The Last Bass Outpost
Main Forums => The Bass Zone => Topic started by: ack1961 on April 15, 2011, 07:03:25 AM
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Holy crap! I had no idea.
I must be developing "bass ears" or something because have been aware of Abba since my childhood, but never thought too much of it - catchy tunes, a couple of cute gals, etc..
I had my iPod on random and this came on. The bass is perfect and sounds like fun. It's now on my list of stuff to learn.
I guess you guys all knew this already - late to the party again...but I'm here.
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abba has been reborn as the cool thing to listen to in some circles. i never paid any attention to them as well, now or then. my seven year old grand daughter knows their songs. maybe thats the new market. btw, i think a bass player they used died recently?
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I have no problem admitting I love ABBA!
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That's probably my favorite Abba tune and I have tried to cop that bass line many times and never quite get it.
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As far as I know, bassist Rutger Gunnarson is still with us. But I believe drummer Ola Brunkert passed away recently.
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I've always enjoyed Abba. I think when I was a teenager it was because of the girls! I've appreciated Rutger's playing for a lot of years. Dancing Queen is another one that has a lot of intricate lines and is difficult to master. Mamma Mia is a fun line as well. My 2 favorites LP's are still Arrival and The Album. Both have some outstanding bass playing on them.
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As far as I know, bassist Rutger Gunnarson is still with us. But I believe drummer Ola Brunkert passed away recently.
That session drummer was killed in a freak accident in Spain a few years ago. I have a friend who is an ABBA fan. It was difficult telling her about that. Having been around her for years, I am way more familiar with ABBA songs than I normally would have been. I'm not really much of pop music person, but in my opinion ABBA's music was pop music brilliance.
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Abba is just musical, full stop. The bass player was one of Sweden's famed sessioneers and always very tasteful and melodic.
My favorite Abba tune is this here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nPvrlSJy_d4&feature=related
Love the Spanish Civil War/For Whom the Bell Tolls feel.
And of course all their melancholic love songs with that sexy Scandinavian accent:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zD7d02tEzNE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pzdfPEsf7qY
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x25WSOn6MSQ&feature=fvwrel
Even when they were a little cheesy, they were still great
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WCdHfcAnAAw
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oF12tkwdUIk&feature=related
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I never paid attention until I heard (or finally woke up and paid attention to) "Take a chance on me."
That song is a riot for the vocal lines.
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Some German blood in them too:
Frida's (the dark-haired one's) dad was a German Landser in occupied Norway - Frida's mother left Norway in 1947 (Norway was, perhaps understandably, at that point a no good place to raise the child of a German father) together with Frida, but died shortly after, Frida being raised by her Swedish grandmother.
A fetching-looking young man, but I'm not sure whether that Errol Flynn 'tache was in line with Wehrmacht regulations:
(http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_3Eo-p9JGPxU/SS28btl3ftI/AAAAAAAABi0/AX6qTWfitWw/s1600/alfred%2Bhaase.jpg)
Yet bearded he remained:
(http://abba-official.com/images/FRIAH01.jpeg)
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hDeOoS8b0zQ
i remember this waterloo from my childhood.
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I grew up with ABBA... My older sister had a door poster of Agneta.
It was girls music. Boys did not like ABBA.
In the early nineties there was an ABBA revival. (muriels wedding, priscilla queen of the desert)
It became en vogue / camp to like ABBA. But I didn't like it.
Although I see it's briliantly constructed high quality popmusic, I still don't like it.
A lot of it has to do with the voices. (And the fact that I was over exposed to them as a young boy...)
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I grew up with ABBA... My older sister had a door poster of Agneta.
It was girls music. Boys did not like ABBA.
In the early nineties there was an ABBA revival. (muriels wedding, priscilla queen of the desert)
It became en vogue / camp to like ABBA. But I didn't like it.
Although I see it's briliantly constructed high quality popmusic, I still don't like it.
