In my opinion /r/bass is not the best sub-reddit on the planet but it gave me the inspiration for this transcription. I have never heard of the band Men I Trust before but their song Show Me How really caught me. It’s not super difficult but the harmonic movement and the bassline outlining it rather unconventionally is somewhat special. I never play with a pick so this was a bit of a challenge for me as well. I should do that more often …
Yes, another Pino Palladino line. This time with Paul Young who built his solo career on Pino’s fretless sound with a series of hits. One of those was the 1985 number Every Time You Go Away, a cover of the slightly differently named Everytime You Go Away by Hall & Oates.
Young’s version features everything 80s: tinny guitar, electric sitar, huge reverb on the drums and Pino’s Fretless Music Man Stingray. Just add enough first sub-octave using a Boss OC-2 or a Markbass MB Octaver and you are good to go, Stingray or not. Despite being a huge success and very popular with bass players, I could not find a proper sheet transcription. So, here we are.
Good Friend is one of those gems you can find if you follow your Discover Weekly list on Spotify religiously. I knew Emily King from another song called Distance that was transcribed and covered by Pedro Zappa. Despite that, I never looked into her album called The Switch until Spotify listed Good Friend.
There are a few interesting bits about the bassline, the electric synth sound which was played by Mike Lavalle using an original Novation Bass Station, the slightly awkward and sustaining chopped-off rhythm and those nice, tasty fills. To recreate that sound I resorted to a Markbass MB Octaver which is a discontinued, faithful copy of the venerable BOSS OC-2. But I am GASing for a Novation Bass Station II now for a while already.
I have never been a fan of the Dire Straits and until a month ago I knew nothing besides the fact that they wrote Sultans of Swing and Mark Knopfler is their guitar player. Well that changed after this month’s SBL Cover Challenge which featured the song Your Latest Trick from the album Brothers in Arms. What caught me by surprise was the relatively complex chord progression, the anticipated note motif and the nice little fills by bass player John Illsley. To my surprise, I could not find a good transcription …
Both Questlove and D’Angelo cite J Dilla (born James Yancey) to be a visionary and an eye opener. He single-handedly invented the sloppy, slugging behind-the-beat feel that is now considered a staple typical for Neo Soul, Fusion and Hip Hop acts. Rumours say it happened by accident, when the samples were not aligned “correctly” to the beat grid but shifted ever so slightly. In a video, Questlove explains how he had to unlearn the rhythmic tightness and precision he acquired over the years in order to achieve the musical ideas of D’Angelo based on J Dilla’s beats.
Unfortunately, J Dilla died early in 2006 on a rare condition. However instead of giving in, he produced his final solo album The Diary lying in a hospital bed. Off of that album, Gangsta Boogie is a prime example for the aforementioned style, which a transcription hardly can capture.
