After Midnight - JJ Cale

[Dankology]

My band doesn't do many covers but this one came up in rehearsal and that intro/verse figure is driving me mad.

 

I can do a sort of fumbled approximation of it but it (E F# G A A B C# D) but this is pretty far away from the tabs I've seen online (https://tabs.ultimate-guitar.com/tab/j-j-cale/after-midnight-bass-2751288) and I'm now pretty sure that neither I nor the tabs have it right.

 

This feels like the sort of tasteful, musical bass playing that should be getting my head and fingers around - can anyone give me some pointers, please?

 

 

 

[wateroftyne]

3 hours ago, Dankology said:

My band doesn't do many covers but this one came up in rehearsal and that intro/verse figure is driving me mad.

 

I can do a sort of fumbled approximation of it but it (E F# G A A B C# D) but this is pretty far away from the tabs I've seen online (https://tabs.ultimate-guitar.com/tab/j-j-cale/after-midnight-bass-2751288) and I'm now pretty sure that neither I nor the tabs have it right.

 

This feels like the sort of tasteful, musical bass playing that should be getting my head and fingers around - can anyone give me some pointers, please?

 

 

 

 

Don't overthink this one. Slide from F to A whilst playing the 16th notes, then to the D.

 

EDIT - I probably mean 8th notes, but you know what I mean. My theory doesn't stretch that far.

Edited October 22, 2021 by wateroftyne

[Dankology]

15 minutes ago, wateroftyne said:

Don't overthink this one.

 

Ah, so easily said...

[OzJzF]

I make it E F F# A  F# G A D

[wateroftyne]

2 minutes ago, Dankology said:

 

Ah, so easily said...

It’s my default mode 😄

 

Anyway, that’s what’s happening on the recording…

[KK Jale]

Isn't it just a sort of deceptively simple double-slide on the E string performed with one finger? 
 

First slide from open E to G, back down a fret, slide up to G#, jump back to D on the A string?

 

Summat like that anyway... I may be a semitone out... but the sort of double-pump left-hand motion being the trick.

Edited October 22, 2021 by KK Jale

[NoirBass]

I love that the bass player on this spaces out towards the end and accidentally plays the descending riff a semitone out!

 

The producer obviously liked the take and they stuck with it.

[wateroftyne]

I'm not sure there's an E in there. Sounds like it starts on F to me...?

[OzJzF]

42 minutes ago, wateroftyne said:

I'm not sure there's an E in there. Sounds like it starts on F to me...?

Listening again I think you're right F F# G A F# G A D. The tone makes the pitch little murky (that's my excuse anyway)

[Dankology]

I'm so glad I'm not alone in being unsure of this...

[solo4652]

Folks,

I had a go at this tab. This is what I came up with, but It's a long way from the tabs I subsequently found online. Mine seems to fit reasonably well, but I'm certain it's far from the original. When you've stopped laughing, let me know how it sounds to you. I've written the tab in a way that makes sense to me, and that's not really how the online tabs look. Which merely adds to the confusion...

 

Intro                                                     

|-------------------|                          

|-------------------|                         

|-55-------------3-|  X 4                  

|---------3-4-5----|                      

 

Verse  "After Midnight..."

|-------------------|------------------|------------------|--------------------|

|-------------------|-33-------55--5-|------------------|--------------------|

|-55------------3--|-------3----------|-55------------3-|-55-------------3-|  X 2

|--------3-4-5-----|------------------|--------3-4-5----|----------3-4-5---|

 

"We're gonna cause.."

|-------------------|------------------|-----------------|--------------5-7--|

|-------------------|-33------------3-|-55-----------5-|-77--------7-------|

|-55------------3--|--------3-4-5----|--------5-6-7---|--------------------|  X 1

|--------3-4-5-----|------------------|-----------------|--------------------|

 

"After Midnight..."

|-------------------|------------------|------------------|--------------------|

|-------------------|-33-------55--5-|------------------|--------------------|

|-55------------3--|------3-----------|-55------------3-|-55-------------3-|  X 1

|--------3-4-5-----|------------------|--------3-4-5----|----------3-4-5---|

 

Then repeat the whole lot twice. The last time, the first 8 bars of the "Verse" are the guitar solo.

