Tony Levin Band: "Elephant Talk"

[RuroiniStenchin]

the Bryan Cranston of bass.

[celiotintori]

adorei vem pro brazil tony levin obrigado man

[Mustang5Speed]

I want a chapman stick so bad but the cost......DAMN!

[mikio158cm]

素晴らしい。

[DustinShaneYounce]

chapstick man

[nhonho23]

@DustinShaneYounce

manstick chap

[t3ihara]

これは五反田簡易保険ホールで観たのが懐かしい。１５年くらい前­ですな。

[manggold]

My idea of a super group: Tony Levin, Steve Stevens, Terry Bozio and Nina Hagen. Now bring on the thumbs down. I know there are many who probably thinks they know a guitarist who'd be a better fit than Steve Stevens, but I like him. Nina is still great, but she was better before she got "saved".

[SmashCombo]

@manggold Good Idea !

[wooloughby]

@manggold Did you hear the Black Light Syndrome album by Tony Levin, Steve Stevens & Terry Bozio?

[G8tr1522]

I seriously believe Elephant Talk has the best bass line in all songs ever

[moonofre]

Bill is by far the greatest, he is really hard to immitate

[revtkatt]

Levin + stick = music of the gods.

[Sim2428]

Come take a look a tour band : type Overhead-muz on myspace. Thanks !

[grantorinoProg]

Visit our channel: grantorinoProg!

[minwav]

I don't know...feels a little stiff and cerebral.  This band probably has mostly guys in the audience who wish they were in the band...doesn't speak to the feminine within both men and women...only speaks to the analytical hemisphere. Great mustache though.

[Drewb18c1]

god i cant begin to imagine how much fun this would be to perform

[MrZirip]

41 people doesn´t like bass

[beeflin]

Good version!

[BigVomit07]

Grandissimo Tony Levin!!!

[pasta2018]

amazing play of STICK, Tony!

[ghitaciprian]

nice aschilambic rithm !!!! converge stuff ;););) real niiiiiiiiiiceeeeeeeeeeeeeeee

[marcandre0011]

Damn thats pure jam :O 

[pazzensutra]

Whoa! Thank you for posting! Never thought I'd see the day where Tony's singing E.T. with the Stick in his own band, wow. ......Are they even making the Stick anymore? I remember back in the early eighties there was a time when they weren't selling.

[chaplan76]

God damn french fur trappers are now invading our stages playing weird prog rock! ARG!

[kylemctreehugger1991]

@chaplan76 That's hilarious.

[dharmaseed]

Tony Levin puts the 'rhythm' in rhythm section!

[bongmail]

the guitarist looks like Steven Wilson lol

[G8tr1522]

@bongmail lololol thats what i thought

[ePhilosopher9]

'tis all talk... into 2010` the pachyderm spouteth on like the drunken trunk of all mastadon of the goopy party and the la brea tarpits and doldrums of what music used to smell like.

[blueogre75]

pure badass

[OfficialChannelOfHi]

@jeffbeckgeek1 Don't even troll him. That child isn't worthy of the attention.

[RobertELee01]

You can tell Levin's having fun.

[melechular]

this makes me happy...

[Drumfusions]

oooh zappa style!

[MrZapperific]

LONG LIVE KRIMSON

[4578a]

It's not even the same thing but still in the same vein. King Crimson didn't write "Jerry was a race car driver" Primus did.

[Proyectwilhelm]

porkeria y stick

[blkhoodyrecordzUIS]

this song remind me of primus-jerry was a race car driver

[Shinsen88]

@blkhoodyrecordzUIS

Les said that he wrote "Jerry Was a Racecar Driver" while he was messing around playing this song on his six-string.

[Rumblestickskin]

My EVIL TWIN.....

[euphoricanomaly]

It's a shame Primus had to rip off this wonderful riff. Of course it's not exact, but I can hear where he pulled the influence from.

