ID the bassists for these tunes?

[Stingraymund]

* Who did the tasty slap bass work for Naked Eyes' 1982 hit "Promises, Promises"?

* Who played fretless on Eric Clapton's "Tears in Heaven" (the studio version, not the MTV Unplugged version)? I heard it on the radio yesterday and there's massive MWAH in every note...Sounded like a trombone! Also, what did this bassist use?

[willgroove2]

Originally Posted by Stingraymund

* Who did the tasty slap bass work for Naked Eyes' 1982 hit "Promises, Promises"?

* Who played fretless on Eric Clapton's "Tears in Heaven" (the studio version, not the MTV Unplugged version)? I heard it on the radio yesterday and there's massive MWAH in every note...Sounded like a trombone! Also, what did this bassist use?

don't know about the first one but the second is nathan east i think,great sound on that track

[Nick Bibeault]

I think "tears in heaven" studio version was done by Lee Sklar.

[Woodchuck]

Originally Posted by Stingraymund

* Who did the tasty slap bass work for Naked Eyes' 1982 hit "Promises, Promises"?

Someone once mentioned the Nick Beggs (Kajagoogoo) played that line.

[Davehenning]

Originally Posted by Stingraymund

* Who did the tasty slap bass work for Naked Eyes' 1982 hit "Promises, Promises"?

* Who played fretless on Eric Clapton's "Tears in Heaven" (the studio version, not the MTV Unplugged version)? I heard it on the radio yesterday and there's massive MWAH in every note...Sounded like a trombone! Also, what did this bassist use?

"Tears in Heaven" is the inimitable Pino Paladino. He did very similar playing with Paul Young in the 80's. Pino is an incredible fretless player as well as a great meat&potatoes groover.

I am not sure what Pino used on that tune, but for years he used a vintage MusicMan Stingray that was a factory fretless.

[Stingraymund]

Originally Posted by Davehenning

"Tears in Heaven" is the inimitable Pino Paladino. He did very similar playing with Paul Young in the 80's. Pino is an incredible fretless player as well as a great meat&potatoes groover.

I am not sure what Pino used on that tune, but for years he used a vintage MusicMan Stingray that was a factory fretless.

Can you verify this? I'm a Pino freak and I am pretty sure it's NOT Pino. Nevertheless, I know for sure it's NOT a Stingray, since I also own a fretless Stingray, and even though it can Mwah, it can't sound like a trombone like the recording does.
The fretless Ray is more vocal and "throaty"-sounding.

And I know it's probably not Nathan East either, though he did play in the MTV Unplugged version (that one's keyed down a bit, wasn't it?).

[JimK]

Originally Posted by Stingraymund

* Who did the tasty slap bass work for Naked Eyes' 1982 hit "Promises, Promises"?

I have the original album...the back cover has the list of "Additional Musicians"-
Tony Mansfield is listed as bassist. No Nick Beggs listed...I always assumed "Promises, Promises" was synth bass, it's that clean & it was a bear for me trying to dupe that intro when it goes to the "D".

* Who played fretless on Eric Clapton's "Tears in Heaven" (the studio version, not the MTV Unplugged version)? I heard it on the radio yesterday and there's massive MWAH in every note...Sounded like a trombone! Also, what did this bassist use?

I always assumed this was Pino...Clapton used Pino on the Journeyman album("Bad Love"?). Was this in the same time frame?
Anyway, "Tears In Heaven" vibe reminds me of "New York Minute".
My guess is Pino.

[Davehenning]

Originally Posted by Stingraymund

Can you verify this? I'm a Pino freak and I am pretty sure it's NOT Pino. Nevertheless, I know for sure it's NOT a Stingray, since I also own a fretless Stingray, and even though it can Mwah, it can't sound like a trombone like the recording does.
The fretless Ray is more vocal and "throaty"-sounding.

