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Anyone here (still) playing "Low Rider?"

#81
51PRI said:
Yes, that's the part, the main signature part of the song. I guess I never really thought about what instrument was actually playing that part. When I played it before in a band I played that part on guitar. BL and LG in this band think it's a harmonica part.
Click to expand...

Wait. Are you serious? Why are you even in a band with people who think that's harmonica?
 
#82
Lowendtech said:
The song has a key signature of one (F) sharp.
So if it’s in G major, the bass is playing Gm pentatonic. Or it’s in Em, or D mixolydian.

There’s some good arguing here. 2 pages.
Invalid Link Removed
Al Kooper (the producer) says it’s in D.
Guitarist admits that his solo in G (major) is musically incorrect.
Key of G. Tonal centre is D mixolydian.
Play Gm pentatonic on bass.
You’ll be fine.
Click to expand...

You can play all the notes in a D dorian minor, and you'd be correct, but not D mixolydian. You can also stick to G pentatonic notes as that'll hit the highlights of the correct notes.

And yeah, the guitarist is incorrect - the song's not in G MAJOR either. With a bass line that includes a non-passing F note, that rules out G major in favor of G mixolydian, as it's playback has been for the 30+ years I've played it.

Correct extensions for G mixolydian would include C major, E phrygian, A (natural) minor and the aforementioned D dorian minor.

Maybe it was originally noted and recorded in F# (was it?), tape machines of the era not being known for accuracy, especially with weak capstan motors battling heavy tape reals. A half-step variance wouldn't be out of the ordinary.

And Al Kooper claiming it was in D if it was originally noted in F#? No telling. Maybe just a senior moment there. It has been 50 years.
 
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#87
Pocket Dave said:
Maybe it was originally noted and recorded in F# (was it?), tape machines of the era not being known for accuracy, especially with weak capstan motors battling heavy tape reals. A half-step variance wouldn't be out of the ordinary.
Click to expand...
Indeed. There was also a tendency for the producer to request that the engineer speed up the tape to slightly raise both recorded tempo and pitch. It often made for a more exciting master that the labels of the time tended to prefer. So many songs of that era end up being between keys as a result. I wouldn't be surprised if a number of tunes ended up a semi-tone higher as a result and the world may have never known they were recorded a half step down from what ended up on the record.
 
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#90
Now I'm homesick for the west coast. If you can nail the laid-back attitude without getting sloppy the crowd will dance. Age doesn't matter - this song has been used in so many movies, tv shows, commercials, video games, etc. over the last 50 years that it always has a sort-of-new feel.

Sometimes it helps the big picture skillset to take a step away from the bass and work on listening skills. Practice identifying instruments, and understanding their role within the song. Good way to break a skills plateau.

Unrelated: Naturally I pulled Lowrider up on the side monitor. After it finished it random shuffled in Santana/Rob Thomas live. Benny Rietveld (criminally underappreciated bassist) grooving on his beautiful MTD, then for the outro steps to his EUB. He's a groove anchor, and always looks like he's having fun.
 
#91
Lowendtech said:
The song has a key signature of one (F) sharp.
So if it’s in G major, the bass is playing Gm pentatonic. Or it’s in Em, or D mixolydian.

There’s some good arguing here. 2 pages.
Invalid Link Removed
Al Kooper (the producer) says it’s in D.
Guitarist admits that his solo in G (major) is musically incorrect.
Key of G. Tonal centre is D mixolydian.
Play Gm pentatonic on bass.
You’ll be fine.
Click to expand...
I disagree. The tonal center is absolutely G, not D. With an F in both the baseline and instrumental melody, I would say G mixolydian.
 
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#98
Lee Oskar kicks some major ass on that harp. War was an L.A. jam band. Jerry Goldstein took them on and added Lee Oskar to the lineup. I rank Oskar's harp skills right up there with Brian Jones of the Stones. After that was when Eric Burdon fronted them and placed "Spill The Wine" in the annals of music history. Another War tune that gets everyone on the dance floor and is a crowd pleaser.

Apparently, keyboardist Lonnie Jordan owns the rights to the name. The band started disintegrating with Papa Dee Allen's death on stage. He had a cerebral aneurism and was dead before he hit the floor. Other things like Charles Millers getting shot to death during an attempted robbery (he was the victim; not the perpetrator) led to the band falling apart. Eventually, Jordan resurrected the band with non-original members.

Fast forward about 20 years ago when Howard Scott, B.B. Dickerson, Harold Brown, and Lee Oskar reformed to create "The Low Rider Band". I heard and saw both incarnations. IMHO, they were more authentic to the original War sound than any of Jordan's War lineups. B.B Dickerson was one of my influences. Sadly, he recently passed.
 
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