July 11, 2020 - An "Introduction" to the Bass - JR

Rockin' Remnants




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Date:  7/11/2020

Host:  JR

Feature:  An "Introduction" to the Bass!

Tonight we feature An "Introduction" to the Bass which is not a primer on the instrument, but rather songs that prominently feature the Bass in their introductions!  Bassists from The Wrecking Crew are mentioned a lot in here, so just fyi click on link above...

Playlist

·       yellow song titles are YouTube links

·       songs with * were requests

·       all chart information comes from the Billboard Top 100 (for chart dates before/during July 1958) or Billboard Hot 100 (for chart dates during/after Aug 1958) unless otherwise noted

·       a glossary of terms is below the playlist

6-7pm  

OPENING THEME:  Good Old Rock ‘n’ Roll – Cat Mother & the All-Night Newsboys (1969, #29, produced by Jimi Hendrix)

Don't Be Cruel – Elvis Presley, BB Top 100 #1, 11 weeks, 1956 - Bill Black on the upright bass.

Mack The Knife – Bobby Darin, BB Hot 100 #1 9 weeks,   1959 - NYC studio musician Milt Hinton on the upright bass.


We Gotta Get Out Of This Place – The Animals, BB Hot 100 #13, 1965 - Chas Chandler on bass.


You Can't Hurry Love – The Supremes, BB Hot 100 #1, 2 weeks, 1966 - Funk Brother James Jamerson on bass.

These Boots Are Made For Walkin' – Nancy Sinatra, BB Hot 100 #1, 1 week, 1966 - It's Wrecking Crew members Chuck Berghoffer on standup bass and Carol Kaye on electric bass.

Boris The Spider – The Who, DNC, Off the LP "A Quick One", 1966 - John "Thunderfingers" Entwhistle on bass and vocals.

Gimme Some Lovin' – Spencer Davis Group, BB Hot 100 #7, 1967 - Mervyn "Muff" Winwood (older brother of Stevie) on bass.

Dock Of The Bay – Otis Redding, BB Hot 100 #1, 4 weeks, 1968 - The legendary Donald "Duck" Dunn of the MG's on bass.

Midnight Confessions – The Grass Roots, BB Hot 100 #5, 1968 - Lead singer Rob Grill played the bass in live performances, but in the studio it was one of The Wrecking Crew, so it could have been Carole Kaye?  Ray Pohlman?  Joe Osborn?

Indian Lake – The Cowsills, BB Hot 100 #10, 1968 - NYC had an equivalent to The Wrecking Crew featuring Gary Chester on drums, Hugh McCracken on guitar, Artie Butler on keyboards and Russ Savakus on bass.  It's likely more than one of these cats played on Indian Lake.

2+2=? – The Bob Seger System, DNC, Off the LP "Ramblin' Gamblin' Man, 1968 - Check out the link for the history of this song; System member Dan Honaker on bass.

Mr. Tambourine Man - The Byrds, BB Hot 100 #1, 1 week, 1965 - Roger McGuinn was the only Byrd that played an instrument on their first Columbia sessions, so it was Wrecking Crew wiz Larry Knechtel on bass.

She's My Girl - The Turtles, BB Hot 100 #14, 1967 - Jim Pons played the bass.

(You're Love Keeps Lifting Me) Higher & Higher - Jackie Wilson, BB Hot 100 #6, 1967 - Producer Carl Davis snuck The Funk Brothers away from Motown (for more $ than Berry Gordy Jr. was paying) to play on this "comeback" record for Jackie Wilson; yep, James Jamerson on bass!

Dazed And Confused - Led Zeppelin, DNC, off their debut LP, 1969 - John Paul Jones on bass.

 7-8pm 

 Birthday Calendar


July 5th - Robbie Robertson - 77

July 6th - Della Reese - 1931

                Bill Haley - 1925

July 7th - Ringo Starr (Sir Richard Starkey) - 80

July 8th - Steve Lawrence (Sidney Leibowitz) - 85

July 9th - John "Mitch" Mitchell - 1947

July 10th - Greg Kihn - 70

                  Arlo Guthrie - 73

July 11th - Patricia "Bonnie" Pointer - 1950

                 Tab Hunter (Arthur Kelm) - 1931

Before the Birthday Calendar we pay tribute to Southern Rock legend Charlie Daniels with the "Long Haired Country Boy". Charlie passed away on July 6th at age 83.  You just know he's jamming somewhere with Ronnie Van Zant, Duane Allman, and Stevie Ray Vaughan!

