As much as I admire Jaco, Victor, James, and Carol just like we all do, I can't really idolize them because I know I'm never going to play like them. Not just in skill level, but it's not the style of music I want to play. I was a bass singer long before I considered playing the bass guitar (I used to resent that all my 'bass' searches came back with results for electric basses) and much of my ambition now is to be able to sit on a porch swing, or a recliner in my basement, and just accompany myself or my family on old hymns and folk songs and such.
The closest I've found to somebody I can look up to and study in this regard is Burl Ives, the "Holly Jolly Christmas" guy, who lived a long time as a hobo, just wandering the country playing the old songs around a campfire with the bums, playin' and singin' and relaxin'. No band, nobody else, just the man and his guitar. Some of his recorded music is that simple, and that's about the feel I want.
Translating both the guitar and vocals down an octave is easy enough if I just ignore the chords, because that basically leaves the root/fifth clear through the songs. And the way I see it, there was never song too slow or too simple, so it works well enough. But I can't help thinking there must be some bassist who's done this before and developed the art a little. Somebody I can study to discover what works, why they do certain things, learn songs that fit the style well, and just get inspiration from.
Can you guy put me on the trail of any old-timey bassists doing simple, folksy stuff, just their voice and their bass?
The closest I've found to somebody I can look up to and study in this regard is Burl Ives, the "Holly Jolly Christmas" guy, who lived a long time as a hobo, just wandering the country playing the old songs around a campfire with the bums, playin' and singin' and relaxin'. No band, nobody else, just the man and his guitar. Some of his recorded music is that simple, and that's about the feel I want.
Translating both the guitar and vocals down an octave is easy enough if I just ignore the chords, because that basically leaves the root/fifth clear through the songs. And the way I see it, there was never song too slow or too simple, so it works well enough. But I can't help thinking there must be some bassist who's done this before and developed the art a little. Somebody I can study to discover what works, why they do certain things, learn songs that fit the style well, and just get inspiration from.
Can you guy put me on the trail of any old-timey bassists doing simple, folksy stuff, just their voice and their bass?