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2) WITH OR WITHOUT YOU by U2. One of my favourite U2 songs - simple bass line
too, four chords, root notes in a steady 8th note pulse.
3) EVERY BREATH YOU TAKE by The Police. The first of three Sting basslines. This
one's mainly root notes, mainly 8th notes.
4)ROXANNE by The Police. A nice example of the Police's early mix of reggae and
rock (see also 'So Lonely').
5) MESSAGE IN A BOTTLE by The Police. Another great Sting line, he's not a
virtuoso but he plays memorable bass lines.
6) ANOTHER ONE BITES THE DUST by Queen. One of the most recognisable
basslines in bassdom, played by one of its most underrated players - John Deacon
(crap claim to fame: I went to the same school as John Deacon!).
7) ADDICTED TO LOVE by Robert Palmer Interesting 80s rock bassline - learn to
rock without the root note on the downbeat. Oh and great video too! (if a bit sexist)
8) DAYTRIPPER by The Beatles The Beatles wrote great tunes, Paul McCartney
played great basslines. this riff based tune can be played much heavier than the
Beatles original.
9) NEW YEARS DAY by U2 A simple Adam Clayton line, 8th notes all the way.
10) LIGHT MY FIRE by The Doors. Nice 8th note bassline with lots of major and
minor triads.
11) MONEY FOR NOTHING by Dire Straits. I've got a feeling Sting might have
played the bassline on this, it's a nice 8th note riff kind of song.
12) SATISFACTION by The Rolling Stones Simple yet effective Bill Wyman 8th note
line on classic 60s rock track.
13) KEEP ON RUNNING by Spencer Davies Group. A great track featuring Muff
Winwood's iconic driving bassline, the whole tune was reportedly written in less than
10 minutes once he'd come up with the bassline.
14) YOU CAN DRIVE MY CAR by The Beatles More McCartney 8th notes from his
transtional mid sixties period.
15) LIVING ON A PRAYER by Bon Jovi 80s stadium rock, Bon Jovi style so big hair
and lots of 8th notes!
16) YOU REALLY GOT ME by The Kinks Another typical 60s style rock line
17) SUNSHINE OF YOUR LOVE by Cream. Learn an iconic bass riff and the blues
scale in a single two bar measure! Jack Bruce with Cream, 'nuff said!
18) BROWN SUGAR by The Rolling Stones Another Stones classic, another Bill
Wyman bass line - simple but effective.
19) BET THAT YOU LOOK GOOD ON THE DANCEFLOOR by Arctic Monkeys Great
contemporary tune, a good one for the rock jam repertoire.
20) I BELIEVE IN A THING CALLED LOVE by The Darkness Straightforward riff
based rock tune.
21) YOU GIVE LOVE A BAD NAME by Bon Jovi More Bon Jovi, more 8th note rock.
22) COME AS YOU ARE by Nirvana Some seattle grunge - 8th note style!
23) I SAW HER STANDING THERE by The Beatles Another McCartney line, this
one's a good right hand workout, lots of 8th notes at a brisk tempo (approx 160
BPM).
24) ARE YOU GONNA GO MY WAY by Lenny Kravitz I always enjoy gigging this
tune, it's got a cool basic groove plus some rhythmic embellishments and a guitar
solo sections that's great for drums and bass to play (especially if the drummer's got
a double bass pedal!).
25) CRAZY LITTLE THING CALLED LOVE by Queen. Another John Deacon
bassline to another Queen classic - this one introduces the shuffle feel.
26) SWEET HOME CHICAGO by Blues Brother. Not strictly a rock tune but a 12 bar
blues featuring Duck Dunn swinging his butt off (the extended film soundtrack version
has got some nice upper register work too!).
27) ALL MY LOVING by The Beatles. Another McCartney line, this time a lesson in
how to walk through a pop tune. See also 29 below.
