Space Cowboy bass versions

[bubinga5]

this has been debated before

ive been asked to play some Jamiroquai in a band soon..

not sure if they want to do athe long version or the single version...

..just wondering what SpaceCowboy bass line you like best..(not that i would lift them).....for me Mr X's bass line is (ok busier) but far superior in melodic playing, to the single version..ive always thought it was RHT...something about the melodic fills and mastery ive heard so many times... its played on a 5 also....i asked Bluey at an Incognito (meet Bluey time) concert, if Randy Hope Taylor played on this track and he just smiled and said nothing...hmmm.. but it could be all in my imagination..

here is both...i do love the simpler Zender playing though..by the way the vid with Zender on the Warwick is sooo cool..but the album bass playing is sublimely intuitive bass playing...

Single Version
[url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VcSChVOEa9Q"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VcSChVOEa9Q[/url]

Album Version
[url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xRYVODHgKY0&feature=PlayList&p=6007CB672EEAFA3B&playnext_from=PL&playnext=1&index=9"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xRYVODHgKY0...t=1&index=9[/url]

[Doddy]

For me,the album version wins every time. I think everything about it is better,from the bass to the vocal delivery and
especially the break after the chorus,which although they are cool on the single,because this was the song that got me into
Jamiroquai (and I listened to that album to death)the first time I heard the breaks on the single,later on,I was like "Huh?".

So yeah.... Album version.

[bubinga5]

[quote name='Doddy' post='896928' date='Jul 16 2010, 10:13 PM']For me,the album version wins every time. I think everything about it is better,from the bass to the vocal delivery and
especially the break after the chorus,which although they are cool on the single,because this was the song that got me into
Jamiroquai (and I listened to that album to death)the first time I heard the breaks on the single,later on,I was like "Huh?".

So yeah.... Album version.[/quote]
Doddy on a side Q...do you think Mr X worked out every fill? or round abouts the structure

[Doddy]

[quote name='bubinga5' post='896933' date='Jul 16 2010, 10:19 PM']Doddy on a side Q...do you think Mr X worked out every fill? or round abouts the structure[/quote]

I'd guess that he had the basic idea and then played around it,rather than working it all out
before hand.

[Gunsfreddy2003]

I vote for the single version - I have always loved the sound that Zender gets on the chorus, filter and fuzz it is just awesome.

On a side note back in the day I also quite liked the dance re-mix version which had a killer sax solo on it!!

[quote name='bubinga5' post='896918' date='Jul 16 2010, 10:00 PM']this has been debated before

ive been asked to play some Jamiroquai in a band soon..

not sure if they want to do athe long version or the single version...

..just wondering what SpaceCowboy bass line you like best..(not that i would lift them).....for me Mr X's bass line is (ok busier) but far superior in melodic playing, to the single version..ive always thought it was RHT...something about the melodic fills and mastery ive heard so many times... its played on a 5 also....i asked Bluey at an Incognito (meet Bluey time) concert, if Randy Hope Taylor played on this track and he just smiled and said nothing...hmmm.. but it could be all in my imagination..

here is both...i do love the simpler Zender playing though..by the way the vid with Zender on the Warwick is sooo cool..but the album bass playing is sublimely intuitive bass playing...

Single Version
[url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VcSChVOEa9Q"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VcSChVOEa9Q[/url]

Album Version
[url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xRYVODHgKY0&feature=PlayList&p=6007CB672EEAFA3B&playnext_from=PL&playnext=1&index=9"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xRYVODHgKY0...t=1&index=9[/url][/quote]

[Hoffmann]

IMO I think the two versions have nothing in common: the album track is pretty jazzy when the single version is more pop! So it is up to you to know what kind of style you wanna play!

[risingson]

Being once a huge fan of Zender I feel a bit bad saying it, but I prefer Mr. X's 5 string approach on the album version.

A number of Jamiroquai's entourage have categorically denied Randy Hope Taylor's involvement in the album version, although IMO it sounds like him. It seems to be a major source of the qualms between Jay Kay and Stuart though. Worth noting that when Jay Kay was last asked about it, he said he honestly couldn't remember the chaps name, but he was a producer, and apparently a bit full of it!

