Bilbo

i have done 160 transcriptions this year so which means that there are now over 200 on the website. It has had over 25,000 hits since July which is amazing. I am going to take my foot off the gas now and have a bit of a rest.

An act of benign lunacy All 12 charts are up there now 1. The Eve Of The War - 1. The Eve Of The War – Jeff Wayne – Bilbo's Bass Bites 2. Horsell Common and The Heat Ray - 2. Horsell Common and The Heat Ray – Jeff Wayne – Bilbo's Bass Bites 3. The Artillery Man and the Fighting Machine - 3. The Artillery Man and The Fighting Machine – Bilbo's Bass Bites 4. Forever Autumn - 4. Forever Autumn – Justin Hayward – Bilbo's Bass Bites 5. Thunderchild - 5. Thunderchild – Jeff Wayne – Bilbo's Bass Bites 6. The Red Weed Pt. 1 - 6. The Red Weed Pt.1 – Jeff Wayne – Bilbo's Bass Bites 7. Parson Nathaniel/The Spirit Of Man - 7. The Spirit Of Man – Jeff Wayne – Bilbo's Bass Bites 8. The Red Weed Pt. 2 - 8. The Red Weed Pt. 2 – Herbie Flowers – Bilbo's Bass Bites 9. Brave New World - 9. Brave New World – Jeff Wayne – Bilbo's Bass Bites 10. Dead London - 10. Dead London – Jeff Wayne – Bilbo's Bass Bites 11. Epilogue Pt. 1 - 11. Epilogue Pt. 1 – Jeff Wayne – Bilbo's Bass Bites 12. Epilogue Pt. 2 - 12. Epilogue Pt. 2 – Jeff Wayne – Bilbo's Bass Bites

The first five are up if you want to have a look. Will post links when all 12 are up there.

For my own amusement (as are most of my transcriptions), I have, today, finished transcribing Herbie Flowers' bass parts for the entire double album 'Jeff Wayne's Musical Version of The War Of The Worlds'. 12 transcriptions. I will post them when I can but it will be a bit of a long haul so bear with..... 😉

Absolutely marvellous, Chris. Can you post the musician's details? For your amusement, I was 4 minutes in before I spotted the fact that the guitar player and violinist were the same guy. 😀

All done. Just one minute of one particularly busy track left to transcribe and the whole lot is ready to post.

I have 12 transcriptions nearly ready to post but I want to go through them and add key signatures because of what Dodge said. I think he is right and I have probably been a little bit lazy. All 12 are by the same bass player. An English institution. Whaddaya reckon? I should run a sweepstakes.

Thanks for the responses, Dodge. All good and absolutely agreed 😊

That's a great tone but I find this one better for ballads....😎

Neil's response suggests that there is no one absolute truth in playing bass parts and, like any great story, it grows in the telling. Any part learned, whether by rote, tab or conventional score, is a moment in time and is only definitive by concensus. I guess we all agree that there is one way to play the core riffs in 'Rhythm Stick', 'Good Times' or 'I Want You Back' but, even the hits allow for the injection of a little bit of individuality. Classical musicians such as viola players need to be absolutely accurate because there are 23 of them playing in unison. Bass players are rarely that constrained. Accuracy at that level is not anywhere near the whole deal in Jazz, Fusion, Rock etc. Much more space to stretch out (or hold back, as you see fit).

Nit picky is good. We all win. 😊

There is no reference to quantity there, Paul. My recollection is that there were two of these notes, maybe three. One I specifically recall was a 16th note chromatic run eg BCC#D where one of the notes was not clean. It was not wrong, just not clean. I think we are all interpreting clinker differently. Not all mis-steps are wrong notes. Even Jeff Berlin drops one every now and then (in both Neil and Jeff's cases, these notes are pretty much inaudible until you slow it down to 25%). There is also another explanation: I could just be wrong. It has happened before. Not often but.... 😀 PS The third person thing was a consequence of an early decision by the Web page designer (my nephew, who runs okto design). He wrote the first few that way and it didn't sound right to change it when I started uploading myself. 😀

Chris7273 drew my attention to it, Neil. It was after I had pretty much finished the transcription so I was revisiting the bits I hadn't been absolutely sure of when I transcribed it Please don't think I was implying that there loads of fluffs in there. There weren't. I think, if I recall correctly, I was referring to things like a short sixteenth note phrase where the correct notes were hit but one of them didn't ring out as cleanly as the others. I am a fan and have been Since Strange New Flesh and National Health. Here is a clinker free Tenemos Roads https://bilbosbassbites.co.uk/tenemos-roads-national-health/

I read a great bass player biography on Paul Chambers..... Really interesting. I learned a lot about the guy.

