time! Cause it my second favorite effect next to Distortion.
The entire foot goes on the pedal 🤣 I had a “broken “ phaser that rate could get stuck and you could use it as an awesome extreme cocked wha tones ... I miss that thing 😢
If I'm not mistaken, Mass in F Minor was in fact recorded by a group of studio musicians and credited to the Prunes despite them not having much, if any, input on it. If you ever saw Easy Rider you've heard Kyrie Eleison. (Side 1 - Track 1.)
The lyrics to Kyrie Eleison are in my art history textbook. I always just thought it was a psychedelic song - yes, I remember the scene from Easy Rider where the prostitute is zoned out with a pipe in her hand... I had the soundtrack on vinyl to (it's on side 2 - side one starts with The Pusher / Born to be Wild)...
4:27: "They think it is a product for trumpet players......it's a horrible idea." Tell that to Miles Davis. If am not mistaken he tried this, and I think it sounded pretty cool.
Yes, he used a wah pedal with his trumpet. He was in a bad car crash and couldn't sweep the pedal with his leg, so he would get down on the floor of the stage and use his hand...
According to Del Casher and others, Frank Zappa introduced Jimi Hendrix to the wah wah at the Garrick Theater in NYC in 1967. Hendrix's second album, Axis: Bold as Love, was released in January of 1968, not 1967, as Josh mentions. Casher also said that Zappa introduced the pedal to Eric Clapton.
Dude doing the pitch at Vox: "I guess you guys aren't ready for that, yet. But your kids are gonna love it."
Hahaha
I hear you, McFly.
The genre is 60s TV rock. Whenever they had to represent a rock band on TV they used these older session guys and this is sort of what they thought rock sounded like.
One of the licks on that record sounded *exactly* like the guitar intro to the Three's Company theme song to me...
You're closer to the truth than you may realize.
A lot of those same studio musicians actually played on most of the classic rock records of the 60's and early 70's.
I came down here to say this. I remember this sound on shows like the Munsters or the Beverly Hillbillies or Dragnet. Where ever they want some non copywritten "rock" sounds. I used to think it was called, "Mod". Guys in sport coats and sunglasses saying things like, "Daddy-0".
def, library music 100%
Exactly: jazz-trained session musician shows their disdain for rock by playing simplistic clichés.
My first wah experience: my dad yelling down to the basement "play Hendrix with it or throw it away!"
your dad sounds like a smart dude
Voodoo Chile, Slight Return
Kid of 15. already gave up on Band sax.
My Dad wanted me love it. three years of band.Just wanted to play guitar
"That sounds like a bass". Sab, Give me a chance,,,
Mexican Black Bird from ZZ a couple years later. "Hey that sounds good".
Started out with power chords like Sab when i was 15 in '72. My Dad "That sounds like a bass. When you gonna learn some chords?" Give me a chance.
Year or three later. and i 'm jamming with ZZ Tops "Mexican Blackbird', thru an amp.
"Hey, that sounds good!''
Meant alot.
@@glenkepic3208 always means good when pops recognizes “this cat can play, let alone this my cat”
Great video! My uncle is Melvin Ragin aka Wah Wah Watson! Let’s Get It On, Papa Was A Rolling Stone, Car Wash countless other hit records!! RIP to Wah Wah Watson!
N.I.B. by Black Sabbath??? That is like one of their best songs. Bass Wah.
This
Yup
Dude Orion
Added the link for "Basically" but I think they removed it :-(
Geezer said he was the first person to record it on bass on an album
I still have my copy of this cardboard record (and the rest of the rectangular sheet of which it was originally part). It was sent to me in about April 1967 by Jennings Musical Industries. There is no chance whatsoever that Jimi Hendrix or any other rock player could have been heard using a wah pedal before Del Casher made the record in February 1967. That is because the Vox Wah-Wah pedal was not released for sale until May 1967, at least not in the UK.
I had the great fortune to meet Del Casher at Deke Dickerson's Guitar Geeks' Festival at Anaheim during NAMM week 2012. We got into conversation and I mentioned that I still have the record. Del was good enough to return the next night with a copy taken from the master tape and transferred to CD-R. No more clicks, pops, or surface noise. A real gentleman.
By the way, the tune identified by Josh as (Neal Hefti's) theme from the "Batman" TV series was actually closer to "Wipeout" by The Surfaris, though just enough notes were changed that no composer royalties would have been due. The group's version had composer credits listed as "The Surfaris".