28) SPIRIT IN THE SKY by Norm Greenbaum A popular tune, nice shuffle bassline.
29) EIGHT DAYS A WEEK by The Beatles. See 27 above!
30) METAL GURU by T Rex An underrated band whose time was tragically cut short,
this tune is a great example of a mid tempo rock shuffle.
31) TOWN CALLED MALICE by The Jam If you've subscribed to my Ezine you'll
already know I love this tune as it's one of the tunes analysed and given away as a
freebie! (if you haven't subscribed, what are you waiting for? The sign up box is in the
top right hand corner of this page!)
32) RUNNING FREE by IRON MAIDEN. A heavy shuffle this time, one of the first
Maiden classics.
33) MY GENERATION by The Who A classic bassline from The OX (Jon Entwistle).
Features include his great bass solo plus playing straight 8ths over the shuffle
rhythm.
34) HEY JOE by Jimi Hendrix. Hey Joe is a rock jam standard - Noel Redding's bass
line introduces students to playing 16th notes at a reasonable tempo!
35) TIME IS RUNNING OUT by Muse The first of three basslines by Chris
Wolstenhome (and my favourite Muse track).
36) PURPLE HAZE by Jimi Hendrix Another jamming standard, great tune, great line.
37) SUNDAY BLOODY SUNDAY by U2 I've got a soft spot for this one, it's one of the
first tunes I gigged regularly back in the day ("Le Pub" in the ski resort of Meribel with
a french guitarist/vocalist called Christophe Magnon) - it's not particularly complex but
is another good intro to 16th notes.
38) PINBALL WIZARD by The Who Another great tune by the Who, another great
performance by The Ox.
39) CALIFORNICATION by The Red Hot Chilli Peppers - First of three bass lines
from Flea, the cool line to Californication features some melodic upper register
playing as well as some more typical lower register rocking 16th notes. A personal
fave!
40) HARD TO HANDLE by The Black Crowes The original (Otis Redding) was a
great track, this version is OK but is a nice feature for a rocking 16th note bass line.
41) YOU OUGHTA KNOW by Alanis Morisette You wait 40 odd songs for a Flea bass
line to come along and then like buses here come's another. Great song, great bass
line, loads of 16th notes, ghost notes and tasty fills to feast on.
42) SMELLS LIKE TEEN SPIRIT by Nirvana Some more Seattle style grunge
43) CROSSROADS by Cream. My favourite Jack Bruce track with Cream (his
favourite is Politician which shows you how much I know!) A masterclass in the blues,
rock style.
44) AEROPLANE by The Red Hot Chilli Peppers And here's another barrage from
Flea's furious fingers!
45) SMOOTH CRIMINAL by Alien Ant Farm I had to gig this a few times about five
years ago - great version of a classic MJ song, great bassline, great exercise in 16th
notes.
46) ANTHEM by Rush Geddy Lee was probably more responsible than anyone for
me picking up a bass guitar in the first place. By Rush standards this is a fairly
conventional tune, but you gotta love what Geddy plays under the guitar solo. Class
with a capital C!
47) HIT ME WITH YOUR RHYTHM STICK by Ian Drury and the Blockheads This is
an unusual song choice - it's not a rock tune in the classic sense, but it's got a
restless punky energy to it - and a killer bassline!
48) NUMBER OF THE BEAST by Iron Maiden Another one from Steve Harris another bass player highly underrated IMO. This song's got everything you'd expect
in a Maiden song - high register intro work, tons of 16th note moshes and gallops,
some tricky unison lines and even some odd time signature! Great workout.
49) HYSTERIA by Muse The song that started an empire (erm, well, actually a web
page). One of Chris Wolstenholme's finest, another great workout.
12) YOU CAN'T HURRY LOVE. A memorable Jamerson line. Here's a challenge - try
playing the song with a totally different bass part, different notes, different rhythms.
That exercise will go a long way to teaching you about Jamerson's genius - the bass
line MAKES the song!
