Good advice from a brilliant player

[Paulabass]

I have been away from TB for a while due to lack of motivation due to the pandemic, and the shutdown of live music.
This morning I was talking to one of my favorite bass player friends- Terry Wilkins (Rough Trade, Big Sugar, Dr. John, Levon Helm etc, etc) and he said something I thought was worth sharing.
"The bass is truly such a weird instrument. The longer I play, the less I want to be a great bass player. Good bass players beat great bass players in the trenches. I was never much into chops from both an aesthetic or physical point of view and I always liked the 'creative song player' approach. It was with Rough Trade that I totally formalized my relationship with the vocal and the bass. Though they are separated by a lot of other things it is the first line I draw in the song (and not the kick). Like I am a weighty mobile attached by a string to the melody and hanging below it. The position and weight of the bass note would make it always feel like it is being prodded by the melody. I am pretty much always looking for the fattest simplest and most creative approach. I am starting to get the hang of it."
Food for thought from a veteran of the trenches.

 

[bolophonic]

Good stuff.

 

[Moving Pictures]

It seems both common sense and provocative at the same time. I like it. It resonates.

 

[starjag]

Curious if there are particular songs that illustrate Terry's approach at its finest?

 

[Roxbororob]

I have been away from TB for a while due to lack of motivation due to the pandemic, and the shutdown of live music.
This morning I was talking to one of my favorite bass player friends- Terry Wilkins (Rough Trade, Big Sugar, Dr. John, Levon Helm etc, etc) and he said something I thought was worth sharing.
"The bass is truly such a weird instrument. The longer I play, the less I want to be a great bass player. Good bass players beat great bass players in the trenches. I was never much into chops from both an aesthetic or physical point of view and I always liked the 'creative song player' approach. It was with Rough Trade that I totally formalized my relationship with the vocal and the bass. Though they are separated by a lot of other things it is the first line I draw in the song (and not the kick). Like I am a weighty mobile attached by a string to the melody and hanging below it. The position and weight of the bass note would make it always feel like it is being prodded by the melody. I am pretty much always looking for the fattest simplest and most creative approach. I am starting to get the hang of it."
Food for thought from a veteran of the trenches.

Timely and relevant commentary for me right now. Thanks for posting Paula.

 

[JRA]

good stuff! thanks!

 

[DirtDog]

Curious if there are particular songs that illustrate Terry's approach at its finest?

Go take a listen to High School Confidential by Rough Trade. From what @Paulabass conveyed, I kind of hear it in that song. Doesn’t hurt that this was Rough Trade’s biggest hit.

 

[bobyoung53]

I have been away from TB for a while due to lack of motivation due to the pandemic, and the shutdown of live music.
This morning I was talking to one of my favorite bass player friends- Terry Wilkins (Rough Trade, Big Sugar, Dr. John, Levon Helm etc, etc) and he said something I thought was worth sharing.
"The bass is truly such a weird instrument. The longer I play, the less I want to be a great bass player. Good bass players beat great bass players in the trenches. I was never much into chops from both an aesthetic or physical point of view and I always liked the 'creative song player' approach. It was with Rough Trade that I totally formalized my relationship with the vocal and the bass. Though they are separated by a lot of other things it is the first line I draw in the song (and not the kick). Like I am a weighty mobile attached by a string to the melody and hanging below it. The position and weight of the bass note would make it always feel like it is being prodded by the melody. I am pretty much always looking for the fattest simplest and most creative approach. I am starting to get the hang of it."
Food for thought from a veteran of the trenches.

I agree with him except that the first thing i listen for and play with is the kick, I also play melody but feel to give a band a nice tight rhythm is paramount.

 

[bobyoung53]

Go take a listen to High School Confidential by Rough Trade. From what @Paulabass conveyed, I kind of hear it in that song. Doesn’t hurt that this was Rough Trade’s biggest hit.

He doesn't stray from the kick in this tune at all and sticks right to the root so it's actually the opposite of what he described above at least to me.

 

[Zooberwerx]

This really hits home. To paraphrase Richard Carpenter: I'm not a great bassist but I've become a pretty good accompanist.

Riis

 

[Engle]

I have been away from TB for a while due to lack of motivation due to the pandemic, and the shutdown of live music.
This morning I was talking to one of my favorite bass player friends- Terry Wilkins (Rough Trade, Big Sugar, Dr. John, Levon Helm etc, etc) and he said something I thought was worth sharing.
"The bass is truly such a weird instrument. The longer I play, the less I want to be a great bass player. Good bass players beat great bass players in the trenches. I was never much into chops from both an aesthetic or physical point of view and I always liked the 'creative song player' approach. It was with Rough Trade that I totally formalized my relationship with the vocal and the bass. Though they are separated by a lot of other things it is the first line I draw in the song (and not the kick). Like I am a weighty mobile attached by a string to the melody and hanging below it. The position and weight of the bass note would make it always feel like it is being prodded by the melody. I am pretty much always looking for the fattest simplest and most creative approach. I am starting to get the hang of it."
Food for thought from a veteran of the trenches.

