"Bass is not played that way" ?!

[Chip Stewart]

It's a fine line bassists have to walk. Jaco was great in Weather Report, but the band accommodated his "active" style. Afterward no one would hire him. Nobody wanted a "lead bass".

 

[Kathy Clark]

I think a bass is mostly to make the band sound It's best by adding depth, not standing out (unless appropriate)

 

[Old P Bass Guy]

In my opinion Jaco didn't get work because of his erratic behavior. Jaco knew how to hold down a groove. He could make any band sound better.

 

[taosword]

Jaco was a soloist who could hold down a grove. And many guitar players who know real fast scales and can shred with them also may not be able to play blues in a traditional way. So if the guitar player shreds, then it is something else which is ok. I do 16th note solos sometimes as the end of a 24 bar solo, and sometimes I do accents or 16th note passing notes with the drummer, and sometimes I play some counter point lead type stuff with the guitar player. All depends on what we are doing. I grew up with cats like Jack Bruce and like to experiment. I tell the band that if they feel I am out of line and not helping the song, to let me know. My ego is not fragile. We all solo a lot and have fun, and when its a well liked signature riff type cover, I mostly stick with the bass line that was recorded. Then again when I watch a live version that has a lot more improvisation but still keeps the signature of the song, I may open up on it live like the original artists did. These rules are fluid and flexible and we don't like train wrecks anymore than anyone else.

 

[roccobass]

Jaco was a soloist who could hold down a grove. And many guitar players who know real fast scales and can shred with them also may not be able to play blues in a traditional way. So if the guitar player shreds, then it is something else which is ok. I do 16th note solos sometimes as the end of a 24 bar solo, and sometimes I do accents or 16th note passing notes with the drummer, and sometimes I play some counter point lead type stuff with the guitar player. All depends on what we are doing. I grew up with cats like Jack Bruce and like to experiment. I tell the band that if they feel I am out of line and not helping the song, to let me know. My ego is not fragile. We all solo a lot and have fun, and when its a well liked signature riff type cover, I mostly stick with the bass line that was recorded. Then again when I watch a live version that has a lot more improvisation but still keeps the signature of the song, I may open up on it live like the original artists did. These rules are fluid and flexible and we don't like train wrecks anymore than anyone else.

 

[Frank Tuesday]

Express yourself how you see fit. If the band doesn't like how you express yourself, find a band that will appreciate you for you. Or stay with the band and find a new way to express yourself. Just don't make yourself miserable.

I could never play in a band that told me 2nds and 6ths were off limits, much less one that wanted me to stick to roots and 5ths or just double the guitar riff. I have no problem if that is their vision, I'm just not interested in being a part of it.

 

[Frank Tuesday]

In summary, our role (and everyone else's) is to play what is needed... no more and no less.

The hard part is getting a band to agree on what is needed.

 

[jamro217]

"...and that's why you play guitar."

 

[roccobass]

In my opinion Jaco didn't get work because of his erratic behavior. Jaco knew how to hold down a grove. He could make any band sound better.

Jaco was bipolar. Sad.

 

[Dr Reed]

I play below the fifth fret and above the fifth as needed. Dogma does not inform my creativity.

Never ever let anyone tell how you should express your creativity and how to play your bass.

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[dlb1001]

Haha, I had almost the exact same thing happen with a different Petty song (American Girl). I have been playing it for YEARS with the last two notes of the intro (the d to e right before "well she was an American girl...) one octave lower than the record just because it sounds cool live and fills up the stage. I do this with other tunes here and there too, especially if I have a fiver around.

A few weeks ago our lead singer hits me with " why are you doing it differently, I can't find where to start singing!". I have literally been playing it this way for five years or so, but suddenly home boy can't feel eight and it's my fault

I should have been trying these ideas, when I was playing these songs in a former band!

 

[JimmyM]

It's a fine line bassists have to walk. Jaco was great in Weather Report, but the band accommodated his "active" style. Afterward no one would hire him. Nobody wanted a "lead bass".

In my opinion Jaco didn't get work because of his erratic behavior. Jaco knew how to hold down a grove. He could make any band sound better.

First quote is inaccurate, second quote is accurate. Jaco spent years and years playing with Wayne Cochran, Blood Sweat and Tears, Pat Metheny and Joni Mitchell holding down the fort on bass before ever deciding to be a solo artist and joining Weather Report. And after he left WR, Jaco CHOSE the life of a derelict, and people would beg him to play with them but he chose to do his own thing, which ended up getting him killed.