[4000]

Don't like the album version at all; IMO the one weak point on a superb album. Can't stand the tone for a start; one of my least favourite tones ever. I vote for the Zender version every time but it's ultimately your call.

[Rayman]

Me too, Stuart's playing does it for me every time. Although I did my best on the album version, it never quite stood up to Stuarts vibe.

[Gunsfreddy2003]

Ha ha!!

[quote name='Rayman' post='897778' date='Jul 18 2010, 08:42 AM']Me too, Stuart's playing does it for me every time. Although I did my best on the album version, it never quite stood up to Stuarts vibe.[/quote]

[grahamd]

Think I prefer Zenders too. It's tighter, funkier and more focussed. The album version is more lyrical and flowing but lacks the immediacy and punch of the single, bit too much cheba

[Hoffmann]

wait! The album version was not played by Zender?? and who's mister X??

[risingson]

[quote name='Hoffmann' post='897869' date='Jul 18 2010, 11:03 AM']wait! The album version was not played by Zender?? and who's mister X??[/quote]

Mr. X was the player on the album version of 'Space Cowboy', his identity was never revealed. Stuart wasn't around on the day they recorded but was apparently promised by Jay Kay that once he was back that he could overdub, but when he did come back Jay Kay had had someone else come in and put the bass line down. By the sounds of things that pissed Zender of something bad. Stuart did play on the single version though.

[morsefull]

This is a great youtube cover,
[url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d_KKrmUzhyY&NR=1"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d_KKrmUzhyY&NR=1[/url]
It really helped me with my fingering.
Fabulous technique,so smooth it's almost effortless.

[Musicman20]

Single/Zender version, probably because Im more used to that bassline. I like the little octaves.

IMO, the best player for JK is Paul Turner. He has some of the nicest funk tones Ive heard. Maybe thats because Im always erring on the side of vintage.

[url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gzyj3Wxhjr4"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gzyj3Wxhjr4[/url]

P Bass, flats. Done.

Edited July 18, 2010 by Musicman20

[4000]

I love Stu's tone; the only player for the original Jamiroquai IMO. Paul's a great player (and I've told him so!) but Stu was so integral to the original band.
Mr Xs playing sounds to me like the sort of thing I'd do when I was trying to work out what I was actually going to play on the finished track. Stu's version IMO is much more concise, focused and, well, funky. Each to their own though.

[bubinga5]

although i think the album version is erm IMO...technically better and more flowing musically note for note, i like the fact that most of BC like the simpler Zender version...it just goes to show that simpler bass lines may be better depending on there application...i still get more enjoyment listening to mr X but i can appreciate Stuart's lines... the more i listen the more i like...can anyone let me know what else Stu played on, would be very interesting to see his adaption to other music..

[bubinga5]

[quote name='4000' post='898314' date='Jul 18 2010, 07:33 PM']I love Stu's tone; the only player for the original Jamiroquai IMO. Paul's a great player (and I've told him so!) but Stu was so integral to the original band.
Mr Xs playing sounds to me like the sort of thing I'd do when I was trying to work out what I was actually going to play on the finished track. Stu's version IMO is much more concise, focused and, well, funky. Each to their own though.[/quote]
if this is what you would play just working out a bass line to this track, i wanna see/hear you play!!?? thats a bold statement.....ok i get what you mean, but at the end of the day its a different style with fills that are much more musical, with alot less space..im gonna hide after i say this but.....i bet Mr X could play the Zender version with his eyes closed, but i bet you Zender could not come out with the musicality that this guy does...

different horses and all..

[4000]

[quote name='bubinga5' post='898948' date='Jul 19 2010, 02:01 PM']if this is what you would play just working out a bass line to this track, i wanna see/hear you play!!?? thats a bold statement.....ok i get what you mean, but at the end of the day its a different style with fills that are much more musical, with alot less space..im gonna hide after i say this but.....i bet Mr X could play the Zender version with his eyes closed, but i bet you Zender could not come out with the musicality that this guy does...

different horses and all..[/quote]

Mr X could be musically more proficient than Stu (we'll never know), but personally I find the line in that track a bit waffly. It just sounds to me like he's loosely improvising around the changes in a fairly uninvolved way. I think Stu cuts to the chase much better and drives the song much better; in Bilbo's terms it's the difference between Ray Brown and Neils-Henning Orsted Pederson. To use that old chestnut, "cleverness is no substitute for true awareness".