[jendriss]

It remember me " jerry was a race car driver - primus " :S

[prilitominvi]

i prefer Guillermo Cides...................watch him on you tube too, playing stick

[prilitominvi]

i prefer Guillermo Cides .........watch him on you tube too

[aggguy666]

haha this song sounds a little bit like primus i love levin

[Satch6strings]

wherever

the point is he's amazing

[Bf109D]

and hes a good singer too - in fact i think maybe the bass playing is taking him away from his "real" talent --- lead vocals

:\

[paulwall1981]

What a truly amazing bass player Levin is. The champman stick is his main tool and he uses it with breathtaking skill. Of coruse he plays a trad bass guitar as well,but he seems to use the Champman stick with a lot more enegry. Levin is a bass king. Blinding stuff.

[Satch6strings]

if you don't know the chapman stick you're an ignorant

[NicolasCaes]

I'm sure there was a time you were not familiar with the chapman stick. Don't judge so fast.

[llevitron]

OBVIOUSLY.... but "an" ignorant? No.

[IvAnS010395]

king crimson exelente banda!!!!

[JordannaEmily]

you know that audience is 100% dudes

[Omegado]

Yeah, who gives a shit?

[zsobrak]

wht is the name of tha istruemnet

[barval]

Chapman Stick

[VanishingDigital]

chapman stick

[gianfri54]

the name is Chapman Stick, see on wikipedia

[FlametopFred]

great song, Tony Levin is amazing. What this video needs though, is the Shreds treatment . . .

[joancaro]

Elephant talk whit a small funky feeling, i like it

[rorshakks]

incredible version

[42francois]

very good

[lumpfish99]

it sounds like shit....

[HaydenFromHell]

YOU SOUND LIKE SHIT hahaha but seriously, don't talk shit about Tony Levin.

[HamburgerTrain]

Chapman stick is amazing

[theo9952]

and great band too !

[theo9952]

long live the emperor of the low end !

[totu60]

WHO IS DRUMMER?

[tring920]

The drummer is Jerry Marotta. He's played with Orleans, Ten Thousand Maniacs, Elvis Costello, Peter Gabriel, Indigo Girls, John Mayer and many others.

[tring920]

There may be only one Bruford, But there is only one Jerry Marotta. Who has recorded over 175 albums. You've heard him so often you don't even know it. Really nice guy too.

[viewtyjoe]

That intro riff never fails to make me smile, and hearing Levin singing the song is great.

[theo9952]

yeah, it's a great version as good as the one played by the king crimson.  and fripp's part played by the keyboard player sounds fabulous too.

WHOOPS ! have i just commited sacrilage ?

[thezappa73]

o kurwa!!!!!!!!!I love this song!!!!!!!!!!I love when adrian singing but this....we porimus we suck!!!!!

[VenusGrnys]

Love that Jesse Gress is on guitar with Tony. Jesse is one of the best guitar players around. Also plays alot in Todd Rundgren's band too.

[artliquide]

I was lucky to see him play with his band in a tiny bar in town years ago. I met him after the show, and he was the most humble and nice famous virtuoso musician I've met.

[vzsozs]

Holy shit that Fender Strat just rocks.... !

[GuitarGare]

Henry Mancini at 3:56! good call w/ Baby Elephant walk!

hehe

[JoeDeMaio917]

Who is the gtr player?? He nails the Belew vibe to a "T"... Great guitar playing !!! Tony Levin is a genius.

[AREA42WRAPS]

great, great, great

[HenryWinehard]

Talking heads meet Les Claypool !

[TheBrassHole]

You mean Talking Heads and Les Claypool try to meet Tony...

[HenryWinehard]

Precisely!

[JacoDeLucia]

When I saw Primus many years ago, Les Claypool introduced "Jerry Was a Race Car Driver" with the following statement: "This is a ripoff off King Crimson..." True story.

[mrpeanut25]

Man thats craaayyyzaayyyy.

[HenryWinehard]

I believe you my friend!! Just had an argument with a gal that said" Le never stole anything from anyone" I said " I could name about 10 songs from artists such as Crimson and The Residents" but he's still golden.

[HenryWinehard]

This probably where he got his Southbound pachyderm idea as well !!