Edited December 20, 2021 by solo4652

[fleabag]

This might be of some use, though he's cut off the  video near the nut, but it can be worked out

 

 

[dodge_bass]

 

On 22/10/2021 at 14:16, OzJzF said:

I make it E F F# A  F# G A D

 

Hi all (@Dankology)

 

Stumbled across this thread whilst hiding from the kids in the kitchen for 5mins after a looooong day. Anyway, liked the track so thought I'd take a listen. It's a fiddly little line because it's very fast (semi-quavers @wateroftyne  ), the bass sound isn't that clear AND it's about 10cents flat making transcribing low rumbly notes very tricky. So here's what the line actually does - it's a lovely example of a bluesy chromatic line over a dominant 7th chord - using the minor and major third and ending on the Ab (flat 5) before returning to the root at the start of the next bar. 

 

My fingering suggestion is 1st finger on the low F - shift to the F# (with first finger) which allows 2nd finger on the G, hammer onto to 3rd finger on the Ab and then 4th finger on the D on the A string. I don't think there's any other way you'll get that line smooth at that speed. Good luck and enjoy! 

Edited December 20, 2021 by dodge_bass

[dodge_bass]

1 hour ago, fleabag said:

This might be of some use, though he's cut off the  video near the nut, but it can be worked out

 

 

 

This appears to be an entirely different version @fleabag!! 

[Dankology]

Thank you all for your sterling efforts. I'm looking forward to working my way through these latest versions tomorrow. 

 

Fascinating how much variation there is here, latter-day rearrangement aside... 😉

[dodge_bass]

9 minutes ago, Dankology said:

Thank you all for your sterling efforts. I'm looking forward to working my way through these latest versions tomorrow. 

 

Fascinating how much variation there is here, latter-day rearrangement aside... 😉

 

For clarity though....the only version you need to work through is mine....because it's the correct line! How do I know...because it took me about 15mins to pull out of the mix and Transcribe was used in the process to pitch it up +10cents. Plus I've been transcribing this kind of material for decades (see my website) so my ears are great are figuring this stuff out  

 

However to be honest any bluesy line will work there, it just depends if you want to follow the original part of an approximation of....likelihood is nobody will know or notice! So attention to detail is both a blessing AND probably a waste of time!! 

[chris_b]

On 22/10/2021 at 13:25, Dankology said:

My band doesn't do many covers but this one came up in rehearsal and that intro/verse figure is driving me mad.

 

 

The bass run up is driving you mad? Don't play it.

 

It's not an important part of the song.

 

All you need is an occasional A C C# run up to the D.

[wateroftyne]

5 hours ago, chris_b said:

 

The bass run up is driving you mad? Don't play it.

 

It's not an important part of the song.

 

All you need is an occasional A C C# run up to the D.

I’d argue it’s a bit of a hook on the the JJC version.

[dodge_bass]

1 hour ago, wateroftyne said:

I’d argue it’s a bit of a hook on the the JJC version.

Agreed. I’d also argue (actually I’m not arguing, it’s a fact!) that transcribing tricky lines like this really develops your ear / feel / stylistic knowledge and massively rewards the time spent doing it - I.e you get a bit better every time you do it. So by not doing it you’re basically taking the easy route and saying ‘I can’t be bothered to spend time improving my bass playing’. 

[solo4652]

4 hours ago, wateroftyne said:

I’d argue it’s a bit of a hook on the the JJC version.

Me too. I bought Naturally way back in the late 1970's, and it may well be my most-played album. After Midnight has an immediately identifiable bassline that, to me, underpins the whole song. Recently, I got the chance to become involved in a start-up band playing cool, wine/coffee/beach bar vibes. J J Cale immediately came to my mind. We've rehearsed After Midnight, but we haven't gigged it yet. My attempt at writing out a bass tab really helped me to get inside the song. I've really appreciated reading through others' comments about the bassline and I now realise that what I heard and what I play isn't correct. But, it fits, and it works. So, that's good enough for me.

 

We're also rehearsing Don't go to Strangers, and I'm using a bassline that I adapted from something I found on the net. If anybody wants to have a look at it (and I'd welcome constructive feedback), just let me know.

