# Intriguing Funk Bass Line **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 26, 2011, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/intriguing-funk-bass-line/569006 "2011-01-26T02:19:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2011, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/intriguing-funk-bass-line/569006/1 "2011-01-26T02:19:22Z")
Recently I’ve been hearing a bass line that sounds very much like the one in [IF YOU WANT ME TO STAY/SLY&FAM STONE](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E8x3RLGj-KU) and purely by chance I located this clip after rejecting [War - Why Can’t We Be Friends?](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=liq_wYFkMoU) as well as [Stevie Wonder - Sir Duke](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6sIjSNTS7Fs) and [NOTHING FROM NOTHING / BILLY PRESTON](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KQ5-BTdcqjk) I can’t be sure where I’ve been hearing the line that’s been intriguing me so. Maybe a commercial or other background. There’s a vocal of sorts but I’ve been more interested in the groove and the bass. Any ideas what else it could be? Any ideas what I’ve been hearing lately that sound like the Sly Stone thing? Please post a link to whatever you think it may be. Titles alone probably won’t help. I’m upwards of 90% sure it’s the Sly Stone thing. ---
**Author:** ![Oslo\_Ostragoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/a9a28c/32.png) [@Oslo\_Ostragoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oslo_Ostragoth)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2011, 5:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/intriguing-funk-bass-line/569006/2 "2011-01-26T05:25:22Z")
I have no idea, but I’ll give you a [bump] because I’m curious about the answer. ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2011, 6:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/intriguing-funk-bass-line/569006/3 "2011-01-26T06:38:26Z")
> [@Oslo\_Ostragoth](#): > > I have no idea, but I’ll give you a [bump] because I’m curious about the answer. Thanks for the bump, and I’m moving my confidence level up to 95% after watching the breakdown at [If you want me to stay - Red Hot Chili Peppers [Bass Lesson]](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ltrkNK8W0Ec) and [Simple bass riffs to learn: If you want me to stay](http://learnbass.net/2008/10/simple-bass-riffs-to-learn-if-you-want-me-to-stay/) It’s that 5% certainty that I can’t quite turn loose of since I’m basically ignorant of titles to the tunes I liked in those years. I find it hard to hunt for them on YouTube without even knowing artists’ names. I was truly lucky on this one! Now if can just remember where it is I’ve been hearing it lately! ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2011, 7:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/intriguing-funk-bass-line/569006/4 "2011-01-26T07:55:18Z")
[Sample Happy](http://samplehappy.com/artist/?aId=954) lists 6 songs that have sampled _If You Want Me To Stay_; not sure if one of those is what you’re hearing or how up-to-date the site is. ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2011, 1:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/intriguing-funk-bass-line/569006/5 "2011-01-26T13:35:51Z")
> [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > [Sample Happy](http://samplehappy.com/artist/?aId=954) lists 6 songs that have sampled _If You Want Me To Stay_; not sure if one of those is what you’re hearing or how up-to-date the site is. Fascinating site! Thanks. But I’m pretty sure whatever it is that I’ve been hearing is more like a TV (or radio) commercial or PSA than a rap thing. Trouble is that when I hear it I focus on the music and ignore whatever they’re trying to sell or promote. Most often I just hear it half consciously, which suggests that it’s from the TV in the other room. But that ought to indicate how powerfully I’m being affected by the music! ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2011, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/intriguing-funk-bass-line/569006/6 "2011-01-26T14:27:11Z")
I’m finding it hard to imagine that I heard [this commercial](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=88Ro-lMLBlg) but I think the lyrics about “get the message over to you now” might suggest a phone company or some outfit that worries about messages. ---
**Author:** ![Oslo\_Ostragoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/a9a28c/32.png) [@Oslo\_Ostragoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oslo_Ostragoth)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2011, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/intriguing-funk-bass-line/569006/7 "2011-01-26T22:05:53Z")
> [@Zeldar](#): > > Thanks for the bump, and I’m moving my confidence level up to 95% after watching the breakdown at [If you want me to stay - Red Hot Chili Peppers [Bass Lesson]](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ltrkNK8W0Ec) and [Simple bass riffs to learn: If you want me to stay](http://learnbass.net/2008/10/simple-bass-riffs-to-learn-if-you-want-me-to-stay/) > > It’s that 5% certainty that I can’t quite turn loose of since I’m basically ignorant of titles to the tunes I liked in those years. I find it hard to hunt for them on YouTube without even knowing artists’ names. I was truly lucky on this one! > > Now if can just remember where it is I’ve been hearing it lately! That sounds like an old funk song from the 70’s - Sly and the Family Stone? FWIW, I’ve been hearing the same ad - I’ll see if I can ID the product. ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2011, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/intriguing-funk-bass-line/569006/8 "2011-01-26T22:06:51Z")
> [@Oslo\_Ostragoth](#): > > That sounds like an old funk song from the 70’s - Sly and the Family Stone? > > FWIW, I’ve been hearing the same ad - I’ll see if I can ID the product. That would be great. ---
**Author:** ![Oslo\_Ostragoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/a9a28c/32.png) [@Oslo\_Ostragoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oslo_Ostragoth)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2011, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/intriguing-funk-bass-line/569006/9 "2011-01-26T22:22:38Z")
:smack: I reread the OP - I thought you were talking about some RHCP bass line. The Sly “If you want me to stay” is exactly what I was thinking of. ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2011, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/intriguing-funk-bass-line/569006/10 "2011-01-26T22:37:19Z")
> [@Oslo\_Ostragoth](#): > > :smack: > > I reread the OP - I thought you were talking about some RHCP bass line. The Sly “If you want me to stay” is exactly what I was thinking of. I really didn’t know about RHCP before this thread! I mentioned in another similar thread not too long ago that I have been warming quite a bit to the disco/funk/fusion music of the 70’s and 80’s that at the time I wasn’t really listening to in a focused way. I heard some things I liked but never bothered to learn their names or the names of the artists involved. Nowadays when I hear one of those old tunes and know (or suspect) that I could find a YouTube clip to add to my Favorites I try to do that. I have added maybe a dozen at least and keep looking for others. The Sly Stone find (I still hope I’m right about this being the one) was pure luck. I just took a chance on the name of the artist and it popped up! But the certainty factor is now about 98% and the only mystery is where I have heard it in the past few weeks. Some commercial most likely.