Thoughts on the bass "over-player"

[DWBass]

Here's how I see it. I go to see bands all the time. Whenever there is an 'overplayer', it's fairly obvious because I keep getting distracted by all the extra stuff he's playing. I want to enjoy the song but I'm drawn to the bass player and at some point, I walk out. More power to those that play that way for whatever reasons. Non musicians probably don't even get it nor care how many notes you're playing. Being creative doesn't mean you have to fill every space of the song.

 

[lfmn16]

Entitled? LMAO Opinions may be free but they're mostly wrong and misinformed. Do what you like, it's all good (or is it?).

Yes, entitled. Maybe you should look up what opinion means.

Serving the song, serving the band means you're playing with people and making music together... in jazz, they call it comping, which is 'complimenting.' This means you are listening and complimenting what's going on around you, that's what music is.

In your opinion.

This happens all the time on TB. Someone feels so strongly about something that they mistake their opinion for fact.

 

[buldog5151bass]

Babbit played Rolling Stone, it bored the hell out of Jamerson, haha! sorry to blow your thesis. I forgot where I read that.

Fine. My Girl, Going to a Go Go, Can't Hurry Love. Etc.

 

[GrapeBass]

Yes, entitled. Maybe you should look up what opinion means.

In your opinion.

Opinions can hold no bearing on fact or knowledge, Have a great day and I hope life treats you better than you treat life.

 

[Pete Greenfield]

I have D and G strings on my bass. No idea what they're for...

 

[WI Short Scaler]

In your opinion.

This happens all the time on TB. Someone feels so strongly about something that they mistake their opinion for fact.

Yep, happens all the time, everything from a mod to wardrobe to playing style.....get over yourselves just a little bit.

 

[nilorius]

In covers i try to play something mine, only in case where bass theme is kind of associating with melody, it should be put in at my theme. There could be much difference, it mostly differes from song.

 

[68Goldfish]

I’m the kind of player that learns/plays a song as close as I can to how it was originally recorded. Sometimes there may be a couple versions of a tune with different bass lines. In that case I might pick the best parts of each recording and mash them up. And then when I work them out with the band and I finally get the lines down the way they work best with the rest of the band I then play them that way every time with little to no embellishments. Keeps me from making mistakes and the rest of the band knows what to expect every time.

 

[bobyoung53]

Fine. My Girl, Going to a Go Go, Can't Hurry Love. Etc.

I don't understand your point other than that Jamerson played them, all great tunes and bass lines. This from Babbit's forum, I just find this interesting and thought you would too, I just found it funny that someone would post something that was very simple that Jamerson supposedly played but he walked out because it bored him. I love both of these bass players, both heroes of mine so I hope you didn't take offense.

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« Reply #3 on: August 28, 2008, 07:11:58 pm »

Hey Guys.....The Undisputed Truth version was yours truly....I had first been told that the Temptations version was Leroy Taylor but then Eddie Watkins name was also mentioned to me..
Recently Wah Wah Watkins and I had a discussion about the Papa Was a Rolling Stone session and he told me that Jamerson and myself were both on the session but when producer Norman Whitfield asked Jamerson to just keep repeating the Bass line that Jamerson got up and walked out of the session...Wah Wah said that Norman ahd me play the line...I tolf this to W
Hey Guys....I hit post before I was finished...........

I told Wah Wah that I did not remember this but he insisted that is what happened?
As a result if several versions were recorded and the credits had three or four Bass players on the album but did not list who is playing on each cut then there would be confusion as to who played on what?

 

[buldog5151bass]

I applaud you on your Babbit trivia. My point is that a good player plays what the song needs, regardless of whether it is simple of complex. Yes, Jamerson loved playing complex lines, and preferred sitereading over coming up with his own lines for every tune (according to SITSOM), but he (and the Motown musicians) played what the song needed, whether they liked it or not.

 

[StatesideRambler]

Serving the song, serving the band means you're playing with people and making music together... in jazz, they call it comping, which is 'complimenting.' This means you are listening and complimenting what's going on around you, that's what music is.

Complement, not “compliment.”

 

[GrapeBass]

Complement, not “compliment.”

Thank you! Corrected.

 

[Brad Johnson]

you bet.......but it depends on the M.O. of the band and the type of players. Most bands play as musicians.......others have moved on to the bigger concept of 'entertainers'. Of the latter, they have realized that some of what captivates a 2019 audience (raised on music video as well as audio) is being able to go places other bands don't both visually and musically.....People want to be entertained. Most bands do that by filling a dancefloor and creating a party-- Some musicians do that but also go the extra step with musician showmanship. In the past, it was always guitar......In 2019, its everybody,and the flashier the better......You never hear 80s style guitar soloing on records anymore but tapping EVH and dive bomb pinch harmonics go over super well. Audiences eat-up slap bass playing, even if the 2019 TB bass community tells you its uncool. They like tasty drum fills(and solos), keyboard shredding, and a complete bonus if you have sax or horns (especially sax soloing - many women find it very sexy). Its part of an entertainment show package....If done tastefully in punctuated spots, its exciting to watch, its different, and 'entertaining'

What TBers consider uncool often has nothing to do with the larger reality.

 

[Wanker_Joe]

It's kind of funny when I think about it; I'm a chronic overplayer and a massive wanker...except when playing covers. I'll often keep them pretty close, since half the fun of playing a cover is giving the crowd something familiar. Though, the covers I play are typically very involved anyhow, so maybe it's a moot point. I mean, if there's something that I can add that actually adds to a cover I'll usually do it, but mostly I'll try to keep it within the lines when I need to. It adds an interesting counter to my busy originals anyhow when I can pull back a bit. But honestly I don't play many covers.

 

[grinx]

I have D and G strings on my bass. No idea what they're for...

Same. That's why I quit playing basses that have 'em.

 

[LanEvo]

I get exhausted when I see a band and the drummer and/or bassist are over-the-top.

Unless that's the whole point of the band (like a Billy Sheehan project), I prefer the rhythm section to hold down a tight groove and leave it to the solo instruments to be annoying LOL.

 

[Charlzm]

nah. they are a nice subset of cover bands. I've never had bigger gigs or made more money than I have playing with tribute bands. It's not even close. pro venues. Headlined in front of thousands of people in foreign countries and being treated like royalty.

and it can be very very hard to copy the essence, the sound, the stage presence, and the look of an iconic band.

There I said it.

Opinions, right?

 

[QORC]

Same. That's why I quit playing basses that have 'em.

I use them just to keep my neck straight

 

[Sav'nBass]

I try to start with the song ... and get as close to the song ..as I can .. I consider myself an adequate player with flashes of dazzle and when I can slip in a busy lick or two .. I do .. If I have to dumb a part down to make it cleaner.. I do .. .. but I do my best to serve the song..

 

[Smooth_bass88]

i've never ever heard the phrase bass over player