Cliff Burton: “Bass solo, take one...”
Haha, my thoughts exactly.
@@theyoganath3073 literally everyones thoughts except josh. I wish he was a metalhead too
Pulling Teeth.
I still use the first part of PT as a warm up to get my fingers moving. At the time, didnt realize it was wah. I just knew I wanted distortion on my bass. Ah...to be back in my shed in 1986...
@@stephenhackney6044 Anesthesia (Pulling Teeth)
It's crazy how even after 4o years that ad still was able to convince me to go and buy a wah today
JHS must bring out a cardboard disc demo of sounds for their next release
I bet Third Man could hook that up
2/3 of the Hipster Trifecta
Kirk Hammett has entered the chat. Also, notice how on the demo disk they don't ask you to smash that like button and subscribe.
“Mommy, What’s A Funkadelic?” by Funkadelic has a great wah bass breakdown.
This
Son, It's a hamhock in your cornflakes :)
@@kennycube5126 You’re thinking of “What Is Soul.” Soul is the ring around your bathtub.
Yep
Hey Booneh, Dont worry about the replies below I Testify they're Gamin' on ya! , bunch of Maggot Brainz
Cream used a wah pedal on "Tales of Brave Ulysses" which was the B side of the "Strange Brew" 45, and the song also appeared on their "Disraeli Gears" LP from 1967. So they must have been among the first to use it?
And The Electric Prunes rock!
Both incredible songs, on an incredible record.
I can't decide if I like the wah.
I keep going back and forth on it.
That's warped, but I like it !
just put yer foot down!
Oh boy! I am stealing that one.
I had to read that twice to get it. Ha!
Good one, take your like and leave.
That intro to "I Had Too Much To Dream..." TERRIFIED me as a 6 year-old; my older brother used it to chase me out of his groovy basement hippy den
That record sounds like every screen wipe edit from Austin Powers
surf
The record demo was really cool!! Del Casher is a great player .
Bass wah: "From whom the bell tolls" intro!
Anesthesia too, by the awesome Cliff!
And don't forget about The Call of Ktulu!
Homies, this has gotta be one of the best episodes to date
Bass Wah= "Anesthesia"/"Pulling Teeth" Metallica🤘🔥
Found this list. Hiding it because I thought it was a stupid question
Metallica - Seek & Destroy
Metallica - For Whom The Bell Tolls
Metallica - Anaesthesia (Pulling Teeth)
Metallica - The Call of Ktulu
Pantera - Uplift
Black Sabbath - Bassically (intro to NIB)
Red Hot Chili Peppers - Coffee Shop
I think that was a Morley Power Wah, to be nerdy about it
And the award for best use of wah with Bass goes to.....
Del Casher jamming on a new pedal with his drummer friend was the first episode of The JHS Show. If you look closely at the back of that cardboard record, you can see Josh in a group photo like the end of The Shining.
I watched this 20 minutes ago and I still have that stupid Wah Wah song in my head. Thanks a lot, buddy.
"You're giving me a WAHWAH"
@@timhouston1638 I don’t need no
Very cool. The first demo I had heard of the Vox Wah Wah before was the Electric Prunes one. I didn't know Del was on it. The Prunes one made it onto a either a Pebbles compilation, or a Turds on Bum Ride compilation, I don't remember which. Both similar compilations mastered from forgotten 60's psychedelic vinyl and played in the Crypt club, London, in the 80s, where I first heard a lot of these kinds of records.
I'm not half way through this video, but f3elt the need to stop and say this is the best and most important video JHS has made. You are preserving history knowledge here and it's fascinating and funny at the same time.
Outstanding historical overview of the vaunted Vox Wah. There's no shortage of guitar channels on TH-cam but few are as entertaining, educational and overall enlightening as JHS's. Josh & the gang are laying it down for the homies in the guitar community and we all should be grateful.
The wah/distortion portion of the demo felt like a King Gizzard song haha
This video, to me, is the best thing I've ever seen on the internet.
'Joy of a Toy' is a song by a British band called The Soft Machine that uses a bass played through a wah by Kevin Ayers. Both Soft Machine and Kevin Ayers' solo stuff are amazing, by the way.
Yessss. That record is so good.
Yea, was looking for this comment! Mike Oldfield plays something that sounds like wah bass on Ayer's whatevershebringswesing as well. Ayer's must have been one of the first.
the bass player for electric prunes filled in for the smashing pumpkins around 2010, he sadly passed away a few years after that, but Billy corgan was a fan of the band and asked the bass player to join the band.
