Carole Kaye giving Gene Simmons a bass lesson

[hieronymous]

For a man who's been making a living as a professional bass player for more than 40 years his technique and ability is rather disappointing (imho).

I think I expected him to suck so I was actually impressed by some of it!

[Denis]

Nice to see Gene show obvious real respect for her.

But I think he just stole her bass line for a new KISS tune

I can't put my finger on the song but I swear that bass lick is from a song featured prominently in "The Blues Brothers".

[nofi]

denis, that was the vamp/lead in to the blues brothers show. r&b bands would play a little instrumental ditty at the start then the 'star' would come on. think james brown. the music is very close, indeed.

[lowend1]

[uwe]

For a man who's been making a living as a professional bass player for more than 40 years his technique and ability is rather disappointing (imho).

Tsk, tsk, tsk - how nasty you can be, Rob. Rather than showing an old lady what perhaps he can do better, he's taking a lesson. And I was actually expecting him to be that way because he is a polite person when he's not playing his role or trying to offend people with butch low pc remarks, it's as much part of his act as blood spitting, fire breathing and the makeup.

Simmons was never above learning something on bass - his signature bass run on Detroit Rock City was hand-taught to him by Bob Ezrin (who had lifted it off a Stax recording) and Simmons practiced it all night to get it right for the recording. It's an unusual bass run for the song because while Detroit Rock City is a pure shuffle, the bass run is not quite triolic throughout, but mixes triplets and duplets in feel.

Simmons has never been either very fast or agile on bass, he's even a bit heavy-handed (which makes Carol's style not so easy to replicate for him, because she has a light touch and strums the bass more), but he puts thought in his bass lines. If you listen to old Kiss recordings, he's no root note thrasher at all. That said, rhythmically he is mostly meat and potatoes (but so is Paul McCartney, who excelled in melodic and harmonic bass playing).

[lowend1]

If you listen to old Kiss recordings, he's no root note thrasher at all. That said, rhythmically he is mostly meat and potatoes (but so is Paul McCartney, who excelled in melodic and harmonic bass playing).

Both have had a penchant for high action as well.

[westen44]

I like all three (from a musical standpoint)---Paul McCartney, Gene Simmons, Carol Kaye. 

[ilan]

Both have had a penchant for high action as well.

I have also read about the high action on McCartney's Ric when it was sent to the factory to re-charge the horseshoes, and how he requested that it will not be altered in any way. But I can assure you that on his Höfner, "the one", the action is set medium-low.