Can't get Enough

[Stub Mandrel]

Last rehearsal I got a lot of angst after learning a  large bank of riffs that are sorted  into something like 32 different sections of this Bad Company song, and got most upset because I got lost a few times.

Then I found this, which uses the same bits (mostly) but the order is very different and there are extra repeats and bits missed out so it's pretty much the same length.

I need to mellow out, plus I think I'll try and play closer to this version, wot is epic.

 

 

[mikel]

For me, playing anything by Free or Bad Co, the old adage "Less is more" always works. The space they were brave enough to leave in songs is what makes them special.

[Oopsdabassist]

Totally agree Mikel, we do 'Can't Get Enough' and  I love it!

[ezbass]

Boz Burrell, what a guy, what a player.

Edited August 14, 2019 by ezbass

[steantval]

 

[peteb]

1 hour ago, mikel said:

For me, playing anything by Free or Bad Co, the old adage "Less is more" always works. The space they were brave enough to leave in songs is what makes them special.

Whilst that is true generally about the arrangements, both bass players could be quite busy at times. 

As far as CGE goes, just remember that on the single version, Boz is generally just walking from the I to the IV and back again at the beginning of each line in the solo. On the album version / live  he plays a bit more (ie. he plays a riff that goes up to the 6th if I remember correctly), but it's all pretty simple really. 

[Stub Mandrel]

1 hour ago, peteb said:

Whilst that is true generally about the arrangements, both bass players could be quite busy at times. 

As far as CGE goes, just remember that on the single version, Boz is generally just walking from the I to the IV and back again at the beginning of each line in the solo. On the album version / live  he plays a bit more (ie. he plays a riff that goes up to the 6th if I remember correctly), but it's all pretty simple really. 

It's the variety of  of how each time round is played, he sticks in little bits that are up an octave, varies the rhythm pattern a lot and sticks in some really nice 'runs'.

For me it's pretty much a textbook example of a perfect 'blues rock' bassline, even if it isn't a 12 bar.

[peteb]

2 hours ago, Stub Mandrel said:

It's the variety of  of how each time round is played, he sticks in little bits that are up an octave, varies the rhythm pattern a lot and sticks in some really nice 'runs'.

For me it's pretty much a textbook example of a perfect 'blues rock' bassline, even if it isn't a 12 bar.

The thing is that you don't need to over complicate it. Essentially he walks between the I and the IV (sometimes up, sometimes down) for six bars before going to the V in the seventh bar and then finishing each line off, rinse and repeat. It's got a bit of a swing feel and he throws in the odd triplet to give it a bit of movement. 

I doubt that he would have played the song the same way twice live, so there's no need for you to worry too much about replicating every bar exactly.

Funnily enough,  I've just found a live CD  today of an early Bad Co gig from just before the first album came out. It's got a six and a half minute version of Can't Get Enough, so perhaps I will have a better idea of what he actually did play live! Boz was always one of my favourite bass players. 

Edited August 14, 2019 by peteb

[nilebodgers]

That takes me back, I was a massive Free/Bad Co fan when I was a lad. I last played that song 40 years ago when I was still at school

It's a less-is-more song anyway, so I'd save the bass fills to the repeats at the end and avoid cluttering it up. (I don't like the first obvious stand-out fill in the 1974 live version at all, I'd not be playing that)

That later live version sounds quite stiff, so it looks like some of the swingy feel has been dropped over the years.

[gjones]

Boz Burrell used to live up in Edinburgh, back in the 90s. I'd occasionally bump into him, as he played in a band up here with a bandmate of mine.

He told me he hated the recorded version of this song, because he played a fretless precision on it, and the bassline on the record was seriously out of tune.

He was a great bass player and a really nice guy.

[Bassman Sam]

23 minutes ago, gjones said:

Boz Burrell used to live up in Edinburgh, back in the 90s. I'd occasionally bump into him, as he played in a band up here with a bandmate of mine.

He told me he hated the recorded version of this song, because he played a fretless precision on it, and the bassline on the record was seriously out of tune.

He was a great bass player and a really nice guy.

