SIMPLE bass lines that make the song...

[GKevinK]

Donnie IRIS! fantastic! The man from Beaver Falls, PA is a personal favourite of mine. "Ah Leah" was a rock anthem for me growing up.

Heh... I'll always remember going to Jeree Studio just north of downtown Pittsburgh (up Rt. 65 IIRC) for some sessions and thinking... 'this is where all that great Donnie Iris stuff happened'. It was also fun to talk with Don Garvin about his hand-built custom board that would pass 100KHz square waves (according to him, at least.)

The entries in this thread reminded me of...

Ashes to Ashes - David Bowie
I'm the Man - Joe Jackson

 

[jaywa]

U2 - "With or Without You" and "New Years Day"
Fleetwood Mac - "Go Your Own Way"
Queen - "Another One Bites The Dust"
Chic - "Good Times"
Pink Floyd - "Money"
All Motown
Mamas & Papas - "I Saw Her Again Last Night"
Beach Boys - "God Only Knows"
REM - "Radio Free Europe"
XTC = "Mayor of Simpleton"

Although I have to admit, some of these bass lines are not exactly "Simple". But they are ones I would definitely point students to as examples of the bass carrying a song.

 

[Papersen]

First two basslines that came to my mind:

"Save a prayer" - Duran Duran
"The Wall" - Pink Floyd

 

[WarriorJoe7]

Love Song - The Cure
Good Times
Rock Your Body - Justin Timberlake

 

[PilbaraBass]

And the all time simple bass lines that make the song...



the winner is...



BLISTER IN THE SUN....violent femmes...

 

[Vic Winters]

Claypool and simple are not two things that go together.

My Name is Mud is incredibly simple. Not just by Les standards, but by most bass standards. If you have a 5 string or a 4 tuned BEAD (preferably fretless) you can learn that song within it's 5 minute run time.

 

[namraj]

might have been mechnoned b4: Dancing in the Moonlight - thin lizzy

almost certainly not menchoned yet, though played on a DB great fun to play on both EB and DB and makes the song: 1,4,5 - The Cat Empire!!

 

[cavemanfr]

Blondie - Rapture

 

[Woodchuck]

Here are a few that live up to the criteria:

"You and I" - Rick James
"When The World Is Running Down...." - The Police
"Slide" - Slave
"Papa Was a Rolling Stone" & "Ball of Confusion" - Temptations
"Don't Stop til You Get Enough" - Michael Jackson
"Fly Like an Eagle" - Steve Miller Band

It should take you 3 minutes or less, to learn these.

 

[Austin Manny]

"Jungle Love" by Morris Day and the ************* Time!

 

[on1ne]

anyone mention The Temptations "My Girl"?

prominent simple line and stays simple, does not play the guitar riff.

 

[The_Ox]

These are quite simple:

Taxman-The Beatles

Boris the Spider-The Who

Boris the Spider was the first song I learned to play on bass!

 

[Chasarms]

Sorry if I overlooked it, but "Come Together" seems like a no brainer.

For this exercise, I think of simple lines that drive the tune like "Call Me The Breeze" and "Whipping Post." I also couldn't help but think of Joe Cocker's version of "Feeling Alright" although Grand Funk Railroad's rocks that tune also.

I would say anything by Donald Dunn. He's the king of Chicago-style blues as far as I am concerned.

 

[GreyBeard]

Fog Hats' Slow Ride

 

[Mystic Michael]

What else?

Well, I'm not going to read the entire thread. But in case these haven't come up yet, pretty much anything by The Talking Heads. A few examples:

Once In A Lifetime (utterly simple, this one)
Psycho Killer (nice little pulse and groove)
Take Me To The River (definitely makes the song)

You get the idea, etc. etc. etc...

MM

 

[MOTTOB]

...well it was JUST MY IMAGINATION...
The Temptations

 

[popinfresh]

blood to bleed - rise against

 

[Woodchuck]

Taxman-The Beatles

Yeah, until you get to the bridge! Macca kills that!

 

[buzzbass]

3 come to mind immediately

Rocky Mountain Way - Joe Walsh
In Bloom - Neervanner
God of Thunder - Kiss

 

[KBarker]

Pretty much any early U2 song would fit those requirements...not too mention being fun to play if you a just getting a band together.

Early Duran Duran would be the same...something like "Planet Earth", "Careless Memories" from their first album, or perhaps "Rio" or "My own way" from the RIO album, although these basslines are more complex than U2, they are still pretty straightfoward and fun to play.