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25 Songs every auditioning bass player should know

TC2112

TC2112

Jan 4, 2009
1,699
30
Parke County, Indiana
#1
I'm working on a list of "gotta know" songs for every auditioning or jam session attending bass player. It seems that every "weekend warrior" type band has at least 3 of these on their set list, so if you know these songs cold, you should have a head start.

What would you add and what would you take off -

1. Brown Eyed Girl - Van Morrison
2. Mustang Sally - Wilson Picket
3. Take it Easy - The Eagles
4. Jenny 8675309 - Tommy Tutone
5. Suzy Q - CCR
6. Crossroads - Cream
7. Margaritaville - Buffet
8. Johnny B. Goode - Chuck Berry
9. 20 Flight Rock - Eddie Cochran
10. Cocaine - Clapton
11. I feel good - James Brown
12. Come to Papa - Bob Seger
13. Knock on Wood - Eddie Floyd
14. Red House - Hendrix
15. Play That Funky Music - Wild Cherry
16. Brick House - Commodores
17. Satisfaction - Rolling Stones
18. Twist and Shout - The Beatles
19. Long Train Runnin - Doobie Bros.
20. Sweet Home Alabama - Skynyrd
21. Gimme Three Steps - Skynyrd
22. Feel Like Makin Love - Bad Co.
23. All Right Now - Free
24. You shook me - Ac/Dc
25. Pride and Joy - SRV
 
#4
maybe I should have prefaced this with "songs people who want to work should know"

I love Rush (see the 2112 in the screen name), but it's not going to fill a dance floor. Yes - there are metal clubs, and jazz clubs, and underground specialty clubs; but if you want to play the night clubs, receptions, paid private party type gigs, these are the types of cuts you need in your bag. I want to hear from the working bands. What songs are filling your dance floors
 
#6
plangentmusic said:
I've worked full time for over 30 years in cover bands and never once played Red House on stage. That's a song jam bands play when nobody knows any songs.
Click to expand...

I agree - that's kinda why I threw it on the list.

Just a basic blues progressions that you can always bust out during an audition or jam.

What song would you replace it with, that is commonly played and would be a better tool to have.
 
#8
TC2112 said:
maybe I should have prefaced this with "songs people who want to work should know"

I love Rush (see the 2112 in the screen name), but it's not going to fill a dance floor. Yes - there are metal clubs, and jazz clubs, and underground specialty clubs; but if you want to play the night clubs, receptions, paid private party type gigs, these are the types of cuts you need in your bag. I want to hear from the working bands. What songs are filling your dance floors
Click to expand...
I've been playing the kinds of gigs you've just described steadily for around thirteen years now and I haven't played a good portion of the songs on your list. I think it really depends on where you live and the general tastes in your area. From my personal experience playing in "corporate" and wedding settings you're going to have to add quite a bit of disco to your list. But I don't know - maybe people in your area hate disco.
 
#9
bass12 said:
I've been playing the kinds of gigs you've just described steadily for around thirteen years now and I haven't played a good portion of the songs on your list. I think it really depends on where you live and the general tastes in your area. From my personal experience playing in "corporate" and wedding settings you're going to have to add quite a bit of disco to your list. But I don't know - maybe people in your area hate disco.
Click to expand...

well -
it is a great deal more about classic rock in my area, what I call the "Q95 effect" (major station in the Indianapolis area, original home of Bob and Tom morning show), but we do have some of those disco / dance places as well.

I didn't mean this to be an end all be all type list. I have "funky music" and "brick house" on here as representatives of that genre. I'm just making some suggestions of popular songs that, it seems to me, could cover you in all situations when walking into an audition. I wouldn't expect all of these to be on every bands set list, but you could cover a lot of bases if you know these particular samples. I was hoping people would add or subtract songs and give me more ideas instead of looking at this as "songs that need to be on every bands set list" and then tell me why their band doesn't do them.

My thinking on this list is you probably would never play all of these songs in one band, (you might, but probably not), but a lot of bands that are working with regularity probably has a few of these on their list. Knowing these would give you common ground quickly.

you haven't played a good portion, but you have played some, yes? So if I was an auditioning bass player for your current band and I knew every song on this list, I would know a few songs on your bands set list that I could audition with, right?
 
#11
Here's a few ...