A couple of transcriptions of Neil 's bass parts: Down To You by Colosseum II and Fool For Your Loving by Whitesnake https://bilbosbassbites.co.uk/down-to-you-colosseum-ii/ https://bilbosbassbites.co.uk/fool-for-your-loving-whitesnake/

Yeah? Well, I inspired a beloved children's story and a sequel...

I am selling the rights to my entire back catalogue, if anyone is interested. I perfectly expect to be able to 'go large' at MacDonalds with the proceeds. 😉

Bearing in mind that he was called out and accused of being a 'Judas' for picking up an electric guitar in 1966, it seems wrong somehow that Bob Dylan has just sold the rights to his back catalogue for $300,000,000. I am not blaming him for doing it; why wouldn't you? but it seems like the ethos of the folk/hippy era has been sullied again in some way. Idealism takes another knock, I guess. A luxury of the young. http://www.msn.com/en-gb/entertainment/music/bob-dylans-entire-back-catalogue-bought-in-nine-figure-deal/ar-BB1bHKPG?ocid=ientp

Seriously, though. Mark Egan would make sense as he was a student of Jaco's and spcialises in fretless playing; and, whatsmore, it really does sound like him. Interesting that he didn't make the internet credits I was looking at either 😃 If everyone is happy, I will recredit the transcription to Mark Egan. Egan's website confirms it.

And here is the version with Jaco'. It's chaos out there!!

The internet lists Gary Brown, Andre De Santanna and Reggie Hamilton as linked to the CD (this is one of the problems with downlaods - no cd booklet/ record sleeve to refer to). It is also confusing in so far as Flora Purim records the same tracks repeatedly with different line ups and in different arrangements. I am happy to be proved wrong is anyone knows for sure! It sounds like JP and I put two and two together and got a big 'ol five!.😃

I adore this tune and this one is, for me, THE version. There are other versions availabe but this is the one where Jaco plays the melody before singer Flora Purim enters with the vocals. It appears on the 2005 CD 'Flora's Song' but obviously was recorded long before that. I cannot find the date of the original recording anywhere but it is complicated by the existance of other versions. This is the head and bass solo by Jaco Pastorius on Flora Purim's version of his composition 'Las Olas'. https://bilbosbassbites.co.uk/las-olas-flora-purim/

That's helpful, Dodge. I tend to include chords if they are readily available as I am not inclined to spend hours working out that level of detail. The rest of your suggestions are perfectly possible. The instrument reference is on the Sibelius template and I never considered it to be an issue. BPM would be easy enough. The four bars a line may be difficult depending on the density of the parts. Its also worth adding that the intention of the site is to provide source material for reading practice that is 'real world' as opposed to tedious exercises that are fairly uninspiring. A means of getting people to recognise the value in reading as opposed to studying harmony etc. Good ideas, though, and a welcome post.

I am perfectly cpacble of getting it wrong, Pete. When I deceide what key signature to use, if any, it is about the chart rather tahn the song. What makes this easier ro read? It is perfectly possible that you are right and I am wrong. REading it now, it looks like there are natural accidentals on loads of Fs which would support your argument completely. I am self taught as well so absolutely fallable.

Another Jaco transcription, this is the middle section of 'Suite: Golden Dawn' from the 1976 Al DiMeola album 'Land Of The Midnight Sun'. Entitled 'Calmer Of The Tempest', it comprises a classic Jaco melodic fretless bass part. Relatively easy to play (unlike the rest of the Suite which is nigh on impossible https://bilbosbassbites.co.uk/suite-golden-dawn-al-dimeola/