Simplest Song You Just Can't Play?

[Sahe_Bassist]

I play in a Doors tribute band and For the life of me I can't seem to get the chord changes in the beginning of "the end" right, I always get lost in the drone and forget where they are...ugh lol.

 

[bwoodman]

Maggie May by Rod Stewart

That's a good one - even the original bass player on this track messes it up - SEVERAL times in the song - I always scratch MY head when I hear this song and wonder why they didn't re-take that song. I would have at least scratched out a chart so I know where it's going - then again, lots of drugs being used back then.

 

[JB36]

The chorus in Ozzy's Crazy Train is driving me nuts. I played it at an open mic earlier in the week and I butchered it. I've almost got it now though.

 

[two fingers]

We have a song on our list called "Beats so Lonely" by an old 80s act, Charlie Sexton. I think he was a one-hit wonder, I had never heard of it and I grew up in the 80s.

I actually dig a lot of his work. I'm probably the only fan on this forum of Arc Angels, a band he was in with Double Trouble and Doyle Bramhall. But he has recorded with everyone from Bob Dylan to Don Henley.

Back to the OP. I would have to say counting out some ZZ songs would be my easy/hard songs as well.

 

[Not yet]

We have a song on our list called "Beats so Lonely" by an old 80s act, Charlie Sexton. I think he was a one-hit wonder, I had never heard of it and I grew up in the 80s. Anyway, it's just all endless eighth-note roots. Anyway, our BL plays it with a different chord-verse-bridge structure than in any recording of it I've ever been able to find, and 3/4 of the time we play it I just totally lose track of what's coming next and miss a change. I really really really wish we would drop the song, it's not like anyone out there is dying to hear it.

Charlie Sexton serious Austin player, on and off w Arc Angels and Doyle Brimhall. That album was his try at pop

 

[two fingers]

Charlie Sexton serious Austin player, on and off w Arc Angels and Doyle Brimhall. That album was his try at pop

"Radio rock" perhaps, but I don't hear any pop in that album.

 

[BassKitty101]

Some worship song I was playing while filling in for a friend yesterday. I show up without practice and nail all of them and then out of nowhere here is some weird pseudo key change in the middle of a verse for a song. I literally could not get my head around it even when reading the music.

It was a funny experience though I figured it out before we actually played it but I haven't been that inept since I started playing!

 

[bassbully]

Didn't know where this would fit, but I guess it could result in some pretty comical stories, so I put it here.

Are there any songs your band does where your part is so painfully simple that there's no way you should ever struggle with it, yet you do?

I'm just wondering if I'm the only one here.

For example; we do T-R-O-U-B-L-E by Travis Tritt. Not a complex bass line by any means, but fairly fast. I can blast through that song and play it right every time.

Then we have God Bless The USA by Lee Greenwood. And it seems every time I play that song I step on my ****. Wrong notes, wrong timing, I just seem to destroy that song every time. Recently I've been able to get through it okay, but I just scratch my head and feel like the dumbest person in the band when that song comes out.

Any of you have an experience like this? Or am I really just that dumb?

We used to do TROUBLE and its a fun fast song love it. The one artist that trips me up is any Willie Nelson song like Always on my mind and now Angels flying to close to the ground..weird timing is the issue. Even Willie plays them diffrent in many live recordings and wrong at times.

 

[hrodbert696]

I actually dig a lot of his work. I'm probably the only fan on this forum of Arc Angels, a band he was in with Double Trouble and Doyle Bramhall. But he has recorded with everyone from Bob Dylan to Don Henley.

Back to the OP. I would have to say counting out some ZZ songs would be my easy/hard songs as well.

Charlie Sexton serious Austin player, on and off w Arc Angels and Doyle Brimhall. That album was his try at pop

Maybe I'm going to have to check out his other work then. The one song we play is ... not my favorite, but sounds like there may be a better body of work out there.

 

[96tbird]

Really? OK, well, at least, tell him he has a fan up in the frozen north. One, anyway.

Dude, have you never listened to the Arc Angels? Immediately download their debut album. Charlie is killer along with Doyle Bramhall in that band. Not a klunker in that whole batch of songs.

 

[96tbird]

I actually dig a lot of his work. I'm probably the only fan on this forum of Arc Angels, a band he was in with Double Trouble and Doyle Bramhall. But he has recorded with everyone from Bob Dylan to Don Henley.

Back to the OP. I would have to say counting out some ZZ songs would be my easy/hard songs as well.

I'm with you on the Angels! So there is two of us.

 

[pklima]

"Temperature". It's ridiculously simple, three notes throughout and not fast, but Sean Paul's vocals are murderous. I can't play it and do the vocals on the verses. I also can't do the vocals through the whole song without running out of oxygen, so I get somebody else to sing the hook while I play, and then I do the verses without playing.

 

[thedudebrah]

I played in a Misfits cover band for a Halloween show one year and we had like a 12 song set, but we kept screwing up Last Caress because its so damn simple. The crowd ended up cheering for it as an encore and we played it and butchered it. Oh well :/

 

[JaamE]

Are you referring to That Smell by Lynyrd Sktmyrd? If so, there is way more than just bass root notes going on in that song.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ix-ObS1NU0w

Yes, and i know that, but i'm still *really* struggling with the bass line, even simplified, so roots is all they ask of me. I have no idea how to write something that's a cross between what's played and what i can do

 

[BayStateBass]

Yes, and i know that, but i'm still *really* struggling with the bass line, even simplified, so roots is all they ask of me. I have no idea how to write something that's a cross between what's played and what i can do

I have never played it but now I'm interested. Maybe I'll have a crack at it tonight and see what jumps out at me. If I think I have anything valuable to contribute I'll PM you.

It can be really frustrating to struggle with a song in practice. It's almost like you can feel the daggers sinking in. And even one song like that can ruin your whole night and be depressing.

 

[buzzbass]

Would ?

Drove me nuts at first, mainly because I was trying to "count" it. Once I learned to feel the groove instead, it became cake

 

[Leadfoot]

Rock and Roll all Night - Kiss. I and the drummer can never seem to synch up on that beat. Drives me nuts.

 

[the wako kid]

Start with something more simple like Sly an the Family Stone - Thank you fo letting me be myself .

I learned that one by ear actually,and it is one of few slap songs I can play,but it's not crazy muting or anything like that. I can even throw in little solo fills and stuff,I just can't do that higher ground intro.

 

[tmdazed]

GNR Mr brownstone, nothing complex at all , I just have a bitch of a time wrapping my head around it

 

[repoman]

Friggin "That Smell" all they want from me is roots, which is fine, but it never sounds right to me, ever.

So what you are saying is "That Smell" stinks.