So I'm building my "Repertoire"

[Aceman]

At the moment, I'm three songs in!

Joey - Concrete Blonde
With or Without You - U2
Under Pressure - Bowie / Mercury

Yeah, a thumbless monkey could play those, but I wanted to do songs that were easy but really made me groove/drove the song.

What else might I add quick & easy? Simple, well known, but bass-groove focussed?

 

[Eli_Kyiv]

The Trammps - Disco Inferno

 

[WrapRough]

Bass Guitar

Here's my playalong playlist... Knock yourself out

 

[comatosedragon]

I like

I'm Gonna Be (500 miles) Simple and bass focused (at least by my definition)

also

Come and Get Your Love Not quite as simple, but surely bass focused

 

[MrLenny1]

Some older R&B tunes are fun to play.
i.e. Sitting on the Dock of the bay
My Girl

 

[CallMeAl]

Bass Guitar

Here's my playalong playlist... Knock yourself out

Aaand bookmarked

 

[Aceman]

The Trammps - Disco Inferno

OK - I took a look at that tab. all "1 3" finger moves, pretty repetitive, obviously groove oriented. I know/love the song.

I may seriously have to give this a whack!

 

[bobomatic]

Message in a Bottle. It’s so much fun when you’re starting out but you have to get the feel to really get it right. Added bonus, there’s a couple different techniques and grooves to mess with.

 

[DrThumpenstein]

Bass Guitar

Here's my playalong playlist... Knock yourself out

Impressive list! If you can play all of those, you are a world-class cover bassist.

 

[Element Zero]

Bass Guitar

Here's my playalong playlist... Knock yourself out

My Girl and Strawberry Letter 23 and Bombtrack... yeah man. That’s my kind of list.

 

[okcrum]

Mony Mony.

Funny, we just put in Joey for our last gig because we had a vocalist sitting in.

 

[whero]

I don't know what kind of music you like, or what kind you aspire to play, but... "back in the day" I learned to play these songs, sitting in my room, picking up the needle and dropping it back on the LP...

• Sunshine Of Your Love (Cream)
• All Along The Watchtower (Jimi Hendrix)
• Rock And Roll and Since I've Been Loving You (Led Zeppelin)
• Ziggy Stardust (David Bowie)
  actually, pretty much the whole album
  
• Highway Star and Smoke On The Water (Deep Purple)
  I can feel you all cringe, but I love how the bass actually drives that song by not playing the cliche riff
• Reeling In The Years (Steely Dan)
• Listen To The Music, Long Train Runnin' (Doobie Brothers)
• I Ain't The One (Lynyrd Skynyrd)
• Now I'm Here (Queen)
• One Of These Nights (Eagles)

Now these might be a bit old now (even though I still play most of them, 45+ years after I learned them). The thing is, they all taught me something - about how the bass works in a song, how to find a groove, how to play fast, when to play slow. If you're just starting to build a repertoire, I think it's important to look for songs that will teach you something.

 

[WrapRough]

Impressive list! If you can play all of those, you are a world-class cover bassist.

Haha I wish I could! That list has been going for nearly 15 years!

 

[Sid s]

I really like this piece from the War of the Worlds. The bassline is not too hard to learn and it sounds great.

Herbie Flowers played the bass in this modern version as well as the original from 1977.
I think he created the bass line too.

 

[rogerb]

Come Together - The Beatles
Oye Como Va - Santana (groove++)
Walking On The Moon - Police
Take Me To The River - Talking Heads version
This Must Be The Place (Naive Melody) - Talking Heads (groove++ think it is a synth bass... but anyway)

 

[rogerb]

Take Me To The River - Al Green

No reason to not include the original it grooves maybe even more, but maybe not as well known. Going back on my list now!

 

[DirtDog]

OK - I took a look at that tab. all "1 3" finger moves, pretty repetitive, obviously groove oriented. I know/love the song.

I may seriously have to give this a whack!

Playing that one smoothly is a good workout. It can also be played in more than one position. The run at the start and the runs during the choruses add a little spice to that tune.

My take on it - not perfect...I missed a couple of bits.

 

[DirtDog]

At the moment, I'm three songs in!

Joey - Concrete Blonde
With or Without You - U2
Under Pressure - Bowie / Mercury

Yeah, a thumbless monkey could play those, but I wanted to do songs that were easy but really made me groove/drove the song.

What else might I add quick & easy? Simple, well known, but bass-groove focussed?

My Sharona - The Knack

 

[Eli_Kyiv]

Not that simple, but ticks all the boxes:
Joe Jackson - Steppin' Out

 

[Sid s]

My take on it - not perfect...I missed a couple of bits.

Not perfect ? Who cares ? I want to play that now. Excellent work!