Double Bass 2 man band repertoire?

[EddiePlaysBass]

I spoke with the singer of my old rockabilly band about doing a 2 man band. He will sing and play guitar, I will play electric upright, sing backings and eventually also play ukulele, guitar or percussion depending on the needs of the songs and arrangements we do.

This will be fun because, like Guitar George, he plays strictly rhythm. I will be adding melodies and solos here and there.

We have some tunes in mind by Johnny Cash, Elvis, Hank Williams etc. The idea is to play Blues and country so I was wondering who has had similar projects, what were your experiences and what was on the repertoire?

 

[theduke1]

I don’t know where you are located, but here in NE Wisconsin smaller is in only thing booking here.
Duos and three piece are it. There is one local four man that I sub in for that works steady and my trio has enough work but the two man gets most of the open gigs
In this area it’s all about cost and ASCAP/BMI and the penalties for one too many.
People don’t drink or stay out as long around here like in the 70s/80s so the cash flow is not there.
So
All that said
Pick songs that you can do well together and all will be fine
Good luck and keep us informed as to your progress
Duke

 

[EddiePlaysBass]

I live in Belgium (Europe) and yes, i do think marketing wise we would have a good shot. The initial idea was to just jam, cos the singer does not like gigging much. However he started suggesting gigs the other day so who knows? Could be fun!

 

[BobKay]

I can give you my experience playing with just one other person. We live in southwest Florida where a significant portion of the live music scene is playing in bars, private parties around pools, street festivals, etc. Add to that, that many of the people who make up your audience are on vacation. So, with that introduction, I play with a person with a very large repertoire of tunes from the 60s - 70s - 80s - 90s. Covers pretty much everything from Jimmy Buffett to Zac Brown and lots in-between, including Eagles, Stones, Beatles, Clapton, Chapin, Petty, Young, CCR, CSN, Cash, Prine - you get the picture. All cover tunes. The stuff that people want to hear when they come into a bar on vacation in the wintertime in southwest Florida. All vocals (I sing harmony on about half of the numbers), no originals and no instrumentals. He knows all of the intros and fills to the songs that make them almost instantly recognizable. We play a lot of happy hour gigs, from 5pm to 8pm, or 6pm to 9pm, with the occasional slot going to 10 or 11pm.

I know that a three hour gig of cover tunes is considered punishment by many musicians, but for me it's not an issue. I came late in life to playing this kind of material, and I really like playing all of the tunes, and most important, the audience gets involved. There are certainly people who want to hear a "concert," but in our situation there are more people who want to hear material they know.

So, from my very limited perspective, I'd say: "figure out what kind of audience you want to entertain, and build your show around that." We are very comfortable doing what many people would consider selling out. But for me, it's all about having fun. Plus, it's always fun when people walk into a bar and see an acoustic upright and don't know what it is.

 

[BobKay]

And I should have added that playing music that people want to hear encourages them to buy more alcohol and food. And for the bar owner, that's what is important. He or she probably could care less about the music, as long as it's filling the gaps in the conversations and keeping people in the establishment for longer than otherwise. Kind of crass, but true.

 

[delta7fred]

I'm late to the party as usual!

About 18 months ago my 60's band started an "acoustic" side project.

Guitarist on electro-acoustic guitar, me on EUB, drummer playing snare with brushes, all of us on vocals.

We also added a female uke player who also sings and has a lot of contacts for gigs.

Unfortunately the drummer didn't get that you can play quietly and didn't like most of our song suggestions*. We had provided him with lots of Youtube examples of drummers playing quietly and tastefully with brushes but he couldn't get away from what he had done for the last 50+ years, hit 'em hard and often, and 10 days before our first gig it all came to a head and we let him go.

We had the first gig a couple of weeks ago, Sunday afternoon in a trendy bar/coffee shop in a market area, we were well received. There wasn't a spare table while we were playing and as soon as we finished we got re-booked for a couple of months time.

We all fitted in one car, one trip load in and were home by 17:30, far better than unloading a ton of gear at 2AM!

