I'm trying to put together a Bass CD, but I want to incorporate all ages of the Bass, and put it into a semi chronological order. However, since the bass was mainly a backup instrument up to the 70s (and even then it was rare that the bass was the feature instrument of the band, though solos did occasionally happen), I'm having trouble digging up some earlier work. Can anyone reccomend any early greats? I'm talking between say, the 30s and the 60s... AND... keep in mind, I'm looking for songs where the bass is FEATURED, not just contains a 1 minute solo or something, so don't be reccommending "So what" or something just because of Chambers' catchy intro.

It can be upright, bowed, electric, acoustic, it doesn't matter, it just has to be early stuff. This will be added to the likes of Jaco Pastorius, Stanley Clarke, Victor Wooten and Les Claypool. Some of you may be questioning why I chose not to mention some other names, but you have to ask yourself if these other names actually have songs with excellent, lengthy bass solos. I'm not saying they're not capable, I'm just saying they don't work for the CD. If for example, you were to bring up Bootsy, he's funky, but you don't really notice the bass in the music any more than the rest of the band.

Space permitting, I might throw in a song off of Rhonda's Intellipop, Prince's "What's My Name?", and maybe a Larry Graham song, perhaps his instrumental "Outro" on GCS, I don't know. And before you all vomit in disgust, I need to make it clear that I'm looking for Bass featured songs (lyrics are okay, but the bass should be the point of the song), in a variety of different styles, by a variety of different artists, so it makes sense that this album would contain classical, jazz, jazz-lite, pop, funk, metal, folk, and rock contributions, even if the technical merits of these artists may vary greatly.

Thanks for your help.

PS. (Bass should be featured)

I find people seem more willing to respond if someone else has already responded, so...

Behold...

a response

Hi Adam

You've already mentioned the artists I might have suggested (Victor Wooten, Stanley Clarke).

Solo basslines or tracks where the bassist is the star line are really difficult to find (for me at least).

My brain just told me to mention David Axelrod "Tony's Poem".

Do you play bass? I own a bass guitar, does that count?

tiy need charles mingus on there if your doing some sort of history thing!

Taureau said:

It's still hard to find a song where upright bass is the main attraction

CinisterCee said:

If anyone's still paying attention, many thanks to CC and Taureau, but I hope I can get a couple more responses. I'll check out Mingus.

I should also mention I'm putting on some of Edgar Meyer's classical stuff, and yes, it's somewhat of a history thing.

You must have Jaco in there ...

Charles Mingus and James Jamersom come to mind.

NWF said:

can anyone think of a Mingus song in particular that features his bass?