[chucku00]

I just discovered this track and I only can say that the intro sounds really familiar...

[deadkittens666]

geez.. thanks for keeping us informed...

[Naminator99]

probably sounds to you like John The FIsherman from Primus.

[chucku00]

right !

[ChavDeathBringer]

krishotsaucemiller has some mental issues. He/she failed to connect with this music and wants to make a scene about it. I only looked this up 'cause I saw Tony Levin in LTE and thought he was a great musician. Listening to his music and has been an enjoyable break from my usual diet of Dream Theater and such.

[irpacynot]

Awesome tune; awesome rendition. But as amazing as the guitarist is, he doesn't really have his own voice. Had I closed my eyes, I would've thought it was Steve Vai playing.

[Cooleemee43]

irpacynot The guitar parts are spot on if you listen to the original studio recording. I see only one guitarist so I am guessing he is playing the pivitol parts of both Adrian B. and Robert F. at the same time.

[TCStateProjectionboy]

Those in the house such as the one I am replying to,"irpacynot" should learn what they are in total ignorance about before they open their ignorant mouths. Maybe one should open their ears while they close their eyes and things may become more clear. MORON!!!

[irpacynot]

Man, you must have a tough time getting through each day if you get that bent out of shape over someone's opinion about guitar playing.

In any case, after over 30 years of playing guitar myself, studying music performance in college and paying many of my own dues, I'm confident in my opinion. I don't claim it to be fact, but that's what I think, regardless of your petty need to lash out over the Internet.

Peace

[TCStateProjectionboy]

I have a hard time with posers pointing fingers at talented people, pretending to know what they are talking about. Steve Vai? You're criticizing a guy because he "sounds too much like Steve Vai, not himself?" Let's compare him to the ONE guy, who has so much technique in his backpack that he can sound like anyone on the planet, and a few that aren't on this planet. 30 years of being a hack sure hasn't helped your ears much. Stop clicking on YouTube and return to the Shed with your Squire.

[paisleywindsorontari]

wow...so angry.

[deathtooth]

Ignorant & transparently pretentious.

You could at least learn to write a coherent paragraph, free of pompous bombast. But you merely want to spew insults and invective in a pitiful attempt get a rise out of everyone.

In your sadly circumscribed vision, those fail to ape your views are merely objects of contempt, worthy of your immature ridicule. Someday you may learn to dissent with civility. But it is more likely that you will never grow up. Go and buy a jar of Peter Pan.

[mxmontiel]

wow that was a bad trip

[blackethenn]

annoying? your post is the one annoying.

[natruto]

yeah it sounds different.. perhaps psycadelic. but their is meaning to the song.. and i think its kinda brilliant.. even if it sounds different.

[xaviermoyssen]

Dude Fuck off, go listen to fucking fall out boy! why don't you go tell your mom te suck those red balls of yours? oh sorry i forgot you were castrated. ;(

[worldclasssleepers]

great stuff- check out youtube for some laid back Tony playing on to Ben Brouusard's

Tip of My Tongue

[frankdiddly]

I saw him with Bruford in ABWH '89 tour at the Philadelphia Spectrum. It was a fanastic show!

[Teezvid]

great recording for a club setting. They really make it happen. I saw Adrian at a small blues club few years back, paid five bucks, the place was packed. I'd just melt if I ever saw Tony that close.

[vockvock]

Wolfgang Vock

[connberkshire]

OK, where's Adrian Belew?

[meyers5150]

This is totally where Les got (stole?) the riff 4 "Jerry was a race car driver"!

[C5bro13]

ALot of Les' work is influenced by King Crimson. In fact, in alot of his solo projects, he does several King Crimson and Pink Floyd covers that are really good

[rodexrock18]

tony levin,thanks for be a master

[betoferniot]

you just got to hear guillermo cides with his stick, is the best. greate post, cheers

[xaviermoyssen]

Damn I hear Thrash Metal, Black Metal, Death Metal but this song just ROCKS!!!! it's fucking awesome

[tavotrooper]

hahaha yeah youre right!!! me

[krishotsaucemiller]

Does this piss anybody else off?? This shit sucks!!!!