I think I’m most impressed by the fact that you could put a record on cardboard...
I think it was Post Cereals that had a collection of 4? records on the back of the back of the box in the 60's. I had the Johnny Cash single. I think it was Orange Blossom Special.
before the berlin wall was taken down they had bootleg vinyls copied on x-ray sheets, search for "russia x ray records"
I remember a record on the back of a cereal box in '72 - 74. I think it was Sugar Crisp and the song was by the Jackson Five. It might have been the ABC123 song. My foggy memory thinks it coincided with the Jackson Five cartoon. Yes, I watched it and yes my sister was in love with little Michael Jackson. I just liked the groovy music.
Its thin plastic that holds the music on carboard is just picture placed.
Guitar magazines (like Guitar Player) used to come with "cut-out" records stapled to the middle of the magazine, super thing plastic, they sounded horrible but they worked? Like getting a "demo" with your magazine. Different times. Now we just google whatever we want to know about.
Hendrix's "Up from the Skies" was the ultimate wah demo.
The bass player for Brian Auger had a Bass Wah Pedal. He used it very sparingly but it was very effective. I heard that at a concert in 2008 (2009?).
One hot minute Chili peppers song is Falling into grace
Rage against the machine - Mic check, Born of ghosts, war within a breath. He actually uses two wahs at the same time with a board over them to control them same time.
Calm Like A Bomb, too! Timmy C apparently was really into his wah when Rage made The Battle of Los Angeles.
I always thought 'Falling Into Grace' was played with a vibrator (I'm serious, Dave Navarro used to hold a sex toy over the pickups, kind of like an e-bow)...
LOVED this. I actually laughed out loud in spots. Well done.
I like how Josh mentioned Rage Against the Machine and can't think of a bass wah song...
Calm like a bomb Josh!
Was gonna make this EXACT comment, glad someone beat me to it. Pretty sure he's got the wah sandwiched between dirt pedals as well so it'd add to Joshes point about using a way with dirt.
I love the piece "I had too much to dream last night"!
"what the 🤬 is wrong with my guitar"
"🤬 This pickup is out of phase or something and I never noticed 🤬 I gotta take it apart again"
"Did I touch my amp? Did I bump it? Is my amp broken? Are my tubes still biased?"
Ohhhhh my wah is on
My guitarist: "Man, your bass sounds wild tonight, I like it!"
Me: "Sorry, I left my wah on."
And this is why I installed an LED on my Cry Baby. It happened too much.
That has screwed me too many times!
@@rootsradical Michael Schenker made a career out of leaving it on
If you can find the album, "end of the game" by Peter Green, lot's of Wah Wah, people
really put it down, as Green was undergoing emotional and mental health issues.
I am a Peter Green freak and looked past the endless jamming and noodling to try to make sense, and there's a lot there, I love most of it.
PAG was a guitar genius and great singer/writer. RIP PAG and thanks for your great demos.
First JHS Records release: deluxe expanded reissue of wah wah demo record with all 13 recorded demo tracks, pressed on deluxe heavy weight cardboard.
With a JHS sticker and a second record sticking out of the side at right angles.
It's its own box
180 gram cardboard
I Had Too Much to Dream Last Night was one of my favorite songs of the 60s! It is a classic rocking psychedelic 60s song with great production value and awesome effects. Get hip to the trip, brother.
The Wah pedal is legendary. You love it, I love it, your grandmother loves it, your dentist loves it, everyone loves it.
Adele doesn't love it.
@Andrew Hoppe that's a toothy reply.
@@robbirose7032
Hahahahaha indeed..
Mexican narcos and the whole cartel love it too.
When I lived in New York, my dentist was an amateur singer/songwriter and would play you his songs while he worked on your teeth. It was odd.
I met Del Casher a few years ago. I was leaving work and carrying my guitar. Del pulled up in an old Cadilac and stopped to chat with me. He had (still has?) a recording studio just down the street in Burbank.
Bass Wah? Cliff Burton playing his "Pulling Teeth" bass solo from Kill Em All, Metallica's first album. Legendary!
It sounds so cute, it actually creates a new sound to express yourself. Ot doesn't matter your reaponse to it. The wah sound creates a new expressuon. Thank you very much.
I don't usually comment, but I love this format of the show. Pedal demos area great, to but hear Josh walk us through his thoughts as he plays an ultra rare demo for a now super popular tool is absolutely fantastic. Loved every moment of this!
