Bilbo

Sorry, Prowla. I love Rush, really I do. I was playing Limelight with a guitarist friend only last Thursday (absolutely true - we also looked at YYZ but I can't say we 'played' it - too bloody hard). I also have a load of Rush transcriptions on my website if you want to have a look (I think all of Signals, Moving Pictures and Hemispheres are on there as well as some others).

Peart playing Jazz with that Buddy Rich thing was 'uncomfortable'. He played on Jeff Berlin's first album and had to be doubled by Steve Smith from Journey to make it work. Don't get me wrong, I am a fan but Peart stopped being interesting a loooonnng time ago and couldn't really move around freely outside of Rush.. So many players out there with more chops and fresher ideas. His first decade with Rush, though, was incredible. As for his lyrics, he had that enviable ability to make you think you were thinking. Some really great lines but some of it was, frankly, rubbish. As I said, I am a fan but I don't think they live up to the hype. And I agree, Lifeson was the more creative of the three.

Caress Of Steel was my first Rush LP. I had heard a live gig on The Friday Rock Show and had recorded it on a C90 cassette. Wore it out eventually. I remember getting Permanent Waves 'hot off the press' and loved that and Moving Pictures but Grace Under Pressure and Signals were a bit of a challenge. They lost me at Power Windows but I still have all of their catalogue except Clockwork Angels. There are highs and lows throughout. Their videos, including the stuff on the back screen at gigs, was always ropey as fcuk. I always thought it was in jokes that nobody laughed at except the band. Their MTV style videos were generally terrible. I loved the sense of camaraderie the projected but they will probably go down as the coolest uncool people in the World. Neil Peart is not even close to being the best drummer and Gary Weinrib is not the greatest bass player by a country mile. Nevertheless, the three of them were undoubtedly greater than the sum of their parts and I loved them until I didn't.

This just makes me happy (as most Kim Mitchell stuff does). Matthew Gerrard's bass part to the tune 'RocklandWonderland' from the 1989 Kim Mitchell album, 'Rockland'. https://bilbosbassbites.co.uk/rocklandwonderland-kim-mitchell/

Another fun chart, Joe Bouchard's bass part for 'We Gotta Get Out Of This Place' from the 1978 Blue Oyster Cult live album, 'Some Enchanted Evening'. A simple chart with enough challenges to keep it interesting. https://bilbosbassbites.co.uk/we-gotta-get-out-of-this-place-blue-oyster-cult/

A nostalgia trip - this is the complete bass performance of 'Sails Of Charon'. Francis Buchholz on bass from the 1977 Scorpions album, 'Taken By Force'. As an experiment, I have added the tab. I won't be doing that again in a hurry. Seems ridiculous to me. Just learn to read the dots and get with the programme!! https://bilbosbassbites.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/Sails-Of-Charon-Francis-Buchholz-Bass.pdf

I just wanted to make a point here. The tunes are selected for the website as opportunities to practice reading and not based on the popularity of the musicians or tunes featured. If you only 'have a go' at the tunes you 'like', you are missing the point. The idea is to find the ones that test you enough to move your reading forward. Some of these charts will test the best of us but some are really easy which is why they are on there. If you only have a look at the tunes you know, you are missing out on a lot of learning opportunities. Dive in - it's all good.

Another complete Ruben Rodriguez transcription, this one is a tune called 'Go Home (Vete A Casa)' from the 2017 album 'Backlog'. A bit more demanding that 'Nature Boy' but still achievable and a great tune to move forward in exploring Latin grooves. https://bilbosbassbites.co.uk/go-home-vete-a-casa-steve-kahn/

Mine came with a wedge type thing that you can use to tilt the combo back so you can point it directly at yourself. I have a similar arrangement on the Acoustic Image Ten2Ex. It does help (although I also have a Phil Jones EarBox for double bass gigs also).

