# Rock/pop/soul songs with two (or more) bass parts **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 24, 2005, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rock-pop-soul-songs-with-two-or-more-bass-parts/318424 "2005-08-24T14:33:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![bordelond](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bordelond/32/150_2.png) [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2005, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rock-pop-soul-songs-with-two-or-more-bass-parts/318424/1 "2005-08-24T14:33:14Z")
How many popular songs out there are written with multiple bass parts? What made me think of this was a recent listen to Stevie Wonder’s “Superstition”. I really focused in on the bass parts and said to myself “That’s either the world’s best bass player, or that’s two basses.” After a little research, it turns out that “Superstition” was actually performed with two _clavinets_ rather than bass guitars. I’m not a musician, so I’m not sure if use of a clavinet counts towards covering a song’s bass part – though it sure sounded that way to me. Seems to me an (electric) bassist could crudely approximate the sounds of a clavinet by sticking with the higher-pitched strings … or maybe by tuning the bass in an unusual fashion … and maybe the picking or the pick would have to be modified in some way. Anyway, I’m getting a bit off track here. The question is stated in the OP’s title – are there many examples in rock/pop/soul music of songs with two (or more) distinct bass parts? Bonus points if the parts are actually played by two bassists (simultaneously?) in the studio (or live), rather than by one bassist playing two tracks at separate times, and then mixing them together later. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2005, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rock-pop-soul-songs-with-two-or-more-bass-parts/318424/2 "2005-08-24T15:25:01Z")
Big Bottoms had three. In the mid 70s, a number of bands had 2 bassists. The only example I can think of is the Plastic Ono Band. ---
**Author:** ![bordelond](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bordelond/32/150_2.png) [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2005, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rock-pop-soul-songs-with-two-or-more-bass-parts/318424/3 "2005-08-24T21:12:28Z")
:leadballoon: ---
**Author:** ![zoog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7ea924/32.png) [@zoog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zoog)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2005, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rock-pop-soul-songs-with-two-or-more-bass-parts/318424/4 "2005-08-24T21:23:14Z")
Not really in the rock/pop/soul genre, but I saw Miles Davis many years ago (1987ish, I think) when he had two bass players in his touring band. ---
**Author:** ![RancidYakButterTeaParty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/53a042/32.png) [@RancidYakButterTeaParty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RancidYakButterTeaParty)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2005, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rock-pop-soul-songs-with-two-or-more-bass-parts/318424/5 "2005-08-24T22:15:06Z")
There is a great group called Dianogah, which uses only two bass players and a drummer. There stuff is very cool, if you like bass and alternative music. So, all of thier songs feature two bass lines. ---
**Author:** ![Snooooopy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ee7513/32.png) [@Snooooopy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snooooopy)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2005, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rock-pop-soul-songs-with-two-or-more-bass-parts/318424/6 "2005-08-25T03:22:31Z")
Ned’s Atomic Dustbin had two bass players. Not the most popular band, but it did make a little noise on the alternative charts back in the 1990s. ---
**Author:** ![parthenokinesis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/cc9497/32.png) [@parthenokinesis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/parthenokinesis)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2005, 12:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rock-pop-soul-songs-with-two-or-more-bass-parts/318424/7 "2005-08-25T12:25:14Z")
> [@tdn](#): > > Big Bottoms had three. Yeah but Derek Smalls was playing a double necked Bass in that song, so it’s really almost four. I wanna say The Cure used double bass lines on a couple of their songs, but don’t quote me on that. ---
**Author:** ![Rufus\_Xavier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/eada6e/32.png) [@Rufus\_Xavier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rufus_Xavier)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2005, 1:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rock-pop-soul-songs-with-two-or-more-bass-parts/318424/8 "2005-08-25T13:08:27Z")
On Victor Wooten’s lates CD, _Soul Circus_, there is a song called “Bass Tribute,” which is a pretty funky song all about the great bassists of modern music. Besides Victor on the bass, it features four other bass players for a total of five. It is skillfully done. On most of his other solo efforts (which are, IMHO, well worth acquiring), he has songs on which he has several multitracked bass parts. His live concerts also feature one or two additional bassists on many songs. ---
**Author:** ![Quercus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/7ab992/32.png) [@Quercus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quercus)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2005, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rock-pop-soul-songs-with-two-or-more-bass-parts/318424/9 "2005-08-25T14:12:41Z")
I believe Lou Reed’s “Walk on the Wild Side” has two bass guitar parts. ---
