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Your bass line on "Your Smiling Face"

sgoodwin

sgoodwin

Apr 17, 2012
111
101
#1
How long did it take you to come up with that? was that just from you messing around a bit with the chord charts before they recorded it?

I'm studying the song now, it sounds like you just magically knew where to keep with the drums and where it was fine to play around. Was that direction from the producer/artist or your own feeling?
 
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#3
sgoodwin said:
How long did it take you to come up with that? was that just from you messing around a bit with the chord charts before they recorded it?

I'm studying the song now, it sounds like you just magically knew where to keep with the drums and where it was fine to play around. Was that direction from the producer/artist or your own feeling?
Click to expand...

With JT we would just go into a short period of rehearsal for an album, maybe a couple of days at most. James would play his guitar and Russ, Danny, Craig or whoever was on keys and myself would come up with our parts. We had spent so much time together that things were quite organic and usually fell into place without a lot of thought. Really was ion my corner. On that song I used an experimental Yamaha bass that was given to me by Yamaha back in the beginning of the 70's when they were in LA doing evaluations of new ideas. Myself, and a number of bassists got one off's. It was very P-Bass like.
 
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#7
This is one of my favorite practice bass lines - a little bit of everything in it and it keeps your hands moving. One thing I was always curious about: is that slap/pop or just "aggressive plucking" on the breakdown "No one can tell me .." part? From the interviews I've read, you generally don't prefer slap/pop in your lines, but I'm not sure on this one. Thanks.
 
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#8
NeckPickup said:
This is one of my favorite practice bass lines - a little bit of everything in it and it keeps your hands moving. One thing I was always curious about: is that slap/pop or just "aggressive plucking" on the breakdown "No one can tell me .." part? From the interviews I've read, you generally don't prefer slap/pop in your lines, but I'm not sure on this one. Thanks.
Click to expand...

No SLAP...Just a little POP.
 
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#10
Glad you brought up JT's thumb. He was on Howard Stern a couple weeks ago and said he considers himself a bass player because of his thumb. I'm thinking someone with such a strong thumb must be a little hard to deal with sometimes because you don't always just want to double what he's doing (I assume), nor do you want him to lose the magic of his guitar playing (or piss him off) by telling him to step off, but at the same time, you don't want to make mud trying to play something different. Sounds like a real fine line but you walk it very well, and this song is probably one of the best examples. Care to elaborate a little on how that's done or strategies you may employ to make it happen?
 
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#11
JimmyM said:
Glad you brought up JT's thumb. He was on Howard Stern a couple weeks ago and said he considers himself a bass player because of his thumb. I'm thinking someone with such a strong thumb must be a little hard to deal with sometimes because you don't always just want to double what he's doing (I assume), nor do you want him to lose the magic of his guitar playing (or piss him off) by telling him to step off, but at the same time, you don't want to make mud trying to play something different. Sounds like a real fine line but you walk it very well, and this song is probably one of the best examples. Care to elaborate a little on how that's done or strategies you may employ to make it happen?
Click to expand...

That was the challenge of playing with James. How can I do a bass part when he is already doing it. So that directed me into a more melodic way of approaching the songs. There were times when I would ape his thumb and other times when I was able to dance around it. The songs were so great that I felt options with each. Trial by fire, as they say!
 
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#16
That was a lovely period in JT's live work.

I caught a show at Massey Hall in Toronto in the early 80's, and observing the relaxed, supple feel of the whole ensemble was like taking a master class.

Lee's solid yet flowing lines, Don Grolnick's masterful touch and presence, the way the electric and acoustic guitars interwined, Carlos Vega just being himself, those astonishing backing vocals...

Absolutely sublime.
 
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#17
steve_rolfeca said:
That was a lovely period in JT's live work.

I caught a show at Massey Hall in Toronto in the early 80's, and observing the relaxed, supple feel of the whole ensemble was like taking a master class.

Lee's solid yet flowing lines, Don Grolnick's masterful touch and presence, the way the electric and acoustic guitars interwined, Carlos Vega just being himself, those astonishing backing vocals...

Absolutely sublime.
Click to expand...

To me that was the height of his work. The FLAG tour in 1978-9 was insane. Miss those days.
 
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#18
Despite the economic and technical challenges that have changed the recording and touring landscape, great art cannot be supressed, and it's always going to bubble up somewhere.

My prayer for you, is that something just as rewarding as the Flag tour will hit your in-basket in the very near future.
 
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#19
sgoodwin said:
How long did it take you to come up with that? was that just from you messing around a bit with the chord charts before they recorded it?

I'm studying the song now, it sounds like you just magically knew where to keep with the drums and where it was fine to play around. Was that direction from the producer/artist or your own feeling?
Click to expand...

We did not have charts for songs on those albums. We just played them before going into the studio and worked out our parts by trial and error. We had played so much together that it usually fell together very naturally. We rehearsed at Studio Instrument Rentals (SIR) in Hollywood before hitting the studio. Things were always collaborative.
 
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