BOC: an observation/BOC tribute?

[Jonathan Jarrett]

John of the FAQ quoth:

> >        7. No one drums like Albert and Danny Miranda is a good
> > bassist.

> There has been a fair discussion on OTHER BOC online forums regarding
> comparisons of the Bouchards to the current BOC rhythm section.  I am
> not as qualified to judge drummers (although it is clear that Albert has
> that certain something that other drummers don't -- whether Albert would
> be better suited to drum with the current incarnation of BOC is
> debatable, but moot), it is clear that Danny Miranda and Joe Bouchard
> are very different bassists.  To say Danny is "better" because of his
> obvious skill with the instrument, more modern sound (well, it *IS* the
> 90s), and variations of Joe's original lines is perhaps not fair to the
> man that built the foundation upon which Danny now works for the most
> part -- they are both great, and I draw much inspiration from the both
> of them.

        As someone who's defended Danny lots, I have to say here that I've
never done it to suggest he's better than Joe! Heavens no, largely because
I have a very shady idea of Joe's actual ability because he's not very
high up in the mix mostly and I haven't ever done a dedicated listen for
bass-lines. It's difficult when you don't play and get carried into the
music too easily... But I used to see a post that said, "ah, it's not the
same as when Joe was on bass, and the songs aren't as good either," and
feel forced to reply that Danny seemed, well, not the worst musician in
the band to say the least, and that I wished the band would let him get
a song or two in as until he does there's this nasty feeling that he's
just a session man and not really part of "BOC". It's not that he doesn't
write, he said to us in '95 that he had some songs for other bands of his.
Perhaps they weren't very good but how bad does it have to be given the
paucity of material?

        As for Al, I've always thought he was brilliant though I ain't a
drummer just because he does things on the drums that I'm not expecting
and couldn't have thought of. He is to drums what Walter Becker was/is to
bass. The technical ability is massive, but it's not the factor compared
to how inventive and what's-going-to-happen-next they are.

        My 2pworth, anyhow (helping the BOC discussion), yours,
                                                                 Jon