Summer of 69? Drop D?

[Stylon Pilson]

1 hour ago, pineweasel said:

Another thing to enjoy is that there's no bass in the first verse, so you get to come in for the chorus with a neat fill.

I love songs where the bass doesn't come in straight away. Partly because I'm very lazy, but also because sometimes you have to take the bass away so that people appreciate it when it's back.

S.P.

[chris_b]

. . . . it's called dynamics.

[mrtcat]

I love Summer Of 69. Easy, fun and goes down well. Drop D all the way for me. Love the growl of a slightly floppy detuned E string. 

Love playing original stuff too but have been around long enough to know that the cheesy covers are always going to be the money makers.

[missis sumner]

25 minutes ago, mrtcat said:

I love Summer Of 69. Easy, fun and goes down well.

Fnar, fnar.

[M@23]

7 hours ago, Dood said:

In all my years playing this song, I don't think I ever actually listened to the original to reference the actual notes I should be playing. Therefore, heading down to a "low D" was purely because I felt like it rather than having learnt it note for note from the original track. So, I couldn't have been 100% sure if there was a D1 in it. Yet sure enough, the D1 appears and therefore yes you could drop D on a 4 string or use the D on a 5 string bass.

 

Me either! No idea how the original line goes. 

[Mickeyboro]

On 17 September 2018 at 15:02, Stylon Pilson said:

I love songs where the bass doesn't come in straight away. Partly because I'm very lazy, but also because sometimes you have to take the bass away so that people appreciate it when it's back.

S.P.

All Right Now!

[spectoremg]

On 17/09/2018 at 11:24, SpondonBassed said:

I remember Nathan Watts saying that he detuned his bass to E flat mainly because he had been a trumpet player previously.  He also says that he likes the slack feel of the strings due to the half note difference.  Sometimes you can hear it.  It's a part of his sound.

A full note would be appreciable different.  Whether this matters outside of a recording studio seems to be at the core of this discussion.

Also Stevie Wonder does lots of stuff in black note keys cos they're easier for him to find on a keyboard. 

[Dood]

1 hour ago, spectoremg said:

Also Stevie Wonder does lots of stuff in black note keys cos they're easier for him to find on a keyboard. 

Can’t see it myself.......

 

........

.....

[chris_b]

Stevie Wonder was taught many of his instruments by the Funk Brothers. As jazz players playing a lot of horn oriented music they would have mostly used flat keys. He probably picked it up the Eb thing then.

[Guest aDx]

Good grief!   Just play the thing. Who cares if it's drop D or not!  The only thing the audience would notice would be if it was the wrong note. Playing covers means that you have to play what the audience want or no more bookings. 

😁. Imho 

[Graham]

51 minutes ago, aDx said:

Good grief!   Just play the thing. Who cares if it's drop D or not!  The only thing the audience would notice would be if it was the wrong note. Playing covers means that you have to play what the audience want or no more bookings. 

😁. Imho 

If we can't fixate on irrelevant minutae, then what's the point of Basschat? 😆

[HengistPod]

It's only recently that we put this in our set - our latest singer is from a more ... mainstream ... background than the rest of us. Can't complain, it generally goes down a treat and is one of the ultimate barometers as to whether your audience is entirely flat-lining or not. If you can get a couple of them dancing to this old tosh, you get a chance to keep the momentum going.

Also, it's so easy to play that you can fiddle with your knobs whilst playing - which has to be a bonus.

I thought about Drop D briefly when I listened to it, but figured that not a single punter would give a damn. So I play it 5th fret A string. Sounds fine to me.

Occasionally I get informed by some spotty oik that this or that tune would sound better in Drop D. These fellows often simultaneously tell me that I'm not playing the bass right because I use a pick, thus allowing me to thank them for their advice and get on with my life.

[Cuzzie]

Sorry about that, i’d had a bad day at the office, but you were über polite

[missis sumner]

So does anyone have a decent transcription for this, in Drop D?

[Cuzzie]

Same as the normal song but instead of playing an open D higher, play the open D on the lowest string.

The rest is pretty easy

[PatrickJ]

6 hours ago, missis sumner said:

So does anyone have a decent transcription for this, in Drop D?

This might help

 

[Cuzzie]

Yep

one of many ways to play it

[missis sumner]

I think I've figured it out.  We'll find out on Thursday... at band practice... 😬

[CMSbass67]

On 15/09/2018 at 15:13, Slappindabass said:

Good glad i was right! Band members couldnt here the differnce!

Consider new band members...

[Krysbass]

My band covers this too and for me it's an excuse to switch to my 5-string for the original tuning.

I personally think there are several better Bryan Adams songs*, but this one is a consistent audience favourite and the lack of bass on the first verse means the rest of the band can start it while I'm still swapping basses.

(*but then there are so many other artists where I also loathe the songs that get the most airplay and prefer slightly less popular examples of their work - so that's just me.)

[CMSbass67]

7 minutes ago, Krysbass said:

My band covers this too and for me it's an excuse to switch to my 5-string for the original tuning.

I personally think there are several better Bryan Adams songs*, but this one is a consistent audience favourite and the lack of bass on the first verse means the rest of the band can start it while I'm still swapping basses.

(*but then there are so many other artists where I also loathe the songs that get the most airplay and prefer slightly less popular examples of their work - so that's just me.)

Not just you by a long way... if you only play what your audience knows and wants to hear, you're doomed to a life of Summer Of '69, Highway To Hell and Sweet Home bleedin' Alabama. Try educating them by introducing lesser-known but better tracks. You'll get known for being different (and better) than the run-of-the-mill covers bands and have more fun too. Takes some work but it's worth it.

[Krysbass]

12 hours ago, CMSbass67 said:

Not just you by a long way... if you only play what your audience knows and wants to hear, you're doomed to a life of Summer Of '69, Highway To Hell and Sweet Home bleedin' Alabama. Try educating them by introducing lesser-known but better tracks. You'll get known for being different (and better) than the run-of-the-mill covers bands and have more fun too. Takes some work but it's worth it.

Completely agree.

We are carving a bit of a niche for ourselves locally by mostly shying away from the predictable covers band favourites.  

Summer of 69 is just one of our few concessions to the less musically adventurous members of our audiences.😎

[CMSbass67]

On 21/10/2018 at 10:52, Krysbass said:

Completely agree.

We are carving a bit of a niche for ourselves locally by mostly shying away from the predictable covers band favourites.  

Summer of 69 is just one of our few concessions to the less musically adventurous members of our audiences.😎

... and if you do play a well-worn 'classic', try putting a different spin on it and make it your own rather than just copy. That's what the pro's do, after all!