Back from his sojourn in Nashville, Tennessee, Oh Mercy recording artist, Tony James Shevlin continues his story of recording the album Songs from the Last Chance Saloon.
Bass players are often seen as the poor relations of guitar players. There is this notion that bassists settled for four strings when six proved too much. It is quite wrong.
A good bass player is vital to the success of a band. He/she is the link between the rhythm and melodic content of a band; the glue between the drums and the guitars. The bass is part-rhythmic, part-melodic.
For the last 20 years I have made my living as a bass player. I kind of fell in to it, though, in that I worked with an excellent bass player who, unfortunately, was monumentally unreliable. So I not so much learned to play the bass but learned to play the bass parts to the songs in our set. After the first gig where I was called upon to demonstrate my new skill, our drummer, who was renowned for his brusque manner, commented: “I forgot that it was you playing bass.” I took that as a compliment and decided to investigate the art of bass playing further. I joined a Country band and when I felt competent in what is required from the bassist in that genre, I moved on to blues, and then to rock. Being able to play bass and sing lead vocal brought in a lot of gigs working in a guitar, bass and drums trio. It’s hard work – there’s no room for passengers, but as well as being musically rewarding it’s financially a plus, too.
Being a singer, I am naturally drawn towards bass players who double up as vocalists. Paul McCartney never seemed to feature in “Best Bassists” polls so beloved of the NME and Melody Maker. Being a Beatle seemed to overshadow his ability on four strings; he is a tremendous player, particularly when contributing to the other Beatle’s songs (Lennon’s Come Together, Harrison’s Taxman). I love Sting’s bass playing in the Police – the economy of notes used on tracks like Walking on the Moon and the verses in Roxanne. And Thin Lizzy’s Phil Lynott made bass playing sexy!
I was lucky enough to have Bruce Thomas, bass player with Elvis Costello and the Attractions play on an album of mine. It was a great learning experience, hearing him develop the basic lines of our demo recordings into the wonderful melodic versions on the final album. His use of harmonious passing notes was a master class which has stayed with me.
Whilst working as a music journalist, I was asked to interview one of my favourite bass players, the great Jack Bruce at his home in Suffolk. He was a genial host. As he told stories of his life, he would mention his friends: “So me and Jimi are in this pub…” I would interrupt: Sorry, Jimi? “Hendrix,” he said nonchalantly. Or, “I was hanging out at John’s house, and…” Sorry, John who? “Oh, sorry, – Lennon.” Oh, right, says I. I marvelled that his buddies - Eric, Mick, Pete and Paul were Clapton, Jagger, Townsend and McCartney.
As I was leaving Bruce Towers we walked past his music room; there on the wall was a Gibson EBO bass – the one he played on Cream Live at the Albert Hall. I stared at it. “Is that what I think it is? I asked. “Yes” he said, adding “would you like to play it?”
I heard myself saying yes. Moments later I’m sitting there with Jack Bruce’s legendary bass, and with the legendary Jack Bruce watching me. The man who wrote the song which contains arguably the most famous riff in rock music - Sunshine of Your Love - is waiting for me to play the bass on which he wrote that riff. He is watching me. Waiting. There is silence as I try to think of something to play. And the only notes I can hear in my head are the ones that make up Sunshine of Your Love. I am panicking. I search around my brain but I’ve got nothing. So I play the riff to Sunshine of Your Love. The amiable Bruce smiles at me, sympathetically but with just a hint of pity showing through. “I think I might know that one,” he says.
Other favourites include Roy Estrada of Little Feat, Andy Fraser of Free, Bernard Edwards from Chic, and Ronnie Lane from the Faces. I’m also a huge fan of the faceless session bassists who played on so many hit records of the sixties and seventies - David Hood (of Muscle Shoals) James Jamerson (of Motown’s Funk Brothers) and Carol Kaye (of the LA-based Wrecking Crew).
Unfortunately, in my role as a bass teacher at a music college, I have noticed that the most influential bass player of recent times is Flea from the Red Hot Chili Peppers. He is a marvellous musician, and I say ‘unfortunately’ because the only aspect of his style that my students seem to have taken notice of is his slap technique. And that’s all they want to do. And they think it’s funky. It is not.
I sit them down and play them Papa was a Rolling Stone by the Temptations. I tell them that producer Norman Whitfield had the bass player on that track (there is some dispute over whether it was James Jamerson or Bob Babbitt) repeat the same bass figure – just the one - all the way through the track because that was what the song needed. And that is funky!
So when it came time to record the bass parts for the new album Songs from the Last Chance Saloon, despite having the phone numbers of many great players whom I could have called upon – players whom I admire and am in awe of – I decided to play on the tracks myself. I knew what the songs needed, I knew what I wanted. It was important to me that the bass shouldn’t stand out or detract from the central idea of a song, a voice and a guitar.
I dusted down my old Fender Jazz bass which I rarely use when playing live anymore (it’s just too damn heavy for long gigs). It has a lovely warm round tone to it. This was put through a 15 year-old Ashdown 150 Amplifier Head and a Hartke 1 x 15 Cab. Any top end needed we took from the Direct Injection (D.I.) into the desk.
The bass parts were recorded in two evening session; four one night and four the next.
I played them in the order the drums were recorded which meant I was faced with Faith in Myself, Paradise South Ealing, Crazy and Crying for 15 Years on the first night.