13) I CAN'T HELP MYSELF . See 10 above - more of the same!
14) LOST IN MUSIC. We fast forward to the late 70s for this Bernard Edwards classic
- it's deceptively simple note wise but it's all about note length and the groove.
15) LET'S GROOVE. An EW&F tune, as with LOST IN MUSIC there's nothing fancy
notewise but the tune is all about the groove.
16) I FEEL GOOD. James Brown. The Godfather. 'Nuff said.
17) THIS OLD HEART OF MINE - another mid sixties Motown tune with a Jamerson
line. Great tune, great to play.
18) UPTIGHT. Early Stevie Wonder. Another great tune that's fun to play.
19) I CAN'T TURN YOU LOOSE. More Duck Dunn 8th notes. Keeping it even at the
song's tempo is the challenge.
20) SHAKE A TAILFEATHER. The Blues Brother's version. A good workout for left
and right hand co-ordination.
21) GREEN ONIONS. We start looking at shuffles with Green Onions. Simple minor
blues, but a great illustration of the shuffle feel.
22) BABY LOVE. A tune with a really subtle shuffle feel. This is from back in the day
when Jamerson kept it simple.
23) MY GUY. And so's this - the original was played on Jamerson's upright and you
can really hear his jazz background in some of his pull offs chord descends. Great
outro too, very cool.
24) 634-5789. Another Duck Dunn shuffle on this often overlooked Wilson Pickett
tune.
25) SWEET HOME CHICAGO. And here's another Duck Dunn shuffle. Check out the
upper register work on the extended version from the Blues Brothers soundtrack.
26) YOU SEND ME. Jerry Jemmott put in a class performance on this Aretha tune.
Technically speaking this is a tune in 12/8 rather than a shuffle, but the bassline is so
good I couldn't resist putting it in.
27) HEATWAVE. This is an interesting Jameson line. he plays a 'walking' shuffle on
this tune in the same way that McCartney does on ALL MY LOVING in the rock tunes
version of the list.
28) THIS TIME IT'S REAL. Finally we can get Rocco Prestia in on the action! Rocco
is a master of the shuffle and this tune is a great example of it - for the virtuoso
example of it check CREDIT below.
29) HOW SWEET IT IS. Junior Walker's version of this tune let Jameson stretch out compare this with Marvin Gaye's reading of the same tune which I believe was
recorded a year or so earlier. Jameson could play a nasty shuffle when he wanted to,
check out this tune for the proof.
30) I'LL TAKE YOU THERE. We're starting to introduce 16th notes now - this Staple
Singers groove is a modest tempo but has a great line with a great feel.
31) SHOTGUN. More Jameson and Junior Walker. Predominantly an eight note
groove with some sixteenth notes in the intro.
32) SOUL MAN. Duck Dunn again with Sam and Dave this time. Great song. Great
line. What else is there to say?
33) SEPTEMBER. A Verdine White classic. My favourite EW&F tune to boot.
34) SEX MACHINE. James Brown. AND Bootsy? That's tooooo funky.
35) I WISH. I think long time Stevie sideman Nathan Watts played this line - but I
could be wrong. Whoever played it, it's a very cool line to get under your fingers.
36) SUPER BAD. More James Brown. More Bootsy.
37) GOOD TIMES. This tune is played by loads of cover bands so it's always worth
knowing. Bernard Edwards' grooves are always deep in the pocket and this one's no
exception.
38) THINKING OF YOU. This tune is often overlooked when bass players look at
Bernard's work (Le Freak, We are Family, Everybody Dance etc etc often get the
attention). But it's deceptively difficult, nailing the chorus is a great left hand workout
for any bassist.
39) THINK
40) CISSY STRUT
41) ATTITUDE DANCE. This is one of my favourite Tower of Power tunes from my
favourite TOP album - Monster on a Leash (always reminds me of a four week gig in
St Tropez where this was never off the stereo). The bassline is a great example of
how muting can really lift a line and make it drive.
