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Bass lines that almost everybody plays wrong...

#221
mccartneyman said:
Having lived in or near Pittsburgh all my life and having had "Play That Funky Music White Boy" thrust at me for almost 40 years as the ultimate example of "blue-eyed soul" I would wretch if I had to play that song -- which luckily I have avoided.
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You musta been born lucky.
First off, IMO, I don't consider Wild Cherry as "blue-eyed Soul" (ultimate example? Man!). I saw them open for AWB in the mid-'70s...more Pop-Rock than Soul/Funk/R&B. FWIW, check out Wild Cherry's follow-up "hit", "Sanctified". Yes, they rip off themselves...still, not as played out. ;)
I have played "Play That Funky Music" in a Country band...with a Root-5 feel during the choruses. Yes, it was parody band fronted by 2 local DJs.Yee-haw.

Now, unbelievably, I am probably going to have to play this tune today for a local '60s/'70s Pop band...I just listened to it & my guess is, since there's only 1 guitarist involved, I will be asked to play the non-chording guitar part over the correct bass part.
 
#222
The manager for the group that would become Wild Cherry actually called me just before he put that group together and I turned him down because I had just "retired" for the first time. I'm not sorry I turned it down. For "blue eyed soul," the Pittsburgh band The Jaggerz blew everyone else way. Their hit was "The Rapper" which they recorded almost as a joke, but in their heyday the Jaggerz could sing anything the Temptations did as well as any of the Motown, Stax and Atlantic soul catalogs. They were the only band I ever heard that replicated Three Dog Night's acapella version of "It's for You" note-for note. Six-man band, five singers and impeccable harmonies. Donnie Iris, who sang the "The Rapper" is still big in Pittsburgh with a more rock-flavored catalog.
 
#223
Socrates said:
I'll go first...

The unequivocal #1 all-time misplayed bass line is "I Feel Good" (it's a half step, not a whole step)
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Actually that bass line you've mentioned started as a one/octave/seven/five bluesy/Now Orleans line. It was changed to the guitar/horn line for live performance. .... Personally I prefer the original cause it relaxes the tune so the bass isn't rushing/pushing the third beat of the bar like everyone else does.
 
#224
This is not too bad but most bass players don't play the E root fourth chords and E root fifth chords in chorus of Jane's Addiction Mountain Song when they cover it. I imagine it wouldn't too bad for a bassist just to play a single E note though live.

Correction on that, I meant D not E root fourth and root fifth chords.
 
#225
Play that funky music has a rarely played note at the "lay" down and boogie line. Most people (myself included) play the melody w/vox there. Then when I surrendered to the fact I'd have to sing it once in a while I listened closer and heard the fun bass note.
At least through my monitor it sounds like the bass.
I like to play the Sting mistake in the gtr solo of "so lonely" once in a while too if that qualifies.
 
#227
its a bit different but i recently joined an established band that do original material.. i had to learn 2 albums worth of material... some songs really benifit from being played the same as or very close to the recording where other songs often lend themselves to being adapted and changed slightly depending on the player.. i i think each song should be judged as an individual case because of this... if i see a rush tribute band i would like the to see the bassist be fairly spot on to the recordings but if i go to a funk gig or something i would rather the basslines be messed around with.. providing the bass isnt ruined!
 
#228
MixBass said:
Play that funky music has a rarely played note at the "lay" down and boogie line. Most people (myself included) play the melody w/vox there. Then when I surrendered to the fact I'd have to sing it once in a while I listened closer and heard the fun bass note.
At least through my monitor it sounds like the bass.
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I'll be damned...well, it's the "C" note for me for now on! ;)
 
#229
BassoProf said:
If "wrong" = "not like on the record" I play most thing wrong. I'm a bass player, not a karaoke machine FFS! Can't you just play what you think fits with what the rest of your band is playing?

How many bands play their own stuff live exactly the same as on record? Don't things develop with time, don't you get new insights? Don't you go to gigs to hear a new take on an old favourite? Why not stay home and listen to a CD and drink reasonably priced beer? They'll always get it "right" then...
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Ditto!

X8
 
#233
didn't read the whole thread, but I have this to say-

the cover bands i see most often, and the kind i happen to belong to are not playing most of these songs you guys are listing. we're doing pop/hiphop/r&b/rock adaptations that get people 21-30 dancing and partying at bars and clubs. In most of these situations, the original recording is nothing but a synth beat and a drum track, so the band is forced to do some adaptation.

Then there are songs like "you oughta know" which I had 2 days to learn and was not even going to attempt to master flea's part by then.

I know what you're saying, and I can be overly critical of bands and bassists as well, but I think a lot of this is pushing it. I'm not talking about screwing with vital bass lines or changing the groove of the song, but if a bassist is playing R-5-8 instead of R-3-5 and does a different fill, I really don't see the harm in it.
 
#234
bassmanjla said:
i know it's been said already, but

smoke on the water. everyone thinks that iconic line is played by the bass.. it's actually the guitar line.

the bass comes in underneath that riff with straight quarter notes around the 5th bar
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OK - First I think "How can someone miss that???"

However, the guitar and organ are doubling the line, so MAYBE if there is no organ, there could be an argument for doubling with the bass.

But, if it were my band, I would play it like Rodger did (and in my first band ever, that's what I did).
 
#235
62Jazzbass said:
However, the guitar and organ are doubling the line, so MAYBE if there is no organ, there could be an argument for doubling with the bass.
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Back in the day, the organ, I think, threw everyone off. That & maybe nobody wanted to play a "G" pedal? ;)
I do recall hearing a trio play this at a HS dance...the bass player did play the icomic figure as the guitar player was exiting the solo. IIRC, it was a nice job.
 
#238
Reading through the thread, and as a cover band bassist, I try and keep the "well known" riffs and such true, and nonsense tunes like mustang sally get my own treatment. We do "All right now" and seeing it listed multiple times on here got me wondering..Am I playing right? Anyone have a youtube example of the "right" way to play it? I'm not that concerned, more curious to see how close I did get to it..

I'll also agree with the drummer not playing the beat correctly making life hell for us cover band guys.. I'm in a new band and this drummer is real meat and potatoes.. and sometimes just refuses to learn the actual beat. We do "you outta know" (in E no less..ugh) and until I got him to listen to it more carefully, it was a mess...
 
#239
I have the opposite problem with my band learning some songs in that my guitar player tries to play the bass lines instead of the guitar parts and I have to tell him that there are distinct guitar parts even if the bass line is the main riff of the song. He has a hard time getting things into his head if the guitar part is secondary to the song like The Joker and Down On The Corner, and other songs and we are a 3 piece band; so, he needs to play something different than me.
 

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