[MomoTheBellyDancer]

Tony Levin rocks. I am not so sure what the heck the drummer is doing, though.

[xaviermoyssen]

dude go tohell

[krishotsaucemiller]

Oh, okay I've finally figured it out! These fucks make a living off of exploiting dissonance within the Western tonal system. They can influence scoundrels like you because none of you have common sense when it comes to melodic or even harmonic gravity. It sounds brainy, but its really not. To prove my point, I'll bet none of you can hum a tune from any one of this jackass's songs. There's a reason this crap is underground where shit flows. Im not a Falloutboy fan nor am I a pop fanatic -- cont

[krishotsaucemiller]

-- I am a lover of good music!! From working at Electric Lady Studios to playing on stage at the Grand Old Opery, I've seen, heard, & worked with thousands of amazing musicians. Levine & his ho's ARE NOT! Yes it might take time to write a dissonant piece of shit, but that's exactly what it is! A PIECE OF SHIT! I confidently state this due to the fact that nobody worth anything musically regards this as "good music". World music is a joke. You know it instinctively, but you hold on to the - cont

[krishotsaucemiller]

-- notion that "something different" & "out there" or "technically hard to play" must held higher than the latest Brittany Spears single. Well, even though I am not a Spears fan, I do regard her staff as top notch A+ creative professionals; this includes her SONGWRITERS! You can learn more about technically difficult music from people like Chopin & Liszt or you can solidify a common tonal ground from people like Ryan Adams, but to have Tony Levine as your mascot for good music is a serious goof-

[krishotsaucemiller]

So ultimately I hope you come back to the real world; where people connect musically with one another, not by some atonal free form mathematical piece of shit genre, but by digging into something that has a soul, something where melody precedes technicality & where harmonies role is to make sense, not confusion,! Its people like you who thrive on obscurity & shallow riffs of mindless trti-tones that have no resolution who are killing the industry!! So get real & stop posing for this shit!! FUCK!

[Eldalie]

Try to remember one of your top notch songs a year after it's peaked! You won't remember it because it said nothing and sounded too much like everything else. What is wrong with people trying to make new, hitherto unheard of, songs? And Tony Levin is definitely viewed as great by the majority of people who know music!

[LBjim]

I meet Tony a couple years ago in LA. He is such a class guy and anextremely talented musician.Great post...

[XSymphony]

certain music, is for a certain age

[Poonard]

i would love to hear Les Claypool play with this.

[lmw289]

Holy shit! Les Claypool on a stick? I'd love to hear that, too! I don't know if he knows how to play one, but if he does, I'd LOVE to hear it! If he can play a 6 string fretless the way he does, I'm sure he can play a stick. It probably wouldn't be that much of a challenge to him. Les Claypool rocks!

[GenericInsect1979]

Tony sings this better than I thought he would

[lmw289]

I don't give a flying rat's ass what ANYBODY says! Tony Levin is THE BEST stick player that ever lived! Don't believe me? Emmet Chapman himself even admitted, "I invented the stick, but Tony Levin perfected how to play it!" That's not word for word, but research it. NOBODY can play a stick better than Tony Levin!!!!!!!!!!! There are excellent stick players out there, and I will NEVER take that away from them. Tony's the best! Period!

[upshaw26]

you are so off . Have you ever seen Greg Howard, Bob Culbertson, Rob Martino, or Larry Tuttle. Tony Levin is not even close. He can't play simultaneous bass and melody parts. Case Closed.

[lmw289]

OK. I guess what I MEANT to say is Tony Levin is the best stick player for King Crimson. But that's just my opinion. Trey Gunn is awesome, too. And,no, I've never played a stick (yet) or ever heard of the guys you listed, but you know what? You just gave me more fuel for interest in stick players and I genuinely thank you for that, sir! I look forward to looking them up!

[jninja12]

HOLY CRAP!! those were some mad cool sounds i was freakin amazed!!!

