Beck - Debra

[Broadbent]

Hey JMJ,

Midnight Vultures recently made it's way back into my trucks CD rotation. Debra has got to be my favourite track. there's nothing like taking a lady friend on a midnight drive to the beach and seducing her with that song all along the way

Great job on keeping the bass simple, groovy and effective. But my question has to do with the horns in that song. How involved were you with them? were you Becks musical director at this time? Did you write those parts too?

 

[jmjbassplayer]

Hahaha, so fun to hear that track has tickled your fancy, so to speak.

I was Beck's MD at that time, yes. But that doesn't mean I wrote those parts, which I did not....in the studio I was a collaborator - MD'ing came into play when we put the band and tour together. These parts were just sort of created "en ensemble" in the studio as we put them down. An "all hands on deck" scenario. Our horn section (Jon Birdsong - trumpet, David Brown - tenor, David Ralicke - bari, bone, flute) was tremendous at coming up with horn arrangements on the spot.

JMJ

 

[TripleDouble]

Hi Justin,

Still really digging this record as well, it makes an appearance on just about every long road trip I take. Are the Debra verse bass parts looped, or are you just very, very consistent on the big bass? That walking lick near the end gets me every time too. Since I'm handing out the compliments, mixed bizness still makes me wanna dance like a fool too, and Milk and Honey kind of freaks me out, so thanks.

 

[change-jug]

Oh god yes! Debra! That song is the jam! I remember getting that cd and doing bong hits in my bedroom. That bass line was the groove! Then listening to the words...cracked me up every time!
Ah,the good old days!

 

[jmjbassplayer]

Hi Justin,

Still really digging this record as well, it makes an appearance on just about every long road trip I take. Are the Debra verse bass parts looped, or are you just very, very consistent on the big bass? That walking lick near the end gets me every time too. Since I'm handing out the compliments, mixed bizness still makes me wanna dance like a fool too, and Milk and Honey kind of freaks me out, so thanks.

There's a few different loops in those sections, but OH yeah: it's looped up in them verses.

 

[Derek DiFilippo]

It sounds to me like the bass is a replayed version of the intro of My Love For You off of Funky Serenity (see youtube), an album by Ramsey Lewis. It doesn't sound sampled, the phrasing is different between the low Fs and Gs... but the line is copied.

The bass player on the OG track is Cleveland Eaton.

I'm pretty sure the drummer on those early Ramsey Lewis albums was Maurice White who started co-writing and co-producing and then went on to fame and fortune with Earth Wind and Fire.

JMJ, did you play this on upright and loop it?

Whatever... Debra is a killer track no matter how it was put together. Ten years on and I still hear that bass line whenever I see a Hyundai.