 

Steve

Edited December 21, 2021 by solo4652

[Dankology]

11 hours ago, dodge_bass said:

 

For clarity though....the only version you need to work through is mine....because it's the correct line! How do I know...because it took me about 15mins to pull out of the mix and Transcribe was used in the process to pitch it up +10cents. Plus I've been transcribing this kind of material for decades (see my website) so my ears are great are figuring this stuff out  

 

Yours is also presented the most prettily... Really appreciate the time you put into this.

 

3 hours ago, wateroftyne said:

I’d argue it’s a bit of a hook on the the JJC version.

 

1 hour ago, dodge_bass said:

Agreed. I’d also argue (actually I’m not arguing, it’s a fact!) that transcribing tricky lines like this really develops your ear / feel / stylistic knowledge and massively rewards the time spent doing it - I.e you get a bit better every time you do it. So by not doing it you’re basically taking the easy route and saying ‘I can’t be bothered to spend time improving my bass playing’. 

 

These are my thoughts exactly. I really like the way the run sounds and as much as any flurry of quiet, low end notes might have done the trick, it was really bothering me that I couldn't identify what was being played. I've always had a thing about wantng to get my fingers (and ears) around tricky passages, even if it's a song I don't particularly like - just to have another tool in the toolbox, as it were.

 

I was pretty far off as it happens. In my defence, while I was fighting with it I did think that it reminded me of Neil Young's Old Man - and it turns out that it is the same guy on bass. So I may be tone deaf but not entirely cloth-eared 😀

 

[dodge_bass]

42 minutes ago, Dankology said:

 

Yours is also presented the most prettily... Really appreciate the time you put into this.

 

 

 

These are my thoughts exactly. I really like the way the run sounds and as much as any flurry of quiet, low end notes might have done the trick, it was really bothering me that I couldn't identify what was being played. I've always had a thing about wantng to get my fingers (and ears) around tricky passages, even if it's a song I don't particularly like - just to have another tool in the toolbox, as it were.

 

I was pretty far off as it happens. In my defence, while I was fighting with it I did think that it reminded me of Neil Young's Old Man - and it turns out that it is the same guy on bass. So I may be tone deaf but not entirely cloth-eared 😀

 

Have you got Transcribe? It’s a brilliant little programme that really helps with fiddly runs like this? I’d be really happy to give you a quick zoom tutorial if you would like as it’s such a useful (and cheap!) tool to aid transcribing. And if you’re serious about getting lines right (which you seem to be!) then it’s a worthwhile investment. Drop me a PM and we can find 30mins to do a quick zoom if you’d like! 

[solo4652]

Having seen others' suggestions for the bassline, I've listened to the track again, and realised just how wrong my tab was. I'd not appreciated that the same run-up on the E string repeats throughout the song. So, I've re-jigged my suggested bass tab. I normally try to avoid open strings, but you could play the A on the open string as opposed to 5th fret on E string. This might make the fingering a little easier: First finger on F, then quickly slide the first finger up to F#, then second or third finger on G, then open string A, allowing for a little time to get your little finger up to 5th fret on A string. Or not. Whatever suits you, of course.

 

I'll shut up now.

 

Hope everybody has a happy, restful and safe Christmas.

 

Steve

 

Intro                                                     

|-------------------|                          

|-------------------|                         

|-55---------------|  X 4                  

|----------1-2-3-5-|                      

 

Verse  "After Midnight..."

|-------------------|------------------|------------------|--------------------|

|-------------------|-33-------55--5-|------------------|--------------------|

|-55---------------|-------3----------|-55--------------|-55----------------|  X 2

|----------1-2-3-5-|------------------|---------1-2-3-5-|-----------1-2-3-5-|

 

"We're gonna cause.."

|-------------------|------------------|-----------------|-------------5-7--|

|-------------------|-33--------------|-55-------------|--7--------7-------|

|-55---------------|------------------|-----------------|-------------------|  X 1

|----------1-2-3-5-|---------1-2-3-5-|--------1-2-3-5-|-------------------|

 

"After Midnight..."

|-------------------|------------------|------------------|--------------------|

|-------------------|-33-------55--5-|------------------|--------------------|

|-55---------------|-------3----------|-55--------------|-55----------------|  X 1

|----------1-2-3-5-|------------------|---------1-2-3-5-|-----------1-2-3-5-|

 

Then repeat the whole lot twice. The last time, the first 8 bars of the "Verse" are the guitar solo.