Although I hadn’t played in a band with Tim the drummer for 18 years, it didn’t take long for me to lock into the groove he had set up on Faith in Myself. I kept my lines simple with a few variations on a central riff. This was also the first of four songs where the low E string was tuned a whole tone lower to the note of D. The song’s verses are in the key of E minor so this meant that I could play the open string (D) and ‘hammer on’ (to E) for a very effective riff. The choruses are in the key of D and for these I played a more melodic, flowing line. I had rehearsed extensively so I would have been disappointed if I hadn’t nailed it on the first take. Thankfully, I did.
Paradise South Ealing took a little longer. I was after a Ronnie Lane feel, a seemingly chaotic but effortlessly flowing line, reminiscent of his work with the Faces. My first attempts seemed too polite and rigid; I needed to play more open notes and vary where I placed them, sometimes ahead of the beat, sometimes behind. Once I found the right riffs I was able to relax and I found the groove (I’m sure Ronnie always recorded in a fairly, er, relaxed state of mind).
The bass line to Crazy could not be any more simplistic. It’s what bassists refer to as “first and fifths” where you mainly play the root note of the key (in this case G) and the fifth chord note (D) alternately. I knew I would be adding a tuba to the bass part in the solo section so it was essential that this part was very easy to follow. Once again, my E string was dropped a tone so I was able to employ a low D on the fifth chord. It almost rumbles! It took me a couple of run-throughs to acclimatise myself to the lazy ‘swing’ feel Tim had so successfully attained. If it had taken me any longer, I would have had to hang up my bass in shame!
The final track of the night was Crying for 15 Years. This required another swing feel. The downbeat is accentuated, with passing harmony notes to add a bit of colour. The song changes key twice from its initial key of D to E and finally to F#; the last change meant a change of positioning which I kept forgetting. Fortunately, it followed an a cappella section which meant there was an easy place to drop into the recording with a good run-up.
The following evening’s session started with Champagne Taste on a Lemonade Pay. I had recorded this song many years ago as part of a band. The bass player in that band had come up with an amazing line, almost reggae-like that was played across the beat. It was quite stunning but even back then, I knew it wasn’t quite right (or, perhaps, with me being something of a traditionalist, it wasn’t what I really wanted). Often when writing, I hear in my head an artist whom I admire, performing the song. In this case, I heard the wonderful JJ Cale. The rhythm section to a track like this requires economy; what you leave out is just as important as what you put in. Tim had agreed with me and had set up a very simple brushes played on snare drum groove; all that was required to complement this was a basic County-Blues line which I was happy to supply. It was great fun to play and makes the track bounce along.
The bass part for Heart and the High Moral Ground is my favourite on the album, probably because it’s the most intricate part, with variations each time it occurs, taking into account the dynamics of each verse. I was after the kind of nuance and subtlety Davey Faragher brings to the table when working with the likes of Bonnie Raitt and John Hiatt, where you don’t really notice the bass line but if you took it away, some of the emotional heart of the song would disappear.
There was a very obvious line to play on Run Until we Drop; the challenge was to find something that was original without drawing attention to itself. I tried to imagine what Bruce Thomas would have played and, to that effect, there are lots of harmonious passing notes. I like to think the ex-Attraction would enjoy my homage to his wonderful style.
The bass line to Nobody is the one line I can’t take credit for and is the one that caused me the most worry. It was taken from an old recording on which bass wizard Spy Austin (Desmond Dekker, George Clinton, Style Council) worked his magic. It contains a beautiful flowing riff which, even when I play the song solo on acoustic guitar, I still hum in my head. Spy is such an exceptional musician that I was worried that I would not be able to do his line justice. After a couple of run-throughs, even though I played it exactly as he had, it didn’t sound comfortable; it didn’t sound right. It didn’t have the same feel. And that was the problem; instead of playing the line in my own way, I was coming out with this second-rate version of Spy. I took a break for a cup of tea and a Jaffa Cake or two (these became a session staple) and thought about how Tony James Shevlin should play it. I took the original line as a basis and adapted to suit my own style. This immediately felt more welcoming, and once I relaxed, I started adding notes until I had a line that, while indebted to the original, felt appropriate, was in keeping with the style of the album, and rocked along like a good ‘un.
I doubt if anyone will listen to Songs from the Last Chance Saloon and say: “Great bass playing!” but that was never my goal; the bass is there to enhance the drums, support the guitars, and help the whole ensemble hang together, and listening back to the album as a whole, I think it does just that.
In my career as a bassist, I have always tried to stay true to the Ten Bass Commandments (on occasions, I have struggled with the fourth)
1. Thou shalt not f**k up the groove. F**k up the notes if thou must, but
not the groove.
2. Thou shalt not lust after thy guitar player's part. He keepeth the fun,
thou keepeth the groove.
3. Be thou not swayed by a drummer with crappy time, for thou art the
keeper of the beat.
4. Be thou not led into temptation before the gig. After is cool.
5. Thou pusheth thy luck with five strings, six is a mortal sin, for thou
hast no business in the upper register.
6. "Thou shalt not thump with thy thumb, nor honk with a pick when thy
fingers are the way of truth.
7. Thou shalt not fear whole notes, for they can be the way and the
light.
8. Thou shalt leave the fancy s**t to thy bandmates, so they might wrestle
with their own bad taste.
9. Thou shalt change thy strings at least once per decade, whether they
need it or not.
10. Thou shalt tune thy bass before each and every gig, even though it was
in tune when last thou put it away.
Next time: Six strings down
