Songs you dislike with great bass lines

Freuds_Cat · July 15, 2009, 08:39:37 AM

As is the usual case with the Crocs, I get to learn new songs based on the whims of either or both of the 2 singers. I am a Johnny come lately I suppose having only been with them for 6 years

The singer / guitarist Dave rang and asked me to learn "Its only Natural" by Crowded House. Now dont get me wrong, I appreciate that Crowded House have written a lot of very fine music over the years so I have no intention of bagging this band at all. I have ears and I can hear how well constructed, performed and produced their tunes are. Its just that 99% of their songs put me to sleep. There is just something about the combination of the different elements that doesn't get its hooks into me.

Anyway.... I sat down and learned this song tonight. I chose the Cargill fretless as it seemed to lend itself to what I could hear going on.

Man what a great bass line!

I'm really going to enjoy playing this one.

More proof to me that as a bassist you must always approach a song as a stand alone bassline first and foremost and not be put off by what the other musicians are playing.

uwe · July 15, 2009, 09:37:21 AM

Crowded House are an easy target, true shoegazer's pop. And much as I always liked Split Enz, I mocked Crowded House. But Tim Finn's last solo album (which if truth be told is not that far away removed from what Crowded House used to do, except that it has even more melancholy) made me reappreciate things. My daughter brought it with her for me from her stay in NZ, a country still claiming the Finn brothers for itself even though the world thinks they are from "that other, less refined island".

And, yes, the bass lines are nicely woven into the music.

What a weakling I am! $:-\$

Freuds_Cat · July 15, 2009, 04:58:05 PM

Perspective is an interesting thing. Australians would never consider calling the Finn brothers Australian. We all know they are Kiwi's.

clankenstein · July 16, 2009, 12:35:42 AM

yes being born in te awamutu will do that to a man.

clankenstein · July 16, 2009, 12:43:31 AM

p.s. i always liked nigel griggs' bass lines,shame he wasnt playing them on a gibson but there you go.i saw split enz last year and they were better than ever, i have seen them many times in the past-first time being wellington opera house 1974.

rahock · July 16, 2009, 08:25:37 AM

Just to keep up the tradition of changing the direction of a thread, I'd like to bring up some good songs with bad bass lines. I was driving home from a jam session last Saturday night and on the radio they were playing some tapes of old BBC live broacasts, all of which I had never heard before. They played a couple of tunes of what was possibly the first Rolling Stones gig , in any event very early stuff. It was announced that the name Rolling Stones was only a couple weeks old at that time and Mick Jaeger was quoted as saying he thought his band was "about ready to do a gig " .
The only tune that I was familiar with was Reelin' and Rockin' , but they played a few others too. Mick Jaegers' voice sounded as good or better than anything I've ever heard him do, the guitar was very raw, as was just about anything rock and roll of that era, but it was good. Bill Wymans' bass playing was abso -freakin-lutely pathetic

. He had no idea of what he was doing. Nothing even close to a walking bass line, most of the time he could find the root note(but not always), once in a while he would find another note or two in the proper scale(but not always) and part of the time he would hit a note on the beat(but not always).
I find it hard to believe this guys musical career didn't end that night or at least end with the Stones. But as luck would have it, he goes on to have one of the most successful careers that any musician could dream of, and acheives godlike status......WTF

Has anyone else heard any of this stuff?? Was Bill Wyman really that bad?? Am I just growing into a bitter old sourpuss?? Will Lassie find a way to get Timmy out of the well??..................... So many questions

Rick

Dave W · July 16, 2009, 08:34:14 AM

I haven't heard these broadcasts, but I love Bill Wyman's bass playing. Like him or not, he's an original, one of the people who made electric bass guitar so different from conventional upright playing. And no, he didn't do walking bass lines.

rahock · July 16, 2009, 08:53:29 AM

In later years I got to like Bill Wyman quite a bit. I never heard the REAL early stuff before. I just can't believe the Stones (or anyone else for that matter) would keep him after a start like that .
It reminded me of myself at about age 14, a week after getting my first bass. Funny enough.......the music I wanted to play was all Rolling Stones and Animals

Rick

Hornisse · July 16, 2009, 09:41:42 AM

I love Wyman's playing. It's All Over Now was a song I'd play again and again when I was a child. My big sisters had all of their early LP's and I still have them.

As for a song I dislike with great bass line? I'd have to go with Village People's Macho Man.

I can't stand the song but love playing along with the bass. Here is a video for Uwe's viewing pleasure.

leftybass · July 16, 2009, 12:06:35 PM

Quote from: rahock on July 16, 2009, 08:53:29 AM
In later years I got to like Bill Wyman quite a bit. I never heard the REAL early stuff before. I just can't believe the Stones (or anyone else for that matter) would keep him after a start like that .
It reminded me of myself at about age 14, a week after getting my first bass. Funny enough.......the music I wanted to play was all Rolling Stones and Animals

Rick

I dont like the Stones, but I do love playing 19th Nervous Breakdown most every night, and I get bummed when it's not in the set, great bass part.

nofi · July 17, 2009, 10:30:12 AM

rick, you're just an old sourpuss and please leave little timmy in the well.

Dave W · July 17, 2009, 10:50:12 AM

Are Timmy and Baby Jessica still down in that well?

uwe · July 17, 2009, 11:31:19 AM

Quote from: Hornisse on July 16, 2009, 09:41:42 AM
I love Wyman's playing. It's All Over Now was a song I'd play again and again when I was a child. My big sisters had all of their early LP's and I still have them.

As for a song I dislike with great bass line? I'd have to go with Village People's Macho Man. I can't stand the song but love playing along with the bass. Here is a video for Uwe's viewing pleasure.

Never liked the song either, has none of the charm of YMCA or cock-in-cheek irony of In the Navy. Bass sounds Neil Stubenhaus'ish, but which studio bassist didn't play "Disco" like that back then?

jmcgliss · July 17, 2009, 12:10:16 PM

I never bought Bachman Turner Overdrive albums, but now I dig the bass lines for 'You Ain't Seen Nothin Yet', 'Takin Care of Business', and others. The same applies to KC and The Sunshine Band.

In general, the reason I may dislike certain songs is because they were overproduced in a way that buries the bassline. I take that as a challenge to bring out the best part (or tone) when tunes like that end up in our setlist.

rahock · July 19, 2009, 08:57:15 AM

Quote from: nofi on July 17, 2009, 10:30:12 AM
rick, you're just an old sourpuss and please leave little timmy in the well.

Done.......It's been a few days now. No more noise coming from the well. Everything seems good again

Rick