Stevie Wonder: Superstition

[Growler]

So I attended the Stevie Wonder concert last night, and at the end they played Superstition. However, the bassist, Nathan Watts, put down his bass during the song and played what looked like a tiny organ/keyboard.

Just thought this was odd.

[fenderhutz]

I thought I heard organ/keyboard on the recorded version. Doesn't seem odd to me.

[LumpyGravy]

Check out Beck, Bogert and Appice's version of Superstition. I really dig the groove.

[Johnny StingRay]

Originally Posted by LumpyGravy

Check out Beck, Bogert and Appice's version of Superstition. I really dig the groove.

+1+1+1 Oh, I totally forgot about that until just this second! Thank you for mentioning them. I remember when I attended Michigan State in the late 70s and was just learning to play bass. I even had a purple t-shirt with yellow lettering "Beck Bogart Appice". That was a great song and what a great trio! Thanks for the memories.
Johnny

[LumpyGravy]

Originally Posted by Johnny StingRay

+1+1+1 Oh, I totally forgot about that until just this second! Thank you for mentioning them. I remember when I attended Michigan State in the late 70s and was just learning to play bass. I even had a purple t-shirt with yellow lettering "Beck Bogart Appice". That was a great song and what a great trio! Thanks for the memories.
Johnny

Amazing! I wish I could've seen them perform. Carmine would make anyone's bassplaying a lot of fun. Same with his brother Vinnie! Not excuse me while I find BBA and put it on!

[Lalabadie]

Originally Posted by LumpyGravy

Check out Beck, Bogert and Appice's version of Superstition. I really dig the groove.

Check out the band named Wide Mouth Mason, too. They make a great version of it.

EDIT: There it is

http://www.myspace.com/widemouthmason

[CapnSev]

The bassline is done on keys in the recording. If you want to see a bassline over the Stevie Wonder version, I suggest looking for the Sesame Street version on Youtube.

[wld3]

Originally Posted by Lalabadie

Check out the band named Wide Mouth Mason, too. They make a great version of it.

Very cool. I also liked their take on Billie Jean.

[JimK]

Originally Posted by CapnSev

The bassline is done on keys in the recording.

A clavinet is playing the funky 'bass-like' figure...IIRC, though, there is a simple root-based electric bass on the track...played by Stevie Wonder.
Awhile ago, someone posted their youtube link of them playing it (along with the recording).

Quincy Jones also had an arrangement of "Superstition"...it's on the I Heard That! double LP from about '76. IIRC, there are 2 electric bass parts...Louis Johnson & Stanley Clarke. It's been awhile so I may need to re-visit that in order to verify it.

[JimK]

Originally Posted by LumpyGravy

Check out Beck, Bogert and Appice's version of Superstition. I really dig the groove.

Supposedly, Wonder wrote the tune for Jeff Beck...and then Wonder's version was released & took off.

[Bruce Lindfield]

I saw them play in Brighton in 74 and this was a highlight - blew the roof off the place!

[mrufino1]

Superstition is definitely synth bass, and was (I would assume) performed by Stevie himself. The multitrack of this is available if you know where to look, and it is very enlightening to hear.

[JimK]

There was no synth bass in '72...the keyboard is a Hohner clavinet.

Pretty sure Stevie is credited with playing bass & drums (for that track) on the album's liner notes.

[climb]

The opening groove of Superstition is a Hohner Clavinet, Model "C". Along with Bernie Worrell, Stevie is probably the funkiest clav player (not to mention harmonica) ever, and Superstition is probably his best clav lick. When the brass enters the original recording, a bass line doubles the brass line, and this is not a clav. I have a Clavinet D6, and it's great for bass, but more midrangey, crunchy, and biting. Works fantastic with a wah pedal. Meshell Ndege Ocello has recorded bass lines using a clav as well.

For any of you guys that play some keys and want an instrument that feels like it's living and breathing, you gotta try one of these. The tactile feedback is great. You can feel the strings vibrating through the keys. They come up occasionally through Ebay, but definitely a worthy alternative to traditional bass GAS.

[mrufino1]

Originally Posted by JimK

There was no synth bass in '72...the keyboard is a Hohner clavinet.

Pretty sure Stevie is credited with playing bass & drums (for that track) on the album's liner notes.

Sure there was, the Moog was definitely around in 1972. When I am listening to the bass track soloed, it definitely doesn't sound like a clav, and there are lots of bends and glides that I don't think a clav can do. I don't know, I am not a keyboard expert, but I am pretty sure it is a moog doing the bass there. I can't post it, but if you search for superstition multitrack you should be able to find it and hear it. If it is a clav, then I would like to know and would defer to more seasoned keyboard ears than mine. As a study (and gray area legal issues aside) it is an amazing piece and it is wild how he recorded it- 8 tracks of clav, 2 parts, sounds like maybe multiple mics? Then 3 tracks of drums, 1 bass, 2 vocals, 2 tracks of horns, and there it is. Crazy how good he is, no matter what he used!

[CrashClint]

I think VH-1 Classics or one of the HD Channels had a special on Stevie Wonder not long ago. When the song was written, Stevie played all the instruments. Back then he didn't have polyphonic synth, so each little part had to be laid down on a seperate track. It was amazing to watch how they built track upon track. There are like six tracks to make the melody line the synth plays. The bass part was done on keys. I have love and have a great appreciation of Stevie's music, but after watching that special it made me realize what a musical genius.

He used two different keyboards on the Superstition.

[mrufino1]

The main part, which is 6 tracks, is definitely a clav and it is polyphonic. If those are overdubs, then wow is he tight- it sounded like each track was a different mic that was then later used to shape the sound in the mix, but it is possible he very tightly doubled parts using different sounds. I am not really familiar with the workings of a real clav, just the sound, so I don't know what the options are for varying sounds. The synth was used for bass, and it would have been a monophonic moog for sure. Switched on Bach was done 1 line at a time like you described because it was monophonic. In the end, the song is unreal with a killer groove, so that's really all that matters anyway.

[Bruce Lindfield]

Originally Posted by JimK

There was no synth bass in '72...the keyboard is a Hohner clavinet.

Pretty sure Stevie is credited with playing bass & drums (for that track) on the album's liner notes.

On the Musiquariam CD it says Stevie Wonder All instruments apart from trumpet and sax.

[JimK]

Originally Posted by mrufino1

Sure there was, the Moog was definitely around in 1972.

OK, true...and the mellotron, I guess, being the 1st 'sampler' was out, also.
Hopefully, I will remember to pull out the LP tonight & check out what the liners say.

[D.Don]

Originally Posted by mrufino1

The main part, which is 6 tracks, is definitely a clav and it is polyphonic. If those are overdubs, then wow is he tight- it sounded like each track was a different mic that was then later used to shape the sound in the mix, but it is possible he very tightly doubled parts using different sounds. I am not really familiar with the workings of a real clav, just the sound, so I don't know what the options are for varying sounds. The synth was used for bass, and it would have been a monophonic moog for sure. Switched on Bach was done 1 line at a time like you described because it was monophonic. In the end, the song is unreal with a killer groove, so that's really all that matters anyway.

The riff is told to be dubbed, I recall it consist of 3 parts played on top of each other. Friend of mine went to KIT in LA som 10-15 years ago and had a teacher who'd been touring with Mr. Wonder and got the word from him.

D.Don