The Electric Prunes Mass in F Minor was actually the creation of producer extradrodinare, David Axlerod (NOT the politics guy of the same name). Axlerod, initially signed on as producer but basically took over the band and the album is pretty much his creation. The rest of the band hated it and quit one by one. The name 'Electric Prunes' was owned by the label and so they re-formed the band with completely different members. This is all documented in the wikipedia for the Electric Prunes. I highly recommend that you check out some of Axlerod's other stuff from the period, such as Songs of Innocence, Songs of Experience, and Earth Rot. These and other albums were frequently recorded by Axlerod with whatever session musicians were available to Axlerod at Capitol Records in Hollywood. We're talking Earl Palmer on drums, Carole Kaye on bass, Howard Roberts on guitar. Often huge classical string sections back these players up. The sessions were frequently short and the finished pieces are a credit to David Axlerod's vision and production skills. As you can tell, I'm a great fan. If you are shopping for records and you see 'Produced by David Axlerod' on the back, BUY THAT ALBUM! Axlerod was all over the place on Capitol's discography during the 60's to mid 70's- Jazz, Rock, Soul, Country. The one thing tying these records together is the awesome production.
Bass wah on NIB by Black Sabbath. Kudos, Geezer!
*13:01** "Bassically", the intro to N.I.B., by Black Sabbath...*
"(Anesthesia)-Pulling Teeth" by Metallica with the late great Cliff Burton on bass. The prime example of a bass solo with a wah wah pedal.
This 100%
Thank you for letting us hear the recording:)
N.I.B. Black Sabbath. The first time a bass wah solo was recorded in music history. (According to Geezer and Dunlop)
I'd say electric "bass guitar", but I'm not too good with semantics.
Wrong Jack Bruce used one with Cream.
@@reynoldsparrow834 Did he play a solo with it?
@@TheChadPad no just riffing th-cam.com/video/EnmGmcndPMk/w-d-xo.html&ab_channel=Cream-Topic
Amazing, this is truly rare historic documentation.
Bass wah? Bassically & NIB from back sabbath! Hello!
anasthesia (pulling teeth) anyone?
@@gfunkk for whom the bell tolls. Orion. Primus.
shaft anybody?!
Yep first thing that popped into my head.
Jack Bruce with Cream.
I have one of your Vox wahs JHS it needs a little work but I am glad to have it!
I’m not worried about what genre it is, I just want it on Spotify.
That Electric Prunes song is so killer. Maestro Fuzz-Tone/bass in one ear, and a wah tone in the other ear. We don’t have modern rock without bands like the Electric Prunes
I believe the genre is in fact, “Cat Fight Surf Pop Rock”. Very short lived.
Cats have seven lives
Check out Jennifer Batten's "Cat Fight" with whammy pedal. Now that's a real cat fight.
The first song on The Electric Prunes Mass in F Minor (Kyrie Eleison) was used in the Mardi Gras scene in Easy Rider. The band by this time were a group of musicians put together by their manager, who owned the name, and none of the original members were in this group.
Not really. From Wikipedia: "When the existing band - singer James Lowe, guitarists Ken Williams and Mike Gannon, bassist Mark Tulin, and drummer Michael "Quint" Weakley - came to record the album, it became apparent that the complex arrangements largely outstripped the band's ability to perform them to the standards expected by Axelrod, or within the time set aside for recording. Although Lowe, Tulin (the only band member who could read music) and Weakley appeared on all the tracks, and Williams and Gannon also appeared on the first three tracks ("Kyrie Eleison", "Gloria" and "Credo"), the album was finished by studio musicians working with engineer Richie Podolor on guitar, and a Canadian group, the Collectors. The choral-style vocals were by Lowe, double-tracked. Hassinger was credited with producing the album."
@@pauldwyer Also from the Wikipedia page: "Some later reissues of Mass in F Minor incorrectly credited a later incarnation of the band with recording the album." I guess wherever I read that, it stems from this error.
"Pre-Acid Surf" is the genre of music on the Wah-wah cardboard record.
I have one Josh, it's still fixed in the VOX promo material. It's in my late fathers collection. He left me some great vintage Guitars, accessories. Just loads of gear, Records, lots of great things. My Dad was right handed though and i am left handed so it's a real bummer. Their heirlooms anyway. Thanks Josh, great stuff as always.
The cardboard records were a thing in the 60s. The Post cereal company put records by bands like the Archies and the Jackson 5 on the back of Alphabits boxes.
