finerstyle funk bassists?

mr mastodon · #1 10-21-2009, 06:10 PM

i'm a huge jamerson fanatic and have worked on a lot of his lines. trying to get a hold of the book on duck dunn. anyways, i'm looking for artists, albums and songs with great fingerstyle funk lines. sort of in the vein of "good times" or "oil in the ground" (the only tower of power song i've heard).

any recommendations? i hardly know any prestia or chic lines, so if y'all have some recs there. anything is welcome really.

hope this is in the right forum.

edit: sorry about misspelling the title. i am a schmo.

T-Funk · #2 10-21-2009, 06:59 PM

It does not get much better than Prestia and Edwards for old school finger-style funk.

Check out some of the recordings by Groove Collective, Brand New Heavies and Incognito. All three are considered Acid Jazz groups, but their bass players are awesome at laying down the finger-style funk.

mr mastodon · #3 10-21-2009, 07:01 PM

cool. will do.

any particular ToP/CHIC records you'd recommend off the top of your head. again, thanks so much!

Fuzzbass · #4 10-21-2009, 07:09 PM

Rocco, mos def!

This will seem odd, but I'll mention Peter "Mars" Cowling of the Pat Travers Band. They did a progressive hard rock kinda thing, but could still be funky in a rock way. The live "Go For What You Know" album is classic.

T-Funk · #5 10-21-2009, 07:09 PM

I have the following Chic CD, which will give you the majority of their hits:

http://www.amazon.com/Dance-Best-Chi...p_ob_m_image_1

Chic also produced other groups, such as Sister Sledge, which might be another option to look for more of Benard Edward's playing in action.

For ToP, I have the following CD:

http://www.amazon.com/What-Hip-Tower...6173614&sr=1-2

My favorite ToP song is "What is Hip". The bass line is amazing.

I hope this helps.

mr mastodon · #6 10-21-2009, 07:12 PM

awesome! thanks a ton for the suggestions, guys! i'll check each and every one of 'em out.

Bulltrout · #7 10-21-2009, 07:16 PM

PMd you on the Duck Dunn book

Toronto Bassist · #8 10-21-2009, 09:24 PM

Paul Jackson of the Headhunters, of course.

Muyy · #9 10-21-2009, 09:39 PM

jaco, like he needed to be mentioned.... and a guy ive been getting into recently is gary willis, with tribal tech

Toronto Bassist · #10 10-21-2009, 10:26 PM

Also, Jerry Jemmott

jerry · #11 10-21-2009, 11:03 PM

Paul Jackson with the Headhunters!

bass12 · #12 10-22-2009, 12:46 AM

The two Chic albums to have are "C'est Chic" and "Risqué", but it's also worth having the "Dance, Dance, Dance: The Best Of " compilation on Atlantic Records for some other songs not on those other two albums ("Everybody Dance" is a killer track featuring Edwards' "chucking" style). The Sister Sledge album "We Are Family" is definitely worth picking up also.

My favourite TOP album is "Back To Oakland".

You definitely have to check out some Earth, Wind & Fire. I'd recommend "That's The Way Of The World" and "All 'N' All" - two classics that showcase the great talent of Verdine White.

Me'shell Ndegéocello - one of THE funkiest players ever. Check out "Plantation Lullabies":

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3U5oU8KdE3E

Of course, Bootsy Collins with James Brown. Check out "In The Jungle Groove" and anything that has "Get Up I Feel Like Being A Sex Machine" on it. Don't underestimate the groove on "Sex Machine" - it's one of those lines that everyone thinks they can play, but very few actually play it the way Bootsy did.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pf5CqSDgiLU

The Meters, both as an independent act and as a backing band.

The Crusaders with Robert "Pops" Popwell - very underrated player. Check out "Those Southern Knights":

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qYknp...eature=related

The band Pleasure with Nathaniel Phillips on bass :

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZncrEEJwNGw

paul_wolfe · #13 10-22-2009, 04:45 AM

If you're gonna get into ROCCO then you should check out his instructional video - it's called Fingerstyle Funk. You can't get it on DVD but you CAN get it as a downloadable M4V file (so it will play on your computer, your iPod, your IPhone) - that's very cool.

Also he did a book called SITTING IN with Rocco that's worth getting too. And there's a published book with a string of his basslines in notation and tab form. It hink it's called TOWER OF POWER for bass.

Off the top of my head here's a top 5 Rocco tracks to check out:

1) Credit - amazing fingerstyle shuffle
2) What Is Hip - nuff said?
3) Only So Much Oil IN THe Ground - amazing tune, great bassline. Marlowe just did a playalong on www.youplayalong.com - very inspirational
4) Mr Toad's Wild Ride - from the Monster on A Leash album. Anm instrumental check. GREAT bassline
5) Happy Bout That - From Oakland Zone. Another great shuffle line.

HTH