Richey couldn't play guitar? - Forever Delayed

escapepods · #1 24-11-2014, 14:53

Hey everyone. Manics fan from Ireland here (first gig was Dublin Olympia in early 1997). Ive recently seen the the remixed footage of the 2nd Astoria show on youtube, and Richey's guitar is up very high in the mix (almost as high as Bradders). He certainly got pretty competent on the guitar. His playing is pretty flawless in all honesty. Anyway, just wanted to address that!

UEF · #2 24-11-2014, 16:00

Guitarist here. He totally could, not amazingly, but he played a reasonable rhythm guitar, knew his barre cords and I dare say overplayed the "I can't play guitar" thing out of a sense of punk guilt

Marconi Delorian · #3 24-11-2014, 16:41

I think he improved a bit for The Holy Bible - he felt guilty about not bieng audible and decided to put a bit of effort in. He definitely filled the sound in nicely bythe time of the 3 Astoria gigs.

Scarecrow · #4 24-11-2014, 16:52

He was actually turned on during the early days, you can hear him on some recordings when James doesn't play, he's just very low in the mix. His playing was average backing chords stuff and it certainly beefed up the sound in 1994 when he was turned up.

escapepods · #5 24-11-2014, 18:43

that recording is the best ive ever heard the Manics, simply because its all 4 of them sounding amazing

Suicide Aldi · #6 24-11-2014, 19:13

The best live sound the manics ever had was around 94 when they turned Richey up a bit and you could hear him thrashing away in the background.

Dac X Lee · #7 24-11-2014, 23:13

I said this about Nicky and I'll say it again about Richey now too:

It is only said he can't play because James is such a genius, compared to him there's a lot of guitarists who "can't play guitar".

Routine Builder · #8 24-11-2014, 23:58

To say richey can play guitar is a bit of an overstatement as well. All he could play was bar chords (only on the bottom two strings from my observation) and had absolutely no rhythm whatsoever.

kevoutus · #9 25-11-2014, 07:11

Quote:

Originally Posted by Routine Builder

To say richey can play guitar is a bit of an overstatement as well. All he could play was bar chords (only on the bottom two strings from my observation) and had absolutely no rhythm whatsoever.

He wasn't restricted to bar chords at all. If you watch La Tristesse Durera at the Astoria during James's solo he's clearly playing open chords smoothly and competently.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5-_P...k-aCJG7yr3HqkA

escapepods · #10 25-11-2014, 08:23

He also played sections in 4st 7lbs that arent just hammering on 2 strings in a bar chord. Not saying he was a great guitarist by any means, just simply that he obviously learned what JDB was teaching him very well in the end and could it more than justice in the live setting

Routine Builder · #11 25-11-2014, 08:52

Still just sounds like noise to me to be honest. Here's what happens when he is turned up louder than James....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AfaM-46u5_M

Suicide Aldi · #12 25-11-2014, 09:20

I like the sound of noise. It was gloriusly shambolic.

escapepods · #13 25-11-2014, 09:34

Quote:

Originally Posted by Suicide Aldi

I like the sound of noise. It was gloriusly shambolic.

Ditto. Also, when they played Glastonbury and the sound techs thought Richey's channel was lead guitar during Faster. The song sounded monstrous! Then they twigged on and turned him down after a minute or so lol

Routine Builder · #14 25-11-2014, 09:55

Quote:

Originally Posted by escapepods

Ditto. Also, when they played Glastonbury and the sound techs thought Richey's channel was lead guitar during Faster. The song sounded monstrous! Then they twigged on and turned him down after a minute or so lol

True, though this doesn't happen on the FM broadcast of the gig - so raw and powerful. I don't mind the noise personally but as someone who has always struggled with guitar after twelve years, I can't say Richey's guitar playing approached anywhere near competent. If he could have put some cool feedback loops I might be more forgiving. The lack of decent second guitar has always held back the manics' live sound. I imagine that the 20th anniversary gigs are going to sound a bit hollow as a three piece.

escapepods · #15 25-11-2014, 10:10

Quote:

Originally Posted by Routine Builder

True, though this doesn't happen on the FM broadcast of the gig - so raw and powerful. I don't mind the noise personally but as someone who has always struggled with guitar after twelve years, I can't say Richey's guitar playing approached anywhere near competent. If he could have put some cool feedback loops I might be more forgiving. The lack of decent second guitar has always held back the manics' live sound. I imagine that the 20th anniversary gigs are going to sound a bit hollow as a three piece.

Thats my only slight concern. Im torn between wanting the songs to sound massive but I also dont wanna see Wayne Murray on stage in army fatigues strumming away. Unless of course they incorporate some pre recorded sounds to help beef up the sound. There is obviously going to be the samples from the Holy Bible through the PA, so perhaps there might be musical samples played along with it