No but how cool does that look!! 😎

Another simple chart (easy to read and a very basis introduction to the most simple of Latin feels), this is the Ruben Rodriguez bass part for 'Nature Boy' a bonus track on the 2019 Steve Khan album, 'Patchwork'. https://bilbosbassbites.co.uk/nature-boy-steve-khan/

The bass part for the tune 'Mali' off John Patitucci's 2009 trio album, 'Remembrance'. https://bilbosbassbites.co.uk/mali-john-patitucci-trio/

I am, Dave. I am happy with my Acoustic Image Clarus for my double bass set up but it wasn't doing it for me on the electric front, even with a PJB extension cab, so I just got myself a CMD151P (the Jeff Berlin model). I also got frustrated with my 5-string bass earlier this year (a Marleaux Consat, I think) so sold that on here and bought a Cort Rithmic 4. I now have a complete Jeff Berlin fan-boy set up (not because it is Jeff Berlin endorsed but because it works). I got the Markbass (w. an additional New York 151 extension speaker) off ebay - a total bargain and the seller was only 30 miles away from me! The Markbass set up is astonishing - I tried the combo years ago and thought 'I have got to get me one of these' and it has taken me this long. I will be selling some other kit to off-set the cost but, frankly, it was an absolute steal.

Sorry, guys. I bottled it. Head only chart for the tune 'At One' from the 1993 Michel Camilo album, 'Rendezvous'. https://bilbosbassbites.co.uk/as-one-michel-camilo/ Got the Markbass kit. Wow!

Another from the same 2014 album, this is the tune 'Seeker'. More digestible altogether but there are some passages that test your 16th note reading to the full. Lots of evidence of the James Jamerson influence Jackson often speaks of. https://bilbosbassbites.co.uk/seeker-hiromi-trio-project/ Now I am off to collect a new (to me) Markbass set up for my electric playing!

'Dreamer' from the 2014 Hiromi Trio Project album, 'Alive'. Not 100% sure as there are some classic AJ 'what the f*** is he doing NOW' moments but most of it is safe. There are some heavy challenges with the read, though, as a lot of the chart is in weird time signatures which does odd things to the ties in Sibelius. Once you 'get it', though, it soon settles. https://bilbosbassbites.co.uk/dreamer-hiromi-uehara-trio-project/

I used Rotosound Solo Bass strings for three and a half decades on my Wal and it didn't do any damage at all. Groundwound i.e. roundwounds but with the surface ground down so it is less inclined to damage the fretboard.

Anthony Jackson's complete bass part for the tune 'Beethoven's Piano Sonata 8 - Pathetique' from the 2011 Hiromi Trio Project album, 'Voices'. https://bilbosbassbites.co.uk/beethovens-piano-sonata-8-pathetique-hiromi/

Another one I am proud of, this is the complete Felix Pappalardi bass performance on the album version of 'Nantucket Sleighride' from the 1971 Mountain album of the same name. https://bilbosbassbites.co.uk/nantucket-sleighride-to-owen-coffin-mountain/

I did this one for a giggle. This is the most meaningless transcription on the website….. Four notes, most of which are Bb. There is some significant E activity in there but the G and F# barely get a look in. ‘The Pump’ from the 1980 Jeff Beck album, ‘There And Back’. https://bilbosbassbites.co.uk/the-pump-jeff-beck/

The room. Concrete walls and tiled floors? Forget it

I had meant to do this one for ages - Kai Eckhardt's bass solo from 'Blue In Green' on the John McLaughlin Trio's 'Live At The Royal Festival Hall' recording in 1989. So not Wally Lowe! https://bilbosbassbites.co.uk/blue-in-green-bass-solo-john-mclaughlin-trio/

'Vigilante' from the 1986 Magnum album of the same name. I think that's the lot for now. https://bilbosbassbites.co.uk/vigilante-magnum/

'All England's Eyes' from 'On A Storyteller's Night' by Magnum. I am not entirely confident on this one as there are passages where the bass is lost in the what is a fairly dense mix. I have had to 'guess' some of the details here and there so, if you hear it differently, you may be right. https://bilbosbassbites.co.uk/all-englands-eyes-magnum/

'Days Of No Trust' from the 1988 Magnum album, 'Wings Of Heaven'. Five in one day. I'm off to bed now. https://bilbosbassbites.co.uk/days-of-no-trust-magnum/