sprocketflup Posted February 28, 2014 Share Posted February 28, 2014 Just learning it ( or an approximation of it) for a function gig. What a fun and funky little tune, I wonder who wrote the bassline? That is all. As you were Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Silvia Bluejay Posted February 28, 2014 Share Posted February 28, 2014 We-e-ell, dunno about Candi's version, but the original is by the Bee Gees and I don't mind [i]that[/i] bassline at all (Maurice Gibb). [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=geoOlQcJe_4"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=geoOlQcJe_4[/url] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EMG456 Posted March 1, 2014 Share Posted March 1, 2014 [quote name='bluejay' timestamp='1393631020' post='2382928'] We-e-ell, dunno about Candi's version, but the original is by the Bee Gees and I don't mind [i]that[/i] bassline at all (Maurice Gibb). [/quote] Is it, though? Probably in the slow section which was cut out of the single version and never featured in Candi Staton's version at all but in the main intro/ verse/ chorus riff I hear no bass- only synth which would have been played on a keyboard, presumably by Blue Weaver? This takes me back... When the Bee Gees came out with their new sound (Jive Talkin, Nights on Broadway etc) all the talk was that Maurice had taken to playing a Rickenbacker "Stereo" as we all called the 4001 in those days. Remember there was no internet so it was not at all easy to get any information on this stuff. All I knew was that my Rick didn't sound anything like that even played through my Electro Harmonix Micro Synth! Agreed the Candi Staton version is uber funky but a quick glance on the net doesn't bring up any info on who the personnel were. Cheers Ed Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dingus Posted March 1, 2014 Share Posted March 1, 2014 (edited) The bassline on Candi Staton's version of that song is played, I am pretty sure, by Dennis Bellfield. Dennis was one of the hottest players around at the time . He had replaced Willie Weeks in Rufus , and he is the bassist who plays on their hit "Tell Me Something Good ". Around that time ( mid 1970's) he had also been the bass player for Three Dog Night, who were a very successful pop act at the time . I seem to remember hearing somewhere that he is based in Nashville nowadays. Candi's version of "Nights On Broadway" is indeed a great track, but then again , Candi is a superb vocalist so that is always a good start. It's nice to see that she has had some recognition for her formidable talents in more recent years . The bass sound on that track will have been state-of-the-art at the time and is a great example of the kind of tone that the hippest American bass players were favouring in those days. It sounds like a Fender bass that in reality will probably have been recorded straight into the desk without an amp in all likelihood, but which has been EQ'd to sound as if it had been played through an Ampeg SVT rig with the five position midrange selector switch boosting the mids at 450 Hz and the treble boosted too. In marked contrast to the scooped out bass sounds that came to proliferate in the 1980's , the mid -to-late 1970's was an era of midrange-prominent bass guitar tones, and it was all the better for it. The simple fact was that, with the audio formats of the day and the analogue technology involved, you had to EQ the bass that way if you wanted to make it clearly audible as a featured presence on the track. Edited March 1, 2014 by Dingus Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Silvia Bluejay Posted March 1, 2014 Share Posted March 1, 2014 I have the original Main Course LP the Bee Gees track comes from, and the sleeve says "Maurice Gibb - bass" (and other instruments, as well as vocals). You sure they would have been able to use a synth bass and get that sound in 1975?? In any case, there is no mention of that on the sleeve. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EssentialTension Posted March 1, 2014 Share Posted March 1, 2014 (edited) [quote name='EMG456' timestamp='1393676173' post='2383194'] Is it, though? Probably in the slow section which was cut out of the single version and never featured in Candi Staton's version at all but in the main intro/ verse/ chorus riff I hear no bass- only synth which would have been played on a keyboard, presumably by Blue Weaver? This takes me back... When the Bee Gees came out with their new sound (Jive Talkin, Nights on Broadway etc) all the talk was that Maurice had taken to playing a Rickenbacker "Stereo" as we all called the 4001 in those days. Remember there was no internet so it was not at all easy to get any information on this stuff. All I knew was that my Rick didn't sound anything like that even played through my Electro Harmonix Micro Synth! Agreed the Candi Staton version is uber funky but a quick glance on the net doesn't bring up any info on who the personnel were. Cheers Ed [/quote] I've seen an interview with Maurice Gibb where he talks about his bass playing on [i]Main Course[/i] and how Arif Mardin (the producer) got him to play stuff he would not have done on his own. I think Maurice would commonly do some keyboard playing when the band played live - even if Blue Weaver was there too - but he is not credited with any keyboard work on Main Course. That's no guarantee that he didn't do some bass on a synth or clavinet or something. Edited March 1, 2014 by EssentialTension Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EssentialTension Posted March 1, 2014 Share Posted March 1, 2014 [quote name='Dingus' timestamp='1393678891' post='2383240'] The bassline on Candi Staton's version of that song is played, I am pretty sure, by Dennis Bellfield. [/quote] He is commonly credited around the web as the bassist on that Candi Staton album: [url="http://www.allmusic.com/artist/dennis-bellfield-mn0001530317"]http://www.allmusic.com/artist/dennis-bellfield-mn0001530317[/url] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EMG456 Posted March 1, 2014 Share Posted March 1, 2014 [quote name='bluejay' timestamp='1393681979' post='2383303'] You sure they would have been able to use a synth bass and get that sound in 1975?? In any case, there is no mention of that on the sleeve. [/quote] Abolutely- by that time you no longer had to be a boffin to use a synth although you still needed fairly deep pockets. Two major synths commonly used for bass parts, the Minimoog and the ARP Oddysey were released in 1970 and 1972 respectively so the tech was definitely there and in use within those circles. To be honest, if my involvement with a track like that had just been making the tea, I'd still be pretty chuffed so whatever Maurice did, we thank him! Ed Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lowdown Posted March 1, 2014 Share Posted March 1, 2014 I believe there is some old Talkbass thread somewhere talking about Dennis Bellfields involvement in the Candi version. Producer/Engineer Bobby Owsinski talks about the Synth on the Bee Gee's track. http://bobbyowsinski.blogspot.co.uk/2013/10/bee-gees-nights-on-broadway.html Original Instrumental multi track here. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V7DA3ZM7BuY Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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