Blues 2 Bass Transcriptions

Lil Ed is A Chicago Institution.  Do yourself a favor and check out his greatest hits album.   This is raw old fashioned Chicago blues.  On my original blog, I shared the basic structure to the barn burner - Never Miss your Water.  The lyrics of this song (written by his wife Pam) crack me.   

I'm a big fan of Lil Ed & The Blues Imperials. You hear the influences of his Uncle JB Hutto and Hound Dog Taylor on what Guitar Player magazine described  “a snarling boogie-blues machine...they blow down the walls.”   The Bass really drives this song. 

So here's another song that had a good transcription available, which I found after completing this one.  If your into blues bass this song (with John McVie on Bass) is worth  playing thru a few times.  There are some different note choices that would be good to add to your repertoire.  A side note : One of the areas I struggle notating while  transcribing are songs with a free time ending.  Luckily have a friend who is willing to review my transcriptions and point out my errors.  

I had shared the first part of this song on Talkbass a while ago, tossed it on the "shelf" and moved onto other songs.  I really like the bass in this song.  Nothing difficult just a great what I consider a "Soul Blues" 16 Bar Minor Blues Groove

Gregg Allman originally released this Warren Haynes song on his 1988 release Just Before the Bullets Fly.   This version has the classic "Tramp Rhythm" a straight 8th note  groove ,  Check out Son Seals version of you want to hear a busier 1/16 note feel.  This is groove 4 from Ed Friedlands  Blues Jam : 40 progressions and grooves.  Unfortunately I've lost my version of the book and Cd.  Always though it would be a cool project to list actual songs for each of the 40 styles.  

I'm learning this song for a potential audition.  Since it's not a typical blues chord progression I thought I'd clean up my chart and share it. I think of this song as having 6 distinct sections A (BFGJ) C (DEH) I & K.  It has the same turnaround as Johnny Lang's Rack 'em Up.  Check out that transcription for a more detailed description. 

One of the last of the original Chicago Blues Players, John's still going strong as he celebrates his 80th trip around the sun.Hard Times, released in 2022, features Dan Forte on bass.  Since I've been working to improve my blues bass chops, to date I've transcribed the first 5 songs of this album.  As I transcribe more I'm starting to notice the details.  For the verses he does the "quick Iv" going to the 4 chord during measure 2  and during the 12 measure he goes to the V chord on the 1st beat.  For the solos he stays on the 1 for the first 4 measures and during the 12 measure he goes to the V chord on the 3rd beat .   Keep an eye out for the 4th measure,  lots of variations to keep things interesting with our distracting from the feel of the song. Check out measures 45 and 105 for example.  He also varies the turnaround in measures 10-12.  

Like my other John Primer Transcription, this one has a number of subtle changes.  Look at measure 4 , and sometimes 12  for variations in the bass line.  Dave does a great job of keeping things interesting without  distracting from the overall groove of the song.  Also pay attention to the ending where they switch from a swing rhythm to straight time. .

So I broke my own "rules" on this transcription.  Normally I google to see if  good transcription of the song exists before I start transcribing.  In this case I only googled guitar transcriptions and not bass. After completing the transcription I realize my mistake and found a great bass transcription already in standard  notation.  So I figured I'd share what I did anyway.   This one was  little more difficult due to the bass being fret-less.   Also the guitar  transcription was in 12/8 so i also did this in 12/8.  However 4/4 with  a shuffle rhythm would be easier to read (in my opinion) .   

 I'm always on the lookout for blues songs that have a different chord  structure from the typical I - IV - V.  This ones interesting, a vamp  over E for the verse.  The Chorus is  B7 - C7 A7 - B7- B7   or V7 #V7  IV7 V7 V7 This song has been sitting on the shelf for a while.  I was  having a hard time with the Chorus, and I'm finally happy with the  results 

This Otis Rush album doesn't get accolades it truly deserves.  Originally recorded for Capital Records, it took 5 years and Otis buying the masters for this album to be released.  For most of the song the bass line is a consistent  R 8 b7 6 5 pattern played with a shuffle groove. During the solos, he plays a radically different bass line. Check out Sections E and F. 

This was a request from a supporting member.  I have to admit my exposure to this album was the cool fish-eye cover but I hadn't really listened to it.   The intro has two measures of 11/8!!.  After that it settles down in 12/8 for the rest of the song.  Keep an eye out for measure 4 of the 12 bar patterns.  There are a number of cool transitions back to the I chord

If your not familiar with Byther I suggest you check him out.  A former boxer , old school Chicago Blues player, who finally retired from his day job in 1995.  Here's a pretty straight forward minor blues with a classic i iv i V turnaround. I originally transcribed this in 4/4 with a shuffle rhythm, which I prefer to 12/8, but it was suggested 12/8 was better.