Why Cliff Williams = Genius

[rodl2005]

Hmmmmm....
He is VERY GOOD. His lines are pretty much perfect for the music/band he's in.
Not too much & always on.

Does that equal genius????

 

[rupture]

Let's see-
Start playing bass- check
Hook up with guitar player that craps great riffs in sleep- check
Play simple bass lines with a purpose- check
Earn millions playing said basslines- check

GENIUS- CHECK !

 

[rodl2005]

Yep. That simplifies it. :thumbup:

 

[Kmonk]

I like AC/DC and Cliff Williams is a decent bass player but I think it is a huge stretch to call him a genius.

 

[obimark]

What Cliff plays is perfect for what AC/DC needs. He has a great deal of restraint, that many on this board lack. He feels he is playing an instrument that contributes to the sound of a BAND. So it isn't all about him, or what he plays in isolation. Many on here could learn from this with their 20 stomp boxes, 6 and 8 string basses, etc...Just saying.

 

[Smooth_bass88]

What about Ian Hill of Judas Priest? Everyone likes to throw sh*t around regarding Adam Clayton because he plays "simple" or just eighth note roots. Cliff Williams, Adam Clayton and Ian Hill have had HUGELY SUCCESSFUL CAREERS...and I love to listen to AC/DC, U2 & Judas Priest. The music just sounds so powerful when these guys just 'play the song'. Just sayin'.

 

[Session1969]

I love their sound , always have. Some guys just don't get that the function of the bass is being part of the rhythm section to make a BAND sound good. Could anyone here imagine AC/DC without a driving bassist. Please. I believe in Genius through simplicity. Knowing what not to play and keeping your ego off the fretboard is a valuable quality.

 

[AaronVonRock]

I'd rather listen to Cliff Williams play bass for 5 hours than Jaco or Wooten for 5 minutes.
Cliff fulfills his role perfectly in his band. He's like Bill Cartwright on those championship Chicago Bulls teams in the 90s. Cartwright was the starting center and his stats weren't impressive on paper, but he had Jordan and Pippen (Angus and Malcom) to carry the load. And he has all of those championship rings (multi-platinum albums).

 

[obimark]

Ian Hill is another great- I have been playing a lot of his lines on Jammit now- master of restraint. Less is more.

 

[Terracite]

Less of a genius would give in to the temptation to play busier lines.

 

[rodl2005]

Exactly! Well said last 3 or so posts :thumbup:

 

[JimmyM]

Do I call Cliff a genius? No. The AC/DC thing was set in stone for years before Cliff joined, and Angus and Mal write most of the basslines anyway. But he's the absolute best at playing bass for AC/DC, just like Phil Rudd is the best drummer for AC/DC, and I know a lot of really good bassists who wouldn't last 5 minutes on that gig.

 

[joebar]

if you think about it, how many bands have come along that can lay in the pocket and groove the way they do? not many-must be something to it.
i wouldn't even call myself a fan, but i love that laid back groove that they are known for.
it does take a lot of restraint and maturity to play with that simplicity. even if that was the best he could do, it still requires heaps of talent to supply it.
when the beer is flowing, the music is loud and the girls are bopping, you want to be that bass player playing with THAT drummer.

 

[bigswifty1]

Heh, got a gig anecdote about a band covering "Long Way to the Top".

Was a few years ago and my band was going on last doing a bunch of old rockabilly tunes. We're nothing special, and neither am I but we manage to get the songs "out there" ok.

The band before us were just a bunch of pretty classy players players. Covering some Steely Dan, Average White Band, and some fairly straightforward rock covers, but doing 'em really nicely. Real class outfit of players.

I was watching from the audience with my drummer and we sort of looked at each other pondering our limitations when the band fired up for their final song, "LWttT", chugging along pretty nicely until ..... at the point where the pipes woulda kicked in .... the bass player, clearly thinking that the original bassline was beneath him and not making full use of his epic skill, launched into a very full-on slap fest.

My drummer and I (and some of the audience) just burst out laughing.

..... and we went over just fine with our old '50's stuff.

Mike

 

[JimmyM]

Holy cow, that is so wrong!

 

[Vince Klortho]

That would have been precisely my reaction too.

Slapping on an AC/DC tune? Blasphemy!

 

[Stone Soup]

...he's the absolute best at playing bass for AC/DC, just like Phil Rudd is the best drummer for AC/DC, and I know a lot of really good bassists who wouldn't last 5 minutes on that gig.

I agree. I remember when Phil was gone. The band just wasn't the same. The lineup has something special. There's no denying it.

It can be tough playing simply. Many times, simple is the most effective. Most of the players I know can't even make it through the busier songs without having to "make it their own", let alone play a straight eight root note line and not stray. It takes discipline to play simply and steadily, with good feel. Sadly, far too many of us are worried about trying to impress someone with cool licks.

AC/DC's formula works well. They just plain rock. Is Cliff a genius? He just might be. What he does is just right. I love his lines.

 

[avvie]

Okay, I'm not gonna read the whole thread, but check this out:

I'm no AC/DC fan. nevertheless a couple of years ago some locals put together a benefit concert called ACDCember. It's a long story, but the bottom line of it was that for three nights I was the primary bass player through 85% of the show and was the session player for all the rehearsals. I learned some very important things about Williams and AC/DC:

1- they are a formula. They are not a band of musicians that write to expand their horizons; they invented a perfect formula and it works. THAT is genius.

2- Playing anything at all other than what Williams plays simply does not work. It is an element in the formula, and if you change it the formula breaks and fails.

3- most of the time Williams is not doing what you would expect at all. It drives me insane to see/hear other players just banging away and playing the root notes of the guitar riffs...that's NOT how the formula works! When the root is played by the inexperienced and deaf, it's usually in the wrong register. Even worse is when bass is added when there actually is to be no bass at all.

4- Malcolm and Angus write the guitar riffs and they are very specific about what gets played to accompany them. Most of the things that the Williams critics complain about aren't even Williams' decision at all. Big ups to him for knowing how his bread is buttered and grasping the formula. I would have been fired.

 

[avvie]

I just checked out an AC/DC song and I agree with you.
Like I said, I think the root/8th note thing is more of the rhythm guitarists job, but considering that they lack a rhythm guitarist it makes more sense for the bass to cover that territory.

WHAT??!!!

The ENTIRE FORMULA is about rhythm guitar!! My band fired a guitarist for trying to squeak by each show just playing root/8th note scrubwork instead of playing the song.

But I'll cut you some slack because you DID ADMIT that you don't listen to or like AC/DC and you apparently based the above absurd opinion on just one song.

 

[Alex J]

Not so sure about some of the sentiments expressed in this thread, that less is always more (sometimes more is more!) and that a 'genius' wouldn't play anything busier, but Cliff is cool and can definitely hold it down.