Tommy Johnson Bankamericard commercial

[bloke]

reportedly: in one take

https://soundcloud.com/old-skool-fan/ba ... commercial

[prairieboy1]

[LeMark]

copied from AlexC on facebook

I've got a written interview with Tommy about the ad. Apparently he wasn't told anything about the gig so when he walked in the studio and the tuba chair was up front he knew there was something going on.
He was running a little late and did not have time to "run through" the piece before the take. What you hear is what he did.
He brought his Miraphone 191 to the session, so if accurate, he played this on a huge BBb tuba, in one take

[bloke]

Different recording sessions offer different challenges.

Unlike brass quintet engagements (even if "no rehearsal" ones) and orchestras' concert series, most all recording sessions have never offered any preview of the "music"...as it may have been completed the night (or afternoon) before the recording session...ie. Mozartian "wet ink".

The vast majority of those that I do (and I don't do nearly as many as I did decades ago) don't involve notes, don't involve chord changes, and don't even involve "the number system"...

...Most all involve "This person put down this track with a drummer and a keyboard. We want tuba on it, and need you to put the right 'feel/groove' with this."

...so I ask to listen to the track(s), hastily scribble down the changes (sometimes, on old pages of my own appointment calendar - because they don't have any paper), and then put down something that goes with the drums/changes/lyrics...ie. the "feel/groove".

The story sounds extremely similar to the "Jaws" story, and both may be true. Again, I've never played any recording session - anywhere for anyone - whereby I was mailed or emailed the "music". That particular model of tuba, to me, has always seemed a bit of a chore to play - regardless of what I might have played on one of them. For a very short time, JP offered an extremely nicely-built knock-off. I was put in charge of selling the last one they had (which had been shown around at events), so - during the time it was here at blokeplace - I had opportunities to become familiar with the design, and it's playing characteristics. If indeed he played that jingle on that instrument, I admire him even more - for reasons similar to admiring the person in the orchestra in Philadelphia - who does what they do with that F tuba that they've chosen to use.

[KingTuba1241X]

Kind of like James Jamerson from Detroit and all those Motown songs came in "wet ink" and he created those bass lines on the fly. Really awesome!

[Doc]

I listen to this quite often. Great stuff!