A lot of it has to do with the voices. (And the fact that I was over exposed to them as a young boy...)
Being overexposed to something can definitely affect your attitude toward it. For instance, I heard Motown so much during my youth because my sister played those records so much, I kind of got tired of it.
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There was always something very Yuropean, it was contolled and crafted, but not manufactured. That I - along with Ritchie Blackmore among others - I liked. They have also kept a mystique around them.
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A bassplayer tired of Motown?? Please kill me now!!!!
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I never liked Motown to begin with. Or Abba.
Stonewall Jackson's Waterloo, yes.
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I never liked Motown to begin with. Or Abba.
Stonewall Jackson's Waterloo, yes.
I'll never know how much I might have liked Motown on my own. My guess is I was too much of a hard rock person to have ever become deeply intrigued with it.
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I'm more of a Philly Sound guy. Hence my choices of Anthony Jackson and the late Ronnie Baker. Oh wait, that's another thread.....
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i like motown. the philly sound was too slick and over produced for my tastes.
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I'm more of a Philly Sound guy. Hence my choices of Anthony Jackson and the late Ronnie Baker. Oh wait, that's another thread.....
Anything to get this thread away from Abba. ;D
I'll never know how much I might have liked Motown on my own. My guess is I was too much of a hard rock person to have ever become deeply intrigued with it.
I was already in junior high and playing guitar when Motown first appeared. I was never a hard rock person, just thought it was anti-guitar music, shallow with no substance. It was all about making hits, not making good music. IMHO, YMMV, etc.
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When I say hard rock, I am speaking more of Cream, Hendrix, Grand Funk Railroad, etc. Of course Cream could be called blues rock, Hendrix psychedelic rock, and Grand Funk garage rock. But except for maybe the Beatles, those were the kind of bands I was listening to, not Motown too much. Also, cover bands I was in played covers by all those bands quite a lot. I think what I was listening to would be considered mainstream music of the time. Now that I listen more than I play, I guess things have changed somewhat.
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i like motown. the philly sound was too slick and over produced for my tastes.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GQpTEaPFHXQ
One of their first hits.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7dsGJtkdnyI
The late great Ronnie Baker on bass.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qfr6jmJOGA8
Anthony Jackson on bass.
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We're doing a cover version of Waterloo in a sorta punk-ish way, squaring the dotted eighths from the original song. We also do Dancing Queen as a slow ballad that doesn't end well. Dumb lyrics (who wrote that crap?) but nice melody.
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Dumb lyrics (who wrote that crap?)
I've wanted to start a "Dumb Lyrics" thread for years now. So as to not piss off all the Rush fans, I've refrained.
Talk about something that won't end well...
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I like the lyrics to "The Winner Takes it All." "The gods may throw the dice; their minds as cold as ice." In fact, I'd have to say that is my favorite ABBA song.
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This is Waterloo for me. And furthermore, it includes a sunset! Plus a guitar sound to die for!!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cyh__QQD2js
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Presumably you've never had the misfortune of driving through the area, let alone arriving by train... why do you think they mooved Eurostar... :o
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hornisse, those are iffy examples. billy paul is the only one that fits the mold. that nyro/labelle diabetic sweetness is all labelle influenced because laura does not sound like that. the soul survivors. not even close. that's like rare earth on motown.
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The Nyro record (Gonna Take A Miracle) was a covers LP she put out in 1971 or so. It was the only LP she had that was produced by Gamble and Huff. Just using it as an example. I like The Originals version of The Bells better anyhow. I just love Ronnie Bakers thuddy bass on that track though. I was just using Soul Survivors as an example of the earliest Gamble and Huff production. Not slick by any means but you are right in saying that some of their later stuff was.
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It was girls music. Boys did not *admit liking* ABBA.
Fixed it for you.
