We used to play Mellisa by The Allmans Bros. After a break, my lead player said "Man, you really grooved that song. Not too bad for a song that has a boring bass line." I said..."Have you ever listened to the song?" Granted maybe early versions of the song have a plain bass line, but not with Oteil's playing. And the version we listened to to learn the song was definitely Oteil.
My high school band director actually helped cure me of this. He had a rule that you had to listen, not just read. So in the middle of a song, he would cut us off, then point to someone and ask them what another section was playing. He used the embarrassment factor into forcing us to listen. I loved it when he would call on me (a tuba player) and ask about, say, 1st trumpet, and I would play to him what the 1st trumpet section should be playing, on my tuba. I was waaaaaaay better on tuba than on bass btw. I was just too caught up in "rock and roll" to keep up with it.
