The Last Bass Outpost
Main Forums => The Outpost Cafe => Topic started by: ack1961 on February 11, 2011, 07:32:33 AM
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I was thinking last night about the bassists/groups that got me hooked on bass.
I'm almost 50, and I grew up listening to some great bassists in Rock groups: Entwistle, Squire, Glover, Thain, etc.
I've always enjoyed the bass parts in rock music and thought I was capable of picking the bass parts out pretty easily. (after I picked up the bass 3 years ago, I found out that I was wrong).
I have always been a rock guy and I give most other music a big pass.
Over the years (and as music changed a bit), there were some others that came along and made me want to play: Graham Maby's work with Joe Jackson has stuck with me since I first heard it back in the '70's. He's a killer. Guys like Norman Watt Roy, John Wetton, Leland Sklar, Tony Stevens, Guy Pratt and others had done work that I really like (personally, I can listen to Pratt's work on PF's "Pulse" all day long). The music that Mike Mills & Billy Gould play are night/day, but I never get tired of hearing them play the bass.
But, I was thinking "what's THE ONE bass song...." my favorite?
I thought about it: it's "Last Chance on the Stairway" by Duran Duran. (nope, I'm straight - I checked this morning).
I own Rio, but that's it - I don't really like their music all that much, but John Taylor is a pretty wicked bass player.
This has been on my mind...It'll probably change the next time I listen to Colin Edwin play that Bongo.
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I think John Taylor is great. There are a lot of subtleties in his playing, like the way he very slightly changes the bass part from one verse to the next.
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i have always viewed rock bassparts as very changable throughout the song, as long as you keep it in the ballpark and fits what you are playing.
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John Taylor is actually pretty good but i could never take Duran Duran very seriously... I try and forget the 80's pop coming out of England and US to lesser degree.... Flock of hairspray and keyboard bass parts :puke:
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Thinking back, if there's a bass line that I still love, it's probably a toss-up between these two:
Led Zep's Lemon Song
James Gang's Funk #49
Both grabbed me the first time I heard them.
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In classic rock, especially in the 60's & early 70's, the bass really had a lot more freedom to be more than "just following the guitarist or kick drum". Most Live albums sounded completely different from the recorded version, which was great (Who Live at Leeds).
These young whippersnappers today- get off my lawn!
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Anybody who doesn't rate John Taylor highly as a bass player must be deaf. Even George (Carlston) likes him.
There's too many to name, but this is a favorite of mine:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r80w8PIJ7QM
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Simple yet effective and of course always keeping the groove down.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=odLL_s3UJgs&feature=related (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=odLL_s3UJgs&feature=related)
Just check out the way Andy takes over the guitar-part in the last part of Paul's solo ........ need I say more ?
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Anybody who doesn't rate John Taylor highly as a bass player must be deaf. Even George (Carlston) likes him.
;D
I discovered JT after enjoying my first glimpse of the Girls on Film video. Between the first album and Rio I thought he and Andy Taylor were brilliant. I used to practice by playing along to different records and I still remember the challenge of going from Iron Maiden's Killers album to playing to the first two Duran Duran albums. Right hand speed was needed for the Steve Harris parts (and I did have to work at them), but it took a lot more dexterity and knowledge of my fretboard to get those John Taylor parts down. I liked that his parts never seemed perfunctory to me. They really added to the songs. DD hasn't aged as well for me as I expected but (to me) John Taylor is still at the top of the heap in his genre.
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Just have a listen to this (bass comes in at around 2:10) To me, it is one of the greatest sounding live bass songs ever recorded.
Boomy, thunderous, warm and a perfect compliment to the sinister guitar.
Guy Pratt brings way more to the table than he's given credit for.
I've probably listened to bits of Pulse every day since I got it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y5EDqQtnRrc
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As a kid I was really into Bruce Thomas. Anything on This Year's Model, or the 45s from then.
