Exactly. I was gonna wait a couple of years to say it, but that's what I was gonna say....
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Tina Weymouth
- Thread starter Munjibunga
- Start date
Exactly. I was gonna wait a couple of years to say it, but that's what I was gonna say....
just heard that on the radio right now, which led me to this thread. GREAT line!
Thanks for the tip, which motivated me to watch this last night. What an amazing hour of music.
And Tina. Tina Tina Tina. Few others have ever played such simple parts, but made them groove SO hard.....
Tina is more than a bass player. She is an outstanding musician. A solid rock bass in Talking Heads, but specially a person decades ahead her time with Tom Tom Club, the group she formed with his husband, former percusionist of Talking heads.
If you hear the Tom Tom Club' s song Wordy Rappinghood, for example, you'll find it difficult to believe that it was recorded around 1981 and created "in the moment" just to show some material to a producer. An it' s even harder to believe that they can reproduce it live. In youtube there is a recent and incredible version of that song.
Pop music don't mean bad, boring or weak music. And, as someone here said, if you judge Tina bass lines with your ears and not with your eyes, you will probably agree she is a mayor player. It is no hazard she was choozen for the cover of the first edition of Bass Player mag.
By the way ¿Does anyone knows if she recorded the studio version of Wordy rapp.. with an Steinberger or a Jazz Bass? Thanks.
I'm from the "Don't bore me with the details of how you did it - just bring me the results." school when it comes to technique.
If it sounds, good and serves the song, I really don't care what had to be done to accomplish it. I let the performance stand on it's own merits.
Ms. Weymouth is a brilliant bass player. She as a rare ability to exercise restraint when it comes to what she's playing. That alone puts her in an elite group of bassists AFAIC. Entertaining to watch too. What's not to like?
If it sounds, good and serves the song, I really don't care what had to be done to accomplish it. I let the performance stand on it's own merits.
Ms. Weymouth is a brilliant bass player. She as a rare ability to exercise restraint when it comes to what she's playing. That alone puts her in an elite group of bassists AFAIC. Entertaining to watch too. What's not to like?
Tina was awesome. What bassist doesn't love to play Psycho Killer?
I suppose. I use the same excuse - "I play for the song ... I don't want to overdo it."
I'm kind of surprised this didn't make it into the thread - the isolated track from Psycho Killer. I never noticed the coda section before - I'll have to adjust my playing.
I love reading this thread, still alive. Tina W still influential! To this day I hold all recordings I'm a part of to the TH standard of simplicity, message and funkiness!
This is still one of my very favorites:
This is still one of my very favorites:
Tina Weymouth has long been one of my favorite bass players. The feminist in me wants for her to have written the bass lines, as it seems somewhat rare to find great writer/performers on more aggressive rhythm instruments like bass and drums. But even if she didn't write her bass lines with Talking Heads, and even if Adrian Belew is primarily responsible for Genius of Love, I do still think that she has great feel, timing, and taste, and this can be heard in post Belew Tom Tom Club recordings and performances. Having played with a lot of "virtuoso" musicians, I know that all of the skill and inventiveness in the world is worthless if you don't know when to pull back, how to layer, how to create contrast, etc. Communication, dynamics, even a lousy musician is a great asset to a band if they know these things, and likewise a virtuoso is worthless if they don't. It seems tough to teach as well, you either have feeling for how to make good music, or you have to vomit endless leads and solos and cymbal crashes and play over everything. It is an incurable disease, infecting around 7 out of 10 musicians, and Weymouth never contracted it.
What I like about her is that her playing serves the song. It is so true what is said above that so many technically good players are worthless in a band situation because they can't hold back on showing off their skills. Tina just serves the song. That is what a musician and especially a bass player should do. Case in point: she's got the groove goin' on here:
Keeping this zombie thread alive for new generations of fans to find. Tina was always and still is an inspiring bass player who played for the song as an ensemble player. Her phrasing and use of ghost notes makes her lines sound fresh and interesting. I seem to remember she learned classical guitar long before she played bass, hence her classical style finger plucking. Whatever, Tina is an amazing musician and has played some incredibly memorable lines on songs that have made their mark on music history.
PS: thanks for the link to the isolated Psycho Killer bassline. Absolutely awesome!
PS: thanks for the link to the isolated Psycho Killer bassline. Absolutely awesome!
This thread is pure humor! First of all, in reply to @Munjibunga : YES, she is a fantastic musician!
Watch Stop Making Sense and hear her drop a fat funky groove and hold an 8-piece band together that included Bernie Worrell and Alex Weir, guitarist from the Brothers Johnson! Her technique is excellent, her basslines amazing, she sings and dances at the same time and looks great doing it!!!
Watch:
@ATL Bassist Thanks for the isolated track! I would kill for a bass tone that fat!
Here's my question and reason for resurrecting: Does anyone know what bass she is playing in Stop Making Sense? I did a bit of searching and don't see anything easily accessible. Love that semi-hollow-body tone she is getting.
Watch Stop Making Sense and hear her drop a fat funky groove and hold an 8-piece band together that included Bernie Worrell and Alex Weir, guitarist from the Brothers Johnson! Her technique is excellent, her basslines amazing, she sings and dances at the same time and looks great doing it!!!
Watch:
@ATL Bassist Thanks for the isolated track! I would kill for a bass tone that fat!
Here's my question and reason for resurrecting: Does anyone know what bass she is playing in Stop Making Sense? I did a bit of searching and don't see anything easily accessible. Love that semi-hollow-body tone she is getting.
You know, this is one of the very first threads I started on TalkBass - maybe the first. It was back in 2000, almost 17 years ago. I'm going to stick with my original assessment - she seems to be able to hold a groove, but her playing technique leaves a little to be desired. OK, it's better in the video above. I really like Byrne's moves.
