Over the top bass playing or tastefully done?

[MuseChaser]

Before I write anything else....is there anyone here on TB that is in that band, or has friends in it?

Oh, never mind. It's nice to see people paying tribute to Marvin.

 

[J Wilson]

All I had to do was look around the stage: I don't see ANYBODY dancing, I don't really see the horn players or the backup singers locked in and swaying to a groove. He's overplayed his hand, and if the drummer hadn't been as steady (and steadfast) as he is, this would have been all over the place.

Nobody dancing, no groove happening. What separates the men from the boys . . . . is knowing how much is ENOUGH, and in this chart and this time, it's too busy to be coherently grooving. You're backing up singers, you play to the song, and you lock up in a groove. Missed these 3 by a bit.

 

[ole Jason]

It sounds great and the tone is perfect for what they're trying to do. Love seeing bassists take the lead on a tune and carry things. I find it extremely boring when bands do this tune and the bassist plays Jamerson's line. I've heard how Jamerson played it, I want to hear how you play it.

 

[75Ric]

I like this, a lot. I could listen to this band all night. I don't think the bass is too busy. I could be wrong, but I think he's playing fewer notes than Jamerson did, particularly around the fills.

 

[40Hz]

I think it’s just a little too busy in several places and never really gets a solid groove going because it’s not locking in with the drummer. Just my 2¢.

Asked my SO what she thought about the performance without saying anything to her about the bass. Her comment: “It’s ok. Nice vocals. But it doesn’t make me want to get up and dance. Something feels off with it.”

 

[monsterthompson]

Not my style music, so as an outsider…
I liked the band leaving space for the bassist who clearly knew their way around the fretboard. I’d agree that it seemed intentional to let the bass do a lot in the song. However, it didn’t feel like the bass was giving the vocals space in the verse. As someone unfamiliar with the song it felt distracting.

… listening back again, and just to clarify what I’m hearing. Around 1:27 my impression is the female vocal should be the focus but the bass part played, particularly with the brightness of the tone, feels like it’s fighting for the spotlight. Maybe I’m unfamiliar with the form or context, or maybe a mellower tone would’ve made the part blend better.

I’m not trying to dwell on a point. I’m just trying to understand and explain what I’m hearing and provide an example beyond my previous, more general statement.

 

[jerry]

I dug it, why not bring it on a live gig. I dug his answering the Brother line. The whole band sounded great, nice dynamics. Is that you OP?

 

[MuseChaser]

Edited and thought better of my obnoxious yet valid comments. Apologies to anyone who read them and disagree before I was able to edit.

 

[ryco]

His time does not suck and some mighty nice licks!
It's such a beautiful song even after all of these decades.

 

[Dbassmon]

I'm not trying to be the odd man out here,

The bar is set very high for this tune, first by Jamerson. He wrote something near perfection for his part—it flows, is smooth, has surprises, and is always musical. It's a classic.

Then, Donny Hathaway's live version with Mr. Willie Weeks on bass is the recording of What's Goin On, which takes things to another level. It is so funky. In the solo - the chromatic ii V changes are freaking brilliant, so not only is it funkier, it is harmonically richer. The bar is set impossibly high here. This is the version!!!!

The bassist on the YouTube recording does a somewhat awkward hippity-hoppity shuffle, which I find annoying. When he calms down to the palm mute, he sounds better to me. It's not that he can not play; he can. I don't care for his choices musically. That is a taste thing for sure.

Anyone interested in Willies Week's part transcribed here it is

 

[JonathanPDX]

You can often tell by the comments who has actually worked in bands and who hasn't. Most working bands have elements of their live show where they put their own spin on a well-known song. If you have a good bass player it makes perfect sense to do an arrangement that gives them space to play cool stuff.

As for overplaying, uh, have you guys never listened to Jamerson? At the time he recorded this stuff you guys would have been SCREAMING that he was overplaying and a REAL bass player would never dare to play so many notes.

 

[Smooth_bass88]

You can often tell by the comments who has actually worked in bands and who hasn't. Most working bands have elements of their live show where they put their own spin on a well-known song. If you have a good bass player it makes perfect sense to do an arrangement that gives them space to play cool stuff.

As for overplaying, uh, have you guys never listened to Jamerson? At the time he recorded this stuff you guys would have been SCREAMING that he was overplaying and a REAL bass player would never dare to play so many notes.