 

[Old P Bass Guy]

Your

First quote is inaccurate, second quote is accurate. Jaco spent years and years playing with Wayne Cochran, Blood Sweat and Tears, Pat Metheny and Joni Mitchell holding down the fort on bass before ever deciding to be a solo artist and joining Weather Report. And after he left WR, Jaco CHOSE the life of a derelict, and people would beg him to play with them but he chose to do his own thing, which ended up getting him killed.

Your from that area so I defer to your knowledge on that topic. When I was 17 - 18 I saw him at a place called the "Barn" with Cochran and the whole band blew me away. I didn't realize he played with BST. I knew their drummer (turned record producer) handled him for awhile.

 

[JimmyM]

Your

Your from that area so I defer to your knowledge on that topic. When I was 17 - 18 I saw him at a place called the "Barn" with Cochran and the whole band blew me away. I didn't realize he played with BST. I knew their drummer (turned record producer) handled him for awhile.

It was just for a short tour but that's how Bobby Colomby (BST's drummer) got interested in him. Bobby was one of CBS's top AR guys back then as well.

 

[roccobass]

This is so often true on the bass. It's sobering when you hear it demonstrated in a recording and realize how important it is to have somebody locking down the groove. I never really appreciated this until I worked on my own compositions and played all the various parts in the same song and mixed the tracks. It was obvious that i overplayed on bass frequently because I enjoyed that act of playing fun parts... Having fun playing and sounding good playing aren't necessarily the same thing! Give your fingers a rest.

Lol. Funny you should say that. I found that out too. I think you can get with some overplaying in the live recordings. Which is why I prefer recording live vs the studio.

 

[Chip Stewart]

And after he left WR, Jaco CHOSE the life of a derelict, and people would beg him to play with them but he chose to do his own thing, which ended up getting him killed.

I'm certainly not an expert. I did see a television interview of Jaco after he left WR. The interviewer asked him why he wasn't playing bass anymore and Jaco said he wanted to be playing bass but no one would hire him. Why no one would hire him can be debated, but Jaco did not chose to stop playing bass.

 

[JimmyM]

I'm certainly not an expert. I did see a television interview of Jaco after he left WR. The interviewer asked him why he wasn't playing bass anymore and Jaco said he wanted to be playing bass but no one would hire him. Why no one would hire him can be debated, but Jaco did not chose to stop playing bass.

Jaco could have been a solo act and gotten his own gigs, and he didn't need people to hire him. He actually did solo gigs on occasion, too. If I were as messed up as he was and the press asked me about why I'm not playing, I'd blame it on others, too. But a story our keyboard player told me lets me know Jaco was lying...

He overheard someone at a party he was at ask Jaco why he doesn't clean up and get back to playing. Jaco replied, "You wanna hang out with me, you'll knock that ____ off."

 

[Guiseppe]

Some people get great satisfaction out of being able to copy the original lines as perfectly as possible. Nothing wrong with that, nothing wrong with doing your own thing.

I always have the "How close to the original do you want to play covers" discussion before I join a band. It makes things so much easier down the road.

Absolutely. I'm glad the other musicians in my band have really good ears. If we want to do an exact cover, we get the tone as right as we can and try to do the song 100% justice. Other songs we do OUR arrangement. It's good to have that understanding in the beginning.

 

[Guiseppe]

There's a difference between being told to play roots and fifths and being told that what you're playing doesn't fit musically with what the band is doing. I love Victor Wooten as much as the next bassist but his usual style wouldn't work with Wilco. There are plenty of bassists who manage to play interesting lines that are still appropriate for the band and the song in question. I don't like bassists who do nothing but play root notes but when I'm not playing bass myself I much prefer a root note guy to an overly masturbatory bassist who has no sense of how to play to the song.

It's all about what the song needs, IMHO. I used to dis on bass players I thought were "simple"; in time I realized that the bass players job is to assist in providing the kick, the drive in the song. If it takes a one note eighth note groove, so be it. No one made me the bass rater.

 

[Guiseppe]

Don't you think it should be played the way that the one who wrote the song meant it to be played?
Or does the listener/bassist/guitarist have the right to say that the writers judgement on his own song is flawed?
Who has the right to determine that?
For example:Some may say that the bassline to this piece is too busy.

But just who decides what is the right bass line?
The writer and the bass player that submitted the bass line.

To my ears, that grooves and is tasteful at the same time.