Walk on the Wild Side cover - aiming for that bass tone!

[PaulKing]

Who hasn't drooled over the bass tone, and Herbie Flowers' gorgeous playing, in Walk on the Wild Side.

I had a spare afternoon, so set about doing a cover, testing various mics to see how close I could get to matching the tone. Crazy thing is I now can't remember which mic I used in te end, but probably a combo of Golden Age Project ribbon mic a foot from the bridge at a slight angle, and a little AKG condenser up near the fingerboard.

 

Recorded and mixed in Ableton Live. Basses, guitars and saturated-vocals by me (sorry for the vocal...), 'Brushify' midi drum kit played on keyboard. Midi sax is always a bit lame but it'll do for the run out here.

I was pretty pleased. Enjoy, or flame me, as you wish! 

 

 

[Burns-bass]

Think you’ve done a great job.

[petebassist]

Amazing, you've nailed the tone. Did you do the guitar part as well? Mick Ronson's I believe...

[Beedster]

Very very nice work @PaulKing

[Hellzero]

That's it. 👍

[PaulKing]

6 hours ago, petebassist said:

Amazing, you've nailed the tone. Did you do the guitar part as well? Mick Ronson's I believe...

Didn’t know it was Mick Robson. Aye, bit of acoustic strumming from me too. 2 bits in fact.

Edited June 11, 2024 by PaulKing
typo

[JPJ]

Nice tone Sir!

[Mottlefeeder]

Sounds good.

I heard that the original had db and a bass guitar overdub, and that Herby Flowers gets twice the royalties  because he played both instruments. True or urban myth?

David

[obbm]

2 hours ago, Mottlefeeder said:

Sounds good.

I heard that the original had db and a bass guitar overdub, and that Herby Flowers gets twice the royalties  because he played both instruments. True or urban myth?

David

Herbie came to a SE Bash some years ago and confirmed it.  He played on it twice and got paid twice.

 

He gave us a rendition of it live with him on DB and with Dave Swift playing Bernie's famous Fender Jazz.

Edited June 11, 2024 by obbm

[SamIAm]

Wow ... just wow!

Sam x

[Beedster]

10 hours ago, PaulKing said:

Didn’t know it was Mick Robson. Aye, bit of acoustic strumming from me too. 2 bits in fact.

RONSON  

[PaulKing]

1 hour ago, Beedster said:

RONSON  

Typo! 😁

[tinyd]

17 hours ago, Mottlefeeder said:

Sounds good.

I heard that the original had db and a bass guitar overdub, and that Herby Flowers gets twice the royalties  because he played both instruments. True or urban myth?

David

This is a nice video with the man himself talking about it
 

 

[Mottlefeeder]

Thank you @obbm and @tinyd

 

David

[Blartfactor10]

Cracked the code there Paul! Great work 👍

[casapete]

On 11/06/2024 at 08:48, petebassist said:

Amazing, you've nailed the tone. Did you do the guitar part as well? Mick Ronson's I believe...

 

On 11/06/2024 at 09:53, PaulKing said:

Didn’t know it was Mick Robson. Aye, bit of acoustic strumming from me too. 2 bits in fact.

Mick Ronson co-produced the album ‘Transformer’ with Bowie, and also arranged strings on

it as well as playing piano, recorder and guitar. Some people reckon Bowie played the acoustic

on WOTWS rather than Mick though. 

[NikNik]

What's the wee switch on Herby's  Jazz?

[NikNik]

Man alive, that was a good rendition.

[StingRayBoy42]

Nice work!

Basses sound great, lovely playing and you've nailed all the intricate little bits.

10/10 no notes.

[snorkie635]

Impressive work there. Talent abounds. 👍😎

[Paddy Morris]

That IS the sound.  Amazing.  Compression sounds about right too.

[Marc S]

That's the tone - absolutely nailed it. Well done sir  

[hpc364]

Herbie Flowers died the 5th of September 2024.

RIP

[PaulKing]

On 14/09/2024 at 02:37, hpc364 said:

Herbie Flowers died the 5th of September 2024.

RIP

🙁