Video of Moris Tepper and PJ (playing bass!)

[soulfadelic]

The song is called Sandpaper and this is from a 2006 gig in LA. Moris has done stellar work with Beefheart, Tom Waits, and Frank Black among others.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=adOodM1ud_g" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[emanedur]

Cool.Thanks!

[bluesman]

Outstanding, first time I've heard any of this let alone seen any video.
Polly and a vintage Precision mmmmm.

[soulfadelic]

Polly and a vintage Precision mmmmm.

Is there some kind of distortion or overdrive on it as well? I love that fat sound she's getting. Sort of reminiscent of the Peel version of "Oh My Lover."

She played two gigs with him as far as I know, the one where the vid comes from on 1/12/06 and one other from the week before that was written up in the LA times:


“It was hard to take your eyes off singer-guitarist Moris Tepper as he hulked around the small stage and conjured a mighty noise with his two backing musicians at the El Cid club in Silver Lake on Saturday. But the audience's attention was also fixed on Tepper's bass player — Polly Jean Harvey, a.k.a. PJ Harvey. It's an unusual role for one of rock's most acclaimed and popular cult figures, standing modestly in the background and churning out the heavy, driving foundation for the jarring music of the L.A.-based Tepper.But you can see why the Englishwoman would be drawn to this artist, whose background includes stints with such Harvey heroes as Captain Beefheart and Tom Waits, and whose spasmodic, cathartic, boundary-pushing music shares qualities with her own rock psychodrama."It's fun, but I wouldn't go out like this with just anybody," Harvey said after the show. "I'm a great admirer of his music and I wanted to support it…. It's very dark." Tepper, who is also scheduled to play this Sunday at the Echo as part of the ArthurBall festival, has his own, smaller cult after his prestigious associations and three independent albums. His more conventional moments Saturday sometimes suggested Frank Black (another frequent beneficiary of Tepper's playing), and sometimes the Stooges. The set included "Ricochet Man," a rare recent writing collaboration with the retired and reclusive Beefheart. Harvey, her strapless black dress making her a glamorous contrast to the severe-looking Tepper, flat-picked simple, solid, aggressive patterns as she teamed with drummer Scott Mathers to anchor the leader's impulsive, unpredictable sonic spasms. Dark it was, but a good kind of dark.”

[DrDark]

Here's the pics that I have:




I remember after these gigs Tepper's web site said more touring would follow in northern California and hinted that Polly would come, but those handful in LA in Jan/Feb 2006 were it. I also remember that at one of the shows, it was said that Morris took great umbrage (with his foot) at a fan whose camera was pointed up at Polly from a rather inappropriate angle.

Later during interviews for the WC tour, I remember one in which Polly said she enjoyed touring "for months" (?) with a small band and how she enjoyed moving amps and gear etc. I wish I had the quote, but somehow it struck me as a tiny bit of a stretch.

[bluesman]

Polly and a vintage Precision mmmmm.

Is there some kind of distortion or overdrive on it as well? I love that fat sound she's getting. Sort of reminiscent of the Peel version of "Oh My Lover."

Sounds like a mix of a few things, sure is breaking up. She must have been trying different setups. In the youtube video she has an Orange amp sitting on the Ampeg cabinet (stop the vid at 2:30 and you can see a birds nest of shit sitting on top) in DrDark's pics she's using a different head on it. You can get some neat tones out of short scale necks. Watching the video for the tenth time it dawned on me that it's not a precision at all, it's a short scale mustang bass. Perfect length for tiny little Polly

She looks like she was having fun

[Teclo25]

I have nothing really awesome to add except that Morris Tepper was a good opening act to PJ's NYC shows during the Stories tour.

[bluesman]

^ that would have been a nice double bill! He get onstage with her at all?

[DrDark]

I can't let this chance to quote Morris regarding Captain Beefheart go by:

"How demanding a taskmaster was the Captain?

It started with him saying no to everything I played. No matter where my hands were on the guitar, he'd say, "You're humming C." I'd tell him I didn't even know where C was right then, and he'd say, "Yes, you do -- you're thinking of the Beatles." That happened a lot at first. He'd say I was "humming C," which meant whatever I was playing was too square for him. His way of cleansing me of "C" was to lock me in a broom closet for five hours with a cassette of Mississippi John Hurt’s "Red Cross Store." I was in the dark, smelling janitorial chemicals and hearing that song over and over. It did the trick."

from:
http://www.candlebone.com/pages/pressmusic.shtml" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

there's more pics of Morris and PJ playing there, but clicking on them to "expand" them doesn't. It's also kinda funny that Morris's web page link to PJ's web page isn't PJ's official site, but this one:

http://www.pollyharvey.co.uk/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

This quote is also interesting:

"Captain Beefheart is an artist and composer," said Tepper. "A painter. Tom Waits is an actor, which is a very, kind of politically correct way of saying it. Waits is a great, great writer as well. But one accepts the clothes the song wears. One is constantly trying on different suits to see what suit fits the song. One’s a composer. One’s an arranger. You have to guess which one’s which."

[Teclo25]

^ that would have been a nice double bill! He get onstage with her at all?

Nah. Just an opening act, he had his own band, about 2 or 3 other guys.

[Teclo25]

I can't let this chance to quote Morris regarding Captain Beefheart go by:

"How demanding a taskmaster was the Captain?

It started with him saying no to everything I played. No matter where my hands were on the guitar, he'd say, "You're humming C." I'd tell him I didn't even know where C was right then, and he'd say, "Yes, you do -- you're thinking of the Beatles." That happened a lot at first. He'd say I was "humming C," which meant whatever I was playing was too square for him. His way of cleansing me of "C" was to lock me in a broom closet for five hours with a cassette of Mississippi John Hurt’s "Red Cross Store." I was in the dark, smelling janitorial chemicals and hearing that song over and over. It did the trick."

Ha! Love that story.

[DrDark]

Here's Ding (instead of Polly) playing bass for Moris:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HJ-KnkAlzbA" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[Romario11]

More clips of her playing Bass in 2006 with Moris Tepper.



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IlTHICocRc8

This one passed me by..