We play a bit of everything, Elvis, Everly Brothers, Johnny Cash, Neil Young, Kinks, and stray into folk, rockabilly, Irish, if it is popular we play it. The set list will no doubt change quite a bit in the coming weeks as we see what works and what doesn't but I can post it if you are interested.

*If he had never heard a song or didn't like it then it was "rubbish" and not suitable. When we suggested Neil Young's Harvest Moon he asked "who's Neil Young". He has very narrow musical tastes, 60's/70's pop and a bit of popular jazz. It was like a weight had been lifted off the band when we let him go.

 

[BobKay]

I'm late to the party as usual!

About 18 months ago my 60's band started an "acoustic" side project.

Guitarist on electro-acoustic guitar, me on EUB, drummer playing snare with brushes, all of us on vocals.

We also added a female uke player who also sings and has a lot of contacts for gigs.

Unfortunately the drummer didn't get that you can play quietly and didn't like most of our song suggestions*. We had provided him with lots of Youtube examples of drummers playing quietly and tastefully with brushes but he couldn't get away from what he had done for the last 50+ years, hit 'em hard and often, and 10 days before our first gig it all came to a head and we let him go.

We had the first gig a couple of weeks ago, Sunday afternoon in a trendy bar/coffee shop in a market area, we were well received. There wasn't a spare table while we were playing and as soon as we finished we got re-booked for a couple of months time.

We all fitted in one car, one trip load in and were home by 17:30, far better than unloading a ton of gear at 2AM!

We play a bit of everything, Elvis, Everly Brothers, Johnny Cash, Neil Young, Kinks, and stray into folk, rockabilly, Irish, if it is popular we play it. The set list will no doubt change quite a bit in the coming weeks as we see what works and what doesn't but I can post it if you are interested.

*If he had never heard a song or didn't like it then it was "rubbish" and not suitable. When we suggested Neil Young's Harvest Moon he asked "who's Neil Young". He has very narrow musical tastes, 60's/70's pop and a bit of popular jazz. It was like a weight had been lifted off the band when we let him go.

You'll find a quote in someone's signature here on TB, attributed to Chet Baker, and paraphrased here: "It takes an exceptional drummer to be better than no drummer at all." Obviously, not universally true, but applicable in certain narrow situations, I would assume. Can't really comment because I've never had occasion to play with a drummer. Might be heaven, I just don't know.

 

[Don Kasper]

we let him go.

Was it (Drummer) Shelly Manne who said? - "So many drummers...so little time..."

 

[delta7fred]

You'll find a quote in someone's signature here on TB, attributed to Chet Baker, and paraphrased here: "It takes an exceptional drummer to be better than no drummer at all." Obviously, not universally true, but applicable in certain narrow situations, I would assume. Can't really comment because I've never had occasion to play with a drummer. Might be heaven, I just don't know.

I've seen that quote and it is universally true in my opinion. If you ever get chance to play with a really good drummer do it, it is a pleasure.

Don't get me wrong, our drummer is a great 60's drummer, he started gigging in 1964 and was a pro for several years playing 60's and 70's pop and that is really all he knows. This became very evident when we tried to get him to play a different style.

I've played in rock bands with good, bad and indifferent drummers. Good ones are a pleasure to play with, you can lock in with them and play as one unit, the result is greater then the sum of the parts. You can rely upon them and hopefully they can rely upon you.

Bad ones are far worse than no drummer at all, you never know where the beat is going to be so cannot lock in with, everything just sounds messy. Indifferent are well indifferent, you could play just as well or better without them.

 

[delta7fred]

Was it (Drummer) Shelly Manne who said? - "So many drummers...so little time..."

I was talking to a guitarist friend of mine (retired London session, film score and and pit orchestra) who said "it is no coincidence that the role of the drummer was the first to be mechanised (the drum machine).

 

[EddiePlaysBass]

@delta7fred, I would like to see that set list! Please feel free to post it here.

As for this project, due to circumstances nothing has materialized yet but i will see the singer soon and suggest we get together and hash out some tunes. Otherwise it will never happen.

 

[delta7fred]

@delta7fred, I would like to see that set list! Please feel free to post it here.