42) WHAT'S GOING ON. Reportedly this was one of Jameson's favourite bass
lines/songs/sessions. And one of his first published credits. See STANDING IN THE
SHADOWS OF MOTOWN for a poignant account of his life story - and 49
transcriptions of his work.
43) REACH OUT I'LL BE THERE. Levi Stubbs belting it out. Jameson laying it down.
A match in motown heaven.
44) WHAT IS HIP. Rocco's 16th note anthem. A great study in right hand picking
(unless you're left handed!).
45) ONLY SO MUCH OIL IN THE GROUND. Ditto but with more time appropriate
lyrics than when the song was first released (mid 70s).
46) HOME COOKING. There's a great transcription of this in STANDING IN THE
SHADOWS OF MOTOWN - it's a truly great bass line. Only bettered by....
47) BERNADETTE. More Levi Stubbs. More Jameson. This IMO is almost the
pinnacle of Jameson's motown work.
48) CREDIT. This should really be in the shuffles section (Song 20 to 29) but the
technical demands of this Tower of Power tune are such that it got bumped down to
Week 48. A killing bassline, almost Rocco's finest hour (IMO)...
49) COUNT ON ME. A totally overlooked song in the Tower of Power canon - with a
wicked percolating 16th note bassline. Master this one and you'll be funking for the
real thing!
50) FOR ONCE IN MY LIFE. This tune is the pinnacle of Jameson's work at Motown.
You could study it for months and still be taking lessons out of it. Here's two
staggering facts: the line was probably improvised, every SINGLE bar is different. It's
like a concerto for bass. Seriously STANDING IN THE SHADOWS OF MOTOWN is
worth buying just for the transcription and play along of this tune (played by another
truly great bass player, Pino Palladino).
Get It On by T-Rex
Satisfaction by The Rolling Stones
You Shook Me All Night Long by AC:DC
Tear Your Playhouse Down by Paul Young (Pino's bass line...)
I Can't Turn You Loose by Otis Redding
Don't Look Back In Anger by Oasis
Little Wing by Jimi Hendrix
Come Together by The Beatles
Purple Haze by Jimi Hendrix
Walking On The Moon by The Police
Crazy Little Thing Called Love by Queen
Radioactive by The Kings Of Leon
China Girl by David Bowie
Parklife by Blur
Disco Inferno by The Trammps
That's The Way I Like It by KC& The Sunshine Band
Le Freak by Chic
Good Times by Chic
I Want You Back Part 1 by The Jackson 5
I Want You Back Part 2 by The Jackson 5
Smooth Criminal by Michael Jackson
Money For Nothing by Dire Straits
Master Blaster by Stevie Wonder
Sir Duke by Stevie Wonder
Sir Duke Part 2 by Stevie Wonder
One Love/People Get Ready by Bob Marley
Tush by ZZ Top
She's Not There by Santana
Soul Man by Sam And Dave
Teenage Dirtbag by Wheatus
Should I Stay Or Should I Go by the Clash
Smells Like Teen Spirit by Nirvana
La Grange by ZZ Top
Billie Jean by Michael Jackson
Bad by Michael Jackson
Jamming by Bob Marley
Play That Funky Music by Wild Cherry
Get Up Stand Up by Bob Marley
Use Somebody by The Kings Of Leon
Pick Up The Pieces by The Average White Band
I Can't Stand Up For Falling Down by Elvis Costello
Let's Groove Tonight by Earth Wind & Fire
Baggy Trousers by Madness
Cover Me by Bruce Springsteen
It Must Be Love by Madness
Bring On The Night by The Police
The Bed's Too Big Without You by The Police
Time Is Tight by Booker T And The MGs
Tears of A Clown by Smoky Robinson
Brown Eyed Girl by Van Morrison
Pump It Up by Elvis Costello