Favorite song to play live (cover bands)

roccobladr · #1 08-31-2009, 01:17 PM

i just love playing You Oughta Know by Alanis Morrissette. we have a female singer first off, so she just kills it, but the bass line to it you can add a little funk even though its just two notes pretty much.

what are some of your favorite bass lines to cover?

73jbass · #2 08-31-2009, 01:30 PM

30 days in the Hole by Humble Pie,Never Been Any Reason by Head East,and Piece of my Heart by Janice Joplin.

CPplaysBASS · #3 08-31-2009, 01:36 PM

Pump It Up - Elvis Costello ... from both a playing and audience reaction perspective.

Deathwatch · #4 08-31-2009, 01:50 PM

Ruin by Lamb of God, just so much energy in that song. Though I also like playing For Whom The Bell Tolls by Metallica because of the bass parts, as a bassist you get way more into it.

jgroh · #5 08-31-2009, 01:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by roccobladr

i just love playing You Oughta Know by Alanis Morrissette. we have a female singer first off, so she just kills it, but the bass line to it you can add a little funk even though its just two notes pretty much.

what are some of your favorite bass lines to cover?

Yep, I like playing that one too. We have a female singer too and she can belt. It gives me a chance to bust out my fretless too!

Others:

Spirit of Radio by Rush

Carry on My Wayward Son by Kansas (never liked this song much until we started playing it...its just fun to play)

Sweet Emotion by Aerosmith

Good Times Bad Times by Led Zeppelin (two fun little bass solos in there)

BigOldHarry · #6 08-31-2009, 01:59 PM

Current fav? "I Wish", Stevie Wonder. That's just plain FUN.

Phalex · #7 08-31-2009, 02:14 PM

Killin Floor - Howlin Wolf. Usually ends the second set and makes me all sweaty!

dangnewt · #8 08-31-2009, 02:16 PM

Sunshine of Your Love - it is one of the most recognizable bass lines out there and it is one of the ones I can play reasonably well.

All guitarists love to play this song and mine is no exception. My drummer doesn't love the song as much as me the guitarist but he plays it well.
Our singer is old enough to have bought the album when it came out so he totally gets (and delivers) the vibe of the song.

old-fashioned · #9 08-31-2009, 02:20 PM

Killing In The Name / Rage Against The Machine

pjmuck · #10 08-31-2009, 02:25 PM

There are many songs in my band's repertoire that are a lot of fun to play but I wouldn't be caught dead listening to. Case in point, my band plays a lot of cover songs that I personally can't stand, but I'm finding that they're fun to play. Case in point: John Mellancamp's version of Van Morrison's "Wild Night" has a cool bass line courtesy of Me'Shell NegeOcello.

winstonthecat · #11 08-31-2009, 02:30 PM

In my current band, "Sweet Child of Mine" and "Santeria".

In the past, one of my favs has been "White Rabbit" by the Jefferson Airplane. Iconic opening riff that gets a great audience response (especially the older audience!)

RDUB · #12 08-31-2009, 02:32 PM

Lately it's Slither by Velvet Revolver. Strictly a riff tune, but it's a fun riff! We also do Good Times Bad Times, which is really kind of funky.

There are a couple above that I should look at again, like I Wish, which also brings to mind Sir Duke.

And on the topic of Cream, Crossroads is a blast, with lots of ad lib possibilities.

winstonthecat · #13 08-31-2009, 02:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pjmuck

There are many songs in my band's repertoire that are a lot of fun to play but I wouldn't be caught dead listening to. Case in point, my band plays a lot of cover songs that I personally can't stand, but I'm finding that they're fun to play. Case in point: John Mellancamp's version of Van Morrison's "Wild Night" has a cool bass line courtesy of Me'Shell NegeOcello.

Same thing here. We're adding "Livin' On a Prayer". I never listened to this kind of stuff back in the 80's (preferred punk), but it is a fun song to play.

LBronson · #14 08-31-2009, 02:43 PM

Head East's "Never Been any Reason", Magic Carpet ride, Higher Ground. Love playing them and the crowd gets up and has a great time.

Clammy · #15 08-31-2009, 02:50 PM

Some of my favourites from back in my cover band days were "So What" (Metallica's version of the Anti-Nowhere League tune), Last Caress by the Misfits, How Will I Laugh Tomorrow by Suicidal Tendencies, Seek And Destroy by Metallica, In My Darkest Hour by Megadeth, anything by MOTORHEAD! Killing In The Name Of by rage always got the crowd going.

Cheers!

RTL · #16 08-31-2009, 02:52 PM

I just love it when I'm filling in with a cover band and they throw some Elvis Costello at me. My faves are:

Everyday I Write the Book
(I don't want to go to) Chelsea
Accidents Will Happen
Oliver's Army

Funny thing is, 99% of the time I hear "Wow.. I think you're the first guy we've worked with who plays the right bassline."

NeKaS · #17 08-31-2009, 03:26 PM

I really love Hysteria by Muse

scootron · #18 08-31-2009, 04:09 PM

Love Shack.

The bass isn't difficult, but it's a fun song for the band. Plus, it never fails to get all the girls out of their chairs and on the dance floor.

roccobladr · #19 08-31-2009, 08:23 PM

another fun bass line in a song we do is Ramble On by Led Zeppelin. makes me wanna rock out justthinkin about it!

Auriaprottu · #20 08-31-2009, 08:35 PM

Never was in a cover band, but I was in some bands that played a cover per set for the halibut. These are some of my faves from those days:

Dogs- Pink Floyd
Helter Skelter-Beatles
I Burn For You- Sting/Police
Comfortably Numb- Floyd
Tomorrow Never Knows- Beatles
Exit- U2