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I don't have a favorite. Here's one of my favorites, from local boys Crow. This did make the Top 40 in 1969. Always liked the bass lines. Bassist was Larry Wiegand.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PZp9j1gU3Qc
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I probably spent a whole summer trying to learn this one. Mind you, I didn't start playing the bass until 1977 so this one was difficult. It's still a favorite of mine to warm up with.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5SnsbIsUTEs
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I don't have a favorite. Here's one of my favorites, from local boys Crow. This did make the Top 40 in 1969. Always liked the bass lines. Bassist was Larry Wiegand.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PZp9j1gU3Qc
Dave is probably the only person :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen: in this forum/on earth stadium-rock-averse enought not to know where most of us know this song from:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ey2zwdErPvQ&playnext=1&list=PL16D6D409AAF2F193
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I don't have a favorite. Here's one of my favorites, from local boys Crow. This did make the Top 40 in 1969. Always liked the bass lines. Bassist was Larry Wiegand.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PZp9j1gU3Qc
WOW! Now there's a band I'd forgotten about. I had that LP in my pile back in the day.
Favorite bass songs....I learned listening to early Who, Beatles & Jefferson Airplane but cannot think of a fave bass part in those.
King Crimson's "21st Century Schizoid Man," Free's "Alright Now" and Elvis Costello's "Watching The Detectives" would all fall into the favorite bass parts for me.
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Dave is probably the only person :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen: in this forum/on earth stadium-rock-averse enought not to know where most of us know this song from:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ey2zwdErPvQ&playnext=1&list=PL16D6D409AAF2F193
I never listened to Black Sabbath except for Paranoid which got some mainstream airplay. If Wikipedia is correct, looks like their version never charted anywhere. After listening to the vocals, I don't wonder why.
Incidentally, I saw Crow open for Airplane in early 1970 at the old Minneapolis Auditorium. Crow was great. Airplane was godawful. We came to see Crow and decided to stay but there was just so much strung out shrieking Grace Slick we could take.
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There shouldn't be a question as tortorous as "what's your fav bass part", but if I had really to choose, I'd say Colin Edwin's work on "Metanoia".
Ofcourse tomorrow I'll change my mind and choose something from Smiths, and the day after I will really like the parts on the Intronaut albums etc etc etc....
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I probably got hooked on this one way back when... still really rate Mr Dunnaway...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uLAX5vQolNI
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I saw the guy from Crow playing bass with an oldies cover band a few years back at an outdoor festival day of some sort. He played fine, and looked healthy.
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Speaking of the first Sabbath album, I would have to say that N.I.B. was a huge inspiration for me, and probably the first bass line I learned to play. Not so much the bass solo at the beginning, but that's cool too! I just love the distorted tone when the riff comes in, though I don't think I was aware of the subtleties when I was a kid...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ytwY-atTfpM
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My favorite bass song would probably involve Jack Casady, one of the earliest that the bass playing just blew mr away was a song titled Can't You See by a midwest band called The Flock. But when I see "Evil Woman" I think of this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fre89067f1g
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O0lfMD4erZ8
same version as above.
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I saw the guy from Crow playing bass with an oldies cover band a few years back at an outdoor festival day of some sort. He played fine, and looked healthy.
I saw a re-formed Crow twice in the late 80s at local clubs.
Here's the original hit lineup last year in Duluth. Evil Woman starts at 1:30. Denny Craswell (also drummer for The Castaways) took over on drums after Evil Woman was recorded but before it was released.
Not bad for old men. ;)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RNykD2S_9H8
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Watching Jack Cornell from The Fabulous Knobs back in 1979 at the tender age of 12 made me realize that I wanted to play bass. I was taking guitar lessons but soon realized that I really was more into the bass. When I next saw Jack in 1986 with The Woods, I was totally hooked. He isn't a particularly technical nor intricate bassist but his parts had that certain groove that made the songs work. Today he plays with The Olympic Ass Kicking Team and still sounds great...
The Knobs from 30 years ago...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BvbqpNLwBEc (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BvbqpNLwBEc)
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When I think of Evil Woman I think of this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jU314nyMKWE
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:sad: Think again grasshopper .........
