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Wicked Bass Lines


the stranger

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Wicked? Um...

 

Donald Byrd- (Fallin' Like) Dominoes

 

Stanley Clarke- 'More' Hot Fun.

 

Pleasure- Glide, Law Of The Raw.

 

Roy Ayers- Running Away.

 

Olympic Runners- Put Your Music Where You Mouth Is.

 

Cameo- Rigor Mortis, Candy.

 

Parliament- Sir Nose.

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Anything by Mark King/Level 42 (especially "In Hot Water"!)

 

Pino Pallawhatever on Don Henley's "Sunset Grill" (more of a solo than a groove, but a great piece of earkandy)

 

And I admit to often singing the bassline from Golden Earring's "Radar Love"...

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Great bass bands/production houses: War, of course, as noted by others, the Motown, Philly, and Memphis production teams... hmm...

 

You know... this'll sound funny but I was just listening to Yes's Fragile for the first time in well over 30 years the other day and one thing I noticed: some killer bass action there... big, meaty... it really puts some huevos in those songs (more than I remembered, he said sheepishly)... so toss Squire in the mix.

 

And as long as we're off the purely funky path... I also have to say that Black Sabbath's bass so defined that band that I'd have to include them in there, particularly for their early riff-driven stuff.

 

 

And back to actual songs -- here's a REALLY off the wall one for you -- and I'm just passing it along, not sure I really buy it -- but my high school's "cool" nerdy band's bass player always said while he thought it was an incredibly lame song but that the bass line from "Crystal Blue Persuasion" was great. And we had several "driveway moments" when he would have to wait to hear the bass break... I'd be looking both ways to make sure no one I knew saw me apparently listening to Tommy James.

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"What's Goin' On" Marvin Gaye

 

"Boogie-Oogie-Oogie" A Taste Of Honey

 

"Mama Used To Say" Junior

 

"What's Love Got To Do With It?" Tina Turner

 

"And The Beat Goes On" The Whispers

 

"What Does It Take (To Win Your Love?)" Junior Walker

 

"Freddie's Dead" Curtis Mayfield

 

"Thank You Falettin' Me Be Mice Elf Again" Sly & The Family Stone

 

"Groovin' Together" Smokey Robinson

 

"Who's Zoomin' Who?" Aretha Franklin

 

"To Sir With Love" Lulu

 

"Money" The O'Jays

 

"Money" Pink Floyd

 

"I Want You Back" The Jackson 5

 

"Want Ads" The Honey Cone

 

"Pull Up To The Bumper" Grace Jones

 

"Danger" The Motels

 

"Forget Me Nots" Patrice Rushen

 

"You Can't Hurry Love" The Supremes

 

"Don't Mess With Bill" The Marvelettes

 

"Walking On The Moon" The Police

 

"Let's Dance" David Bowie

 

"Show And Tell" Al Wilson

 

"Reach Out In The Darkness" Friend And Lover

 

"Crystal Blue Persuasion" Tommy Janes & The Shondells

 

"When Smokey Sings" ABC

 

"Walk On The Wild Side" Lou Reed (Yes, it's only an ostinato, but that's what's so queer and hypnotic about it).

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some that havent been mentioned yet:

various janes addiction tunes [ted just admit it, summertime rolls, 3 days, etc]

clutch elephant riders [muchas gracias]

butthole surfers [earlier stuff]

 

 

i remember a time in the early 90's where the bass became a really prominent instrument in the punk bands for some reason, maybe because of primus. i dunno. but that was a real cool time in music i thought. i cant remember any nationals but it was big in the scene where i was at least. the bands had killer bass rifs, they were large and distorted...

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Funkadelic/Parliament stuff. Especially:

Flashlight

Aqua Boogie

One Nation Under A Groove

 

Anything by Bootsy

 

Ohio Players - "Skintight" That bass intro still gives me chills. Simple, but funky as hell:thu:

 

Sly & The Family Stone - "Thankyoufalletinmebemicelf"

 

Graham Central Station - "The Jam"

 

Someone earlier mentioned Yes's "Fragile". Chris Squire just cooks on 'Roundabout"

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Jack Casady of the Jefferson Airplane (and later Hot Tuna) could kick down some massive bass lines, too... they didn't always get captured too well but when you can hear them they really push things along... Jack and Jorma -- who ironically went on to form a roots-folk-oriented kind of outfit -- and drummer Spence Dryden were the engine that took a ragged bunch of hippie folkie singers and somehow turned them into raging acid rockers... I blame it on the bass.

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