Busiest Blues Bass Line Ever?

[greghagger]

Usually I gravitate towards bass lines with less notes and more groove, especially for Blues. But I instantly loved Andy Fraser's bass line from 'Goin' Down Slow' by Free. It's busy and hectic with a lot of notes but works so well.

 

This song is from their debut album, 'Tons Of Sobs' released in 1969 and is a million miles away from their best known tune, 'Alright Now'. When this album was released, none of the band were yet 20 and Andy Fraser was 16 which is pretty incredible!

 

I featured this bass line in my recent bass course, 'The Birth Of British Blues' and the backing track has some superb piano and guitar solos on it.

 

For the course, I transcribed Andy Fraser's bass line and then created a shortened version using lots of his actual runs and licks. I'm now sharing this in a YouTube video as it really showcases what an excellent bassist Andy Fraser was.

 

Find out more in my latest YouTube video where there is also a downloadable PDF of the bass line in the video description. 

 

Enjoy!