Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Down to Business
ROBERT CAMPBELL
The next stage of the Dee Dee Ramone Group started when Dee Dee got a bass
player to play with us. His name was John Carco. He had been with this band
called D Generation. 78 They were getting ready to put out their first album. So he
came in and joined us. At first, when it was just Dee Dee and me, it was fun. But
as soon as we got John Carco, it got to be work.
Once, when we were rehearsing, John Carco asked Dee Dee, “How does this
song begin?” He was asking what key to begin the song in.
Dee Dee looked at him flatly and said, “One two three four.” It was a pretty
low blow.
I think the tendency of most guitarists trying to play like the Ramones is to
put fat strings on, and beat the hell out of your guitar. But Dee Dee told me that
JohnnyRamonefoundhecouldplaythefastestandwithbettertonebyusinglight
strings and picking as lightly as possible. Face it, he had four Marshall stacks, so
he didn't need to beat the hell out of his guitar. Dee Dee said that he and Johnny
would try and see who could pick the fastest and the lightest.
One thing I couldn't understand about Dee Dee was why he couldn't or
wouldn't play fast for us. We were, after all, The Dee Dee Ramone Group. I re-
member one time we were playing too fast to suit Dee Dee. He threw one of his
many temper tantrums and yelled at us, “I can play faster than any of you fuck-
ers so don't try to get playing fast 'cause I can shut you fuckers down. I invented
fast.”
When we played “I Just Wanna Make Love to You,” which of course is not a
punk song, we made it even more minimalist than three chords. We used a classic
Dee Dee one chord arrangement. If there is one thing I learned from Dee Dee, it
was how to play a whole song with just one chord. On the rehearsal tape, at the
end of this one-chord song, you can hear Dee Dee say, “That was a nice structure!
What do you think?”
But notlongafter JohnCarco joined the band,Carco suddenly announced that
he had gotten us a gig. In five or six weeks' time.
I was not into it at all. We just weren't ready. I would have been satisfied not
playing any shows. I knew that all of New York would come to see Dee Dee play,
and I couldn't stand the thought of it. We just weren't good enough yet.
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