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LtVTHB319ns (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LtVTHB319ns)
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american songwriter larry weiss wrote the canned heat/spooky tooth 'evil woman'. the crows released their 'evil woman' first and it was later covered by sabbath. crow was the author of that song as well. jeff lynne of elo wrote their 'evil woman'.
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Anybody who doesn't rate John Taylor highly as a bass player must be deaf. Even George (Carlston) likes him.
There's too many to name, but this is a favorite of mine:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r80w8PIJ7QM
I'll see your "Move Over" Uwe, and raise you "Let The Good Times Roll", live in '75.
......... try to keep up at the back there!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sEorSzKII4o
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Zeppelin - Ramble On
Edgar Winter - Frankenstein
Steely Dan - Josie (actually, anything off "Aja" for that matter)
Beatles - Paperback Writer
Really pivotal for me, those tunes. After I'd started playing bass back in the early 80's, I then discovered The London Howlin' Wolf Sessions and ZZ Top's "Deguello" which helped to open up the whole roots genre for me ...... I still dig listening to some righteous Rock and Roll but the roots stuff now really holds my attention. Latest that I really like is Lee Rocker's solo stuff, either with Big Blue or just on his own. The Setzer stuff blows me away too ..... I guess primarily because I'm playing about 80% stand-up now.
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Another favorite bass song that got me hooked on bass was Savoy Brown's "Hellbound Train". To this day, I still don't know who played bass on that track. Tony Stevens (one of my favorites), had already left Savoy to help form Foghat before HB was released. I've read bass credits for Hellbound Train given to Andy Silvester, Andy Pyle and Dave Walker - no matter, it's a great track.
Maybe someone here knows for sure.
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In 1978 I was ten years old. The Police had their smash hits Roxanne and Can't Stand Losing You. It was the first time I became aware of the bass guitar in a band.
I thought it was very cool. I wanted to be a bass player too. I made my own "bass guitar" out of chipwood. I used coca cola bottle caps for the knobs. It had no strings ;)
In 1983 I joined my first real band. And I wanted to play bass like Steve Harris. I studied hours and hours on "Murder in the Rue Morgue" and "Phantom Of The Opera"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t5jaRipA5_M
I'm no longer an Iron Maiden fan but I do think Steve Harris was a big influence for me. I still hit the strings pretty hard, I really dig in.
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I never was a Duran Duran fan. I cannot get past that horrible voice of Simon le Bon.
But I really dig Power Station (with John and Andy Taylor)
Here's a cool video of John Taylor and Bernard Edwards working on the bass part of Bang a Gong (Get it On)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=14kXaX5D6Ng
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I don't have a favorite. Here's one of my favorites, from local boys Crow. This did make the Top 40 in 1969. Always liked the bass lines. Bassist was Larry Wiegand.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PZp9j1gU3Qc
Ever heard the Black Sabbath cover of this? It's pretty close.
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My favorite bass song is kind of a toss-up. It's this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nPnh0BsrJd8
or this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RPOp_Lokm58
or "Snakes and Swallowtails" from Sharks, the short-lived band with Chris Spedding and Andy Fraser.
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Ever heard the Black Sabbath cover of this? It's pretty close.
Never heard it until Uwe pointed it out earlier in the thread. Never even knew they covered it.
Incidentally, Crow also had the first release of King of Rock and Roll (written by Jeff Thomas). The Long John Baldry version seems a lot better known today but Baldry's version never charted. Crow's version did.
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So Dave liked horn rock, you live and learn.
Actually, as regards bass playing tracks for me, I should have mentioned those two here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ERL_rfOJA20
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Aztub_hMXTc&feature=related
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I just erased a long diatribe about one of the previous videos.
I like this board and don't want to turn this thread into a basher, but listening to Paul Stanley trying to speak the language of the uprights (before I have breakfast) is a no-no. What a hairy little tool. The bass playing in that video is quite good.
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Aztub_hMXTc&feature=related
Loved to play that one back when .....
