SIMPLE bass lines that make the song...

[j-raj]

Not sure if this was mentioned, but here are some that stick in my head, especially after a gig of playin them:

Good Times/Rapper's Delight
Boogiee Oogie Oogie
Another one bites the Dust

 

[BookMDanelectro]

Elvis Costello - "Pump it Up" by the underrated Bruce Thomas.

 

[chuck norriss]

All That She Wants, Ace of Base. Teach your students to wait during the verse & go off during the chorus.

 

[chuck norriss]

Or something from Bananarama:
Bananarama - Cruel Summer (HD) - YouTube

 

[j-raj]

All Right Now

 

[chuck norriss]

Thomson Twins, Hold Me Now.
Hall & Oates, Maneater.
Simple Minds, Waterfront. I don't think it gets easier than that.
Jermaine Stewart, We Don't Have to Take Our Clothes Off.

 

[LarryCrabtree]

If I can throw my 2 cents in on the new Doobies album "World Gone Crazy" the song "A Brighter Day" has a great bass line with an island feel that is fun to play.

Then check out some of the stuff by the new Doobies bass player John Cambell. He has some good clean lines in his work.

 

[CrewsControl]

I'm a novice, and these are some of the easier songs on my bass practice/wish list, which I can already kinda/sorta play for the most part. The trick of course is to play them consistently and with mojo.

Mr. Smooth - Michael Franks
Sloop John B - Beach Boys
De Anza Jig - Primus
Suco de Tangerina - Beastie Boys
A Forest - Cure
Wot - Captain Sensible
Pusherman - Curtis Mayfield
Riders on the Storm - The Doors
So Long - Fischer-Z
Brown Rabbit - Hacha
Go Your Own Way - Fleetwood Mac
I Can See Clearly Now - Johnny Nash
Counting Blue Cars - Dishwalla
Grey Matter - Oingo Boingo
Dock of the Bay - Otis Redding
Candy - The POTUS
The Air Is Getting Slippery - Primus
Shake That Rat - Nick Lowe
Island - The Whitest Boy Alive

 

[CrewsControl]

Another cool, yet simple tune that is all about the bassline is the theme from the 70's sitcom Barney Miller:

Barney Miller Theme Song - First 16 bars (4/4)
G---||:-----------------|----------------|----------------|-------------------:||
D---||:--(repeat x4)--|-----------------|-------------0-|1-0-------3------:||
A---||:-----------------|------------0-1-|3-----------3--|----3-1-3---3-0-:||
E---||:1-----------1-3-|5---------------|----------------|------------------:||

Don't forget the theme to Sanford and Son (by Quincy Jones), and the theme to Chico and the Man (by Jose Feliciano).

Sanford and Son
Chico and the Man

 

[mcblahflooper94]

Every Beatles song, for the most part.

 

[GrooveWarrior]

Beastie Boys - B For My Name

We play this at every show. What a fun tune to play. Everyone gets a solo and it just grooves, especially when you get it real big for a solo and then bring it way down to that palm mute, greasy, nasty level. Love it.

Beastie Boys - B For My Name - YouTube

 

[chuck norriss]

Gap Band, Burn Rubber

 

[CrewsControl]

I love playing a track from The Mix Up for someone who knows the Beastie Boys' popular hits, but not their instrumental albums, and ask them to guess what famous band cut the track. They never guess right.

 

[GrooveWarrior]

I love playing a track from The Mix Up for someone who knows the Beastie Boys' popular hits, but not their instrumental albums, and ask them to guess what famous band cut the track. They never guess right.

We do the same thing. Nobody ever guesses it's the Beastie Boys.

 

[dudecraft]

War - Low Rider

Good Call!!

The Joker - Steve Miller
Going Down - Freddie King (Great, easy D. Duck Dunn line)
Loser - Beck
Is she really going out with him? - Joe Jackson
Cars - Gary Numan
Those Shoes - Eagles
Midnight Hour - Wilson Pickett
Cinnamon Girl - Neil Young and Crazy Horse
Hair of the Dog - Nazareth

 

[OPBASSMAN1994]

Gimme' Some Lovin' - famously performed by the Blues Brothers.

I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For - U2

Jump - Van Halen

 

[CrewsControl]

"Black and White" "One" "Joy to the World" and "Shambala" by Three Dog Night

Hey, *** is that fuzzy thing on the headstock of his bass in this video?

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[LeoSash]

Maybe its...A flower?

but the first songs i learned (mostly were:

Seven Nation Army
For Whom the Bell tolls
Come as you are
21st century schzoid man (obviously this is NOT easy by any means)

The first three are easy and make the song mostly. The KC one makes the song better but isn't easy.

 

[LowNotes1]

If no one's mentioned it yet:

Ain't Too Proud To Beg - The Temptations

 

[simmerdown]

erik b and rakim- dont sweat the technique

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