• TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
    Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
    Join free Log in
    Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.

101 songs that a bass player should know...

#61
As far as which songs bassplayers should "know"...well, the answers to that question are entirely relative, of course.
Personally, I can only speak from the point of view of the bonafide Funkateer that I am. If you like funky basslines, why not check out my two cents worth....? :bassist:

Glide - Pleasure (Nathaniel Phillips)
Slide - Slave (Mark Adams)
Stomp! - The Brothers Johnson (Louis Johnson)
Fresh - Tyrone Brunson
Just the Two of Us - Grover Washington Jr(Marcus Miller)
The Awakening - The Reddings (Dexter Redding)
Fantasy - Earth, Wind & Fire (Verdine White)
Forget Me Nots - Patrice Rushen (Ready Freddie Washington)
Do I Do - Stevie Wonder (?)
The Jam - Graham Central Station (Larry Graham)
Rise - Herb Alpert (Abe Laboriel)
Le Freak - Chic (Bernard Edwards)
Smooth Operator - Sade (Paul S. Denman).....just to name a few.

FUNK: (noun) pronunciation(Phunk)
definition: "The inside outside"!


Kind Regards,
The SpiritualMack.
 
#63
:rolleyes: I mean, don't we need to know what the bass player's objectives are? What genre of music do you intent to play? Are you looking for a Wedding/Corporate band? Club band? College Circuit? I mean is anyone ever going to play Lionel Ritchie and Slipknot in the same show? :eek:
 
#64
i knoooow i knooooow.. You guys just see too far.. my first goal was more "phylosophycal" ( sorry for this word, i'm french canadian you know :D )

The question is what's the song that you feel important ( bass-relative and not ) for the Popular music to know, as working musician, as citizen, as human with culture... as BASS PLAYER! :hyper:





maybe i'm going to far this time :hiding:
 
#70
marcusalan said:
I'll try to answer the question to the best of my ability without being subjective...
Click to expand...

There's no way to answer this question without being highly subjective. I mean its asking for an opinion after all.

I've been a professional musician for nearly 33 years and I haven't heard of half of these tunes. Because I don't listen to or play a lot of rock and never listen to FM radio. This is more like a "this is my favorite bass song" thread. And its heavily biased toward rock. More of a representation of the personal tastes of the members of this forum than a useful list of songs every bassist should know.

Of course, I could make a list of a hundred tunes that I think are relevant that most of you guys probably have never heard of too. ;)

Not that there's anything wong with that, but lets be realistic about it. :p
 
#72
WesC said:
I've been a professional musician for nearly 33 years and I haven't heard of half of these tunes. Because I don't listen to or play a lot of rock and never listen to FM radio.
Click to expand...

That's definitely strange, considering I do not listen to FM radio, or radio, or television either and yet I've been badgered to know these tunes by other guys for any given ensemble.
 
#76
marcusalan said:
That's definitely strange, considering I do not listen to FM radio, or radio, or television either and yet I've been badgered to know these tunes by other guys for any given ensemble.
Click to expand...

It all depends on the group you're playing with. Of course, if you don't listen to a particular song or style you won't know it, then you have to go and learn it. But I don't think that makes it a "must know" for every bassist. Oddly I'm confused as to why someone would be playing in a band who's material they aren't familiar with. I've seen a lot of that and it never ceases to surprise me. ;)

But that's a different kind of "must know" as in.. "to be in our band you must know these songs"

For me a "must know" song is one that set a precendence for or redefines a whole style of playing. Something that by learning it will give you an extension of your musical vocabulary that you can use over and over again. And a lot of times that is tied to a great trend-setting bassist as well, guys like James Jamerson, Ron Carter, Jaco Pastorius, Stanley Clarke, Larry Graham, Donald Duck Dunn, Verdine White, etc... So many people today have modeled their styles off of guys like these and the songs that they played on.

Frankly, I don't see that with some of the stuff listed in this thread. Its simply pop/rock stuff which is all derivitive and not breaking any ground or redefining the bass--or the style. That doesn't mean that the tunes aren't/can't be good or the players are not good either, just that the tunes aren't really "must know" material.

I mean really, Brown Eyed Girl??? C'mon! I suppose its a must know if you want to be in a wedding band in the MidWest, LOL! :D But you really aren't learning anything to make you a better bassist by knowing it.
 
#77
WesC said:
It all depends on the group you're playing with. Of course, if you don't listen to a particular song or style you won't know it, then you have to go and learn it. But I don't think that makes it a "must know" for every bassist. Oddly I'm confused as to why someone would be playing in a band who's material they aren't familiar with. I've seen a lot of that and it never ceases to surprise me. ;)

But that's a different kind of "must know" as in.. "to be in our band you must know these songs"

For me a "must know" song is one that set a precendence for or redefines a whole style of playing. Something that by learning it will give you an extension of your musical vocabulary that you can use over and over again. And a lot of times that is tied to a great trend-setting bassist as well, guys like James Jamerson, Ron Carter, Jaco Pastorius, Stanley Clarke, Larry Graham, Donald Duck Dunn, Verdine White, etc... So many people today have modeled their styles off of guys like these and the songs that they played on.

Frankly, I don't see that with some of the stuff listed in this thread. Its simply pop/rock stuff which is all derivitive and not breaking any ground or redefining the bass--or the style. That doesn't mean that the tunes aren't/can't be good or the players are not good either, just that the tunes aren't really "must know" material.

I mean really, Brown Eyed Girl??? C'mon! I suppose its a must know if you want to be in a wedding band in the MidWest, LOL! :D But you really aren't learning anything to make you a better bassist by knowing it.
Click to expand...

I completely agree with you on all of the greats you mentioned above - however, I came into this thread under the impression that the tunes were "must knows" for all-purpose situations. I highly doubt that I'd show up to an ensemble and have the lead tell me, "Okay, hope you know (Used To Be A) Cha-Cha."

Other that that, I concur with your abovesaid.
 

Latest posts

Top Bottom
Back