Ladi Geisler 1927-2011 RIP

[HolgerFreimutSchrick]

Ladislav "Ladi" Geisler (27 November, 1927, 19 November, 2011) was a Czech musician who established a high profile in the post-war German music scene. Best known for his work with German pop musicians Bert Kaempfert, James Last and Freddy Quinn, Geisler developed the distinctive “Knack-Bass” percussive bass sound that helped popularize the Bert Kaempfert Orchestra. He later released numerous records under his own name.

RIP Ladi

[JSngry]

The same thing was being done in Nashville (where it came to be known as"tic tac" bass) around the same time , having a guitar double the bass line for an additional "pop" to the sound. Not really sure who got there first, or that it matters, really.

I tend to enjoy a few minutes of Bert Kaempfert here and there every once in a while. The guy knew how to make a sound out of his records.

[king ubu]

Same as Sangrey here... enjoy bits of Kaempfert now and then - of course all the better if Herb Geller, Jiggs Wigham or Ferdinand Povel were involved (as on the album "Swing"). Even bought half a dozen of the reissues that have appeared 2009-2011 (seems they did all the albums again... I dimly remember reading so in an article in the Frankfurter Allgemeine at least - probably written after the final batch was out somewhen ealier this year).

[Big Beat Steve]

Sad though the triggering event is, this should see some publicity action by Bear Family Records (they've reissued a fair bit of the recordings Ladi Geisler did under his own name).

Am not familiar with his Kaempfert involvement and though I've picked up the occasional original 45 of him through the years I find it a bit hard to pin down stylistically. I'd say those who like Jörgen Ingmann and the like should find his recordings appealing too.

[king ubu]

Seems he played mostly guitar on his own recordings? Never heard any...

[JSngry]

He played guitar on Kaempfert's records too...for years I thought that sound was an electric being played with a pick, but it was actually Geisler picking a guitar, doubling the acoustic bass line.

[king ubu]

He played guitar on Kaempfert's records too...for years I thought that sound was an electric being played with a pick, but it was actually Geisler picking a guitar, doubling the acoustic bass line.

The recent reissues (2009-2011) all list him as playing bass guitar, if that's what you mean by guitar.

[JSngry]

No, I was thinking of a regular guitar (or maybe a tenor guitar) doubling an acoustic bass. but judging from this, he was indeed picking an electric bass:

So, yeah, electric bass it was, picked.

Interesting that Nashville (I've heard Owen Bradley mentioned as the instigator more than once) was looking to do the same thing, get more punch out of the bass sound on their records. The "tic tac" thing w/guitar doubling the acoustic bass would indeed lead to the picking of the electric on many later country & pop records. Nobody ever thought of picking a big upright bass, but as soon as you turn it into a guitar-like thing and add amplification, hey...

Here's a picked electric bass doubling the acoustic bass...the possibilities are endless!

Edited November 22, 2011 by JSngry

[mikeweil]

When Christopher Dell recorded his Kaempfert tribute album, he asked Geisler to participate - for a closer look at Geisler late in his career, this is indispensable.

[king ubu]

That sounds interesting, Mike! So far, all I know from Dell are a few (great) radio captures of the D.R.A. trio.

[mikeweil]

I think that album is pretty much representative for Dell and his pianist, Carsten Daerr, who recorded more tribute albums after that - but whereas Dell's CD was a fresh idea, the tribute mania soon lost its artistic sense with too many albums released.

Geisler doesn't play much on the album, his solo style ist rooted in Charlie Christian and sounds like a glimpse from the past on that album, but it's great that he approached this with an open mind.

JPC sells that CD for six bucks .....