{"id":415,"date":"2011-08-18T16:02:23","date_gmt":"2011-08-18T15:02:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.brucethomas.co.uk\/?p=415"},"modified":"2014-09-27T13:23:29","modified_gmt":"2014-09-27T12:23:29","slug":"now-thats-what-i-call-bass","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.brucethomas.co.uk\/?p=415","title":{"rendered":"Now That’s What I Call Bass!"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Here\u2019s a page to dip into \u2014 a selection of great bass lines spanning almost fifty years of popular music \u2014 with clips to view of them captured on record, video or in early performance.\u00a0 Though many of them are \u2018old\u2019 they\u2019re still relevant and\u00a0well worth watching.\u00a0 All of them had some influence on me.<\/p>\n

But not only have they influenced me \u2014 and that\u2019s why I begin with\u00a0Evelyn King \/ \u2018Shame\u2019<\/a>\u00a0from 1978.\u00a0 Then hear how it was deconstructed to create the 1999 UK Garage hit Artful Dodger \/ \u2018Moving Too Fast\u2019<\/a>\u00a0 Check out these first two clips back-to-back and hear if you agree \u2026
\n
\nA good riff can carry an entire song.\u00a0 Max Graham \/ \u2018Owner Of\u00a0A Lonely Heart\u2019<\/a> loops a couple of bars of a Chris Squire bass part, adds a new rhythm track and a cute video \u2014 and hey presto!<\/p>\n

It\u2019s really the low ARP-synth part on\u00a0Stevie Wonder \/ \u2018I Wish\u2019<\/a> that\u2019s being doubled on the bass, but Nathan Watts makes a fantastic job of it.\u00a0 It was only when I heard\u00a0this track again recently that I realized where I got the idea for my ascending bassline on \u2018Lipstick Vogue\u2019.<\/p>\n

DJ Fresh \/ \u2018Louder\u2019<\/a>\u00a0 No bass guitar here either, but a killer dubstep synth-bass line that shows how to drive a track forward, creating and releasing tension by changing \u2018early\u2019 or \u2018late\u2019.<\/p>\n

Just one more synth bass part\u2026\u00a0 Again the \u2018bass\u2019 line is played on an ARP; the dampened picked \u2018guitar\u2019 is actually being played high on the bass neck by Paul Jackson; and the \u2018guitar chords\u2019 are a clavinet through a wah-wah.\u00a0 Hence the name of\u00a0Herbie Hancock \/ <\/em>\u2018Chameleon\u2019<\/a> where instruments are disguised as something else.\u00a0 <\/em>The track gets really interesting at about 4\u201930\u201d and at 7\u201930\u201d<\/p>\n

Jamaaladeen Tacuma \/ \u2018Rhythm Box\u2019<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0<\/em>There\u2019s always room for a bit more jazz-funk and this is a beauty.\u00a0 A Steinberger bass never sounded so good.<\/p>\n

This video of French band\u00a0Air \/ \u2018La Femme d\u2019Argent\u2019<\/a> has a good shot of the bass guitar work at about 3\u201910\u201d \u2014 a vintage Hofner hollow-bodied bass, with what sounds like tapewound strings played with a pick, and with lots of compression being used.\u00a0 A great chill-out track.<\/p>\n

Radiohead \/ \u2018No Surprises\u2019<\/a> \u00a0<\/em>Colin Greenwood plays a delicately-poised and flawless part with the harmonies and the rooted notes in exactly the right places.<\/p>\n

The Breeders \/ \u2018Cannonball\u2019<\/a>\u00a0<\/em>\u2014 <\/em>a s<\/em>imple sliding bass line, simple guitar figure, what more do you need?<\/p>\n

Just as Stax in Memphis and Motown in Detroit had their regular backing bands so, in New Orleans, it was the Meters.\u00a0 George Porter\u2019s bass line on Lee Dorsey \/ \u2018Working In\u00a0A Coalmine\u2019<\/a> is the backbone of the entire song.\u00a0 On\u00a0\u201899.9\u00b0F\u2019 \/ Suzanne Vega<\/a> I used the same approach.<\/p>\n