I vaguely recall the Guitar Player magazine had vinyl insert 45 disc's sometime in the early 70's.
@@JD-vx8gr And they were awesome! Fripp, Belew, Torn, Holdsworth, etc.
My grandfather recorded a spoken message on q similar cheap disc when he was in WWII...
@@JD-vx8gr They called them "Soundpages"... they were the first place I ever heard Allan Holdsworth, Steve Vai, and Yngwie Malmsteen.
@@jammer70s In the UK at least, the Beatles used to produice them as Xmas novelties for the fanclubs.
Particularly enjoyed this episode. Cheers!
An ad played just as you put the record on, and I was like, "wait... they had ball trimmers in the 60s?!"
Alright so I'm not the only one getting that ad all the time.
I'm a wah addict and have quite a few including a couple still in construction . My favourite one though is a one which someone gave me with a broken inductor which I replaced with one from ebay -can't rem which type inductor I subbbed . Its a very light plastic -cased JHS WP-100 which sounds magnificent. Thanks for putting this together -it was fun.
The Electric Prunes are a great band! They were produced by David Axelrod, a very talented arranger and composer who worked with them on a few records. Make sure to check out Release of an Oath by the Prunes and Axelrod's solo records, very nice mix of psych rock and jazz.
King Crimson's Bassist John Wetton uses one very effectively on lots of their recordings. He's brill...
The end of the jingle, where the singers say "WAH WAH," reminds me of the George Harrison tune
Yes it did me too. I wonder if he had that demo record
Yes, immediately thought of that too!
I so remember The Electric Prunes Josh. Too much to dream last night was not only a great play on words, but was a great song. Keep up the great work Josh I really appreciate what you do. Peace, love and Bobby Sherman✌️
OK.. I'm now 100% sure George Harrison heard the "wah wah" outro theme song, and reworked for his song... Wah Wah.
My thoughts exactly! Sounds too close to be an accident
Glad I'm not the only one who noticed the similarity!
Good ear. Similar approach. And he definitely plagiarized the lyrics.
Thought the same thing, and there is plenty of precedent of George hearing things and subconsciously (or not) "borrowing" them.
@@stecker06 you mean one song?
Wow he can't write anything original
The Vox/Jennings factory was in Dartford, Kent, U.K. The Charring Cross Rd. store was the retail shop in mid London!! Del Casher's been a friend of mine for a couple of decades.. He's a really great guy!!
I really appreciate your honesty when you talk about pedals, many of them your competitor's pedals. This episode is definite one of the best episodes ever! You didn't just show us a vintage pedal like you normally do but we were able to hear that bit of history first hand. Greetings from Sweden.
Agreed, if anything its the reason i ended up buying a jhs 3 series chorus, needed a good, reliable, cheap chorus. I dont think ill ever take it off my board now lol
In the fall of 1968, I was playing in a frat band, bought a VOX WaWa and apparently used it on every solo according to my band mates. Sill have the box, cover and the unit. It always travels in my back line work box.
DUDE, Geezer butler claims to be the first person to record the bass with each on an album NIB the opening is a giant bass way solo
Album released in 1970 so they woulda been working on it in 68 or at least 69 right???
This record is now the first. Hahaha.
Wah was my first guitar pedal. Thanks for the great history lesson!
The bass solo in “My Wave” by Soundgarden uses a wah-wah
Great suggestion... find the surround mix!
Killer episode! I remember that cardboard demo disc-I think it came bound into an early issue of Guitar Player magazine, which started in ‘67. I thought the songs were a bit hokey, but the guy obviously could play. As I recall, those first Vox Clyde McCoy wah pedals were around $40, and as a 17-year-old in ‘67, I didn’t have that kind of money-that was two weekends worth of gigs! I didn’t get a wah pedal until 1972-first effect I had that wasn’t tremolo or reverb built into an amp. Many years later, on one of my NAMM show trips in the ‘90s, I found myself in a very long line waiting to get into a restaurant to have dinner, and in front of me was none other than Del Casher. He invited me to share a table, and we had a great conversation. Really nice guy.
Incidentally, the Electric Prunes got a lot of mileage out of doing albums based on religious music. In addition to Mass In F Minor, they also had one based on Kol Nidre, from the Jewish Yom Kippur service. And the Clyde McCoy connection was because Clyde was known for getting a wah sound by manipulating a mute on his trumpet. I used to wonder why Vox used a trumpet player to promote a device for guitar players.