And I know it's probably not Nathan East either, though he did play in the MTV Unplugged version (that one's keyed down a bit, wasn't it?).

You know what, I think I was wrong. I think it is Nathan East on the studio version complimenting the song with the best Pino/Jaco imitation I have ever heard. I have no idea what bass was used. The song was originaly from the "Rush" soundtrack?

As for the Stingray, I have owned a fretless Ray for years and I can get tons of mwah/trombone-like tone on it. But I have no idea what bass is on that recording.

[JimK]

I checked AMG...Rush has 2 bassists listed, East & Tim Drummond.
I would bet the farm that it was not Drummond; I know he played with James Brown way back when & also Neil Young (Harvest).
I guess it's East.

[Stingraymund]

Originally Posted by Davehenning

As for the Stingray, I have owned a fretless Ray for years and I can get tons of mwah/trombone-like tone on it. But I have no idea what bass is on that recording.

Hmmm...What kind of strings? You use flats or rounds?

[Davehenning]

Originally Posted by Stingraymund

Hmmm...What kind of strings? You use flats or rounds?

I use rounds, but I rarely change them.(they are quite crusty in fact I also find that EQ, set-up and touch all play a huge factor. I don't know if I could get that exact tone on "tears" but I can definitely get very close with my 'Ray.

[secretdonkey]

I looked at Pino's discography as listed in his recent BassPlaguer feature. Shows him on the Clapton albums Journeyman, Pilgrim and Reptile -- none of which contain the Tears in Heaven cut. Not conclusive, but there you go.

Okay, now to hijack the thread slightly -- who played on Howard Jones' Things can Only Get Better?

[berklee46]

Originally Posted by secretdonkey

Okay, now to hijack the thread slightly -- who played on Howard Jones' Things can Only Get Better?

That track is done with a synth.
Although if you get a chance, pick his "Perform.01" CD. It's a live-in-the-studio CD with Nick Beggs playing bass. What a great player.

[Stingraymund]

Originally Posted by secretdonkey

Okay, now to hijack the thread slightly -- who played on Howard Jones' Things can Only Get Better?

It was Howard's E-mu Systems Emulator II sampler

(I'm also a keyboardist, so I keep track of these things)
Though his brother Martin Jones played bass during his 1985 "Dream Into Action" tour.

[secretdonkey]

Hee! I suspected it was a synth, but I could never fully convince myself - the "slap" sound isn't quite natural, but it is very well done - the way the line is constructed sounds convincing, IMO, unlike many obviously keyed basslines of the era.

...and now I know!

[JimK]

So is it an E-mu on "Promises, Promises"?
...sounds like it's in the same park as the Howard Jones' tune.

[Stingraymund]

Originally Posted by JimK

So is it an E-mu on "Promises, Promises"?
...sounds like it's in the same park as the Howard Jones' tune.

No, it's definitely a real slap bass on "Promises Promises." Listen closely, you'll hear the legato hammer-ons and slides. Back then those things were kind of impossible to do with a bass sample.

On the Howard Jones song, ithe bass has the same kind of timbre regardless of which note is played. Not only that, but I seem to think that was one of the factory slap bass samples that came with the instrument.

[ArnoldoAC]

TEARS IN HEAVEN = Totally sure it was Nathan East. He recorded two bass lines. He used a Guild fretless acoustic bass guitar. He usually changes the line every time he plays the song live and it sounds very different how he has been playing it recently with a Yamaha FRETTED acoustic bass guitar.

[Woodchuck]

Originally Posted by JimK

I have the original album...the back cover has the list of "Additional Musicians"-
Tony Mansfield is listed as bassist. No Nick Beggs listed...I always assumed "Promises, Promises" was synth bass, it's that clean & it was a bear for me trying to dupe that intro when it goes to the "D".

Wow, you would think that an editor would've caught that. Great job.

[JimK]

Woods-
So is it Beggs on "Promises, Promises"?

...or is it Louis Johnson?