# Bass Players: Recommend songs to me! **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 17, 2004, 4:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bass-players-recommend-songs-to-me/240484 "2004-04-17T04:14:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Ender\_Will](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/eb9ed0/32.png) [@Ender\_Will](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ender_Will)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2004, 4:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bass-players-recommend-songs-to-me/240484/1 "2004-04-17T04:14:01Z")
I’ve been playing bass for a couple months now and am looking to expand my repetoir (sp?). Fire off any suggestions you have, don’t worry about genre or anything like that. A rough list of what I’ve got now, just in case: _Portrait of Tracy_ - Jaco Pastorius _Day Tripper_ - Beatles _Iron Man_ - Black Sabbath _NIB_ intro - Black Sabbath _Schism_ - Tool _Seemann_ - Rammstein _Louie Louie_ - Kingsmen _Seven Nation Army_ - White Stripes ---
**Author:** ![Yeticus\_Rex](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/a698b9/32.png) [@Yeticus\_Rex](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yeticus_Rex)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2004, 5:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bass-players-recommend-songs-to-me/240484/2 "2004-04-17T05:18:57Z")
Pink Floyd - “Money” (One of the most catchy riffs) The Who - “My Generation” (Finger bleeding good time) Alan Parsons Project - “The Raven” (Just because it sounds cool to go Bwwwwaaaarrrrr…Thump…Thump…Thump) ---
**Author:** ![rolandgunslinger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/cdc98d/32.png) [@rolandgunslinger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rolandgunslinger)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2004, 5:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bass-players-recommend-songs-to-me/240484/3 "2004-04-17T05:34:12Z")
Played Bass during my HS years in a garage band and I still play every once in awhile. I learned to play by ear cause I dont know how to read music. Heres a few good ones to learn… Smoke on the water - Deep Purple Chains - Fleetwood Mac Godzilla - Blue Oyster Cult Another one bites the dust - Queen And heres a tough one… (To me anyway) The Trooper - Iron Maiden ---
**Author:** ![Cinnamon\_Girl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9d8465/32.png) [@Cinnamon\_Girl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cinnamon_Girl)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2004, 5:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bass-players-recommend-songs-to-me/240484/4 "2004-04-17T05:36:38Z")
_Higher Ground_, Red Hot Chili Peppers (Flea is fucking awesome!) _Money_, Pink Floyd _My Generation_, The Who _White Rabbit_, Jefferson Airplane _The Lemon Song_ and _Moby Dick_, Led Zeppelin _Roundabout_, Yes _From the Beginning_, ELP _Tom Sawyer_, Rush …still thinking…there’s more. ---
**Author:** ![Cinnamon\_Girl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9d8465/32.png) [@Cinnamon\_Girl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cinnamon_Girl)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2004, 5:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bass-players-recommend-songs-to-me/240484/5 "2004-04-17T05:43:10Z")
> [@rolandgunslinger](#): > > Smoke on the water - Deep Purple Kick me. I can’t believe I forgot this one. 😕 ---
**Author:** ![hawthorne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c89c15/32.png) [@hawthorne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hawthorne)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2004, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bass-players-recommend-songs-to-me/240484/6 "2004-04-17T15:42:17Z")
_Peaches_ and \* No More Heroes\* The Stranglers _The Nips Are Getting Bigger_ Mental As Anything ---
**Author:** ![Ilsa\_Lund](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/a6a055/32.png) [@Ilsa\_Lund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ilsa_Lund)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2004, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bass-players-recommend-songs-to-me/240484/7 "2004-04-17T15:49:12Z")
How about _Classical Thump_ and _Me and MY Bass Guitar_ by Victor Wooten? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2004, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bass-players-recommend-songs-to-me/240484/8 "2004-04-17T16:13:39Z")
Not a bass player, but I always go nuts for the bassline on Led Zeppelin’s _Ramble On_. Of course, anything by Bootsy Collins is worth adding to the repertoire… Though most closely associated with Parliament and Funkadelic, I think his best known bass line must be from Dee-Lite’s _Groove is in the Heart_. And it is damn cool. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d26b3c/32.png) [@Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Blue_Sky)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2004, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bass-players-recommend-songs-to-me/240484/9 "2004-04-17T16:21:21Z")
“Judy in Disguise (with glasses)” - John Fred and His Playboy Band “Grazing in the Grass” - Friends of Distinction “Ace of Spades” - Motorhead “(Don’t fear) The Reaper” - Blue Oyster Cult “Oooh Child” - The Five Stairsteps ---
**Author:** ![flamingbananas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/f4b2a3/32.png) [@flamingbananas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flamingbananas)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2004, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bass-players-recommend-songs-to-me/240484/10 "2004-04-17T18:20:20Z")
Can’t Stop - Red Hot Chilli Peppers Say It Ain’t So - Weezer (the chorus is so fun to play) Dazed and Confused - Led Zeppelin Black Dog - Led Zeppelin Hash Pipe - Weezer (its really simple, but a fun song to play) ---
**Author:** ![Cinnamon\_Girl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9d8465/32.png) [@Cinnamon\_Girl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cinnamon_Girl)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2004, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bass-players-recommend-songs-to-me/240484/11 "2004-04-17T19:25:02Z")
… _Tommy the Cat_, Primus _Formula 1_, Satriani _Jukebox Hero_, Foreigner _(Foreplay) Long Time_, Boston … ---