 

Don't Do It (Live) – The Band - BB Hot 100 #34, 1972 - Robbie Robertson was The Band's chief songwriter and guitarist, but I chose to play this Motown cover because of Robbie's SMOKIN' guitar solo!  Bob Dylan described Robbie thusly: "The only mathematical guitar genius I've run into who does not offend my intestinal nervousness with his rear-guard sound".

Not One Minute More - Della Reese - BB Hot 100 #18, 1960.

Thirteen Women - Bill Haley And His Comets - Flip-side of "Rock Around The Clock", 1955.

The No No Song - Ringo Starr - BB Hot 100 #3, 1975 - Written by Hoyt Axton, and in the mid-seventies this may have described Ringo's lifestyle: booze and drugs ; )

Footsteps –  Steve Lawrence, BB Hot 100 #7, 1960. 

Voodoo Child (Slight Return) – Jimi Hendrix Experience -  

 DNC, off the LP "Electric Ladyland" - As Jimi was an inventive guitarist, so was Mitch Mitchell inventive on the drum kit!

The Breakup Song (They Don't Write 'Em) – Greg Kihn Band - BB Hot 100 #15, 1981.

The Motorcycle Song – Arlo Guthrie - DNC, off the LP "Alice's Restaurant", 1968 - Arlo was the master of the "Story Song".

Red Sails In The Sunset – Tab Hunter - Flip-side of Young Love, 1957.

Slow Hand – Pointer Sisters - BB Hot 100 #2, 1981 - Bonnie Pointer passed away on June 8th.

 

8 - 9pm

Back to our Introduction to The Bass...

Come Together - The Beatles - BB Hot 100 #1, 1 week - The first 1:09 of this is just Paul on bass and vocal, John on lead vocal and Ringo on percussion...  Minimalistic!

Thank You Falettinme Be Mice Elf Again – Sly & The Family Stone - BB Hot 100 #1, 2 weeks, 1970 - Larry Graham pioneered the "popping bass" on this.

Draggin' The Line - Tommy James - BB Hot 100 #4, 1971 - Co-writer Bob King on bass.

Papa Was A Rolling Stone - The Temptations - BB Hot 100 #1, 1 week, 1972 - Latter-day Funk Brother Bob Babbitt on bass.

Money (Mono 45 version) - Pink Floyd - BB Hot 100 #13, 1973 - Roger Waters on bass; this was the "Bull-blank" edit which eradicated that dirty word.

Stealin' - Uriah Heep - BB Hot 100 #91, 1973 - Gary Thain on bass

Rock Me Gently - Andy Kim, BB Hot 100 #1, 1 week, 1974 - Wrecking Crew member Max Bennett on bass.

Rikki Don't Lose That Number (45 version) - Steely Dan, BB Hot 100 #4, 1974 (The Dan's highest charting single) - The late Walter Becker on bass.

For The Love Of Money - O'Jays, BB Hot 100 #9, 1974 - The house band for Sigma Sound Studios in Philadelphia in the 70's was nicknamed "MFSB" and Anthony Jackson was the bassist.

How Long (45 version) - Ace, BB Hot 100 #3, 1975 - Paul Carrack was the lead vocalist and Terry Corner was the bassist.

My Girl - Temptations, BB Hot 100 #1, 1 week, 1965 - Can one really get enough of James Jamerson's bass?

Band Of Gold - Freda Payne, BB Hot 100 #3, 1970 - Funk Brother Bob Babbitt "moonlighting".

She's Gone - Hall & Oates, BB Hot 100 #7, 1978 - Studio musician Steve Gelfand on bass.

Billie Jean - Michael Jackson, BB Hot 100 #1, 7 weeks, 1983 - Have you noticed how many of these songs on our feature were Hot 100 #1?  Could be the hidden key for a chart-topping single?  Anyway, the late Louis "Thunder Thumbs" Johnson plays that awesome bass line!

CLOSING THEME:  Sleepwalk – Santo & Johnny (1959, #1 for two weeks)

Glossary of Terms:

DNC = did not chart

NR = not released as a single at the time

AC = Billboard’s chart for “Adult Contemporary” records

BB = Billboard Magazine, which publishes the Hot 100 chart (previously known as the Top 100), along with several other charts

Bubbling Under = songs that were ranked but fell below the top 100

C&W = Billboard’s chart for “Country & Western” records

R&B = Billboard’s chart for “Rhythm & Blues” records

RRHOF = Rock and Roll Hall of Fame

RS500 = Rolling Stone Magazine’s ranked list of the top 500 singles of all-time

Thanks for tuning in! You can listen to Rockin' Remnants every Saturday night from 6-9pm on WVBR (93.5 FM in Ithaca, NY) or at wvbr.com/listen.

Thanks again to our sponsors Island Health & Fitness and Rasa Spa for their support every week!

Host This Week (7/18):  Jan Hunsinger