Well "Real Men Don't Rehearse" just got yet another 5-star review on its Amazon page. I swear to you, this was not solicited and was totally unexpected. So far I have all 5 star reviews. I hear that's unusual! Note you can order the book here.
Hilarious and true (from a fellow bassist),
| By | dbldeac (North Carolina) – See all my reviews |
I am three years back to my bass after a 14-year hiatus (why, oh why did I ever stop?)…after having played from grade-thru-grad school. I returned to find electronic tuners, end pins that actually work, blogs just for bassists, and Justin Locke's wonderful book. I ordered it via Amazon, and it was fulfilled directly by Justin (complete with a nice note on the packing slip.) I squirreled it away for vacation, and gobbled it up last week in one wonderful day. The back of the book bears a warning not to read in "the quietude of a library, as you're apt to break out into uproarious laughter." I would amend that to "anywhere in public" since I frequently found myself hooting, belly-laughing, slapping my thighs, and laughing so hard I snorted…with tears streaming from my eyes. This is really bizarre looking on a beach but I was having such a great time I did not care. Anyone who has played an instrument with a musical group – not just bassists – will delight in this book…but for bassists, it is a treasure.
Justin's perspective on conductors (oooh, he played with Fiedler and on tour with Mancini), stand partners, spinning basses (wonder if I can bring to our community orchestra) and symphony management idiosyncrasies are priceless.
My favorite passage though is about bassist attitude…"While I can only comment on the bass sections I played in, the attitude we always had could be summed up as, "this thing is pretty much impossible to play, we're doing the best we can, and we really don't want to be here anyway, so don't bother us with your prissy nitpicking."" Amen, Justin.
After all, as he notes, "…since bass players are so rare, you don't have to be terribly good, or even all that motivated, to be wonderfully successful at it." What you do have to have is spirit, a sense of humor, and attitude, and Justin delivers.
Buy the book, enjoy, and pass it on to your musician friends and your family (maybe they will finally understand you.)
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I would probably have more reviews but amazon confuses people with requests for feedback on the ordering process, and a lot of folks review the book there!
