Tina Weymouth BBC bass programme in Jan

[TheGreek]

Loved it...man on the street will have an insight into the role of the bass in music now.

[paul_c2]

Yeah it was more of a selection of notable interesting parts of bass history than an accurate/comprehensive documentary; but it was still all the same interesting. I was surprised they didn't really cover the "Fender Precision" as a pivotal point in history, maybe there was an underlying reason for it (after all they looked at the Hofner, for a bit). 

[thodrik]

Good episode. The distinct way in which the invention of the Fender Precision was completely ignored did irk me though. 

Also, no Jaco or any focus on bass guitar virtuoso talents like Jaco, Marcus Miller or Wooten seemed a bit strange.

All in all though, a very good show. 

[Norris]

Brilliant programme.

Nice discussion of bass as a key part of music, rather than just dragging the usual suspects in front of a camera. Obviously a few were featured, but more to give some context to the increased importance and prominence of bass in music since the invention of the bass guitar... and then continuing into electronic bass

Catch it on iPlayer if you missed it

[BreadBin]

I liked it - Tina Weymouth had a far more humble approach to the subject than Stewart Copeland, I think she probably played bass for about 5% of the amount of time he played drums. 

There was a clear bias towards more mainstream, popular music - one hour is not enough time to get everything in! I was particularly touched by the Herbie Flowers segment, I'd say he was perfectly entitled to that pride 👍

[Little Dragon]

Each time I hear Hooky play, I'm more impressed.

[AndyTravis]

16 minutes ago, Little Dragon said:

Each time I hear Hooky play, I'm more impressed.

Really?

[AndyTravis]

I enjoyed it on the whole. Good way to highlight what the bass has done for music.

I suppose it was a potted history...not bad.

[ern500evo]

I enjoyed it, was a little bit surprised that there was no mention of Larry Graham though. 

[Burns-bass]

38 minutes ago, ern500evo said:

I enjoyed it, was a little bit surprised that there was no mention of Larry Graham though. 

In a programme about bass players I don’t think I heard one note of slap bass.

Given I hate it with an unreserved passion I think that’s great, but in view of the BBC’s impartiality I think it was remiss not to include it. 

Almost without fail someone will do some Seinfeld-esque slapping and popping when I take a bass into my office. They have no idea how hideous that would sound...

 

[Deedee]

3 hours ago, thodrik said:

Good episode. The distinct way in which the invention of the Fender Precision was completely ignored did irk me though.  

Agreed. I suspect too much material and poor editing may have been at play.🙁

EDIT - I hope that was the case anyway 

Edited January 19, 2019 by Deedee

[scalpy]

Watched it over breakfast. It was nice to see Tina credit the bassists interviewed with the amount a good bassline contributes to a song and how it wasn’t/ isn’t reflected financially. I was also pleased that it didn’t get bogged down in slap or indeed heavy rock. But it lacked the spark of the drumming episode as we seemed to get a diet version of the interviews. Bootsy didn’t play anything (although I understand he’s retired), Jack Stratton instead of Joe Dart got a piece and Carol Kaye’s done that piece to camera many many times before. The only bit that really got me was Herbie. 

[NHM]

A really enjoyable hour spent in front of the fire. The two second clip of the enormous speaker cab that it took four blokes to carry - 'a picture speaks a thousand words' I think someone once said...  .

[arthurhenry]

I thought TW was great and there were some good contributions, but given that  BBC4 describe the series as "An exploration of the contribution of key instruments to modern popular music" and that the trailer gave the impression that it would focus almost exclusively on electric bass guitar, I was disappointed at the amount of time given to examining bass as a frequency and its artificial creation in electronic music. That would have made an interesting programme in its own right. There was no mention of the P-bass, Jaco, or any one other than Bruce from the British rock players of the late 60s/early 70s, or any of the British new wave/post punk players. Instead we got Chic's bass player demonstrating BE's "chucking" technique by playing the same part over and over again. With better editing, a lot more could have been fitted in.

Edited January 19, 2019 by arthurhenry

[prowla]

I watched some of it - the video clips of her have got me interested.

