What riff hooked you on bass?

[Gaarondawson]

For me it was a Geddy riff during the solo in Digital Man on Signals. (yeah, maybe 40 years ago.) That line is somehow imprinted in my soul When I heard it, long before I came a bassists, I felt a calling I still feel today. It vibrates within me to this day.

 

[Rickengeezer]

 

[mongo2]

Easy...the walkdown during the intro to Jingle Bell Rock. My uncle gave us a record player and a copy of that record for Christmas back in the late 50's. Yikes, that was over 60 years ago.

I started to play bass several years after that and I never had to play that song out until a few years ago.

 

[charlie monroe]

 

[basscooker]

Kiss. Sure know something.

 

[marchone]

A 12-bar blues progression got me hooked.

 

[beaglesandbass]

Sunshine of Your Love

 

[WI Short Scaler]

I was a drummer when I first heard KISS and became a fan but the bassline in Detroit Rock City first occurred to me as a cool riff.

 

[danesdad]

Iron man-Black Sabbath...my parents HATE that riff even today, 40 years after they heard it a million times.

 

[Gaarondawson]

I was a drummer when I first heard KISS and became a fan but the bassline in Detroit Rock City first occurred to me as a cool riff.

I bought that album 5 times; as a record, an 8 track, a cassette, the CD and recently on iTunes. Those guys must be filthy rich. The great thing about those late 70s bands is we heard sounds we’d never heard before: AC/DC, Rush, Led Zep, Kiss, Boston, The Cars, REO Speedwagon, the Police, Queensryche and the Scorpions, just to name a few. Whatever you think of those bands now, I would venture to say they still have the power to blow a 12 year-old’s mind when heard for the first time. I’m not sure that’s true of more contemporary stuff.

 

[Dean N]

When I was 12 or 13, and I pressed play and The Big Money blasted out of my stereo, and that clear, up front bass line kicked in, I knew. Yep. I'll be doing that.

 

[dalkowski]

"Chameleon" (Maynard Ferguson chart)

 

[FRoss6788]

Ged's line on Limelight.
That whole album really, but that tune in particular hooked me

 

[WillyW]

NIB Geezer

 

[tubedude]

Dazed and confused

 

[WI Short Scaler]

A couple others that stood out to me long before I was a bass player were Paranoid/Black Sabbath and Wasted Years/Iron Maiden.

 

[dannylectro]

Not a riff, per se, but the bass playing on Penny Lane got me hooked on the instrument.

 

[Ostie]

My first bass was a borrowed Kingston into a Dual Showman 4x12, and I’d had it for only a couple months. Somebody asked me to play Dragon Attack. It sounded nasty, but....I was hooked. Then I got a T40. Much better.

 

[bobyoung53]

Jan 1964 on the good 'ol AM radio, 10 years old.

 

[Tony In Philly]

It was at a high school talent show in 1970 and they needed a bassist. I had already played guitar so I thought "why not", and we threw this song together: