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Band:John Entwistle DVD:Thunderfingers – A Tribute to the Legendary John Entwistle of ‘The Who’ Released by:MVD Writer: Dr. J- Media: MySpace Click Album Cover To Buy Now

For those not familiar with John Entwistle, allow me to provide a brief history. Entwistle was the bass player for legendary The Who, not to mention horn player, singer, and at times, a secondary song writer. Why was his playing so different? He essentially created a more pronounced, aggressive sound (some have coined it a “lead sound”) to help bring the instrument to the forefront not only in sound, but its ‘place’ as an instrument in a band. Bass greats such as Steve Harris, Les Claypool, Billy Sheehan, and Geddy Lee all give credence to this man and musician.

As for as his nickname, “Thunderfingers”, some digging had to be accomplished to get a somewhat plausible answer. While I don’t care to quote from Wikipedia, I’m going to bend my standards somewhat this time. This explanation given seems to summarize countless other stories: “He was nicknamed "The Ox" not for his size or his tendency to stand still during shows, but because of his strong constitution -- his seeming ability to ‘eat, drink or do more than the rest of them.’ Bill Wyman, bassist for the Rolling Stones, described him as "the quietest man in private but the loudest man on stage." For much the same reason, he was often known by the nickname "Thunderfingers" by his bandmates and Who fans” (Wikipedia.com).

“Thunderfingers: A Tribute To The Legendary John Entwistle of The Who” is essentially his last interview (before his unexpected death), intertwined with other interviews from his family, musicians, and friends. This isn’t an instructional video, but rather a well formatted collection of interviews that not only give the viewer a personal glimpse of the musician, but an overview of the person he was.

Not surprisingly, the more personal interviews include his mother, son, and lover, who share stories covering his childhood up through his death. As far as musicians interviewed, Jeff Baxter, Bill Wyman, Lemmy, and Rick Wakeman all provide personal perspectives on Entwistle. I could not help but find it rather odd that no interviews from members of The Who were included in the video. Seems to me the band members would be able to essentially round out the spectrum of personal perspectives on the man. Then again, there are likely many interviews like that out there, so perhaps the idea was to avoid redundancy. Not surprisingly, the portion of the interview where he demonstrates his playing technique is included. Entwistle also provides interviewer Gordon Giltrap insight to his guitar collection, which I’d venture to say many collectors would drool over had the entire collection been revealed.

Set up in 5.1 Surround Sound, the viewer has no problems understanding the dialogue. Extras include a longer version of the Entwistle/Giltrap interview. While overall the interview is interesting, many will note how Giltrap tends to answer his own questions that it gets slightly annoying. There’s also more footage of Entwistle’s guitar collection – a definitive plus to many.

“Thunderfingers – A Tribute to the Legendary John Entwistle of ‘The Who” is highly recommended to any fan of The Who, let alone any John Entistle fan. The more personal perspectives provide an interesting insight into the bass playing lengend’s life. This isn’t a perspective on the band, but the bass player. So if you’re searching for information about Entwistle, I recommend this DVD as a starting place.

Band:John Entwistle DVD:Thunderfingers – A Tribute to the Legendary John Entwistle of ‘The Who’ Released by:MVD Writer: Dr. J- Media: MySpace Click Album Cover To Buy Now

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