Philwbass

Very happy today! I got a couple of emails from Mike Watson who played on some of the original recordings. He confirmed there was no sheet music for the Abba sessions except for the string section. He did tell me something I haven't heard before - that he played the bass on 'Gimme, gimme, gimme, a man after midnight!' This track had always made me wonder as it didn't sound like Rutger but also not particularly like Mike. Mike even dropped in some popped notes on this one. Mike also confirmed that he recorded the tracks with his 1966 Jazz bass with Schecter pickups. Better get updating my article. Oh, also Mike confirmed that Rutger played the bass on Fernando contrary to what I wrote.

I've had some interesting discussions since writing the article. Interestingly I discovered that it seems ABBA's key studio musicians were not given written music and mostly created their own parts. I've rewritten key sections and added another photo. Ed I have made sure I added the musicals to Rutgers bio too. [url="http://philwbass.com/2014/01/02/the-bassists-of-abba/"]http://philwbass.com/2014/01/02/the-bassists-of-abba/[/url]

RhysP: Yes, the documentary piqued my interest. Normally I dislike those talking heads-type things but this one led me straight to the music. Only then did I think of writing the article. The singers were both absolutely top class it's true. Stuffed: yes, hard to remember just how grey life was sometimes in the 70s in the UK. Such great songwriting and I'm just learning now that the studio musicians had big contributions to the music...they were very much a band. Wormbatboter: I agree, din't know of that video. Maybe it's because Voulez Vous isn't one of his own basslines. And Ola Brukert isn't there. Thanks for the video. This one of Rutger's lines though http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FmU4rM7uxiU played by the same band - pity the singers aren't a pass on the original. Rutger sounds more spirited here though. Good one Ed, I think I should have mentioned Chess and Mamma Mia in the article maybe...I heard the same

[quote name='4000' timestamp='1388769653' post='2325903'] I love ABBA so much. Always have; even when they were uncool I was proud to fly the flag. My first album was ABBA's Greatest Hits and they are one of my favourite bands of all time. [/quote] I never bought any of their music until recently. It was so omnipresent when i was growing up I never felt the need. Starting listening again recently and realised how much I loved it.

[quote name='spongebob' timestamp='1388769269' post='2325898'] Very informative, many thanks - an enjoyable read! ... [/quote] Thanks Spongebob, I have to say it was an article it was a lot of fun to research!

Oh...if anyone read the whole thing already I blew the coding on the links section so I have now fixed that! Enjoy!

I know this is an old thread but a big thank you to all the participants. I gathered everything I could find into one article on the bassists of Abba: [url="http://philwbass.com/2014/01/02/the-bassists-of-abba/"]http://philwbass.com/2014/01/02/the-bassists-of-abba/[/url] If you have anything to add to that please comment here or there Phil

This article is great about walking bass playing: Walking Bass Myths Exposed [url="http://www.talkbass.com/forum/showthread.php?t=203360"]http://www.talkbass.com/forum/showthread.php?t=203360[/url] It really can be better to be simple at times - it's just a matter or listening to whatever else is going on and deciding what fits. Of course at fast tempos there tend to be a lot more repeated lines too. Phil

Paul was very helpful - I'm going to try to find a window to drop the bass down there. It's my main gigging bass so I will just have to find a week or so to do without.