Bruce bass guitar on 'let me be the one'

[GillianG]

I just got a comment on a video I posted on Youtube that the commenter 'could not believe in the video as Bruce was playing bass'. Certainly it's a 4 string guitar. I found a copy of the live Eurovision performance on Youtube and Bruce uses the same guitar, and replied to the comment to that effect. However, can someone give me more info please to add to my reply? I daresay I knew the answer once, and it's probably been discussed before, I can make some educated guesses, but I'm sure one of you experts out there can give me some more detail.

Regards

Gillian

[JimN]

Only Bruce's vocal part is live, and the bass is just for show.

JN

[GillianG]

Yes I do remember that the 'music' part of Eurovision is not live, now you mention it. Why have the bass guitar 'just for show'? As someone ought to have one? If so, why Bruce, who is so well known for rhythm guitar? Maybe there is no answer to that question

[Didier]

As Alan Tarney was on keyboard, they probably thought someone else should appear with the bass guitar, it could have been John Farrar, but it was Bruce Welch !



Didier

[MeBHank]

I'll wager there were some behind-the-scenes arguments about it!

[GillianG]

Justin, you may well be right. I'd have gone with John Farrar 'apparently' on bass myself, but no-one asked me

[iefje]

I have read many times about people thinking that John Farrar was the bass guitarist during his time with The Shadows, but he never was. It was Dave Richmond, Alan Tarney and/or Mo Foster. Indeed, all TV performances of The Shadows, where Bruce appears with a Fender bass, have been mimed.

[drakula63]

Before I became 'clued up' on all matters Shadows-related, I too 'assumed' that John Farrar (being the new fourth member) was on bass. It was only after buying the albums and reading the credits that the truth dawned.

I suspect that the main reason Bruce pretended to play the bass (not that convincingly, I have to say), is that as lead vocalist on the song it looked better if he was holding the bass as he was standing in the middle. Having said that, on the promo video for the song, he is standing on the far left whilst again 'playing' the bass. Personally, I think it might have looked better if Bruce had just been standing there and holding the mic, as he does in the promo video for Love DeLuxe. But that may not have looked right. Watching the performances on the LULU show from February 1975 their standing positions vary from song to song, with the lead singer not always standing in the middle. Oh well. When all is said and done, they SHOULD have won...

[GoldenStreet]

Bruce, by his own admission, fluffed the second line of the song on the night... perhaps holding that PB just felt wrong!

Bill

[Didier]

Bruce, by his own admission, fluffed the second line of the song on the night... perhaps holding that PB just felt wrong!

Bill

Here is what Bruce wrote about it in his book :
As the curtain came on cue, it hit my mike and knocked it on the floor. I froze. What could I do ? This was live television, in front of millions viewers. there was noyhing for it - I calmly bent down and picked up the microphone just as I was due to go into the opening line of the song. I panicked and forgot the words completly, which was a terrific start.

Didier