That’s a cool way of stating the basses role. I personally don’t think about the kick drum unless I’m stuck playing with a drummer that isn’t a natural fit.
Supporting the melody lines is what I try to achieve. One of the challenges of remote recording is a lot of times, I don’t get a chance to work on the bass line after the vocals/guitars are finalized.

 

[jibass]

Ed Friedland wrote an outstanding insightful article (which i cannot find at the moment) about learning to be a great accompanist rather than a great-chops soloist, based on his experiences touring around the world with The Mavericks. It absolutely agrees with OP's and everyone else's comments. Well worth a read, if i can find the article again i'll post a link. Maybe @edfriedland will chime in here.

 

[CallMeAl]

I started the pandemic bright eyed and bushy tailed, like many, at least in terms of bass goals. But as the months wore on I lost motivation. I realized I like playing bass with people, and after twenty years I have all the chops I could ever need.

So now my bass is in maintenance mode, keeping my setlist from getting too rusty. I’ve been working on broader musical skills; my ear, learning new tunes, reading, and singing/playing. I also started learning electric guitar, which has been extremely fun and exciting.

 

[EatS1stBassist]

I have been away from TB for a while due to lack of motivation due to the pandemic, and the shutdown of live music.
This morning I was talking to one of my favorite bass player friends- Terry Wilkins (Rough Trade, Big Sugar, Dr. John, Levon Helm etc, etc) and he said something I thought was worth sharing.
"The bass is truly such a weird instrument. The longer I play, the less I want to be a great bass player. Good bass players beat great bass players in the trenches. I was never much into chops from both an aesthetic or physical point of view and I always liked the 'creative song player' approach. It was with Rough Trade that I totally formalized my relationship with the vocal and the bass. Though they are separated by a lot of other things it is the first line I draw in the song (and not the kick). Like I am a weighty mobile attached by a string to the melody and hanging below it. The position and weight of the bass note would make it always feel like it is being prodded by the melody. I am pretty much always looking for the fattest simplest and most creative approach. I am starting to get the hang of it."
Food for thought from a veteran of the trenches.

True bass player space!

 

[Killing Floor]

This is good stuff. I somewhat regrettably agree. I think you should seek to improve in whatever you do every day. That’s the “regrettably” part. But think of it this way. Is there anyone you know in any part of your family or social sphere who is not a bassist that directly seeks out bassist virtuoso music? In my case, 40+ years as a player with some success and some hardships, my answer is no. I bought a Stu Hamm CD in the late ‘80’s.
If you were a guitarist, singer, drummer in a pop genre would you rather be in a band with Billy Sheehan or Bill Wyman? Not meaning to slight either one. But one is a much more accomplished virtuoso and one is a more functional and collaborative member of the rhythm section. No right or wrong answer.
But it sounds like your friend is being honest with himself. And that is super cool, that’s nirvana.

 

[OptimalOptimus]

 

[StatesideRambler]

I have been away from TB for a while due to lack of motivation due to the pandemic, and the shutdown of live music.
This morning I was talking to one of my favorite bass player friends- Terry Wilkins (Rough Trade, Big Sugar, Dr. John, Levon Helm etc, etc) and he said something I thought was worth sharing.
"The bass is truly such a weird instrument. The longer I play, the less I want to be a great bass player. Good bass players beat great bass players in the trenches. I was never much into chops from both an aesthetic or physical point of view and I always liked the 'creative song player' approach. It was with Rough Trade that I totally formalized my relationship with the vocal and the bass. Though they are separated by a lot of other things it is the first line I draw in the song (and not the kick). Like I am a weighty mobile attached by a string to the melody and hanging below it. The position and weight of the bass note would make it always feel like it is being prodded by the melody. I am pretty much always looking for the fattest simplest and most creative approach. I am starting to get the hang of it."
Food for thought from a veteran of the trenches.

As a bassist my preference has always been to be a side man but too many of the people I play with push me up front, whatever their reason may be. Some bassists love soloing but I’m not among them and I’m hard to impress with bass solos when I’m in the audience. SERVE THE SONG!!

 

[Chad Michael]

"Bass playing is a unique combination of discipline and restraint" - unknown

Serve the song, serve the band. I love that about it. The other musos appreciate, only a few listeners will as well, it just takes time, literally and figuratively....

 

[Dr. Cheese]

Name just about any “good” player who was working at the top levels before the pandemic, and they were all capable of playing technically demanding things if the song called for it. I think the OP is calling bassist’s who focus on virtuoso playing as “great” players. From what I can see, great accompanists have the ability to be totally engaged playing incredibly complicated music or extremely simple music. Always sounding like you care is a great musical gift we all don’t have.

 

[2112]

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