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Great songs with underrated basslines.

#21
buldog5151bass said:
Ain't No Mountain High Enough or Mercy Mercy Me. Always amazes me that Motown was sold on the voices, yet the playing was so consistently off the charts fantastic.
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These are two of my favorites that I practice often. If I play the intro to Ain't No Mountain, people recognize it. So I wouldn't say that they are underrated. Since the basslines sold records and so many bassplayers study Jamerson, I think that it is hard to have an underrated Motown bassline. But Barry Gordy did downplay the Funk Brothers. True that. Capitalism is about exploitation.

My English teacher used to tell us that there is no word such as Ain't. But how is it that some of my favorite songs start with Ain't.
Ain't No Mountain High Enough. Ain't Nothing Like the Real Thing. Ain't Nobody. Ain't too Proud to Beg. Ain't no Sunshine. I guess one way to have a hit record is to ignore your English teacher.

Funny, I'm watching Motown 25 on PBS as I type this.
 
#22
Woodstockz said:
My English teacher used to tell us that there is no word such as Ain't. But how is it that some of my favorite songs start with Ain't.
Ain't No Mountain High Enough. Ain't Nothing Like the Real Thing. Ain't Nobody. Ain't too Proud to Beg. Ain't no Sunshine. I guess one way to have a hit record is to ignore your English teacher.
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Poets don't care 'bout no English class.

I'll add this one because I recently heard it (& have made attempts to play it...badly)-
"Beginnings"- Chicago/Peter Cetera
...some nice crossing the barline phrases during the verses, a bass break, + some jamming during the extended outro.
 
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#27
I'd like to add a few
Operation Ivy - Bombshell
Black Sabbath - NIB
Mudvayne - Dig
Infectious Grooves - Therapy
Jamiroquai - Space Cowboy
Dream Theater - The Great Debate
Duran Duran - Rio
The Specials - Ghost Town
Bob Marley - Get Up Stand Up
Motorhead - Ace of Spades
Anthrax - Got the Time
Chic - Good Times
Muse - Hysteria
Black Eyed Peas - Lets Get It Started
 
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#31
Granted, Ron Wood was a guitarist turned bassist, and there had been some criticism that his playing on this album was 'too busy'(who are these idiots?)but when I was learning to play, "Truth" and this track in particular was a great source for steady, rolling, supporting bass riffing, not flashy, but still active and interesting...

Larry Taylor's work here demonstrates how a simple but nimble line can propel a song. Playing along with this as a kid helped me build up my stamina and tempo...

Years later(and I do mean years)I answered a Craigslist ad about a combo bass amp for sale. Went to see the guy, and in the midst of trying out the amp, I realized it was Larry freekin' Taylor! Man, I was thrilled! I thanked him profusely for the inspiration. He had concentrated more on upright playing, and had been with Tom Waits for years; he was very cool and had some great stories. Bought the amp.
 
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#36
"Invisible Touch" by Genesis. Funny how you can hear a song a hundred times and never think twice about it, then one day hear it in a completely transforming way just because of different circumstances (in this case I was sitting and doing nothing while patiently waiting for Mrs. Three to finish shopping while it played over the store's loudspeaker system). I never noticed just how cool the bass sounds in that song.
 

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