Back-up Vocal~ At first, I found myself somewhat stuck when approaching this Comic. This most recent tale needed more of an ending to cap it off. But the right ingredients to do it were eluding me. Then, one morning I was scrolling through my Facebook Newsfeed whilst sipping my coffee. I discovered that Reb Beach was in Estonia that particular week and I knew I had the missing element. So after placing that component on my table as the centerpiece, I crafted my work around it.
A sense of betrayal is one of the load-bearing pillars here, and Manny is right on a few points. First, time has taught us again and again that Zoop© Magazine has often not been kind to the DBS 3©. So when my guys wind up in their cross-hairs, the prose packs a sting. Next, the differences between road and studio musicians have been explored more than once in my Back-Up Vocal segments. I have to think that when a road musician plays a studio musician’s work on tour, the room they are offered to move depends on the complexity of the recorded material and the degree of exacting detail demanded by their employer. Manny was ordered to keep his guitar work simple and approachable since his bassoon-wielding overlord had no intention of hiring the DBS 3© as his touring posse. Now we understand why that one solo was taken from Monsieur Manifold, and re-gifted to others in the outfit. We’ve seen his reaction and we should never have expected otherwise. Bo feels a bit used as well, and let’s face it, he was. He handled the news much better than Manny. I suspect it was in part because there are no bass solos on the album, so nothing was really taken from him. The live band bass player will have more than enough to do learning to master Bo’s album offerings. I can promise that in itself is no easy task. Bo’s principal influence is Pete Trewavas of Marillion, with notable pepperings from Chris Squire and John Wetton in the mix. I don’t envy the bassist who has to learn and replicate what Bo contributed on tape. That said, the yoga did the trick in quenching any remaining fires of bad blood burning in his soul. Further, visions of jet skis and dreams of playing bass for the Simply Red dude danced in his head and provided the last of the desired tranquility.
As a final thought, the Isle of Il Pavo has proven to be the gift that keeps on giving. What began as a Shout-Out to the Mel Profitt story arc of “Wiseguy” fashioned itself into a spectacular recurring thread for application in my little world. It built its traction completely independently of me and was it purely an accident that it became the wonderful card in the Mannyacs© deck we know today. We’ll see where things head with it next. Stay Tooned.