[SVSilent]

this tony levin really sucks comparing to other chapman players

[pixiesmachine]

You can go to hell. Levin is a Bass (and Chapman) God.

[gibbs75]

i'm a stick player and i know many other player.. tony is a great composer but watch bob culberson or greg howard for sessio of tecnique and playability :-/

[gibbs75]

tony is a great groover!! not much tecnique like other stick player but a great composer!!

[lmw289]

WHAT?!?!?!?!?!! I see MORE technique in Levin's playing than ANYONE that plays a stick!!!!! LOOK through You Tube again. Sure, there are AWESOME stick players, but NOONE has the techniques like Levin! NOONE!

[upshaw26]

you have no clue, once again. Tony only plays bass parts on Stick. Have you ever played a Stick. Bass parts are simple. You need to watch Culbertson, Howard, Adelson and about 100 others. Levin even has said that. You must be Tony's cousin.

[boychris]

sick take on the ryth

[sentadaconaudifonos]

lindo él!!!

[stethoscanomaly]

absolutely gnarly

[ironwolg]

this is weird

but in a good way

[RAPCAT60]

Les Claypool probably heard this when he made "Jerry Was A Racecar Driver"

[sodamy]

Spot on :D He said he was trying to learn this when he made up the riff.

[youtert]

Where did he say that?

[sodamy]

I'm not exactly sure, I remember seeing it in an interview with him, when I was obsessed with Primus.

[senorbellaco]

Sounds like Adrian with the vocals,lol.

[guillll]

This guy is mad. He's a freakin' genius.

[5h1n10]

he's a monster bassist

and he's got the moves!!

[robbymadore]

anyone know how much a chapman stick costs? they look like a lot of fun to mess around with.

[beaverteeth92]

They're $2500, but Krappy Guitars can make you a cheap one for $750.

[Elyodachido]

Anyone gonna be in Los Angeles on Saturday, December 20th, 2008? You gotta go check-out the King Crimson tribute show by The Great Deceivers @ club SPACELAND!!!!!!!!!

[hailmetal16]

That bass line is cosmic.

[justinisboss]

what is that instrument the bald guy is playing? Chapman stick right?

[wuckle]

lol - The Bald Guy - What was your search criteria to end up watching this video LOL

[justinisboss]

it was under related videos, i was listening to frame by frame. LOl yea I get it now Tony Levin, I don't really know king crimson well enough to be able to name their members, although I do greatly enjoy their music.

[Ploookon]

That bald guy happens to be one of the greatest bass guitarists of all time.

[alanmorri]

We all started somewhere I guess! Myself I've been a levin Fan for decades. The man has done everything and excelled beyond measure. Love the stuff he has done with Gabriel, California Guitar Trio and King Crimson the best. The Union stuff was shortlived but worthy. Black Light Syndrome...gosh...the list goes on forever man!!!

[Mozzer75]

don't forget to mention liquid tension experiment!

[DeadMartha]

Where's the live version performed on Fridays gone? Have YouTube deleted it AGAIN? It is waay better than any other version around (including the studio version).Somebody put it back up please.

[Pilatocus28]

Tony Levin = one of the best and most underrated bassists of all time.

[jackrkilby]

Tony you rock! You are the only person that does not look like a complete dork when playing the stick.

[kebbs]

Tony is a decent singer!!

[jafadrummer]

love the drum groove from 1.02 to 1.19 !!

[vantorias]

don't mess with tony levin lol

[Zildjian232]

this nigga got a job and can now afford grape kool-aid and fried chicken...........im sorry, i was messing with the audio preview thing, which is very nifty

unfortunatley tony levin already shoves it up his "arse" and still plays music

[RexNunc]

the drummer is messin it all up.

all gurbled and stuff

[jafadrummer]

The drummer is very good! what are you on about? Do you think Tony Levin would just hire some jackass off the street to play in his band?? He's OBVIOUSLY a very good drummer

[RexNunc]

He might be a good drummer, but his take on this song isn't good.

[LyncusBee]

ever heard of under-staging...aka taking a back seat... ever tried to drum along to this song?