Bill Wyman or Keith Richards on bass

[Ric5]

Here's a good clip of Bill Wyman ...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B33s42EWavA

 

[jd56hawk]

I always liked Bill Wymans Bass playing but I have heard that Keith Richards plays bass on some of their albums. The songs I know about are:
2000 Light Years
Sympathy for the Devil
Street Fighting man
Live With Me
A lot of songs from Exile on Main St
and others
When I listen to Get Your Ya Ya's Out I really like Bills bass lines on some of these songs.
Although Keith sounded great on bass on some studio cuts I still prefer Bill Wyman on bass. What do you think?

Learning "Jigsaw Puzzle" today. Bill at his best.

 

[winterburn69]

I recently learned Live With Me. That was Keith IIRC. I've been going over Stones stuff and learning songs I've heard hundreds of times, the only one I've ever learned before now was Under My Thumb.

Lots of neat bass parts. Lots of bassists as well.

What are some recommendations for must learn Stones songs?

 

[Aussie Mark]

Live With Me might have been Keef on the studio album, but Bill played it a gazillion times live - check out out Get Yer Ya Yas Out, for example

Other must-learn well known Wyman lines are Miss You, Gimme Shelter (find the isolated track on YouTube to see how important the bass line is to the song), Bitch, Beast of Burden, and if you want to have a lot of fun the live versions of Midnight Rambler. Can't You Hear Me Knocking is always awesome to play too

 

[sonic boogaloo]

Love Bill! Short scale man. I think he must've infuriated Keith by not playing long scale Fender basses! A humble player who was quite happy to give up his bass for the good of a song. Definitely a huge influence on my playing.

 

[Perrygoround]

The bass riff from "Live with Me" is easily my fav. from the Stones. I did not know it was keef who recorded it on the album. Well done on the bass, Mr. Richards.

 

[sonic boogaloo]

I think Richards started to take on some bass duties during 'Between The Buttons'. 'Yesterday's Papers' is him, I believe. And what a bass line it is!

 

[Jay Corwin]

The whole freakin band were nothing more than a collection of mediocre musicians. They weren't bad ... they were just average. There is a reason why the Stones are often refered to as the most famous garage band in the world. Jagger is perhaps the most mediocre lead singer in history.

I tend to agree with this more/less, though I do think Watts is well above average. He's not given enough credit because he wasn't hitting every piece of his kit like a sledgehammer the way many of his contemporaries were. If you listen closely to those records though, it's pretty clear that he's holding a lot of chaos together at times.

Having said that though, I love...love...love a ton of the studio recordings. Keith could really catch lightning in a bottle. Plus it's like he said, It's only Rock-n-roll! I mean, you don't have to be a classically trained musician to rip a good 1-4-5'er out on a tele.

I can honestly say I've never paid attention to the bass playing on any Stones record.

 

[sonic boogaloo]

I can honestly say I've never paid attention the bass playing on any Stones record.

Wow! That's some admission!

 

[Paulabass]

Interesting thread. There was a lot of rumours about Bill's playing. However, I was lucky enough to open for Albert Lee one night, and his Bass player is...Bill Wyman. Albert says Bill is one of the finest he's ever played with.

 

[Jay Corwin]

Wow! That's some admission!

For me the most identifiable ear candy is always one of Keith's great guitar licks, followed by those great vocal hooks. Mick can't sing a lick, but boy can he spit out hooks that you'll never get out of your head.

I'm thinking about Sticky Fingers right now...Brown Sugar, Sway, Wild Horses......I can't pick out a single bass line in my head, but I remember every guitar lick and vocal hook.

 

[Joe Nerve]

Wondering why Ron Wood wasn't in the OP, though this many posts in I'm sure someone else has already brought that up.

My favorite Stones bass lines are the one like on Emotional Rescue. The quirky, burly, improvised stuff that drives ya crazy if you're trying to play N4N. Pretty sure that was all Ron's doing.

 

[bassbully]

The whole freakin band were nothing more than a collection of mediocre musicians. They weren't bad ... they were just average. There is a reason why the Stones are often refered to as the most famous garage band in the world. Jagger is perhaps the most mediocre lead singer in history.

 

[Bob_Ross]

I'm thinking about Sticky Fingers right now...Brown Sugar, Sway, Wild Horses......I can't pick out a single bass line in my head, but I remember every guitar lick and vocal hook.

The bass entrances on "Can't You Hear Me Knockin'" and "Moonlight Mile" are sublime, visceral rumbles that go straight up your spine to your reptilian hindbrain, like the sound of tectonic plates shifting just as you're about to fall asleep.

 

[BurnOut]

We've been doing the Get Yer Ya Ya's Out version of Stray Cat Blues. At first I was lazy just rooting it. I sat down and really listened to it and was blown away. Bill is really all over the fretboard on it. I've added quite a bit to what I was playing, but nowhere close to what Bill is doing. I'm having fun with it, really enjoy playing it now adding lots of extra things I've picked up from the recording.

 

[Atshen]

While Keith did play some bass. I think it was mainly because Wyman didn't hang out at Nelcote till all hours of the morning. Actually, I believe he said that he hated it there. Bill and Charlie are a hell of a rhythm team though. Check out this Howlin Wolf record, they both play on it. The London Howlin' Wolf Sessions - Wikipedia

I know this is a zombie thread, but that's Klaus Voorman and Ringo Starr playing on this song.