LeftyJ Posted June 7, 2018 Share Posted June 7, 2018 I wanted to play guitar ever since I started listening to metal. I can't think of a specific song, but when I picked up the album "Mandylion" by The Gathering the urge became irresistable. I picked up my first bass a few years later, and it quickly became my main instrument. Iron Maiden may have a little something to do with that, with Steve Harris' clear and bright attack always very present in the mix. It might also be due to The Gathering's album "How To Measure A Planet". The soloed, overdriven bass riff to "Probably Built in the 50s" always sounded awesome to me (and still does) and it was impossible to reproduce with a regular guitar. And I definitely blame Rage Against The Machine's debut album for a large part! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alembic1989 Posted June 7, 2018 Share Posted June 7, 2018 For me it was " Lord of Light" by Hawkwind from the album Do Re Mi... Eternal thanks to Lemmy. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
missis sumner Posted June 7, 2018 Share Posted June 7, 2018 Hotel California. After four years, I can almost play it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dad3353 Posted June 7, 2018 Share Posted June 7, 2018 The playing of Jack Casady was my reference point, and still is. Firstly with the Airplane (and Starship...), then Hot Tuna. Many other fine players and songs, of course, but that's a style I gravitate to and am inspired by. For drumming, it's maybe no coincidence that my biggest influence has been Spencer Dryden, tempered since with a hefty dose of Joe Morello. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulWarning Posted June 7, 2018 Share Posted June 7, 2018 16 hours ago, musicbassman said: I changed from guitar to bass not long after I first started playing in the late 60's - because there was always a shortage of bass players and endless numbers of wannabe guitarists (only guitarists got the chicks, allegedly) . I too switched to bass because it seemed an easier way to get into a band, but I first became aware of the what the bass could do listening to Alan Lancaster on the Status Quo albums Hello and Quo, nothing complicated but it made the band rock 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lozkerr Posted June 7, 2018 Share Posted June 7, 2018 15 hours ago, josie said: Finally at 59 I just got angry and decided not to believe it any more and went out and bought a good bass and found a good teacher. By then I was well into electric blues, and the first thing I learned to play had to be a classic 12-bar. The first time I played a turnaround was a huge, demon-killing joy. You were wrong, Mum. I still enjoy Mozart cello lines though, thank you for that. Oh wow, does that chime with me! My mum's favoured instruments of torture were Mendelssohn's Four Seasons and South Pacific; and both my parents insisted that popular music (anything from about 1949 onwards!) was just rubbish and people who played electric instruments were not real musicians. That was at the back of my mind for years and gave rise to a head vs heart conflict that was only resolved when I finally picked up a bass. And when I got to the stage of being able to play rock songs with other musicians, I knew I'd finally arrived. It took a while, but better late than never. Now I'm busily making up for lost time! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ForestPoetry Posted June 7, 2018 Share Posted June 7, 2018 Beatles, New order, Iron Maiden, Metallica, U2...that kind of stuff. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dad3353 Posted June 7, 2018 Share Posted June 7, 2018 26 minutes ago, lozkerr said: Oh wow, does that chime with me! My mum's favoured instruments of torture were Mendelssohn's Four Seasons and South Pacific... Snap (well, nearly..!). Kathleen Ferrier and South Pacific in our house..! My folks didn't 'approve' either, but had to put up with my efforts on the guitar, then electric guitar, as soon as I got my first pay packets. Still, happy daze..! Incidentally, I had occasion to listen to a bit of South Pacific for the first time in decades the other day (don't ask..!). It has not aged well at all..! 'Bloomin' awful' would be about as generous as I could be with what I heard. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lozkerr Posted June 7, 2018 Share Posted June 7, 2018 41 minutes ago, Dad3353 said: Incidentally, I had occasion to listen to a bit of South Pacific for the first time in decades the other day (don't ask..!). It has not aged well at all..! 'Bloomin' awful' would be about as generous as I could be with what I heard. I went to see it when it was resuscitated revived a few years ago, largely because I'd been corresponding with one of the cast about a TV series I'd written. It was a lovely production and the whole thing worked well, but when I listened to the soundtrack in isolation... nah. All the childhood dislike came back and the CD was quickly promoted to a coaster. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davepb24 Posted June 7, 2018 Share Posted June 7, 2018 If I had to choose a handful of songs... "Transmission" - Joy Division, "Sunrise" - New Order, "Celebrate" - Fields Of The Nephilim, "Alice" - Sisters Of Mercy. One day I might be able to play some of them properly... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neilp Posted June 7, 2018 Share Posted June 7, 2018 Led Zeppelin 2. The Lemon Song, then Ramble On. Almost everything I love about music right there in those two songs. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rocker Posted June 7, 2018 Share Posted June 7, 2018 I took up bass to see what a bass does and to learn what it adds to music. I cannot think of a single song that made me think, I will have to learn to play bass. I discovered that I love playing bass but to get the best out of it, I took on a music theory course and this led me to learn to play chords on a piano. The bass re-ignited my love of and interest in playing my six strings.... I might be slightly against the grain here by suggesting that the bass is not a lead instrument. It is much more important than that. Drums and bass provide the foundation for the song, for the music being played by the band. I hear music as the total sound created by the band and not the individual members contributions to the sound. On balance if the song requires simple root notes, then I play root notes. Boring? Possibly but the overall sound is what matters, my ego has to be put aside in favour of the song. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
musicbassman Posted June 7, 2018 Share Posted June 7, 2018 18 minutes ago, Rocker said: I might be slightly against the grain here by suggesting that the bass is not a lead instrument. It is much more important than that. I hear music as the total sound created by the band and not the individual members contributions to the sound. This x 100. Well said. It's all about the end result, the finished product. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nikon F Posted June 7, 2018 Share Posted June 7, 2018 Gary Thain when he was with U.H. no song in particular. So I rushed out and bought a fender ........40 years later . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Japhet Posted June 7, 2018 Share Posted June 7, 2018 My Mum was a very good piano player and one of her favorite songs was Mac The Knife - Bobby Darin. I was fascinated by the bass line in that song and still am to this day. Another one that pushed my buttons was Mercy Mercy Me - Marvin Gaye. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MacDaddy Posted June 7, 2018 Share Posted June 7, 2018 Nikki Sixx. No song in particular, just him running about the stage throwing shapes and posing. I thought 'i'll have some of that'. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hobbayne Posted June 7, 2018 Share Posted June 7, 2018 Bruce Foxton on Sound Affects when I was 15. I was hooked on the bass instantly. Paul Mc Cartney on Rain. After playing for a few years I heard this for the first time. It was a B side so I never came across it before. Hearing the bass played so high up the neck was so mindblowing, I nearly wet myself!! 😂 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christine Posted June 7, 2018 Share Posted June 7, 2018 8 hours ago, PaulWarning said: I too switched to bass because it seemed an easier way to get into a band, but I first became aware of the what the bass could do listening to Alan Lancaster on the Status Quo albums Hello and Quo, nothing complicated but it made the band rock Similar, I became aware of John Entwistles playing quite early and developed a liking for the rhythm sections of many bands but it was Alan Lancaster's seemingly simple bass lines that made me sit up and think "I can do that!". It was only later on that I realised that he was actually a better player than I first thought, to this day he is one of my favourite bassists and along with John Coghlan in their day they were a powerhouse of a rhythm section 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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