Boz Burrell and Chris Squire were hugh influences on my early bass playing years. So I bought a fretless Rickenbacker.  That didn't work out well as I couldn't play like neither of them. I just sounded like an out of tune T.w.a.t for a while. I then got a Precision and sounded like an in tune T.w.a.t..

Edited August 14, 2019 by Bassman Sam

[ezbass]

The production on that first album never ceases to impress me, it’s all crystal clear and uncluttered, which I think adds to its timeless quality. Bad Co were a supergroup that was more than a sum its parts IMO, normally it’s the other way around.

[Mickeyboro]

Saw BC on their second gig ever  at the Rainbow. Caught them as I had missed Free. 

They were so loud I walked out at the end and was nearly run over by a bus, so discombobulated was I...

Good show though. And they did The Stealer!

Edited August 14, 2019 by Mickeyboro

[SubsonicSimpleton]

If you identify the riff variations,

then practice them individually till you have them spot on,

then practice swtitching between the different variations with a metronome until the transition is smooth,

you will absorb the phrases into your own playing vocabulary and they will come out naturally after a period of time.

In the short term, as long as you have a couple of the easier variations down it will get you through the gig - as @peteb pointed out having a handle on the underlying chords which form a simple repeating chunk of information is more important than trying to process a long stream of notes if you are struggling to retain the structure.

 

[Stub Mandrel]

1 hour ago, SubsonicSimpleton said:

If you identify the riff variations,

then practice them individually till you have them spot on,

then practice swtitching between the different variations with a metronome until the transition is smooth,

you will absorb the phrases into your own playing vocabulary and they will come out naturally after a period of time.

In the short term, as long as you have a couple of the easier variations down it will get you through the gig - as @peteb pointed out having a handle on the underlying chords which form a simple repeating chunk of information is more important than trying to process a long stream of notes if you are struggling to retain the structure.

 

I can pretty much play the single version spot on, except for the odd lapse of concentration - the irony is that because it IS such a simple repeating structure if you lose your place you it can take longer than ideal to pick it up again.

But yes, the place to get is where I can improvise the whole song around the basic structure.

It will all get simpler when the drummer has it nailed so I can take a cue from his fills.

[steantval]

Been playing this song for many years, just dropped it from our current set, it always goes down well.

A previous band I was in wanted to do it, but a step and a half down to suit the singer, I put my foot down and refused to do it in that key with a four string bass.

 

Edited August 15, 2019 by steantval

[casapete]

Great song with a brilliant bassline.  Mick Ralphs on guitar shows how effective a massive tone and not going crazy 'widdly widdly' can be too. The album version has the long solo at the end, wonderful stuff.

[steantval]

Jaz Lochrie always played it very well when he was in Bad Co and Paul Rodgers backing band, found a vid, song starts at 50 minutes in.

 

Edited August 15, 2019 by steantval

[Ricky 4000]

I suggested covering that song in the 1990s, and it nearly ended the band.

Seems I was way ahead of the fashion, as usual. 🤗

[Stub Mandrel]

20 minutes ago, steantval said:

song starts at 59.30.

Are you winding us up 🙂

Ah 49:30...

Edited August 15, 2019 by Stub Mandrel

[NJE]

Man I feel so lazy after reading this thread. Our guitarist wanted to play it one practice and knew the song to the extent I could hum most of it, so I just took the roots notes and stuck in a few walking bits and little runs and away we go... I don’t think I have ever listened to the original all the way through 😬.

I genuinely admire you dedication to get it spot on, I would do the same for other songs but this with load drums and distorted guitar I figured  no one would ever be able to hear if I was playing it record correct or not.

[peteb]

1 hour ago, steantval said:

Been playing this song for many years, just dropped it from our current set, it always goes down well.

A previous band I was in wanted to do it, but five steps down to suit the singer, I put my foot down and refused to do it in that key with a four string bass.

 

FIVE steps down...!! 

Did you have a Barry White's big brother singing for you??

[steantval]

1 hour ago, peteb said:

FIVE steps down...!! 

Did you have a Barry White's big brother singing for you??

Doh, a step and a half down.👍

[Mickyk]

I Learnt the whole song using this great guys Tabs,give it a try if your struggling.

 

[Stub Mandrel]

I used Troy's cover video, I find slowing him down 50% works better than most tabs.