A Thousand Miles - Lee Sklar?

[dtsamples]

I just read that Lee Sklar played on Vanessa Carlton's award-winning track, "A Thousand Miles" (source: wikipedia).

That guy is everywhere! I listened to the song again several times after I found that out. Talk about a lesson in restraint and musicality. Not to mention, the song was nominated for a Grammy for "Best Instrumental Arrangement Accompanying Vocalist(s)." Just goes to show you that less is more, and the real pros know it.

Oh, and it sure would be hard to play with restraint along to Andy Nixon's drums for that track. Gee whiz that guy can play!

 

[JimK]

Yeah, I had read that awhile ago...prior to reading that it was Sklar, I had assumed it was some sorta synth/sequenced bass part. The piano/keys really dominate.
IMO, it did not sound like a bassist had played the part.
...and I was surprised to read it was Sklar. Too restrained for him?

 

[dtsamples]

Yeah, there's a ton of strings in the mix too. I don't know if it is too restrained, though. I mean it serves the song. And his nice little fill at the end of the bridge, though simple, is pretty tasty.

Either way, I wouldn't have been able to be that restrained if you gave me that drum track. Think he laid the bass down first?

 

[JimK]

You don't wanna know what I think.

Here goes-
I would say the bass went down last...as an almost after-thought.
Next, maybe Sklar was hired for "the name". And if he reads this, he will wanna put a boot up my know-nuthin ***.
IMO the part is restrained (fits, yes). It is possible to be restrained & creative...I'm thinking of something like "Sunny Came Home" (cannot recall who played the bass...it is a well-known studio/session bassist, IIRC). Restrained...but with enough of something "extra" to make it interesting.

That said, I have always liked Carlton's tune...my girlfriend laffs at me everytime it pops up on the radio or TV. I tell her, considering the state of what POP Music is today...it's a well-played tune. Parts of it do remind me of a certain Classical piece that I cannot put my fingers on...

Something a little similar happens with some of the threads on Pino-
Many will rave about his recent "restrained" grooves, etc.
A few old-timers (me, included) like his '80s stuff better.

 

[JimK]

Check it out!

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I may need to re-visit the tune & play along!

 

[Altitude]

I'm thinking of something like "Sunny Came Home" (cannot recall who played the bass...it is a well-known studio/session bassist, IIRC).

It was Mike Rhodes, who did a great job all over that record. But to your point, it could have well been Sklar.

I'm not sure what value Sklar's name would have lent to Vanessa Carlton at that point though; not sure I get your angle with that part of the comment.

I do agree that it's a good, catchy song.

 

[dtsamples]

Well, to each his own. I can't think of the bass line for Sunny Came Home, though I love the song. I see what you mean, though. Pino killed it on "Everytime You Go Away," but then again, 80's pop tracks lacked the drum presence that 2000's tracks have, so it can be said that there was more real estate, as it were, available back then.

The E - F# - B/D# - E progression is a little tricky too, since the E and B/D# (in that inversion) share the 5th. I'd be interested to see what other people would come up with for that song. I think it'd be hard to come up with something much more creative that wasn't too obtrusive.

 

[Schizoid75]

I always loved Mark Egan's playing all over Joan Osborne's debut album. Most people probably remember the single "One of Us," but I thought that was just about the weakest song on the album.

There are probably a ton of mainstream albums out there that actually feature some of our bass heroes.

 

[dtsamples]

Egan played on "Relish"? I thought the fretless work on St. Theresa was really killer. I love that track!

 

[JimK]

Joan Osbourne...she has a killin' version of "Smiling Faces Sometimes".
"One Of Us" was her in MTV/Pop mode. She has some R&B chops...how 'bout "What Becomes Of The Broken Hearted" from the SITSOM DVD?

 

[Altitude]

There are probably a ton of mainstream albums out there that actually feature some of our bass heroes.