Some of the stuff said in the commentary and by people interviewed was rubbish though - nobody played lead bass before punk came along, nobody held their thumb and finger together like a plectrum before Bernard Edwards... Huh?

[tedmanzie]

Bass - there’s a lot to get through in 59 mins! Enjoyable programme and some great snippets of footage but agree about the odd editing selection especially the prolonged part about Bernard Edwards’ ‘chucking’..!?

Aphrodite on the Amiga was a hit of pure dnb geek for me - loved that bit

[BreadBin]

9 minutes ago, tedmanzie said:

Aphrodite on the Amiga was a hit of pure dnb geek for me - loved that bit

Likewise! I had a proper reminisce back to my car stereo days 

[merello]

Highlights

Bernard Edwards' technique and the awe in Nile Rodgers voice talking about him. Watching Jerry Barnes admit he was very nervous playing Bernard's bass parts and trying it 3 or 4 times with humour. The honouring of James Jamerson.

Bizarre

Claiming the electric bass started in the 60s and hinting it was by Hofner. The lack of coherence and narrative compared to Copeland's drum show.

 

Missing

Bass players who inspired you to play the bass….

[grumpyguts]

It was interesting but not as much fun as the joyous exploration of drums that we got last week. We didn't even get to see Lemmys "I sound quite different" clip which is always a bit of a laugh.

[Woodinblack]

I thought it was ok. There were quite a lot of things left out, but it was just an hour so there is a limit of what you could get in. Of all the criticism you could aim at it, at least it was a program about the bass, so that is good. 

[bassace]

Fretless?

[Lozz196]

My thoughts:

Was very surprised at the lack of Fender in the programme. 

Already thought Bernard Edwards was a genius but seeing the clips of him playing blew me away.

Likewise Paul McCartney, seems he chose the most difficult songs on bass to sing over.

Given that one of the major playing styles of the bass is slap I’m surprised there wasn’t at least a bit of RHCP/Flea in it.

[fleabag]

Yeah lots missing , but hey.

Weymouth was utterly charming, and i've invited her round for tea and biccies. So so laid back and no BS.

I had to giggle at Bootsy explaining about  the enormous bass line ( and one of my fave bass lines of all time )  he came up with on Brown's  ' Sex Machine '   and Brown stating  " Great bass line, and i'm glad i thought of it "     And that green suit he was told by Brown take off 

Some good stuff in there, not comprehensive, but you couldnt get enough to please everyone in 60 mins.  Just impossible

[drTStingray]

13 hours ago, Norris said:

Brilliant programme.

Nice discussion of bass as a key part of music, rather than just dragging the usual suspects in front of a camera. Obviously a few were featured, but more to give some context to the increased importance and prominence of bass in music since the invention of the bass guitar... and then continuing into electronic bass

Catch it on iPlayer if you missed it

Couldn't have put it better myself - I thought it was great and also good to see keyboard bass covered.

The footage of Bernard Edwards was great - imagine having that much groove!! And Jamerson also. 

I think the balance was excellent and particularly as it focussed on iconic music which will be known universally and the changing role of bass in it - was it just me or had the sound been EQd to make the bass more audible in some of the music. 

The Fender P did get a specific mention as did the Hofner and Rickenbacker (Beatles) but only to show the change created by moving from a focus on thump to sustained notes and potential to play higher up the fretboard. 

However the iconic lines covered showed a broad range of bass types, which apart from bass  geeks, is the reality of how it's generally panned out. 

As with the drum programme I thought it was done well. 

Perhaps missed Fretless (Pino probably the most known to a general audience owing to hit singles with various artists) and slap (but this was covered in the double bass section) - and double bass really was ubiquitous until the 60s (with occassional notable exceptions). But generally excellent - I thoroughly enjoyed it 👍😊

 

[sblueplanet]

Tina was enjoyable as presenter but so so much omitted that most bass geeks would think important such as the P bass etc, but  I also noticed that the drum programme kept away from the manufacturer side of things too and Tina is known for playing that Hofner Club quite a bit with the Heads.