Albums that are a "Dictionary of Licks"?

phatbass · #1 02-01-2010, 12:53 AM

I shouldn't use the word "licks" as I hate the concept, but y'all know what I mean...

What individual albums, regardless of genre, do you guys consider as being chock full of lines and grooves that are worth learning, in order to analyse and incorporate (or even just plain rip off) in your own playing.

I'm not talking hot slappin', tappin', World-War-Three-In-A-Solo 64th note licks but actual tasty and logically constructed parts that work in the context of songs. Stuff that will maybe give you some new insight and approaches into coming up with your own stuff.

One I'd nominate is Joe Jackson's "Look Sharp", with Graham Maby on Bass. A perfect Pop album but with real meat in the songwriting and the arrangements.

wideyes · #2 02-01-2010, 01:28 AM

Well, a couple that I would think were generally considered legendary are:

Paul Simon - Graceland : Bhakithi Kumalo plays some absolutely iconic fretless lines on this album. The followup album, "Rhythm of the Saints", has some much subtler but also very compelling lines on it.

Red Hot Chili Peppers - Blood Sugar Sex Magik : The album that had anybody worth their discman banging along to Flea's basslines throughout the 90's. Did for bass in that decade what Nirvana's "Smells Like Teen Spirit" did for guitar (come to think of it, that album had some kickin' bass lines on it as well!). The 90's saw some incredible things happen on bass.

I guess those are obvious picks, but hey, worth noting.

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stratovani · #3 02-02-2010, 11:03 AM

Pretty much anything by Rush would fit the bill!

Buskman · #4 02-02-2010, 11:07 AM

'Naughty', by Chaka Khan.

Anthony Jackson, Marcus Miller, Willie Weeks... need I say more?

Nashrakh · #5 02-02-2010, 11:22 AM

"Tons of Sobs" by Free. Andy Fraser is the king

slagbass · #6 02-02-2010, 11:38 AM

I'll add "London Calling" by the Clash. Some great bass lines that cover rock (Clampdown), reggae (Guns of Brixton) and some stuff in between (Train in Vain). Strap on a PBass and try to keep up.....

stuonbass · #7 02-02-2010, 11:50 AM

For me, it was Heaven And Hell by Sabbath or Escape by Journey.
Heres some others:

Soundtrack to The Blues Brothers: Duck Dunn!

Seargant Pepper. Sir Paul masters the art of melodic bass lines.

Foghat - Fool for the City

JimK · #8 02-02-2010, 12:04 PM

An early one for me was Jeff Beck's Blow By Blow...what the heck was Phil Chen doing?

Couple years later-
Steely Dan's Aja...been a Rainey fan ever since.

...and as I got more interested in Soul/R&B-
AWB- "White Album"
AWB- Cut The Cake

GreggBummer · #9 02-02-2010, 12:16 PM

Blues Brothers Soundtrack +1

Queen, The Game, Jazz, or News Of The World - John Deacon is under rated as bassist. Great lines all around. My favorite: Dragon Attack. That line is my usual soundcheck warm-up... and I find it works its way into solos as well.

Rush, Exit Stage Left - My favorite Rush album, it has a bunch of tasty lines that Geddy works live.

Allman Brothers - Live At The Fillmore East: Iconic Berry Oakley.

Gov't Mule - Live At The Roseland Ballroom: Allen Woody... another under appreciate bassist, but great mojo he gets with a pick. I don't use a pick, but I emulate the way Woody plays

Led Zep - Houses Of THe Holy - IMHO this is JPJ's best studio playing.

Alice In Chains, MTV Unplugged - I'm not a huge AIC fan, but this album has MONSTER bass tone. This was the last great album that came out of MTV. Bass work on here is great, very emotive.

James Brown - Greatest Hits. Doin' it on the ones.

Lo-E · #10 02-02-2010, 12:25 PM

+1 on "Look Sharp".

How about Elvis Costello's "This Year''s Model"?
Joni Mitchel's "Hijiera"
fIREHOSE's "Flyin' The Flannel"
"Rubber Soul" and "Revolver" (by you-know-who)
The Specials' "The Specials"
"Who's Next"
Peter Gabriel's "So"

Those are just off the top of my head....