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As for sheer inspiration, Paul McCartney's bass on the Sgt. Pepper album. Also, Hey Bulldog, a song which Geoff Emerick said had the most inventive bass line since Pepper. It's really John's song, but I do like Paul's bass on it. Of course, trying to single out specific Beatles songs is not exactly something which can be done without some forethought, and I've never tried being a Beatles expert anyway.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0WBelmO65J4
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So Dave liked horn rock, you live and learn.
Not particularly, although I didn't dislike it either.
Crow didn't have horns, those were added after the song was recorded. The band didn't like that at all-- until the song became a hit.
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..and speaking of Roxy Music, I remember loving this album when it came out - bass is all over the map here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YQu-0n4yN3Y
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I probably got hooked on this one way back when... still really rate Mr Dunnaway...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uLAX5vQolNI
I've played with a number of great guitarists over the years. One of them is Dunnaway's current guitarist. He also happens to own Mick Ronson's old Les Paul that is one of the more infamous LPs of guitar lore.
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I just erased a long diatribe about one of the previous videos.
I like this board and don't want to turn this thread into a basher, but listening to Paul Stanley trying to speak the language of the uprights (before I have breakfast) is a no-no. What a hairy little tool. The bass playing in that video is quite good.
Why? It's alright to dislike or make fun of Kiss here. I like Kiss, but that doesn't mean I have to take them serious. And I think it would be perfectly in line with Gene Simmons convictions that being discussed negatively is better than not being discussed at all. As for hairy Paul, he's always smarting when he's not taken as a "serious musician", but then perhaps he shouldn't have played in Kiss in the first place? It's a bit like Steven Segal complaining that he doesn't get serious roles to play.
Perhaps, if you're from Queens you shouldn't make fun about how other people pronounce things, huh?
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Not particularly, although I didn't dislike it either.
Crow didn't have horns, those were added after the song was recorded. The band didn't like that at all-- until the song became a hit.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-rjMB0JotHM&feature=related
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Why? It's alright to dislike or make fun of Kiss here. I like Kiss, but that doesn't mean I have to take them serious. And I think it would be perfectly in line with Gene Simmons convictions that being discussed negatively is better than not being discussed at all. As for hairy Paul, he's always smarting when he's not taken as a "serious musician", but then perhaps he shouldn't have played in Kiss in the first place? It's a bit like Steven Segal complaining that he doesn't get serious roles to play.
Perhaps, if you're from Queens you shouldn't make fun about how other people pronounce things, huh?
Even though I'm originally from the area and worked in NYC for a very long time, yet I never got the whole Kiss thing - even when they first popped. What I detest about Kiss is not really about their music. I've never taken to them because I always felt that everything about them was a gimmick and I didn't want to be suckered into liking a band that had this ulterior motive for selling records to people.
I like Gene Simmons' approach to the business end of things. If anyone is going to get rich off Kiss' music or merchandising it should be the musicians (or, if need be, just him). That much makes perfect sense to me - and it's their business. Gene seems to understand the capitalistic world in which he resides and to which he contributes...it's a cross between "there's a sucker born every minute" and "put a price tag on a turd and someone will buy it".
Paul (or at least Paul's character) drives me nuts. I don't know why - it's the same sort of reaction I have to Richard Simmons & Quentin Tarantino - I really don't want to investigate why I get the chills when I see or hear them. Every time Sweaterman opens his mouth to speak, my upchuck reflex goes to 11. As for PS being taken seriously, you hit the nail on the head. Wrong band, wrong cosmetic kit...and the stuffed animal spandex trousers?!
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Blood, Sweat & Tears
Wow. Thanks for that. I haven't heard that in many, many years.
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I'm probably the only person on earth that has the complete BST oeuvre on CD. And listens to it. I even have David Clayton Thomas solo CDs. And if I had the chance, I'd play in a horn band in a heartbeat. But as a pasttime it is absolutely unrealistic to get rehearsals together with a ten guy (or gal) band.
