Backing Members

[nozzer]

Hi guys,

I know that there is a lot of 'hate' shown on this forum towards backing members, which is sad. Lets be honest, they are there because the Manics want them there, not to piss anyone off, and they just do what they are told to do.

Dave Eringa: Ok, slightly overproduced albums, but without his help, where would the manics be? and if the manics were not happy with what Eringa was doing, they would not have released the albums, and would have sacked him. So, you can not blame him for the band releasing the album, and to be honest, Eringa has done a good job on many tracks. (Eringa did also play organ live in 93 with them, and therefore is allowed in this thread )

Nick Naysmith: (Oh shit, i am gonna get flamed for this bit!) Another case of 'just did what he was told to do.' He was loyal to the manics for so long, how can we be so harsh about him (although i am aware that much said is in jest,) and remember, he did actually make the 'tolerate sound' that we all think of when we hear the song (the synths.) - with Eringa i should add.

Guy Massey: He seems to be quite liked around this forum so i wont bother saying anything, although i have still not found a bootleg where you can actually hear him.

Wayne Murray: I met Wayne in Southend and asked him to sign my guitar. He was a really really really nice bloke and even tried to find James to get him to sign it. Musically, I do believe he adds another dimension to the music, but does, truthfully sometimes over do the vocals, but it is up to the manics once again to ask him to stop at that point!

Sean Read: Well, I have no idea how anything bad can really be said about Sean (apart from the sax *cringe*.) His keyboard setup is better than Naysmiths, as the strings sound far more 'organic' and textured, and his vocals are reasonably low in the mix. I personally think that, like Wayne, Sean really is a good addition to the band.

So guys, what do you HONESTLY think of the backing members of the band, past and present? Please could you make and opinion and point when arguing, rather than 'i hate him,' which would be pointless. Also, please feel free to add anything ive missed.

Cheers for reading,
Aled / Nozzer

[The Gutless Wonder]

I don't have a problem with any of them but Dave Eringa is my fave cos he's been with them from more or less the start.

[Lydia]

I don't mind them. People some times say the backing vocals sound terrible, but I've never heard it. Don't get the interest in Wayne though. He's just a session musician.

[franny]

Gotta love Wayne, he seems really nice, looks cool and has nice hair. Sean Read is amazingly talented too. I've never seen any others.

[starfucker]

Personally think Wayne really ruins Roses.

[Mary Chain]

Too new to comment on most, but:

Sean Read: Very cool guy, super talented, great on trumpet and almost makes Ocean Spray listenable again. He also works the shaker pretty good in Kevin Carter!

Wayne: Nicest guy in rock (apart from James and a couple of other people), and probably the scattiest. Vocals for Roses have been fine for the second half of the tour. Great fun onstage.

They were both a joy to watch in Leicester, they were having so much fun!

[hummingbird]

at my most cynical i think if wayne wasnt so pretty he wouldn't get half the attention he does

[Dext37 Fielding]

Dave Eringa also played with the Manics at IOW 2004.

[nozzer]

Originally Posted by Dext37 Fielding

Dave Eringa also played with the Manics at IOW 2004.

I thought that was Greg Haver?

[Takk]

They are all pretty good. Wayne's vocals are awful in places, but that's not his fault. It's just that they aren't right for fitting in where James' should be, his style and rhythm I guess is just all wrong....but that's up to James to tell him what to do, and the sound to get him in the right levels and I don't know if James has ever listened to a gig to know how it sounds.

[fakeconvalescent]

i think they sound better as a three-piece. The JFPL gigs are proof of this.

However the Murray/Read combination is much better than the Naysmith/Massey combo.

Naysmith had his keyboards too high in the mix and they were a bit too organey for me. Massey took energy away from the songs rather than adding layers.

[three_days]

I prefer the Read/Murray band by a hair over the three-piece, the JFPL gigs sounded good but sometimes a bit thin.

Read's the best keyboard player for sure, the strings are definitely more 'organic' sounding and he doesn't ruin the heavier songs with a mass of Hammond organ. He doesn't need to be loud on every song, and he realizes that.

Murray is a good guitarist and I really like his presence in the band. Not great on 'Roses', though.

[franny]

Roses is a lot better now to be fair, it sounded good at Manchester and fantastic at Southampton after the apallingnes of the first few dates.

[Ben]

I'm not sure there's a lot of "hate" shown towards them, more constructive (sometimes) criticism. I thought the Naysmith/Massey combo worked pretty well, although obviously there were times when Naysmith's keyboards did seem to destroy a song (like the "fairground Masses" incident).

I think that Sean/Wayne are pretty good too. Most of the time they really fill out the sound, and tighten the whole up, although occasionally they'll be too loud (I'm mainly thinking of Sean's single chord hammering over the end solo of SIP, which in Edinburgh totally drowned out James' solo). I think having Wayne on stage makes James lazy though which is something I'm not too happy about. I do still stand by my comments that Wayne's backing vocals on RITH at the start of the tour were pretty terrible, but I'll take everyone's word that they have improved.

I've never met either of them properly, but it sounds like they're nice guys. They're a rich source of comedy too (not as much as James and Nicky, obviously) so that's always a bonus.

[Bobafettish]

Personally I don't see the need for an extra guitarist, and I really don't see why he needs to play on every song. I've seen bands where session musicians just go off when not needed, then brought back on.