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Examples of complex bass lines in blues recordings?

#21
scootron said:
I think feel is something that will develop with practice and with the passage of time. At 14, he doesn't have the richness of life experience to properly inform his blues playing. When I compare our two lives, I shudder at the thought of him being exposed to the things which shaped my early teen years. So, I guess I'll have to settle for him learning the skills side of the equation now, and picking up the rest as he goes.

For the reasons above, I disagree as to whether blues is a good choice of genre. Some experience the blues before they play them, while others play the blues before they understand what they are all about. As long as he can eventually put the two pieces together, he should be fine.

An example of what I am talking about would be Clapton. In the mid-60s, he had great blues technique, but was just a white, British, ex-art school kid who copied the blues greats of America. Later, he merged the technique with the feel, and greatness evolved.
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I can see, and accept your point. I suppose my main point was that to become an accomplished bassist, a person should let the music dictate what bass lines are required. Some types of music requires more complex lines, but as a general rule, blues works on the "less is more" concept.

I appreciate that your son is only 14 years old, and will, no doubt, in time, come to realise this.

Good luck with the project.
 
#22
fearceol said:
I can see, and accept your point. I suppose my main point was that to become an accomplished bassist, a person should let the music dictate what bass lines are required. Some types of music requires more complex lines, but as a general rule, blues works on the "less is more" concept.

I appreciate that your son is only 14 years old, and will, no doubt, in time, come to realise this.

Good luck with the project.
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I think you're right about the music determining the lines, and about less being more. As much as I would like to impart this knowledge to him, it's probably something that has to be learned over time by doing it and by playing with people who understand the genre.

At this point, I'm more trying to capture his imagination so he'll start digging into the blues as a body of work that has taken nearly a century to develop to where it is now.

Right now, he's got that same intensity and passion that led me at that age to early Zep, Cream, Humble Pie, Hendrix, etc. With him it runs from Metallica and Mastadon to Stu Hamm and Vic Wooten.

We took him to see Stanley Clarke and Vic Wooten, and he got to meet and talk to Vic for a while. He's going to Vic's camp for junior bass players this summer, which I really think may be a life-changing event for him. Those of you who follow Vic at all know that he takes a holistic approach to music. His camp is a combination music/wilderness camp, helping kids learn to respect, appreciate and become inspired by their natural surroundings. My personal opinion is that Vic Wooten is one of the most positive influences in music today. It is obvious from watching him that he experiences true joy in making music.
 
#23
#26
Check out Orlando Wright with Buddy Guy. He plays the full gamut from sparse to complex. Really, though, you just have to listen to as much blues as possible to experience how important the feel is as well as what the bass is playing.
 
#29
As long as you have a fairly broad definition of the blues you should be able find enough "interesting" stuff to keep him interested and hopefully playing the genre enough he'll start to develop the all important feel for the blues. Allman Bros. like One way out is a good place to start. Have him listen to In Memory of Elizabeth Reed to show the breadth of blues. Mayall's version of Grits ain't groceries has some very nice bass in it (70th birthday album)
 
#30
Check out Albert Collins (I don't know off-hand who played bass, maybe multiple players).

If blues bass lines seem simplistic & beneath him, he's probably thinking about them in isolation rather than as their contribution to the music as a whole. A good player will understand what the song needs, & provide it. That means being aware of, & understanding, everything that's going on in the band all the time.
 
#32
JohnMCA72 said:
Check out Albert Collins (I don't know off-hand who played bass, maybe multiple players).

If blues bass lines seem simplistic & beneath him, he's probably thinking about them in isolation rather than as their contribution to the music as a whole. A good player will understand what the song needs, & provide it. That means being aware of, & understanding, everything that's going on in the band all the time.
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Johhny B Gayden w/ Albert Collins and Cold Cuts is a must learn for blues bass solo's!
YouTube - Albert Collins and The Icebreakers - Cold Cuts Part1 - Live 1980 Nr7.mkv

I say let the kid be 14 and enjoy whatever he likes at this stage. Flashy playing, technique and "isolation" ropes us all in at the beginning and then with time, trial and error we hopefully gain a solid understanding of the role, function and responsibility of the bass. If flashy blues bass and soloing get's him hip to the blues I say hooray....Whatever it takes.