With regards to my playing, if there's one thing I can do easily it's play a whole lot of notes. Do they mean anything and are they any good? Doubtful. . Seriously though, what I meant was I'll generally start out far too busy and notey and rein myself in gradually. I reckon I could cop Mr Xs thing far easier than Stu's though, I just can't cop Stu's feel at all. Wish I could, I love his feel on the early Jamiroquai records. Same goes for Bernard Edwards. I can play a hundred times faster than him but I'm not a 1000th of the player he was.

[Doddy]

[quote name='4000' post='899160' date='Jul 19 2010, 05:34 PM']Mr X could be musically more proficient than Stu (we'll never know), but personally I find the line in that track a bit waffly. It just sounds to me like he's loosely improvising around the changes in a fairly uninvolved way. I think Stu cuts to the chase much better and drives the song much better; in Bilbo's terms it's the difference between Ray Brown and Neils-Henning Orsted Pederson. To use that old chestnut, "cleverness is no substitute for true awareness".[/quote]

I think that the 'looseness' of the album version gives it a cooler laid back vibe. Like I said earlier,that's the track that got me
into Jamiroquai-I just really got into the groove of that track.I bought the album straight away(on tape from Our Price!!!) and
played it to death,but that version of 'Space Cowboy' always stood out to me.
This was about 18 months before I ever picked up a bass,so it wasn't the playing that attracted me.The whole vibe of the
track just made me feel good.

I've just stuck the album version on now,and it still does it for me more than any other Jamiroquai track.

[molan]

[quote name='morsefull' post='898155' date='Jul 18 2010, 04:15 PM']This is a great youtube cover,
[url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d_KKrmUzhyY&NR=1"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d_KKrmUzhyY&NR=1[/url]
It really helped me with my fingering.
Fabulous technique,so smooth it's almost effortless. [/quote]

Simon's is my favourite version too - in fact, so much so that I bought the very Overwater it was played on!

Much prefer the single to the album I have to say. However I'd never listened to the album one until today so it may just be that I have the single one in my head as the 'right' way to play it. . .

[4000]

Doddy, I think that's part of my problem. Tone aside, it's too laid back for me, too loose. As I've said previously, I like things that push more, that have more positive tension.

[bubinga5]

[quote name='Doddy' post='899201' date='Jul 19 2010, 06:10 PM']I think that the 'looseness' of the album version gives it a cooler laid back vibe. Like I said earlier,that's the track that got me
into Jamiroquai-I just really got into the groove of that track.I bought the album straight away(on tape from Our Price!!!) and
played it to death,but that version of 'Space Cowboy' always stood out to me.
This was about 18 months before I ever picked up a bass,so it wasn't the playing that attracted me.The whole vibe of the
track just made me feel good.

I've just stuck the album version on now,and it still does it for me more than any other Jamiroquai track.[/quote]+1..

i was blown away when i first heard the bass playing on the album V...a much smoother cooler version but as we all know different people dig different vibes...this version has always stuck with me too..Doddy your IMO spot on to say its a looser version, with a more direct melodic groove...especially love the break and the following bass playing..

i would say the single version is more pop while the album version is more jazz funk

not to say i dont rate Stu's...still very very funky

for me its the best of Jamiroquai with either..

Edited July 19, 2010 by bubinga5

[bubinga5]

just to add i cant understand how you may think that MR x sounds like he improvising and uninvolved?? i think its some wonderfully intuitive bass playing..he knows exactly what hes doing and where hes going from change to change...i like both versions but to say that MR X sounds uninvolved???? thats like saying Jamerson is bumbling around

i think your missing the point but thats just my opinion of course...

[Doddy]

[quote name='bubinga5' post='899225' date='Jul 19 2010, 06:21 PM']i would say the single version is more pop while the album version is more jazz funk[/quote]

I think I'd kind of agree with you there. Maybe that's one of the reason that I like it more,although
at that time I wasn't listening to either Jazz or Funk. It just made me feel happier than listening to
Oasis or Nirvana,which everyone else seemed to be doing at the time.