As for this project, due to circumstances nothing has materialized yet but i will see the singer soon and suggest we get together and hash out some tunes. Otherwise it will never happen.

Will do, I have to edit it a bit because it currently has no artists on.

Our project was a slow starter, mainly because we were fitting it in when our regular band was not gigging much.

 

[delta7fred]

If anyone else has similar lists I would love to see them (and steal some ideas).

Names are the versions we (try to) do.

500 Miles - The Proclaimers
500 Miles - Peter Paul and Mary
All I Have To Do Is Dream - Everly Brothers
All Shook Up - Elvis
Between The Devil And The Deep Blue Sea - George Harrison
Box Car Blues - Boxcar Willie
Blue Moon Of Kentucky - Elvis
Bye Bye Love - Everly Brothers
C'mon Everybody -Eddie Cochran
Country Roads - John Denver
Dedicated Follower Of Fashion - Kinks
Folsom Prison Blues - Johnny Cash
Freight Train - Pete Seeger
Harvest Moon - Neil Young
Hey Baby - Bruce Channel
I Guess It Doesn’t Matter Anymore - Buddy Holly
I’m Gonna Sit Right Down - Paul McCartney
King of the Road - Roger Miller
Leaving Of Liverpool - The Dubliners
Love Letters - Elvis
Lucky Lips - Cliff Richard
Meet Me On The Corner - Lindesfarne
My Old Man's A Dustman - Lonny Donegan
Putting On The Style - Lonny Donegan
Run For Home - Lindesfarne
Sloop John B - Beach Boys
Stuck In The Middle - Stealers Wheel
Summertime Blues - Eddie Cochran
That’s All Right - Elvis
Things We Said Today - Beatles
Travelling Light - Cliff Richard
Walk Right Back - Everly Brothers
Who Knows Where The Time Goes - Fairport Convention
Whiskey In The Jar - Thin Lizzy

 

[EddiePlaysBass]

Much appreciated! I see some tunes (Elvis and Cash) that we will likely end up doing, since we did them before.

I requested we do our old band's version of 16 Tons (Tennessee Ernest Ford) since the bass line I played under the solo can stand on its own as a solo. Guitarist is strictly rhythm so every now and then a bit of solo/melody won't hurt.

 

[ArteK]

Here are some tunes that I've seen work out fine in an acoustic guitar/bass duo:

Big River -- Johnny Cash
Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain -- Willie Nelson
Crazy Love -- Van Morrison
Faith -- George Michael
Free Falling -- Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
Gimme One Reason -- Tracy Chapman
I'm on Fire -- Bruce Springsteen (done in acoustic blues format)
I've Just Seen a Face -- Beatles
Lost Highway -- Hank Williams
Mama Tried -- Merle Haggard
Midnight Special -- Credence Clearwater Revival
Milwaukee, Here I Come -- Country standard
My Babe -- Little Walter/Willie Dixon
My Baby Don't Tolerate -- Lyle Lovett and His Large Band
Nobody Knows You When You're Down and Out -- Blues standard
Ophelia -- The Band
Paradise -- John Prine
Poor, Poor, Pitiful Me -- Warren Zevon
Rocky Raccoon -- Beatles
Romeo and Juliet -- Dire Straits
Season of the Witch -- Donovan
Statesboro Blues -- Allman Brothers Band
Sunshine Superman -- Donovan
Tennessee Waltz -- Country standard
Walking After Midnight -- Patsy Cline
Walking By Myself -- Freddie King
You Can't Always Get What You Want -- Rolling Stones
The Weight -- The Band

 

[EddiePlaysBass]

Last night we finally got together to play some tunes. In the singer's living room no less! After a few songs we were joined by his 7-year old son on djembé. Somewhat to our surprise , the kid keeps good rhythm and doesn't overplay!

It was fun , more so than I expected. We did some Elvis and Johnny Cash tunes, and some stuff from the old repertoire. Occasionally he would shout: "BASS SOLO!" at which point I would randomly hit strings and notes...

It has been years since i played electric upright for more than 3 minutes so there was a bit of a relearning curve there. Also, i never really soloed on bass, let alone EUB. But having said that, i have some ideas for solo's in some of those songs.

