Check out the documentary Twenty Feet From Stardom, which tells some of the stories of the backup singers of that era.
If the OP (whom I know is long gone) raised his eyebrows over the phrase ‘colored girls’, I’d be very interested in his reaction to Reed’s song “I Wanna Be Black”“"I Wanna Be Black” (written six years after ‘Wild Side’).
mmm
Too late to edit…above link is NSFW (contains offensive lyrics). Reported to mod.
Sic 'em, manhattan. You ***are ***the hall monitor!
My favorite aspect of this song is the dual bass riffs performed by an acoustic upright bass and an electric bass (1 octave higher). The upright bass cuts through the mix better if one is listening via sound system equipped with a fat woofer for low frequency output and EQ adjusted accordingly.
Not an octave higher - a third higher. It’s not difficult to play both parts at once on electric bass.
College students today are going to be the first generation of kids who are objectively less fun than their parents.
A tenth higher. (But that’s an octave and a third, so similar kind of effect, just not as “muddy.”)
Which shows a definite lack of a sense of history. WOTWS was about the first song that got mainstream play that prominently features LBGT people and the LBGT underground subculture of the era, and it’s obvious that Reed was fascinated by and sympathetic to that subculture and the people who lived it.
He lived a fair amount of it himself!
Also true!
Someone is wrong on frequency…either my former bassist bandmate or you. I should do some listening homework.
I love that it was come up with on the spot by the session musician.
And regardless of what he said I’m sure he totally did it to get double time for his 20 minutes work.
Dear God, there’s bassist joke just laying there. Give me the strength to leave it there. Amen.
Um, have a nice day! 
That was great! Thanks for sharing that clip.
There it is straight from the horse’s mouth. The electric bass riff is 10 notes (in the key…not chromatic) higher than the upright bass. A 10th is an octave above the 3rd, so a ‘3rd’ difference is correct to an extent if not specifying the octave. Thank you for posting the link.
Oh, don’t get me started. :smack::smack: To be fair, I’ve met plenty singers, drummers, and guitarists who were knuckleheads.
Well, it made the front page of the Toronto Star.
The student union at the University of Guelph has gained international attention — much of it negative — for criticizing the classic rock song “Walk on the Wild Side” as “transphobic.”
Disillusioned “university” youth.