Early Rock and Roll Pointers

[sqadan]

Hi all...

I am fairly new to the bass - I have been playing guitar for about 10 years and drums for 22... So I have a good grounding in rhythm and some good background in music theory...

I have recently decided to concentrate full time on learning the bass guitar with the intent to join a band and play out at some point in the near future...

An opportunity was offered to me to perhaps sub for the bass player in a Carl Perkins / Blasters type roots rock band. I have always loved this kind of music - but have not really spent a lot of time learning these types of songs on the bass (or the guitar for that matter)...

Could anyone provide me with some advice in terms of what to learn / listen to to really get a feel for this style and what I should do to sound as authentic as possible? Are there any good instructional materials that cover the rockabilly / early rock stuff for the bass guitar?

Thanks in advance!

[JTE]

Sounds like fun!! It's pretty simple stuff harmonically, basic boogie patterns will cover most of what you need. Lot's is hard to hear clearly which can be frustrating if you're trying to recreated exactly what's on a a particular recording, or it can be very liberating of your focus is on getting the feel and sound. And I think the feel is most important with this kind of stuff. Root 3 5 6 b7 octave is your friend!

For similar stuff that's well recorded, listen to the early Fabulous Thunderbirds stuff with Keith Ferguson on bass ("What's The Word" and "Los Fabulosos Thunderbirds" are my favorite albums from that part of the band's life). Also of course is listening to the original recordings- Little Richard, Elvis, Carl Perkins, Jerry Lee Lewis, Gene Vincent, Ricky Nelson, and the king of 'em all, Chuck Berry.

John

[sqadan]

Thanks JTE...

Yeah - I have noticed that it's very difficult to hear exactly what's happening with the bass on many tracks from this era...

I certainly hear a lot of playing in box and boogie patterns and lot's of root / 5th happening... What would you say are the essential elements of the feel?

[MalcolmAmos]

IMHO - nothing fancy. Like has been said roots, fives, eights with an occionsal 3 will be fine.

If you are having a hard time hearing the bass in those songs -- so will the audience -- just keep it simple, the beat is the thing -- no one is going to be able to hear what note you are using anyway. Just keep the beat going. Develop a groove and hang with what is happening.

[Deathblade Eric]

Three words...

Less is more.

A lot of this stuff was hammered out on a DB by young guys who weren't formally trained - kind of like the Punk Ethic 20 years later - so the odds are that they just didn't have the technique or knowledge to pull off more dextrous walking basslines. What they did have was energy by the metric ****load.

Listen to as much R 'n' R as you can, & try to get into 'Double Bass Space' (flats and a foam mute may help too). R-3-5-8 and variants thereof will cover most of it. A great compilation I stumbled across is "Loud, Fast & Out of Control - The Wild Sounds of the '50s"

A couple of choice cuts...

Vince Taylor & his Playboys - Brand New Cadillac
Carl Perkins - Put Your Cat Clothes On

Nothin' to 'em! That's the challenge

[Rockmusician]

Listen to Carl Perkins. The Beatles and Elvis were heavily influenced by Perkins especially early in their careers. Listen to some of their early stuff.

[sqadan]

Thanks for the replies everyone...

I have a Road Worn 50's P-bass that is going to get strung with flats for this purpose - so I think tone wise I'll be OK...

Eric- Is that comp. available on iTunes by any chance? Def. going to spend some time doing as much listening as I can.

[Deathblade Eric]

Originally Posted by sqadan

Is that comp. available on iTunes/Spotify by any chance? Def. going to spend some time doing as much listening as I can.

No idea tbh. But I'll bet most of the tracks are on iTunes in one form or another. Amazon have it, but the pricing seems a little ambitious - I got lucky & found a copy in a charity shop in London. Bargain-tastic!

There are loads of compilations out there (supermarkets & filling stations usually have at least one), but make sure they're by the orginal artists & not some studio session cover band.

A few Artist suggestions...

Early Elvis (Sun Sessions etc) - Bill Black FTW.
Eddie Cochran
Gene Vincent
Billy Lee Riley ('Flyin' Saucers Rock & Roll' and 'Red Hot')
Jerry Lee
Fats Domino
Little Richard
Bill Haley (although I find his stuff a little sanitised)
Carl Perkins (wrote a good amount of the standard repertoire)
Johnny Burnette (Train Kept A-Rollin' and 'Honey Hush' amongst others)
Louis Prima (more Jazz 'n' Roll though)

There are some great 'Best Of' comps around from these guys. Shouldn't bust the bank either.

Also, an honourable mention to Brian Setzer. Check out 'Rockabilly Riot, A Tribute to Sun Records' on the Surfdog label. Pretty faithful covers of some cracking tunes, but using modern recording techniques... Loud, Wide, & you can hear everything!

Pete.

[mcm]

only thing you need to do is learn how to walk a blues bassline, which most people cannot do well. listen to tommy shannon of double trouble. if you can cop him halfway, you will be on your way. btw, the blasters kick ass