**Author:** ![Snooooopy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ee7513/32.png) [@Snooooopy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snooooopy)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2004, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bass-players-recommend-songs-to-me/240484/12 "2004-04-17T19:51:22Z")
“Six Pack” by Black Flag – the bass gets a long intro almost all to itself! “The Model” by Big Black – prominent bass in a slow bulldozer of a song. “Please Do Not Go” by The Violent Femmes – bass gets the middle of the song all to itself. ---
**Author:** ![neofishboy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/neofishboy/32/444_2.png) [@neofishboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/neofishboy)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2004, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bass-players-recommend-songs-to-me/240484/13 "2004-04-17T20:07:25Z")
“Blood and Roses” - The Smithereens “Walking on the Moon” - The Police “Ted, Just Admit It” - Jane’s Addiction “The Real Me” - The Who None of these are particularly difficult (though “The Real Me” has its tricky bits), but they’re all very cool. ---
**Author:** ![Neil](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/839c29/32.png) [@Neil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Neil)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2004, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bass-players-recommend-songs-to-me/240484/14 "2004-04-18T02:58:10Z")
-Many fun Sublimes songs -Some Jimi Hendrix tunes-- simple but good sounding stuff, like the bass line to “Hey, Joe.” -If you can play some trickier stuff, some Motown songs…James Jamerson was the man. The book “Standing in the Shadows of Motown” can introduce you to his style and has transcriptions of many of his sweet basslines. ---
**Author:** ![wolf\_meister](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolf_meister/32/15202_2.png) [@wolf\_meister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolf_meister)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2004, 4:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bass-players-recommend-songs-to-me/240484/15 "2004-04-18T04:33:48Z")
**Neil** Great minds think alike. Perhaps the greatest Motown™ bass line would be “Bernadette” by the Four Tops. If you don’t want to learn it, the bass is just damned good to listen to. To paraphrase the “Star Trek” cliche “it’s required listening at the Academy”. “Reflections” by the Supremes - another great Motown™ bass line. The bass part in “Good Vibrations” by the Beach Boys is very interesting. I believe it was played by Carol Kaye. (Wow a female electric bass player in 1966!!). In my day, the archetypal bass run to learn was “Hungry” by Paul Revere and the Raiders. There are 3 basses used in that song - regular bass, fuzz bass and an octave bass. (They were one of the first groups in which the bass played an active role as opposed to the usual “one five” line). Their bass player, Phil Volk, immortalized the Vox Phantom Bass. Bass player Jack Bruce always plays some great stuff too. ---
**Author:** ![doverpro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/838e76/32.png) [@doverpro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doverpro)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2004, 4:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bass-players-recommend-songs-to-me/240484/16 "2004-04-18T04:58:23Z")
“Rock ‘N’ Roll Jelly” - Stanley Clarke ---
**Author:** ![Freejooky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ba8739/32.png) [@Freejooky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freejooky)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2004, 5:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bass-players-recommend-songs-to-me/240484/17 "2004-04-18T05:27:35Z")
Talking Heads- “once in a lifetime” (most of their songs have amazing and inventive yet understated basslines. Tina Weymouth is a talented bassist in her ability to create and play moving parts that aren’t wanky). the Pixies- “gigantic,” “bone machine,” etc. - ditto for the above. Kim Deal did simplistic, yet wonderfully effective bass parts. ---
**Author:** ![Cardinal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cardinal/32/4000_2.png) [@Cardinal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cardinal)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2004, 7:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bass-players-recommend-songs-to-me/240484/18 "2004-04-18T07:32:36Z")
“Tear Your Playhouse Down” - Paul Young. Almost anything involving Pino Palladino, really. He’s so good that he’s the replacement for Entwistle in the Who. ---
**Author:** ![pool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pool/32/4152_2.png) [@pool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pool)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2004, 12:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bass-players-recommend-songs-to-me/240484/19 "2004-04-18T12:52:37Z")
Phish - YEM, David Bowie Rancid - Maxwell Murders, Ruby Soho Red Hot Chili Peppers - Soul To Squeeze, Aeroplane Moe - Rebubula, any of their other stuff really Vic Wooten - Sinister Minister, Classical Thump - don’t know if you can get more than a little past the intro on those Rush - Freewill Tool - Schizm Reel Big Fish - The Beer Song, Take on Me(cover duh) Primus - Jerry Was a Racecar Driver, Laquer head, Wynona’s Big Brown Beaver 311 - Come Original ---
**Author:** ![pool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pool/32/4152_2.png) [@pool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pool)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2004, 12:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bass-players-recommend-songs-to-me/240484/20 "2004-04-18T12:56:24Z")
Damnit you said schism oh well Another fun would be Red Hot Chili Peppers - Stone Cold Bush (really cool bass solo in the middle of the song) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bass-players-recommend-songs-to-me/240484.md?page=2)