The (Detroit) Spinners \/ \u2018The Rubberband Man\u2019<\/a> demonstrates that once you can make 8-notes to a bar groove, then you know most of what you need to know about playing the bass guitar.<\/p>\n

Pink \/ \u2018Get This Party Started\u2019<\/a> <\/em>is as solid a groove as you\u2019ll hear anywhere.\u00a0 This is almost certainly a programmed bass or at least a quantized one.\u00a0 If not, then this is the most in-time bass playing you\u2019ll find a month of Sundays.\u00a0 A great track to play along to.<\/p>\n

Margie Joseph \/ \u2018How Do You Spell Love\u2019<\/a> <\/em>is the stand-out track from her 1973 album featuring Chuck Rainey on bass, alternating funky riffs with lead fills.\u00a0 I definitely modelled my bass line to ‘Strict Time’ on this.<\/p>\n

And here\u2019s a few classics to finish with \u2026<\/em><\/p>\n

Marvin Gaye \/ \u2018Ain\u2019t That Peculiar\u2019<\/a>\u00a0 This is only one of dozens of tracks that could be chosen featuring James Jamerson on bass. \u00a0This particular one is as much about playing spaces as playing notes.\u00a0 Where Jamerson doesn\u2019t<\/em> play, and the movement this creates, is what makes the track sparkle.\u00a0 You could list the fifty best Jamerson tracks and scratch only a fraction of his work. Jamerson plays with a style and panache that was a bold departure from anything ever heard at that time, or since, and he is arguably the greatest bass guitarist ever. He played on more #1 hit records than any other bass player \u2026 but died brokenhearted, neither adequately compensated nor recognized for his towering contribution to popular music and to the art of bass playing.<\/p>\n

The Beatles \/ \u2018Rain\u2019<\/a>\u00a0 As with James Jamerson, you\u2019d also have a problem listing the best fifty Paul McCartney bass lines.\u00a0 But ‘Rain’ is a classic, with variations of this totally original approach also to be found on ‘The Word’ and ‘Taxman’. <\/em>\u00a0The rich round bass sound is helped by the fact that the track was slowed down to a better key for John Lennon\u2019s voice.\u00a0 If James Jamerson is the master of syncopation, then Paul McCartney is the master of melody.<\/p>\n

Abba \/ \u2018Mamma Mia\u2019<\/a>\u00a0 A great pop bass line with bouncy eighth-notes, slides, octaves, pushed notes \u2026they\u2019re all here.\u00a0 This live clip even features a rare shot of Abba\u2019s bass man, Rutger Gunnarson.<\/p>\n

Fleetwood Mac \/ \u2018Go Your Own Way\u2019<\/a>\u00a0 John McVie plays a wonderful counter melody in the choruses, almost another song in itself, shifting where the notes land to lift the track to another level and make it a timeless classic.<\/p>\n

The Who \/ \u2018Won’t Get Fooled Again<\/a>\u2019<\/span><\/span>\u00a0 In this clip the entire bass part is isolated , so you can hear every note,\u00a0nuance and\u00a0embellishment from the magnificent Mr Entwistle.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Here\u2019s a page to dip into \u2014 a selection of great bass lines spanning almost fifty years of popular music \u2014 with clips to view of them captured on record, video or in early performance.\u00a0 Though many of them are \u2018old\u2019 they\u2019re still relevant and\u00a0well worth watching.\u00a0 All of them had some influence on me. But not only have they influenced me \u2014 and that\u2019s why I begin with\u00a0Evelyn King \/ \u2018Shame\u2019\u00a0from 1978.\u00a0 Then hear how it was deconstructed to … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[14],"tags":[20,26,19,23],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.brucethomas.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/415"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.brucethomas.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.brucethomas.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.brucethomas.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.brucethomas.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=415"}],"version-history":[{"count":42,"href":"https:\/\/www.brucethomas.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/415\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2300,"href":"https:\/\/www.brucethomas.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/415\/revisions\/2300"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.brucethomas.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=415"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.brucethomas.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=415"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.brucethomas.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=415"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}