Easy Motown Basslines

[tinyd]

On the Stax side of things, Green Onions is a good one (although I just found out from wikipedia that Lewie Steinberg played bass on this, not Duck Dunn as I'd always thought).

[oakforest5961]

2 hours ago, Reggaebass said:

Oh wow thank you, I’ve just got Spotify up and I don’t know most of those so that will give me something to listen to , I like this one 

 

 

You're most welcome Reggaebass. I had a lot of fun playing the songs of the book, though with a little less enthusiasm for the later ones. I agree, "Let Me Be Good To You" is good. A surprise pleasure to play along to for me was "It's Not The Spotlight" by Manhattan Transfer - not something that I would normally even listen to.

[Geek99]

1 hour ago, tinyd said:

On the Stax side of things, Green Onions is a good one (although I just found out from wikipedia that Lewie Steinberg played bass on this, not Duck Dunn as I'd always thought).

Duck played on tour. I’ve seen footage of him playing it on a sunburst p with gold plate in Norway 

[casapete]

2 hours ago, tinyd said:

On the Stax side of things, Green Onions is a good one (although I just found out from wikipedia that Lewie Steinberg played bass on this, not Duck Dunn as I'd always thought).

Wow, every day’s a school day! 

[MrCrane]

18 hours ago, Geek99 said:

Duck played on tour. I’ve seen footage of him playing it on a sunburst p with gold plate in Norway 

The footage from the Stax/Volt Revue in Norway in '67 is well worth chasing up (It's available on DVD). The director had obviously never heard of the 'keep the camera off the bassist' rule.

 

Colourised sample of the concert on youtube as an example. I love the moment at the beginning when Dave Prater cracks Duck up.

 

Edited August 27, 2024 by MrCrane

[diskwave]

Not sure there is a thing as an easy Motown bass line., Even the simpler ones have to be played with conviction and a fine touch. Took me decades to get Jamersons feel right, fun trying tho.

[EssentialTension]

Duck Dunn with the MGs on the 1967 tour of Europe ...

 

 

[Reggaebass]

53 minutes ago, diskwave said:

Not sure there is a thing as an easy Motown bass line., Even the simpler ones have to be played with conviction and a fine touch. Took me decades to get Jamersons feel right, fun trying tho.

Yeah true, I’ve always played with a light touch so I’m ok there ,but I’m not a particularly fast player so I was kinda after the less busier ones to get me going, because I’ve always played reggae and dub it’s been a really great learning experience , and I’d say it’s improved my playing 

[Bassybert]

1 hour ago, diskwave said:

Not sure there is a thing as an easy Motown bass line., Even the simpler ones have to be played with conviction and a fine touch. Took me decades to get Jamersons feel right, fun trying tho.

 

I was thinking the same myself, even the more straightforward songs can still be tricky in places, that’s why I added a few Stax songs to my list.
 

Duck Dunn’s playing was simpler but still just as funky in my opinion and Stax records are such great songs to play.

[Reggaebass]

This guys channel has some really great Basslines, I haven’t gone through them all yet but I found this jamerson one I like and I’ve been working my way through it, never heard of the song before , I’m guessing it’s Motown’ish