Crossroads - Cream
Cumbersome - 7 Mary 3
Kryptonite - 3 Doors Down
Rock N Roll - Led Zepplin
Basket Case - Green Day
The Middle - Jimmy Eat World
Voodoo Clile - Hendrix
Tush - ZZtop
White Wedding - Billy Idol
Gimme 3 Steps - Skynard
Beer Drinkers - ZZtop
Hard to Handle - Black Crows
New Years Day - U2
 
#12
TC2112 said:
My thinking on this list is you probably would never play all of these songs in one band, (you might, but probably not), but a lot of bands that are working with regularity probably has a few of these on their list. Knowing these would give you common ground quickly.

you haven't played a good portion, but you have played some, yes? So if I was an auditioning bass player for your current band and I knew every song on this list, I would know a few songs on your bands set list that I could audition with, right?
Click to expand...

Fair enough. Here are the songs from your list that I have played - many of them on numerous occasions (some of them too numerous ;)):

1. Brown Eyed Girl - Van Morrison
2. Mustang Sally - Wilson Picket
5. Suzy Q - CCR
6. Crossroads - Cream
8. Johnny B. Goode - Chuck Berry
10. Cocaine - Clapton
11. I feel good - James Brown
13. Knock on Wood - Eddie Floyd
14. Red House - Hendrix
15. Play That Funky Music - Wild Cherry
16. Brick House - Commodores
17. Satisfaction - Rolling Stones
18. Twist and Shout - The Beatles
19. Long Train Runnin - Doobie Bros.
20. Sweet Home Alabama - Skynyrd
25. Pride and Joy - SRV

A few songs I've played many times with various bands:

- "What's Going On" (Marvin Gaye)
- "Respect" (Aretha Franklin)
- "Superstition" (Stevie Wonder)
- "Little Wing" (Hendrix)
- "Moondance" (Van Morrison)
- "Folsom Prison Blues" (Johnny Cash)
- "Disco Inferno" (The Trammps)
- "I Will Survive" (Gloria Gaynor)
- "Summertime" (standard)
- "Kiss" (Prince)
- "Get Up (I feel Like Being A Sex Machine)" (James Brown)
- "Dock Of The Bay" (Otis Redding)
 
#13
I have played 15 of the songs on the OP's list. If put on the spot, I could play 12 of them today. I could fake through a few more, but that's not what a good audition is about.

I agree it depends on what type of audition. Those wouldn't be the top 25 on a country or metal audition.

Furthermore, the subject should not be limited to bass players. Other than "Crossroads", all of the songs listed are tunes ANY player might need to know.
 
#17
Ric5 said:
Here's a few ...

Crossroads - Cream
Cumbersome - 7 Mary 3
Kryptonite - 3 Doors Down
Rock N Roll - Led Zepplin
Basket Case - Green Day
The Middle - Jimmy Eat World
Voodoo Clile - Hendrix
Tush - ZZtop
White Wedding - Billy Idol
Gimme 3 Steps - Skynard
Beer Drinkers - ZZtop
Hard to Handle - Black CrowsNew Years Day - U2
Click to expand...

Hard To Handle is an Otis Redding song.
 
#19
It's a good collection to have in your arsenal. I would not try to nail 25 must haves in an auditioning attempt scenario.

I would learn 3 songs from the potential suitor's catalog. Then come in READY to play them. That first 15-20 minutes in a new situation will tell you enough.

Conversely having a large catalog of covers to draw from can't hurt much. IMHO you get to learn a lot of different bass styles to influence your own lines.

Win Win?

M
 
#20
I've played all of those except You Shook Me, Red House and 20 Flight Rock. It's a solid list for my area.
For Stones songs, it's usually Honky Tonk Woman rather than Satisfaction.
Don't think I've ever played a wedding without playing Georgia and a few jazz songs like Misty or Satin Doll.
My Girl is a standard.
Proud Mary once was THE song, but not as much these days. I think everyone finally got burnt out on that one.
Ditto Cocaine.
Old Time Rock and Roll should be at the top of the list.
A lot of bands do some beach songs - 634-5789, Hey Baby, Shout, But It's Alright
The Thrill is Gone is the most popular blues song or sometimes Bad To The Bone
Standing On Shaky Ground
La Grange
 

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