Jamerson was the one of the founding fathers of electric bass playing, considered by most to be the greatest ever, and certainly the world's first true master on the instrument. There was absolutely no one on electric to compare him to. He set the standard! Everyone loved him; there's no way in h*ll that any of us would be "SCREAMING" that he overplayed. Everything he did was absolutely beautiful

 

[Dbassmon]

As for overplaying, uh, have you guys never listened to Jamerson? At the time he recorded this stuff you guys would have been SCREAMING that he was overplaying and a REAL bass player would never dare to play so many notes.

There is only one Jamerson. His playing style was busy but never at the expense of the groove. Jaco, the same thing; lots of notes but a groove like a freight train. If you compete with the groove by playing a busy part, you are not playing musically. If you are enhancing the groove and song with a busy part, that is not overplaying. Very few guys can pull that off. Jamerson, no doubt, was a master.

 

[JonathanPDX]

Jamerson was the one of the founding fathers of electric bass playing, considered by most to be the greatest ever, and certainly the world's first true master on the instrument. There was absolutely no one on electric to compare him to. He set the standard! Everyone loved him; there's no way in h*ll that any of us would be "SCREAMING" that he overplayed. Everything he did was absolutely beautiful

Yeah, the Boomer bass players who are mad at some kid overplaying today are exactly who would have been the old-school upright bassists from the 40's upset that Jamerson was playing the bass parts wrong.

 

[sawzalot]

The focus of this song is the vocal line. Her voice is soft and full of texture, his is great, and the arrangement should support and highlight that. Instead I have this grooving fender jazz in my ears that’s out of place for the song. I’m sure the bassist was feeling it but it’s completely wrong for the song, the feel, the singers, everything. About 90% of the notes need to go away and the bass line needs to match the feel of the song and singers.

 

[pocket_groover]

What yall think of this cover of a MG classic?

I like it. You might have said Jamerson was "over the top" in the original recording but it really makes the song. Here's a live performance (with Jamerson in the video!) in which he embellishes his lines of the original recording. Sounds great! Also great lines in the second part (What's Happening Brother)

Also agree that the band left space for the bass player. It's great when a song sounds good with only drums/bass/vocals. You can hear this in some of the stripped recordings of Smokey Robinson where only Jamerson and vocals are on.

 

[J Wilson]

Asked my SO what she thought about the performance without saying anything to her about the bass. Her comment: “It’s ok. Nice vocals. But it doesn’t make me want to get up and dance. Something feels off with it.”

See what I mean?

As for overplaying, uh, have you guys never listened to Jamerson? At the time he recorded this stuff you guys would have been SCREAMING that he was overplaying and a REAL bass player would never dare to play so many notes.

James Jamerson wrote the book, and as often happens with the supremely talented put at the right place at the right time, HE could do it and make it work. The rest of us mere mortals are shooting horse in the driveway wishing we were Michael Jordan.




Jamerson at work, with Benny Benjamin on drums along with the rest of The Funk Brothers, on my favorite version of 'Heard It Through the Grapevine' from 1967, and him and his one-finger picking are ALL up and down all over this, and he . . . never . . . puts . . . a . . . foot . . . wrong.

And you're right: Me, I'd sound way to busy trying to emulate the divine, but not him, not in this context, not on this chart, not with these other musicians, and that prodigious talent in this setting just works, all day, every day.

 

[5StringBlues]

Awesome, a ridiculous Boomer comment has made its way to this thread. Hooray

 

[Topkat13]

Jeez…looks like some of the responses were by peeps who had too much cheese the night before. It sounded fine.

 

[ShawnG]

I like it. You might have said Jamerson was "over the top" in the original recording but it really makes the song. Here's a live performance (with Jamerson in the video!) in which he embellishes his lines of the original recording. Sounds great! Also great lines in the second part (What's Happening Brother)

Also agree that the band left space for the bass player. It's great when a song sounds good with only drums/bass/vocals. You can hear this in some of the stripped recordings of Smokey Robinson where only Jamerson and vocals are on.

Thx for sharing.

FWIW, and I’m a Jazz bass guy, the P is a better fit for this song than the Jazz played too close to bridge in the OP’s video, to my ear. Horses for courses.