One of my favorite examples is Paula Cole's "This Fire", which has Tony Levin all over it.

Rumor has it that John Patitucci played on a Bonnie Raitt album uncredited; I've never been able to figure out what it was.

 

[JimK]

...but then again, 80's pop tracks lacked the drum presence that 2000's tracks have, so it can be said that there was more real estate, as it were, available back then.

You think so?
Drum machines were pretty new then (and, like it is with all new toys, overdone a lotta times).
Like a drummer friend once upon a time said: These drum tracks are programmed by an engineer...no way a drummer programmed this!
Thanks to him, we never could get Shannon's "Let The Music Play" quite "right".
Some of the kick drum patterns were inhuman!

...and then there was all that keyboard/synth layering upon layering?
Pretty much all that was left to do was ROOT note motion.

 

[JimK]

I'm not sure what value Sklar's name would have lent to Vanessa Carlton at that point though; not sure I get your angle with that part of the comment.

Well, like I said...whadda I know.
I was thinking of something I once read in a Will Lee (or maybe it was Jeff Porcaro) interview...how certain guys (like him) will get certain calls because their name adds cred to the project.

That's all.

 

[john_g]

I like the song and the drums are killer, but listening to it, maybe his thought was that with the drums and keys being really busy that something needed to be simple to ground it? I dont know but I dont think I would have been that restrained too!

 

[dtsamples]

I meant sonically. Sure there was a ton of percussion, but I don't think it took up much of the spectrum. And the same for the synth stuff. I'd disagree that all there was room for was root motion. There was a lot of synth bass, but I think a lot of tunes feature bass pretty prominently. Think about anything by Hall and Oates, or for that matter, "Hold Me Now" by the Thompson Twins.

Edit: Hold me Now may not be the best example of a song deviating from root motion. Just trying to think of a pop tune that featured bass pretty independently. Of course, then I checked wikipedia and see that there isn't even a credit listed for bass, so it must have been synth. Ok, bad example on my part altogether

 

[JimK]

It was "better" for us in the early '80s (Hall & Oates, Thompson Twins, Culture Club, etc)....late '80s was a quagmire, IIRC.
It was about that time that I pretty much stopped playing in "Pop" cover bands that leaned towards current material. I had always been that guy, too.

 

[Altitude]

Well, like I said...whadda I know.
I was thinking of something I once read in a Will Lee (or maybe it was Jeff Porcaro) interview...how certain guys (like him) will get certain calls because their name adds cred to the project.

That's all.

That makes sense - and my comment wasn't intended as critical, just inquisitive.

Speculation: A couple quick searches show that Ron Fair produced the Vanessa Carlton album, and that he and Sklar had worked on several projects previously, notably the Lisa Loeb stuff in the late '90s. I bet Sklar is a shortlist call for Ron Fair.

 

[Altitude]

Edit: Hold me Now may not be the best example of a song deviating from root motion. Just trying to think of a pop tune that featured bass pretty independently.

I may or may not agree with your thesis about there having been more sonic real estate for the bass player in the '80s (there sure was a lot of reverb on the drums) - but maybe the Fixx' great "Reach The Beach" album is a good example of what you mean.

 

[dtsamples]

I may or may not agree with your thesis about there having been more sonic real estate for the bass player in the '80s (there sure was a lot of reverb on the drums) - but maybe the Fixx' great "Reach The Beach" album is a good example of what you mean.

I'm not sure that I'm familiar with that album. I'll have to look it up when I get home. I guess another example would be WHAM. Careless Whisper and Wake Me Up Before You Go Go both have a ton of bass motion.

 

[Altitude]

I'm not sure that I'm familiar with that album. I'll have to look it up when I get home. I guess another example would be WHAM. Careless Whisper and Wake Me Up Before You Go Go both have a ton of bass motion.

Oh, highly recommended then. It was a little earlier in the 80s and so had more of a new-wave influence. You've surely heard "One Thing Leads To Another".