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Bilbo

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A monster transcription of Anthony Jackson's bass part to 'Nite Sprite' from the 1976 Chick Corea LP 'The Leprachaun'. Some ludicroulsy tight unison lines and some James Jamerson funk lines of amphetamines. Completely unreadable in tempo but worth the study time if you are interested.

 

https://bilbosbassbites.co.uk/nite-sprite-chick-corea/

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A little vignette from the 1977 Dixie Dregs 'Freefall' album. The tune is called 'Sleep' and features a subtle synth bass rather than bass guitar. An easy read if you are justs starting out and a fun thing to play. It is essentially an eight bar line that is expanding all the way through the piece.

 

https://bilbosbassbites.co.uk/sleep-dixie-dregs/

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Another track from the same album, the legendary 'Five G'. I struggeld with the funk bit as many of the notes are non-specific and there is aknack to the playing of the line that you are not going to get off the chart. I attahced a link to the YouTube copy of JB's Starlicks video where he explains how he does it. Hopefully, with chart and video, you can work it out.

https://bilbosbassbites.co.uk/five-g-bruford/

 

 

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15 minutes ago, Bilbo said:

Another track from the same album, the legendary 'Five G'. I struggeld with the funk bit as many of the notes are non-specific and there is aknack to the playing of the line that you are not going to get off the chart. I attahced a link to the YouTube copy of JB's Starlicks video where he explains how he does it. Hopefully, with chart and video, you can work it out.

https://bilbosbassbites.co.uk/five-g-bruford/

 

 

This is the one i've been waiting for Rob. I've always wondered how he played that song. This should help explain it. No chance of me being able to play it but its nice to see it written out and who knows maybe one day.

Dave

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58 minutes ago, dmccombe7 said:

This is the one i've been waiting for Rob. I've always wondered how he played that song. This should help explain it. No chance of me being able to play it but its nice to see it written out and who knows maybe one day.

Dave

I thought that, Dave, but I can and its not that hard. Same with Al Dimeola. Parts I thought were impossible become viable with practice. 

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6 hours ago, Bilbo said:

I thought that, Dave, but I can and its not that hard. Same with Al Dimeola. Parts I thought were impossible become viable with practice. 

I'll definitely be giving it a try. Its those sort of muted notes that were throwing me when i first heard it but seeing it written out i reckon with some practice i could do that. It would be nice to show off when in bass shops :D

You've done so many great songs from my past Rob. Really really appreciate all your work.

Dave

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On 22/09/2020 at 13:16, Bilbo said:

A monster transcription of Anthony Jackson's bass part to 'Nite Sprite' from the 1976 Chick Corea LP 'The Leprachaun'. Some ludicroulsy tight unison lines and some James Jamerson funk lines of amphetamines. Completely unreadable in tempo but worth the study time if you are interested.

 

https://bilbosbassbites.co.uk/nite-sprite-chick-corea/

Unreadable in tempo? It’s pretty much unplayable in tempo 😲

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51 minutes ago, FDC484950 said:

Unreadable in tempo? It’s pretty much unplayable in tempo 😲

It is tough to play off the page but, if you spend a few hours with it, it is actually perfectly playable. Remember, a lot of the small details are improvised so AJ would have been playing them on the fly after some level of rehearsal. It's all doable if you invest the time. 

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4 minutes ago, Bilbo said:

This one is a bit of fun. Walter Becker's bass line to the track 'Cousin Dupress' from the 2000 Steely Dan album 'Two Against Nature'. Fairly easy read with nothing past eight notes. A couple of bars of chromatic leading notes but, otherwise, pretty much root based.

 

https://bilbosbassbites.co.uk/cousin-dupree-steely-dan/

As you say, not deadly complex, but this was the song that sold the album to me on first hearing it.

An elusively beautiful sleazy groove!

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This one really was a long-awaited effort. I have had it in mind to transcribe this probably since I started playing the bass. I got my first bass, a Hondoo II Precision copy in September 1980. I know that because that was the year I started working for a living and I paid for it with my first pay packet. At that point, I was already listening to the Friday Rock Show and, like every Rock fan who lived through that era, the opening theme from the show promised great things. It wasn't until some years later that I learned that the tune that opened the show was called 'Take It Off The Top' by the Dixie Dregs. What is more, the tune featured a genuine bass solo in the form of Andy West's two bar exchanges with guitarist Steve Morse (both names I would not know for some time yet). Last night, I put the final touches to this transcription and it is now available on my website. We got there in the end!

 

https://bilbosbassbites.co.uk/take-it-off-the-top-dixie-dregs/

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9 hours ago, Bilbo said:

This one really was a long-awaited effort. I have had it in mind to transcribe this probably since I started playing the bass. I got my first bass, a Hondoo II Precision copy in September 1980. I know that because that was the year I started working for a living and I paid for it with my first pay packet. At that point, I was already listening to the Friday Rock Show and, like every Rock fan who lived through that era, the opening theme from the show promised great things. It wasn't until some years later that I learned that the tune that opened the show was called 'Take It Off The Top' by the Dixie Dregs. What is more, the tune featured a genuine bass solo in the form of Andy West's two bar exchanges with guitarist Steve Morse (both names I would not know for some time yet). Last night, I put the final touches to this transcription and it is now available on my website. We got there in the end!

 

https://bilbosbassbites.co.uk/take-it-off-the-top-dixie-dregs/

Always loved that, thanks!

Aah, the much missed Tommy Vance. AKA Richard Anthony Crispian Francis Prew Hope-Weston....

No wonder he adopted a stage name!

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Another one from an early favourite, this is the bass part for the first half (before the drum solo) of the Cozy Powell tune 'Over The Top' (the second half features Powell with am orchestra playing Tchaikovsky's 1812 Overture (inc. cannons). A weird tension between three against two phrases and syncopated sixteenths but, after a few listens, you will get the gist.

https://bilbosbassbites.co.uk/over-the-top-jack-bruce/

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Another one that I had been meaning to get to for years. It ended up being a lot less complicated than I thought it would but it remains one of my favourite tracks by the UK Jazz Rock band Colosseum II. The first of their three albums was 'Strange New Flesh' and it was the only album that featured Neil Murray as the bass player. This is their absolutely glorious arrangement of the Joni Mitchell song 'Down To You'. Mike Starrs on vocals, Murray on bass, Jon Hiseman on drums, Gary Moore on guitar and Don Airey on keyboards. 

 

https://bilbosbassbites.co.uk/down-to-you-colosseum-ii/

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