I think it's more of a feelin than somthing you can copy from a recording take a simple 145 and play it the way you feel it don't try to copy so much as interpet it and make it your own, put or leave out what you feel inside- and there begin's your own interpitation or style and remember it's not what you put in as what you leave out it's a very personal thing,it come's back to that old saying (it's not so much what you say is how you say it)Good luck
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Famous blues bassists?
- Thread starter Koncept17
- Start date
Greg Rzab is great, I saw him with Buddy Guy so much in the 90's, he is very underated.
Bill Wyman... especially the bass he played during the first few English releases from the Rolling Stones. Lots of 12 bar and blues-inspired songs and Bill was pretty creative during this early period. Check what he does on "I Just Want to Make Love to You", how he plays a simple octave riff the first part then during the other part goes walking around the chord. I dig that British blues stuff.
Any of BB Kings bassist,but specificly: Jerry Jermott, Leo Lauchie(Live at The Regal)and Louis Satterfield(Live at Cook County Jail)
Well, although he's been mentioned, and although it's really beyond basic stuff, John Paul Jones is really one to check out. He not only plays within the blues idiom, but was really something of a master blues bass improviser, never just playing the line, but including all kinds of variations (slides, hammer-ons, etc ). For a great example of the kind of blues bass that comes closer to jazz in not playing straight, check out that Zeppelin "Lemon Song" on Zeppelin II! There's also a transcription of the song on "Led Zeppelin I & II" (no tab, though) where you'll read a bassist who's really getting into and having fun with the blues structure! Also, you'll find yourself bored silly once you see how simple the bassic styles are - check out that Friedland blues bass book and move on fast: listen and learn the blues scales, especially the major and minor, and get creative! The scales themselves sound musical, too. Another great book is the Berklee Press' "Blues Improvisation for C Bass Instruments", because you'll get into the deeper things that'll make playing that there thang more fun eventually. Oh! And you GOTTA check out Columbia's "The Compete Jack Johnson Sessions" for some really RAW electric blues variations by Dave Holland and Michael Henderson - granted, it IS jazz, and yeah, they kinda get WAY out on some cuts, but man, there are some real cold pieces up on that collection that give some great ideas about freedom in form! All IMHO two cents s**t, sorry - recommendations from a really excited newbie to the forums!
How about Johnny B Gayden? Did most of the studio work for bunches of Alligator Records artists including Albert Collins and Son Seals. He is pictured here with myself and Lane Baldwin, special projects coordinator for Eden.
Certainly Tommy Shannon and Duck Dunn and Willie Dixon are all great to learn from, but Gayden's work is very accessible while also very true to the real blues itself.
I stole my best stuff from Mr. Gayden!
Very cool! I ripped off the entire solo from Cold Cuts. Not that I use much more than the Popeye theme.
You guys do a great job on that tune!
You stole my thunder. As I was reading further and further through the thread, I couldn't believe nobody mentioned Jemmott. I remember picking up B.B.'s "Live and Well" album and just being blown away by the bass. I love Jerry's playing.
+1 to Larry Taylor!
There's a really good bassist who plays with a guy named Tinsley Ellis that they just call "The Evil One". He has some really phenomenal chops, especially in the older 80s Tinsley stuff.
There's a bassist named John Jordan that plays with Chris Duarte that's pretty good too. He does the whole 7-string Conklin thing.
Absolutely right, Glenn! The "Well" side was soooo good that I'd rarely flip it over onto the "Live" side! (Of course we're dating ourselves with our references to vinyl rather than CD's!)