(http://www.smh.com.au/ffximage/2008/06/01/anni_frid_abba_narrowweb__300x409,0.jpg)
(http://img20.imageshack.us/img20/42/annagr.jpg)
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A bassplayer tired of Motown?? Please kill me now!!!!
I got tired of my sister playing the same Motown records. That isn't quite the same as being completely tired of Motown itself. It isn't my favorite genre, but there is still a lot of it I respect. Also, I think being influenced by Motown can be a good thing. I could give several examples, but probably the best would be Glenn Hughes who said that Motown was his main influence.
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Fixed it for you.
(http://www.smh.com.au/ffximage/2008/06/01/anni_frid_abba_narrowweb__300x409,0.jpg)
(http://img20.imageshack.us/img20/42/annagr.jpg)
I think I may be gaining some insight into why the Australians were known for liking ABBA so much.
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Nothing NOT to like there!!!
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I was six years old when ABBA had their hit with Waterloo.
I can assure you I wasn't interested in women's butts in white spandex... ;D
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I was six years old when ABBA had their hit with Waterloo.
I can assure you I wasn't interested in women's butts in white spandex... ;D
I was 13 ... say no more LOL
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Did you go blind? Or did your spine weaken? :toast:
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"I think I may be gaining some insight into why the Australians were known for liking ABBA so much."
And I'm starting to understand why Australia is called "down under"! :o
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Nice butt.
Still don't like the music.
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I can see this thread went to the shitter.
All I meant was that I was surprised by the bassline in Waterloo. I've never been a fan, but I don't hate it either.
There's far, far worse stuff than Abba out there.
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I can see this thread went the shitter.
All I meant was that I was surprised by the bassline in Waterloo. I've never been a fan, but I don't hate it either.
There's far, far worse stuff than Abba out there.
No friggin kidding! The people who made that music acctually had to know how to play and speak music.
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"I can see this thread went the shitter." That's what I call great fun!!! ;D
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I was 13 ... say no more LOL
I was 12 the summer it came out. I wouldn't have turned down either one of those gals!
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15...
I wear glasses these days...
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There's a company in Sweden who makes canned sea food, like different kind of herrings. The company's been around since the 17'th century. It's called Abba. To me Abba is still a matter of something canned made for fast consumption. Now, that might be fine if one's talking about food. But for music???? No way!
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I was 12 when this came out, I remember watching the Eurovision Song Contest with my family, Agentha was hot but the main attraction for me was Bjorn's star-shaped guitar. I have never seen anything like that before.
(http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2313/2391050058_9e7de26aa8.jpg)
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Björn, the guitarist, has said in an interview that it was a crap guitar, barely playable and with a lousy sound. He couldn't stand using it when playing live, but it looked great for the Eurovision event so he used it.
Ilan is right, it was an epic performance. You knew they would win the minute they started playing.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l-4w45oQANc
What made Abba special - apart from Benny's and Björn's songwriting skills which matured over time - were the way Frida's and Agnetha's voices gelled into one. It's reallly hard for me too pick out who sings what and I often catch myself being surprised that Agnetha sings lead in a song when it is actually Frida or vice versa. Their svengali producer Stig Andersson said that much of the studio time was devoted to layering the voices in a way to make it sound like that one supernatural voice ("Dancing Queen" being his prime example), but they could also reporduce it live, those two voices are just a natural match. Neither Frida nor Agnetha sound too convincing when without the other on their solo stuff.
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Studio tech once told me, back in the 70s, that live they used a keyboard ( called Vocaliser or something like that ) to multiply their voices and make back-up harmonies .....
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check 3:37-3:47 of that video. All the guitarist needs is face-paint, and we have Ace Frehly.
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I love the black block Jazz Bass that Rutger (?) was playing. LOL about Frehly!!
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It was a 70's thing, holding your Fender J low but angled upwards. I don't know why but many did this. Always made me laugh because playing like this positioned the chrome control plate right where it belongs...
(http://i48.tinypic.com/302p7qp.jpg)