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Simple yet effective and of course always keeping the groove down.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=odLL_s3UJgs&feature=related (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=odLL_s3UJgs&feature=related)
Just check out the way Andy takes over the guitar-part in the last part of Paul's solo ........ need I say more ?
Close to the Best Ever Bass Song but The Absolute Best Ever is from that same concert:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=_FhCilozomo
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-rjMB0JotHM&feature=related
A great song by Laura Nyro. I was listening to her cover LP the other day and Gamble and Huff produced it with some of the Philly Soul players on it. This cover of The Originals song has some great backing vox by Labelle and features the late Ronnie Baker on bass. I love bass that sounds like a bass.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7dsGJtkdnyI
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One of the reasons I fell in love with the sound & power of the bass was Graham Maby.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h6IY9OxgTmI&feature=related
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... And if I had the chance, I'd play in a horn band in a heartbeat...
Am I the only one with concerns about that comment...? ;D
(http://i655.photobucket.com/albums/uu280/kjrstewart/Humour/Poland.jpg)
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Not Fräulein Rommel's type of horn(y) band!
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As long as we're talking about horn(y) bands and not just favorite bass lines, anyone else here remember Chase? Some tasty bass lines here too.
Bill Chase and three other band members were among those killed in a small plane crash in 1974, on the way to a concert.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cVt_M1bY_Sw
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Never heard it until Uwe pointed it out earlier in the thread. Never even knew they covered it.
Incidentally, Crow also had the first release of King of Rock and Roll (written by Jeff Thomas). The Long John Baldry version seems a lot better known today but Baldry's version never charted. Crow's version did.
And I never knew that Crow released that song first.
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..and speaking of Roxy Music, I remember loving this album when it came out - bass is all over the map here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YQu-0n4yN3Y
One of my favorite albums! And you're right, excellent bass work throughout. "Thrill of it All" is a bass orgy.
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As far as horn bands, I don't care much for the BST/Chicago type, but I do love Motown horns:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xftlNlajvUA
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As long as we're talking about horn(y) bands and not just favorite bass lines, anyone else here remember Chase? Some tasty bass lines here too.
Bill Chase and three other band members were among those killed in a small plane crash in 1974, on the way to a concert.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cVt_M1bY_Sw
Wow - BST on steroids! Must get some of their stuff, hope there is something on CD.
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As long as we're talking about horn(y) bands and not just favorite bass lines, anyone else here remember Chase? Some tasty bass lines here too.
Bill Chase and three other band members were among those killed in a small plane crash in 1974, on the way to a concert.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cVt_M1bY_Sw
I'm pretty sure that the rhythm section from Chase became the rhythm section of Survivor.
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As far as horn bands, I don't care much for the BST/Chicago type, but I do love Motown horns:
All this talk of horn bands made me remember another fave bass part of mine.
I'm not big into horn bands but these guys smoke!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eQE5vwlRYHA&feature=related
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One of my ToP favs was Clean Slate:
http://new.music.yahoo.com/tower-of-power/tracks/clean-slate--855518
Credit was a cool track too:
http://new.music.yahoo.com/tower-of-power/videos/view/credit--2148349
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I always found the rhythm of ToP a bit too feverish and the harmonies too montone. I know that is uncool for a bass player to admit and perhaps I'm too much of a whitebread to even get it ...
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Couple other "horn bands" I dig:
If
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QuwytPkljTE&feature=related
Ohio Players
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pa1MOi5AXU0
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y47G-Wa4qfs
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...and back OT, these are probably a couple of my favorite basslines:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vI3kQAcoGiA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5r3EGpIToOA
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Pretty As You Please by Cry Of Love is always fun to play.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QXqd0QnYiKI
And Thorazine Shuffle by Gov't Mule has a fun riff too
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W-NP-LdLu3g
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always one of my favs
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OqEqkcQz92E
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Horns and such a simple but effective bass/guitar line to learn as a beginner - I still have the Carnegie Hall set, and it's box and MONSTER poster...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iCAbdNXx2sE
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hRu93TEcSl8
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^^^^^
Good one!