Some Answers On Rip(p) / RE: (TV) How good a guitarist is Jimmy Rip?

["Leo Casey" <LeoCasey@comcast.net>]

Verlaine found Rip/Ripp about a month before the Dreamtime tour, after
auditioning many guitarists. Ripp was one of the guitarists in Kid Creole
And The Coconuts for at least two albums.  He has played on Mick Jagger'[s
solo records, and a record paying homage to Jerry Lee Lewis. He been a
producer of other artists' records as well as a long-time studio session
man.
See this link for more details:  
http://allmusic.com/artist/jimmy-rip-p146271/credits

However, because of confusion over his name Rip versus Ripp, the above link
does not list his contributions prior to 1985 nor to the Verlaine albums
Words From The Front, Cover, Flash Light, nor The Wonder.

He has at least one solo record, 1996's Way Past Blue: 
http://allmusic.com/album/way-past-blue-r233028   Has anyone ever heard it?
(Unfortunately, the link does not give any samples.)  You can find the cd on
e-bay for as little as $1; I just bought a copy.

>From the MM Mailing List Archives:
To: tv@obbard.com 
Subject: (TV) Jimmy Rip 
From: secretX@webtv.net 
Date: Tue, 25 Apr 2000 17:30:48 -0700 (PDT) 
Reply-to: tv@obbard.com 
Sender: tv-owner@obbard.com 

Jimmy Rip was born in Brooklyn and considers himself a New Yorker because
all his friends are in New York except for a few people like LA producers
and guitar technicians Pierre de Beauport and Dave Rouze.  Jimmy doesn't
much like LA but he occasionally goes to LA and San Francisco to work on
projects.  He prefers to live in NYC and work with Tom.  His blues album Way
Past Blue was recorded in LA and in the Rolling Stones Mobile Unit Two when
it was parked near Jagger's place in  Switzerland. On Tom's early solo
albums he was Ripp.  He is now known as Rip because of a typo made by Mick
Jagger when writing out song writing credits, kind of like Keith Richards
being re-named Keith Richard by an early manager.  Rip contributed a lot to
Jagger's Wandering Spirit, which was recorded in LA where Jagger is probably
planning to record his next solo album, which would take Rip from Verlaine
for awhile. [End of Ms SecretX first e-mail quote]


To: tv@obbard.com 
Subject: (TV) Wandering Spirit 
From: secretX@webtv.net 
Date: Fri, 13 Apr 2001 14:10:25 -0700 (PDT) 
Reply-to: tv@obbard.com 
Sender: tv-owner@obbard.com 

It shouldn't boggle the mind that Jagger's solo record "Wandering Spirit" is
great. Jimmy Rip did most of the arrangements, co-wrote some of the songs,
chose the musicians, and played most of the guitar. Jimmy had been working
with Verlaine for over ten years and he brought what he'd learned from Tom
to Jagger's record. (Not that Jimmy wasn't talented to begin with.) [End of
Ms SecretX second e-mail quote]


I saw him play with Verlaine about 15 times on Verlaine's solo tours in
1981-82, 1984, and 1987 as well as one of the 'Music For Film' shows in
Boston.  He played lead on several of the songs (e.g., the outro-lead on
'Mr. Blur' and sometimes on 'Always'.  The guitarists on the MM Mailing List
can give their own evaluations of his technical prowess (and hopefully if
they are in the pro-Lloyd anti-Verlaine camp they will try to be objective).


Based on my  attendance at the above shows as well as a multitude of
unofficial live recordings of Verlaine's Solo Tours, I  would rate Rip as a
guitarist as an 8 out of 10 (but I'm a 'hard' grader.)   I would agree
there's more to his playing than competence.

He is given co-writing credit for Verlaine's 1984 masterpiece 'Five Miles Of
You' [the complete, uncut 5:36 version {see The Miller's Tale cd-2 studio
stuff. On the Cover cd, the song is truncated at only 4:19, probably as a
result of a mistake during the cd mastering process (so 1:17 of solo and
fadeout has been chopped off). 

I will report back when Rip's solo album arrives.

Leo

PS:  Regarding:  " If that song ['Persia'] are[sic] to be included on a 4th
record, will Lloyd be credited as a co-writer?"
Yes.

"Will he be denied it?"
No.

"Will Lloyd, proud as he may be, deny to be in any way associated with a 4th
record?"
Who knows.

-----Original Message-----
From: tv-owner@obbard.com [mailto:tv-owner@obbard.com] On Behalf Of leif
joley
Sent: Saturday, July 23, 2011 9:54 AM
To: tv@obbard.com
Subject: (TV) How good a guitarist is Jimmy Rip?

This was an interesting little analysis. What do we know about the abilities
of Jimmy Rip (or "Ribb")? Is anyone familiar with his assignments outside
the
Television/TV circle?

Doesn't it raise some questions, if there will be more touring and possibly
a new record?

- Is Rip merely a good session player and an imitator of any style, which
could mean a "hack musician"?

- Or does he have his own idiosyncrasies in playing? Could we expect an
addition of... something else than a Lloyd input? Not necessarily anything
better -- but different?

- Judging from the often excellent guitar-work he's done with Verlaine
(especially, in my opinion, on "Flash Light" and "Music For Films"), there's
more to his playing than just competence. Do we really expect Tom Verlaine
to
just be happy with a "competent" co-player? Or, for that matter, Smith and
Ficca? Or do we expect these two adult men to not have a say at all,
regarding
Television's future?

- Since the reunion LP credited all members for the music -- could we assume
the same if a new record will be released? Does Rip have any known composing
skills? For instance -- to me, a song like "Persia" seems to have been
created
during group rehearsals. They still play it, and it emerged long before Rip
joined. If that song are to be included on a 4th record, will Lloyd be
credited as a co-writer? Will he be denied it? Will Lloyd, proud as he may
be,
deny to be in any way associated with a 4th record?

Leif J, Sweden



>
> >
> > The interview shows a more purposefulness in the band. The last item
showing them playing LJJ reveals new subtleties in a new arrangement.
Rip playing new rifs and adding atmospheric slide guitar. Rip can
imitate any guitarist he wants and it seems that he can play some
"Verlainisms" even better than Tom. We've been down this road before -
but maybe just maybe a new records might be in the offing.
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