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In order for there to be some actual content on here, as opposed to the self-conscious rambling of the first post, here is an article I wrote about bassists for the Oxford University Indie Music Society. Will it ever get published? Who knows!
Bass Pleasures
"It’s not easy being a bassist. Constantly relegated to the background, having to fight for space between narcissistic guitarist, singers and drummers alike, with no-one really seeming to know what your exact role in the band is. Yeah it’s a tough life. You’ll often be relegated to filling in the root notes* while everyone else vies for their time in the spotlight. But it needn’t, indeed shouldn’t, be this way. Whilst the likes of Flea and Les Claypool have brought us levels of the tiresome wankery we usually associate with six-stringed guitars (yeah, thanks a lot guys) most bassists seem happy enough to plod along in the background, glad to be a band because they “weren’t good enough at guitar”. Sigh. A good bassist should ideally do neither of these things - mindless slapping and tedious chord-mimicry being largely as bad as each other.
Ideally a good bassist should serve as a link between the rhythm and the melody sections of a band, without straying too far either way. Because of this a good bassist can really hold a band together, as well as providing some excellent, and much needed, low-end tone. Also as a bassist you’re second only to drummers in terms of demand, mainly because nobody wants to play bass due to the misconceptions listed above. Similarly the bassist is probably the last person in the band who’ll demand a 10 minute solo in the middle of a song, or insist that everyone play the song cycle they wrote about the Peloponnesian War. Plus we’re all really sexy.
But this isn’t Joe’s chip-on-shoulder hour. Look behind most great bands and you’ll find a great bassist. Talking Heads, Joy Division, The Smiths, Gang of Four, The Jam, hell even The Beatles all had a very able (and often criminally ignored) four-stringer holding the songs together. Sceptical? Well great basslines, as well as great bassists have driven many excellent songs, of the recent and distant past alike. Think “Peaches”, think “Psycho Killer”, think “Debaser”, think “Feel Good Hit Of The Summer”, “Evil”, “Rebellions (Lies)” or “Youth Against Fascism”. You can probably think of plenty of your own examples, but I hope I’ve proved my point that a great bassline can really make a song.
In fact, in a somewhat roundabout way, we have a great bassline (played by one of the finest bassists ever) to thank for the birth of hip-hop. Don’t believe me? Well, ever heard of a song called “Rapper’s Delight”? Yep, the track that basically gave birth to hip-hop is built around the backing track to Chic’s “Good Times”, and particularly Bernard Edwards’ masterful bass work. Go on, try to imagine the song without that bassline. I dare you. For that matter try and imagine Grandmaster Flash’s “White Lines (Don’t Don’t Do It)” without the propulsive bassline, shamelessly pilfered from Liquid Liquid’s “Cavern” (if you haven’t heard of Liquid Liquid before, don’t worry. Nobody else has either).
But it’s not just rock and hip-hop fans who are lucky enough to enjoy the contributions of great bass players. Where would the world of heavy metal be without Geezer Butler (Black Sabbath), Cliff Burton (Metallica) or Steve Harris (Iron Maiden)? For that matter where would electronic music be without Squarepusher, quite possibly the best bassist alive? I don’t know but it’s certainly not a world I’d like to live in.
Curiously, even bands consisting of just a bassist and a drummer are often excellent, and far better than their guitar-only counterpoints, proving that we work well even when brought to the forefront. Personally I’d take Death From Above 1979, Lightning Bolt and Big Business over The White Stripes any day.
I could bang on about this for hours, as you‘ve probably worked out already. But I hope I’ve at least conveyed to some of you the important work we bassists can do, and how often it is ignored or trivialised. And maybe next time you’re listening to one of your favourite songs you could perhaps look past the singer and the guitarist and appreciate that sometimes you need to go a little deeper."
*The lowest note of a chord, after which the chord is named.
Ideally a good bassist should serve as a link between the rhythm and the melody sections of a band, without straying too far either way. Because of this a good bassist can really hold a band together, as well as providing some excellent, and much needed, low-end tone. Also as a bassist you’re second only to drummers in terms of demand, mainly because nobody wants to play bass due to the misconceptions listed above. Similarly the bassist is probably the last person in the band who’ll demand a 10 minute solo in the middle of a song, or insist that everyone play the song cycle they wrote about the Peloponnesian War. Plus we’re all really sexy.
But this isn’t Joe’s chip-on-shoulder hour. Look behind most great bands and you’ll find a great bassist. Talking Heads, Joy Division, The Smiths, Gang of Four, The Jam, hell even The Beatles all had a very able (and often criminally ignored) four-stringer holding the songs together. Sceptical? Well great basslines, as well as great bassists have driven many excellent songs, of the recent and distant past alike. Think “Peaches”, think “Psycho Killer”, think “Debaser”, think “Feel Good Hit Of The Summer”, “Evil”, “Rebellions (Lies)” or “Youth Against Fascism”. You can probably think of plenty of your own examples, but I hope I’ve proved my point that a great bassline can really make a song.
In fact, in a somewhat roundabout way, we have a great bassline (played by one of the finest bassists ever) to thank for the birth of hip-hop. Don’t believe me? Well, ever heard of a song called “Rapper’s Delight”? Yep, the track that basically gave birth to hip-hop is built around the backing track to Chic’s “Good Times”, and particularly Bernard Edwards’ masterful bass work. Go on, try to imagine the song without that bassline. I dare you. For that matter try and imagine Grandmaster Flash’s “White Lines (Don’t Don’t Do It)” without the propulsive bassline, shamelessly pilfered from Liquid Liquid’s “Cavern” (if you haven’t heard of Liquid Liquid before, don’t worry. Nobody else has either).
But it’s not just rock and hip-hop fans who are lucky enough to enjoy the contributions of great bass players. Where would the world of heavy metal be without Geezer Butler (Black Sabbath), Cliff Burton (Metallica) or Steve Harris (Iron Maiden)? For that matter where would electronic music be without Squarepusher, quite possibly the best bassist alive? I don’t know but it’s certainly not a world I’d like to live in.
Curiously, even bands consisting of just a bassist and a drummer are often excellent, and far better than their guitar-only counterpoints, proving that we work well even when brought to the forefront. Personally I’d take Death From Above 1979, Lightning Bolt and Big Business over The White Stripes any day.
I could bang on about this for hours, as you‘ve probably worked out already. But I hope I’ve at least conveyed to some of you the important work we bassists can do, and how often it is ignored or trivialised. And maybe next time you’re listening to one of your favourite songs you could perhaps look past the singer and the guitarist and appreciate that sometimes you need to go a little deeper."
*The lowest note of a chord, after which the chord is named.
1 comment:
Song cycle about the Peloponnesian war? Good idea! I did write a song inspired by Hippolytus. But I start laughing while singing when I remember that.
x Selena
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