From: s892011@minyos.xx.rmit.oz.au (Mr.Scary)
Newsgroups: aus.music
Subject: Re: Southern Sons CD
Date: 12 Sep 92 23:57:44 GMT
Distribution: aus
Organization: RMIT Computer Centre, Melbourne Australia.

s1171741@giaec.cc.monash.edu.au (Tim Lewis) writes:

>s882413@minyos.xx.rmit.oz.au (Glen Robert Seymon) writes:

>>the Grainstore, which was fantastic. Phil Buckle is probably a much better
>                                      ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
>>guitarist than Jack, but they're both great.
> ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

>This is also probably incorrect!  Phil would be the first to admit that he is
>not half the guitarist that Jack is.  There seems to be an apparent
>misconception about the band, where lot of people think that as Jack does the
>singing, he is therefore an inferior guitarist.  This is of course incorrect,
>and the fact that Fender is producing a Jack Jones signature guitar would
>suggest that I am not the only one in awe of his playing!

I don't really think you can say it's one way or the other.  Jack and Phil
both have very different styles.  I'd say Jack is more unique-sounding and 
identifiable in his playing, but then people have told me he's just a mish-mash
of other players...  Jack's soloing can become very repetitive, especially 
when he goes off on his 20 minute solo explorations (eg. in Gnomes of Zurich),
because he seems to have a small arsenal of DIY licks and runs which he just 
throws together one after the other.  He plays them excellently of course, and 
just about every time I see him play I notice he's added something new to
his reportoire, but ususally it's just the same old stuff time after time. 
Don't get me wrong - I think Jack can play sensational guitar, but seeing
too much of his excesses has left a slightly sour taste in my mouth.

I can't really comment much on Phil's playing because I haven't been as
exposed to it.  However, I'd say he has much more experience on his side,
and probably more diversity in what he can play.  I used to be constantly
amazed by him when he he used to work at Fretted Instruments at Ringwood. 
He'd sit down with some huge Rickenbacker, twang some nifty jazz progressions
for a while, then let it drift into a neo-classical epic that would make
Malmsteen proud :-)  I asked for some lessons, but he was too busy :-(

I think one of the main reasons behind the Jack Jones guitar series is that
Jack is probably the most prominent guitarist in Australia at the moment; but
not necessarily the best.  There are players out there who could play rings 
around him eg. Wayne Monger with jass/fusion, Steve Housden with just about
anything.  But seeing as most people probably haven't even heard of those guys,
who's gonna buy their guitar ? 

>>  The Southern Sons' live gigs ARE much better than the CD.
                                 ^^^
				 WERE

I saw the Sons about three times, early on in the piece, including (I think)
their first ever show at the Grainstore around September 1990.  The sound 
was absolutely huge (contrast with that on the album), they were much
heavier, and they played some fantastic songs that didn't appear on
the album (could've been The State/Cutters songs ?  I don't have any of the 
old material).

About six months later I went again, and they weren't half as good - the 
place was packed with 16-yo girls, which is not bad in itself, but I soon 
realised that the band was pandering to these kids.  Their three strongest
(IMO) songs had been dropped, and replaced with other stuff from the album
(which I'm not particularly fond of).

I saw them once after that, and same old story - weaker songs, teenage girls
screaming out every word of Hold Me In Your Arms (*gag*).     

Let them have their fun though.  As far as I can tell, Southern Sons is
just a vehicle for the members.  They'd probably all rather be playing
jazz-fusion or whatever but the market for that sort of music isn't
very big in this country, and you have to make your money somewhere.
eg. Hans Valen was just a rent-payer for Jack - he wasn't a Van Halen fan.
I don't think he's particularly suited to playing Van Halen covers anyway. 

Mr.Scary