N.i.b. Bass intro solo uses a wah and it’s awesome
The music in that record is awesome!
“Acid Surf Music” I’m DEAD 😂
- and Jimi Hendrix - Still Rainin, Still Dreamin - the intro to this is pure magic.
Eric Clapton’s lead in White Room is undeniably the best ever wha solo.
Definitely up there!
It's definately up there but I gotta go with Hendrix 'Voodoo Chile (Slight Return)' or 'Machine Gun'. That wah lead Clapton does on 'Presence of the Lord' from the Blind Faith album is bitchin' also.
@@TheRealcdawg22 I’ve always loved the Presence Of The Lord solo and tone. It sounds like Wah pedal and a Leslie speaker
@@TheRealcdawg22 band of gypsys power of love, when the wah kicks the intro into overdrive!
Hendrix all along the watch tower lead.... my personal favorite.
13:02 While not a traditional wah wah, My bassline on the track Natural by The Credentials features a Q-Tron+ Envelope Filter during the last part of the song if anyone is interested in hearing an example. Wah Wahs and auto wahs/envelope filters the best 🤟🏼
Can you guys do shows on best and budget pedals for acoustic guitar? Delay, reverb, chorus, preamp/di etc...
Josh... sublime. Oh man.... Love it.
Say 'wha’ again. Say 'wha' again, I dare you, I double dare you Mr. Scott , say wha one more time!
Cause it my second favorite effect next to Distortion.
The entire foot goes on the pedal 🤣
I had a “broken “ phaser that rate could get stuck and you could use it as an awesome extreme cocked wha tones ... I miss that thing 😢
@@PooNinja
I use a Whetstone phaser, and it has 4 different Range settings, and the Fix one gives a cocked wah effect. Awesome Optical Phaser
@@CorbCorbin thank you 🙏🏽 🤘🏽
One of my fav episodes so far, also notable wah Demo is the 1967 electric prunes vox wah demo record
If I'm not mistaken, Mass in F Minor was in fact recorded by a group of studio musicians and credited to the Prunes despite them not having much, if any, input on it. If you ever saw Easy Rider you've heard Kyrie Eleison. (Side 1 - Track 1.)
The lyrics to Kyrie Eleison are in my art history textbook. I always just thought it was a psychedelic song - yes, I remember the scene from Easy Rider where the prostitute is zoned out with a pipe in her hand... I had the soundtrack on vinyl to (it's on side 2 - side one starts with The Pusher / Born to be Wild)...
thanks Josh for this Episode
4:27: "They think it is a product for trumpet players......it's a horrible idea."
Tell that to Miles Davis. If am not mistaken he tried this, and I think it sounded pretty cool.
Yes, he used a wah pedal with his trumpet. He was in a bad car crash and couldn't sweep the pedal with his leg, so he would get down on the floor of the stage and use his hand...
Paul Jackson on Chameleon (1973), although he’s basically playing a guitar part on the upper frets of the bass while Herbie plays the bass line.
Del Casher's Wah-wah demo is like the 60 year old version of Josh's pedal demos lol
I love your history lessons, not only are they interesting but I find it very useful to know the time lines of fx as they get built and manufactured.
Dont apologise for the story times I want to hear all of them... wish you had a channel of just story times haha
I can’t imagine the excitement and fun these guys must’ve had in the 60’s when they invented the wah !
According to Del Casher and others, Frank Zappa introduced Jimi Hendrix to the wah wah at the Garrick Theater in NYC in 1967. Hendrix's second album, Axis: Bold as Love, was released in January of 1968, not 1967, as Josh mentions. Casher also said that Zappa introduced the pedal to Eric Clapton.
Axis: Bold as Love was released in the U.K. first, in December 1967. The U.S. release was 1968
I love that cardboard record thing. Super interesting. Thanks for that Josh and company!
The record is in good shape for a 54 year old cardboard piece. No scratches at all, good sound quality.
This is seriously my fav video of all time! Thank you so much for taking the time to do this video! You killed it
“My first thought is, that’s fairly annoying.”
😂😂😂😂😂😂😂
This is a very valuable piece of historical information, thanks for sharing, very interesting
“What is the genre? Let’s argue over that”
Anthony Fantano has entered the chat
Anthony Fantano, Clyde McCoy. . .forever.
I had read most of the history of the wah, but you out it all in perspective to me. Thanks Josh!!😹 Great Fun!😹