Do It When You Wanna

Go have a listen to Led Zeppelin’s For Your Life.

Feeling better?  Betcha are.

Bottom's Up

Gibson has this 10 Greatest Bass Riffs of the Rock Era list.

Just a little disturbed about the "rock era" bit. Anyway, here's the list:

Beatles, Come Together
Pink Floyd, Money
Primus, Tommy The Cat
The Who, The Real Me
Queen, Under Pressure
Led Zeppelin, Lemon Song
RCHP, Give It Away
Lou Reed, Walk On The Wild Side
Sly & etc., Thank You
Cream, Sunshine of Your Love

Well, grateful Under Pressure made it with that classic two note hook. Doubly grateful that Fleetwood Mac's Dreams didn't make it with that two note mind-numbing ... well, not my favourite Fleetwood Mac v02 song.

The usual suspects appear on the list. McCartney, Flea, Bruce, Waters and Entwistle all deserve to be there, and the songs chosen fit the constraints of the list title.

Except for The Lemon Song. The Gibson writer doesn't mention the main riff of the song, which I bet was written by Page and not Jones. But he gushes over Jone's bluesy semi-soloing. Fine, but now we're not exactly talking about riffs, are we?

Wouldn't Dazed and Confused have been a better choice? The bass riff is the song's signature, and the song was Zep's signature live piece. And who cares if Page or Jones wrote it. That bass hook rivals, Sunshine of Your Love and Come Together any day.

Anyway, fun list. It shows that the bass may be part of the rhythm section, but it can still carry a tune - and define the song.

Speaking of which, and where is War's Low Rider?

Somebody's Fault, But Whose?

Why is Led Zeppelin's Nobody's Fault But Mine not on classic rock radio's playlist?

It's got it all: a blues base under a hard driving rock tune, vintage Page guitar riffs, an exotic melodic hook that hints at somewhere either south or east of the Mediterranean, pounding syncopation from Bonzo ...

No, the hook isn't as instantly gripping as Whole Lotta Love, the blues isn't as hypnotic as When The Levee Breaks, it isn't as exotic as Kashmir, and the grandeur doesn't sweep as much as Stairway To Heaven. But it's got bits of all that and more.

Another example of how corporate radio narrows our taste and numbs our brains.

Try to save your soul tonight.

Top Bottoms

Got your attention?

Actually it's another list: the Rolling Stone Top 10 Bassists Of All Time.

Here's the list:
1) John Enwistle. Not surprising. Not a bad choice.
2) Flea. Cool.
3) Paul McCartney. #1, people. #1. Fancy bass work, while singing, while winking at the girls.
4) Geddy Lee. I've always been lukewarm towards Rush, but they all deserve respect for sure.
5) Les Claypool. Couldn't say.
6) John Paul Jones. Really, I think any bass player would have done. Don't you?
7) Jaco Pastorius. Couldn't say.
8) Jack Bruce. #2. Soloing while singing, & etc.. I know: I've said it before.
9) Cliff Burton. Couldn't say. Guess I don't know my bassmen.
10) Victor Wooten. Really, I don't seem to know them!

Except to say ... where is James Jamerson? Where is Bob Babbitt? Where is Donald Duck Dunn? Motown and Memphis built their sounds on these guys, and everyone borrowed from those. These are shocking omissions.

Someone should get to the bottom of this.