Now That I Know I Can Trust You, Here's My Heart

I've given you a few songs performed by Live Wire (aka Powerline) and you've accepted them with good grace and love. I thank you for that. And now that I know I can trust you, I give you my heart. My soul, really. I give you the song that meant the most to me, as a musician, during every gig we played. It is the song entitled Live Wire.

I would dig this as rock, whether it was me playing on it or not, but it contains my heart and soul because it also contains my nightly extended bass solo. As a hard rock bass player, you mostly stay in the background. Sure, you do some fills you might be proud of, or maybe you get a small solo spot here or there for four or eight bars, but most of the glory goes to the singers and guitar players. And rightly so. Their sound is usually more easily accessible, crisp and up front, whereas bass may be diffuse, a bit mysterious to some, steady but perhaps not exciting. Guitarists and singers are in your face, but you have to listen to hear the bass. When musicians are listed on the back cover of a CD or (showing my age) record jacket, singers and guitarists come first; bass players and drummers come last. No complaints; that's just the way it is, with rare exceptions.

Not every situation, nor every group, gives a bass player the opportunity to stretch out. I was lucky enough to be in a group filled with guys who appreciated what I could do and who didn't frown on experimentation. They allowed me the spotlight for as long as I wanted it during this song, and I thank them for that.

(At the birthday bash for the singer, Marty - which, I promise, I will show you some "before & after" photos from soon, probably next week - he opened my gift of the CDs I made of the group's performances, and when he saw the song "Live Wire" listed, he gave a good-natured laugh, and said to those present, "Oh, man. Yeah, I'd say, 'Here's Jim on bass!' and then the rest of us would go out for a sandwich, play a few hands of cards, do our nails, have some coffee, maybe chat up a few girls in the audience, and then start listening for his cue to us to come back in.")

The song is 7 minutes - really kicks in with the chugga-chugga at about the one-minute mark - and my solo begins at about 3 minutes into it. Steve accompanies on drums, and really it was a showcase for him, too. He and I worked out some set bits within it, but I'd say about half of it was improvised each performance. And he never missed what I was going for, always supplying just the right accents and fills. At the end of the solo, I play some chords - double and triple stops - leading into an ascending line that was the cue for the rest of the boys to come back after their sandwiches and whatnot. This particular performance certainly has a couple of small clams in it, but overall I'm proud of my playing. Considering the pace of the song, I... well, I threw the CD on the other day and tried playing along, with thirty years more playing experience to draw upon, and I had a damned hard time keeping up with my younger self.

Here's the lyric (as well as annotation of some mid-song stage patter):

LIVE WIRE (Bower, Frattasio, Giusti, LaRue, Murphy)

You're a woman full of energy
Your eyes sparkle with electricity
You're my idol, girl, you're my best friend
When we make love, you stand my hair on end
You're my live wire

I feel a sense of electrocution
Falling thunderstorm; there's no solution
When I wake up in the dead of night
Let you do the things you want to me - I won't fight
You're my live wire

[Ron Frattasio on guitar right here
We got Ronnie Bower on guitar, guitar Ronnie Bower
Steve Giusti on drums, Steve Giusti
On bass guitar we got Jim LaRue
Take it away, James]

You're my live wire

Live Wire
You're my burning desire
Live Wire
You set my soul on fire
Live Wire
See what you mean to me
You're my one and only one
Don't ever set me free
You're my live wire

And here is the song itself. I hope you enjoy it.

LIVE WIRE

Soon, with more better stuff.