It is hard to not overplay in this setting, though. When playing quarter root notes i find myself wondering if it's too minimal. Will listen to the recordings later to make up my mind.

 

[John Le Guyader]

I play in an acoustic duo in the DC area with a guitarist that does Piedmont-style fingerpicking blues: Acoustic Hot Tuna, Rev. Gary Davis, Jelly Roll Morton, other traditionals and a bunch of covers done in that style from the Stones to Neil Young, Johnny Cash to CCR, Merle Haggard to the Grateful Dead, Dylan to Jorma. Before I started on upright a year a go I was using a Warwick Alien 6-string fretless and a Rob Allen MB-2 5 fretless. Now I'm using a 90s Engelhardt M1 with Lenzer guts. We play mostly wineries in the country near DC in VA and MD and are starting to do brewery gigs. The style is unconventional and we don't always go over depending on the audience, but mostly for winery gigs we do very well. We opened for blues fest in Bowling Green VA a couple years ago that no longer happens. A fellow from the Smithsonian did the fest intro and our intro. When he saw our set list he knew immediately that we played in the Piedmont style and realized our name, Burgers, came from Hot Tuna's second album. He used that as part of our intro...

A typical 3 hour winery set with extras:
John Henry (A)
Midnight Special (E)
Do Lord (E)
Dire Wolf (E)
I Walk The Line (F)
Powderfinger (G)
Hey Porter (E)
Operator (F)
Don't You Leave Me Here (C)
Light of this World (C)
Let Us Get Together (G)
SF Bay Blues (G)
Embryonic Journey (D)
Statesboro Blues (E)
You Ain’t Goin’ Nowhere (F)
Last Fair Deal (D)
Children of Zion (Gm)
Untrue Blues (G)
Mama Let Me Lay It (F)
How Long (C)
Trouble, Had It All My Days Folsom Prison (E)
Candyman (G)
Keep Your Lamps (Em)
Hesitation Blues (C)
Monkey and Engineer (G)
Mississippi Half Step (D)
I Am A Pilgrim (E)
Me And My Uncle (D)
Loser (Bm)
Send Me An Angel (E)
Dark Hollow (G)
Cripple Creek (G)
I Know You Rider (A)
Cold Rain and Snow (A)
Big River (E)
BIODTL (G)
Drunken Spree (B)
Black Peter (E)
Illinois Blues (D)(E)
Buckets Of Rain (D)
Police Dog Blues (D)
Prodigal Son (D
The Weight
Winin' Boy Blues

 

[brianrost]

Just noticed this thread. I'm just embarking on the same sort of thing...a Texas born country/rockabilly/jazz rooted guitarist/vocalist and I as a duo. A nice paying gig sort of fell in our laps so we are cranking on the songlist as fast as we can. The hardest part is coming up with more contemporary rocking material that we can pull off without any extra instruments to balance all the retro rootsy stuff. It's also putting the pressure on me to do a lot more harmony work than I've ever done before.

 

[delta7fred]

It is hard to not overplay in this setting, though. When playing quarter root notes i find myself wondering if it's too minimal. Will listen to the recordings later to make up my mind.

That was the problem I had when I first started with the acoustic trio, I had a tendency to be far too busy, it stuck out like a sore thumb on the recordings.

My acoustic trio and 60s band are currently on hiatus because the singer/guitarist is well into 2 or 3 months of chemo in preparation for stem cell replacement treatment. If it all goes well we should be back out with both bands later in the year.

In the meantime I have picked up a few sub gigs with another covers band and I recently hooked up as a duo with a singer/guitarist/song writer that I was in a band with about 30 years. I thought he had given up performing when that band stopped gigging (due to family and work pressures), the last I heard he was doing the occasional song at karaoke nights.

We have our first gig next weekend playing a 45 minute support slot at a local festival. I will be playing bass on the covers and mostly DB on his originals. He has done a few solo gigs with backing tracks that he has created in his home studio, I'm none too keen on playing to backing tracks but it's his project and choice, for once I am just a side man.