MingusBass · #11 02-02-2010, 03:21 PM

Donny Hathaway Live. Willie Weeks takes you to school.

VJP · #12 02-02-2010, 04:03 PM

Miles Davis "We Want Miles". Tons of cool stuff from Marcus Miller to transcribe and incorporate. Thats my favorite Marcus stuff.

Essen · #13 02-02-2010, 04:08 PM

Anything by Rage Against the Machine. Heck, Muse too.

Col E Loc · #14 02-02-2010, 04:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Essen

Anything by Rage Against the Machine. Heck, Muse too.

+1
Rage does so much with riffs and space, making the beat feel heavy.

The Frames album "fitzcaraldo" has some badass Lines - the ones that come to mind are "giving it all away" and "fitzcaraldo"

Guz2 · #15 02-02-2010, 04:30 PM

Black Sabbath's first ten albums

BigOldHarry · #16 02-02-2010, 04:39 PM

To me, it depends on your level of skill and taste in music.

I learned a TON by learning every song, note for note, of Deep Purple "Machine Head" back in 1976 when I first started. Now, it seems that the bass playing on that album was pretty simple, but at the time, between that album and Aerosmith "Toys in the attic", I learned how to play rock & roll...

After that it was Yes "Fragile" and "The Yes Album"... And to a lesser degree "Going for the One"... The Who Quadraphenia & Who's Next...

Then Look Sharp / I'm the Man... Graham Maby, you taught me how to play punk even when I didn't much care for the genre...

The next big album for me was Miles Davis "Amandla" -- For you Marcus fans, THAT is the album. I learned a ton from those tunes...

And yes, RHCP both Mother's Milk and BSSM had me upping my game.

I listened to a fair amount of Rush but never found Geddy's playing compelling... Clearly he is a chop monster, but I like to swing more (hence my latching onto Flea & Marcus over him...) so I never really dug into Rush.

These days it's jazz for me... I play along with Kind of Blue and it just keeps blowing my mind...

CamiloDíaz · #17 02-02-2010, 08:41 PM

Abbey Road: the whole album is a master class. Listen to the new, remastered edition, you'll be blown away with the sheer talent in those bass lines.

Diana Ross (self titled album, from 1970). Jamerson at his finest, IMO.

Powerslave by Iron Maiden. You just gotta have Harris.

Scenes from a Memory. Dream Theater's masterpiece. John Myung being a very, VERY intelligent bassist, solid, not extremely "look mom, I'm fast".

Quadrophenia. The best Who album, as a whole.

OK Computer, by Radiohead. Underrated great bass player. Awesome tone and some epic "licks".

LAteralus, by Tool. Besides all the effect going on, there's some serious playing there, odd times, the cleverest guitar-bass conjunction since King Crimson. (another great band to learn some sick playing and song writing)

Fragile and Close to The Edge, by Yes. Or Yessongs: Squire is such a tasteful composer, really, it gives me goosebumps. Specially the title song from the second one.

Deathblade Eric · #18 02-02-2010, 08:46 PM

Led Zep II & most Beatles albums.

maestrovert · #19 02-02-2010, 09:02 PM

i'll add a few albums from the Jazz vein

Danny Gatton & Joey DeFrancesco: Relentless

Wes Montgomery: The Incredible Jazz Guitar of Wes Montgomery

Joni Mitchell: Mingus

Joe Gress · #20 02-02-2010, 09:18 PM

Primus - Frizzle Fry. Tons of different styles and licks throughout that any bassist could benefit from.

Rage Against the Machine - Rage Against the Machine. Great album with again a ton of different styles and riffs that are great to learn.

moe. - No Doy. I would recommend this album to anyone. Great licks, great playing, and a great sense of refinement from Rob on this one.

Cream - Live from the four disc set that came out a while ago. Jebsus, this is what every rock trio should sound like. Jack Bruce, Eric, and Gingers playing all fit so well together.