**Author:** ![Bimble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/b2d939/32.png) [@Bimble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bimble)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2005, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rock-pop-soul-songs-with-two-or-more-bass-parts/318424/10 "2005-08-25T14:14:06Z")
> [@parthenokinesis](#): > > I wanna say The Cure used double bass lines on a couple of their songs, but don’t quote me on that. “Primary” springs to mind… 😉 ---
**Author:** ![kidchameleon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/898d66/32.png) [@kidchameleon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kidchameleon)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2005, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rock-pop-soul-songs-with-two-or-more-bass-parts/318424/11 "2005-08-25T14:32:09Z")
I think **Ozzy** ’s \*No More Tears \* had two base lines. ---
**Author:** ![RancidYakButterTeaParty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/53a042/32.png) [@RancidYakButterTeaParty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RancidYakButterTeaParty)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2005, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rock-pop-soul-songs-with-two-or-more-bass-parts/318424/12 "2005-08-25T16:07:05Z")
> [@Rufus Xavier](#): > > On Victor Wooten’s lates CD, _Soul Circus_, there is a song called “Bass Tribute,” which is a pretty funky song all about the great bassists of modern music. Besides Victor on the bass, it features four other bass players for a total of five. It is skillfully done. > > On most of his other solo efforts (which are, IMHO, well worth acquiring), he has songs on which he has several multitracked bass parts. His live concerts also feature one or two additional bassists on many songs. Good call Rufus. I caught this show live, and there were actually at least two bass players on almost every song. ---
**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:** [August 25, 2005, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rock-pop-soul-songs-with-two-or-more-bass-parts/318424/13 "2005-08-25T16:31:50Z")
**"Hungry" by Paul Revere and the Raiders** has 3 bass parts in it. It uses a standard bass, a short-necked bass (sometimes called an octave bass) and a bass through distortion (sometimes called a fuzz-bass). Still, this was strictly for the studio recording. How about “Good Vibrations” by the Beach Boys? That beginning sounds as if there are 2 bass parts playing. One bass seems an octave higher than the other. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2005, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rock-pop-soul-songs-with-two-or-more-bass-parts/318424/14 "2005-08-25T18:21:23Z")
If we count other instruments playing the bass notes, there’s always Howard Johnson’s [Gravity](http://tinyurl.com/dofuo), which used 5-7 tubas in addition to the bass guitar. Johnson is, of course, rock’s greatest tuba player (not that there’s much competition) and a mainstay of the early Saturday Night Live band, where Gravity appeared once as a musical guest. ---
**Author:** ![AndyPolley](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/54ee81/32.png) [@AndyPolley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AndyPolley)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2005, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rock-pop-soul-songs-with-two-or-more-bass-parts/318424/15 "2005-08-25T18:35:31Z")
> [@parthenokinesis](#): > > Yeah but Derek Smalls was playing a double necked Bass in that song, so it’s really almost four. AND their amps go up to 11… ---
**Author:** ![Eonwe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eonwe/32/240_2.png) [@Eonwe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eonwe)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2005, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rock-pop-soul-songs-with-two-or-more-bass-parts/318424/16 "2005-08-25T18:57:32Z")
> [@bordelond](#): > > After a little research, it turns out that “Superstition” was actually performed with two _clavinets_ rather than bass guitars. I’m not a musician, so I’m not sure if use of a clavinet counts towards covering a song’s bass part – though it sure sounded that way to me. Seems to me an (electric) bassist could crudely approximate the sounds of a clavinet by sticking with the higher-pitched strings … or maybe by tuning the bass in an unusual fashion … and maybe the picking or the pick would have to be modified in some way. Reminds me of Spinal Tap after Nigel quits the band, and they’re trying to figure out how to do their songs. At one point David asks Viv (keyboardist) if he could cover a bass part, to which Viv replies, “sure… I’ve got two hands.” As a keys player myself, that always makes me grin. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2005, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rock-pop-soul-songs-with-two-or-more-bass-parts/318424/17 "2005-08-25T19:13:23Z")
“Old Time Rock & Roll” is so low that I wouldn’t be surprised if Bob Seger & The Silver Bullet Band had an extra bass on that one. ---
**Author:** ![bordelond](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bordelond/32/150_2.png) [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2005, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rock-pop-soul-songs-with-two-or-more-bass-parts/318424/18 "2005-10-28T14:32:05Z")
Hope this thread isn’t too old to resurrect … I think I heard two more songs that fit the bill: “Urgent” by Foreigner “Edge of Seventeen” by Stevie Nicks (if that constant “jugga-jugga-jugga-jugga” sound is played on a bass guitar). ---
**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:** [October 28, 2005, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rock-pop-soul-songs-with-two-or-more-bass-parts/318424/19 "2005-10-28T14:37:17Z")
> [@parthenokinesis](#): > > Yeah but Derek Smalls was playing a double necked Bass in that song, so it’s really almost four. That was a cool bass. I think it was a one-off for the film. I haven’t been able to find out much about it.