I have yet to meet a well versed player who did not have some background or experience playing the blues.

Peace.
 
#34
Complex bass lines in blues....

Most anything from Robben Ford and the Blue Line. Here's a good example

Robben Ford & The Blue Line - Talk To Your Daughter - YouTube

Check out Larry Calton's blues projects. There's a great mix of both complex and simple in his body of blues work. Here's one that demonstrates the concept of less is more.

Larry Carlton - Larry's Blues - YouTube

Don't know if this version is Roy Estrada or Ken Gradney, but it's a pretty good example of something a little out of the ordinary which still could be (IMO) considered blues.

Little Feat - Spanish Moon - YouTube
 
#35
Ha ha, any time I hear a player complain about the simplicity of an entire genre of music, I just laugh at how many times he would be stymied trying to follow some players.

Listen to Fleetwood Mac in their early days. John McVie is playing what sounds like simple walking basslines all over the place, but none of them are what another player would have come up with. He'll walk up, he'll walk down, he'll start on a root, or an octave, or some crazy interval that winds up on the root at the end of the line; there doesn't seem to be any rhyme or reason, except that in every case, the thing resolves just like the spirit of the guitars and vocals demand.

That guy is one of the greatest bass players in history, and most people would pass him right by as "not very good," or simply "solid," or whatever.

Have him play "Merry Go Round."

Merry Go Round- Fleetwood Mac - YouTube

I have no idea why that one goes like it goes.

Incredibly complex? No. But still, difficult to play correctly.
 
#36
scootron said:
When we were talking about the pros and cons, though, he mentioned that although he hasn't played a lot of blues, he sees blues bass lines as being too simplistic.

I ? Which recordings might turn on a young bassist (14) to the full palette of blues bass?
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14-years old & already able to discern things as "being too simplistic".
OK...been there, too. Thing is, I know less now about music now than I thought I knew about the subject in 1972 (as a beginner/young bass player).
;)

You asked for Examples-
Robben Ford & The Blue Line (especially their 1st 2-3 albums).
Scott Henderson...two albums come to mind, Dog Party & Tore Down House.

Back in the day, the Paul Butterfield Blues Band...Keep On Moving is a nice album.
Jeff Beck's Truth & Beck-Ola are both full of tunes with Blues changes.


I would not classify these as "authentic" Blues...then again, Bluesmen like Muddy Waters & Howlin' Wolf also made records with "young" Rock players( i.e. Pete Cosey on guitar). Those albums, with Blues changes were consdiered a bit "out" in their day.

EDIT-
Just been re-visiting some of the early Butterfield Blues Band albums...they're happening.
 
#38
+1 to Tommy Shannon: don't remember the song names, but I like him in many SRV tracks.

+1 to Roscoe Beck: like said, with Robben Ford. Roscoe goes over the top (in a great way!) in that Blue Line at the Ohne Filter video, with his chops and chords, organ-like bass solo and all...

PS: listen to Coco Montoya's first album, there are some pretty basslines there, too!

And there's a Jimmy Smith album named "Dot Com Blues", which is a mix of blues and jazz and the bass player (Reggie McBride) sure knows this complex blues basslines business!
 
#39
jj4001 said:
+1. Right?

I started playing with a really great blues singer and guitarist recently. Learning quickly that my job is to not crap all over the tunes with my left hand and to get people's butts shaking with the right hand.
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I was lucky enough to back the late great Willie King for a few years and he always told us if we didn't get them doing the snake dance we was falling down on the job.
 
#40
I am always inspired when I listen to Jack Myers' work on Buddy Guy's and Junior Wells' early Vanguard albums, especially the songs: A Man and the Blues, One Room Country Shack, Worry Worry, and Vietcong Blues. Check out Jerry Jemmott on Freddie King's two Cotillion albums. Masters at work! Hell, listen to Hamp Simmons behind Bobby Bland's Stormy Monday. There's no bassic lack of creativity in blues.
 

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