Video - Sweet Emily

Sweet Emily
(Leon Russell)
From the Leon Russell album Leon Russell and the Shelter People

A few people have asked if I would make videos of me playing some of these bass lines. Seems like now is a good time to try some out. Below is a video of Carl Radle's bass line on "Sweet Emily." The transcription can be found here.

Sticks and Stones

Sticks and Stones
(Turner/Glover)
From the Joe Cocker album Mad Dogs and Englishmen

In “Sticks and Stones” Radle lays down another solid gospel/R&B groove. His bass line on the verses is fairly improvisational. He plays similar things in each of the verses, but we never hear exactly the same line twice.

On the choruses, the rest of the band plays frantically and a bit chaotically (in a very good way!), but Radle’s bass line becomes a bit more regular. In this way, he holds the band together and keeps the song from running off the rails entirely. As the band vamps on the chorus at the end of the song, Radle plays the same pattern for almost every Bb chord. On the F chord, he has two basic patterns that he alternates between. Both are given below.

A full transcription is below.

Sweet Emily

Sweet Emily
(Leon Russell)
From the Leon Russell album Leon Russell and the Shelter People

“Sweet Emily” from Leon Russell and the Shelter People is a light, medium-tempo song with a nice, laid back feel. It is in a classic AABA form (more about AABA below)—the verses are the A sections, the bridge is the B. Radle plays almost the exact same thing each time the A section comes around. The bridge only appears twice. Radle plays a similar line in each bridge, though the bass line in the second bridge is slightly embellished.

AABA

This song gives us a good opportunity to talk about what is likely the most common form in all of popular music. The AABA form was extremely prevalent in popular music before around 1955. Show tunes often utilized the AABA form (and still do), as did much of the music that came out of Tin Pan Alley. Consequently, most jazz standards are AABA, as they are often songs from musicals and Tin Pan Alley. AABA songs do not have a chorus. The A section is often the catchy or memorable part of the song, and will usually be the part that states the title. Each A section will use the same melody and chord progression, but will have different lyrics. The B section, or bridge, is used as contrast and to build tension before a return to A.

AABA forms are usually 36 measures long, each individual section lasting 8 measures. In a slow tempo, a band or artist may just go through the form once and end the song. In faster tempos, some or all of the form may be repeated. In “Sweet Emily,” Russell moves through the AABA form once (mm. 5-29), then repeats the BA (mm. 30-45), which is a very common method of extending the form. For some other examples of AABA songs in the pre-rock & roll era, listen to “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” as recorded by Judy Garland, “All or Nothing” as recorded by Frank Sinatra, and “Hey Good Lookin’” by Hank Williams.

In 1955, rhythm & blues music crossed over into the mainstream popular music market and rock & roll was born. Of course, the sounds of rock & roll existed before 1955, but it wasn’t its own genre—it was just a small segment of rhythm & blues. With the rock & roll boom of the mid-to-late ‘50s, the AABA form did not fade away, but it became only one of several prominent forms. Early rock & roll relied heavily on the 12-bar blues. How many Chuck Berry and Little Richard songs can you name that utilize the 12-bar blues? It’s probably a shorter list to name the ones that don’t.

As rock & roll developed into the 1960s, having a catchy chorus became increasingly important, so verse-chorus songs became more of the norm. But you can still find plenty of AABA forms throughout the 1960s and ‘70s. The Beatles used the form often—“Hey Jude,” “A Hard Day’s Night,” “Something,” and “Yesterday” are AABA, to name just a few. Led Zeppelin made frequent use of what is called compound AABA, meaning that each A and B section is made up of multiple smaller sections.  “Whole Lotta Love” is a good example of that.

Pay attention to the form of the songs you’re playing or listening to. Knowing where you are in a song is important. Understanding the form can help you learn songs faster, can keep you from getting lost (in the music, not in the world), and will increase general understanding of music. And the more we understand music, the more fun we can have with it.

You

You
(George Harrison)
From the George Harrison album Extra Texture (Read All About It)

This song was released on George Harrison’s 1975 album Extra Texture (Read All About It), but was written five years earlier during the recording sessions for All Things Must Pass. Harrison originally wrote the song for Ronnie Spector, who intended to include it on a 1971 solo album, which ultimately never materialized. The basic tracks were recorded in 1971 featuring the some of the same musicians who participated in the All Things Must Pass sessions: Carl Radle, Jim Gordon, and Gary Wright, plus Concert for Bangladesh participant Leon Russell. “You” is a strong song and became a top 20 hit in the US for Harrison, so it is a wonder it took Harrison so long to return to it. It is in a similar style to much of All Things Must Pass, bearing a particular resemblance to “What Is Life.”

The song is built around a 4-measure riff, which Radle plays, doubled by multiple guitars. This riff, seen below, is heard throughout both the verses and choruses, which comprise most of the song. A brief pre-chorus and an 8-measure bridge provide the only relief from this riff.

Though the pre-chorus is only 4 measures long, and simply stays on one chord the whole time, it plays a major role in making this song work. With so much of the song being dominated by the main riff, the pre-chorus serves as a way of building tension that is released when the riff returns for the chorus. Radle plays a simple, 1-measure pattern with light syncopation. This repetitive pattern helps the pre-chorus feel static, like it’s not moving, which in this case is a good thing. Had he played a melodic line that had some sense of forward motion over those four bars, the pre-chorus would have lost its sense of tension. The point of the section is to interrupt the main riff, and leave the listener suspended in wait for its return. Radle’s groove here helps achieve that, and provides a nice contrast to the melodicism of the main riff.

As you play through the bass line, be careful with the key signature. In F# major, all notes in the scale are sharp except B. Watch those E#’s especially!

A full transcription is below.

Home Sweet Oklahoma

Home Sweet Oklahoma

(Leon Russell)

From the album Leon Russell and the Shelter People

There’s not too much to this song from Leon Russell’s 1971 album, Leon Russell and the Shelter People. The verses feature a nice arpeggio pattern, where the lowest note descends chromatically from G down to D. On the choruses, Radle plays bouncy octaves in eighth notes.

It’s a fun song to play. Try playing the verse arpeggios in different positions on the neck. In the full transcription I have the tab starting up near the 10^th-12^th frets, but the fingering below is another option. We can’t be certain where/how Radle played it, but I like the tone higher up the neck. It is a little warmer, which feels right for the song.

A full transcription is below.

Feelin' Alright

Feelin' Alright
(Dave Mason)
From the Joe Cocker album Mad Dogs and Englishmen

This song, written by Dave Mason and originally released on Traffic’s eponymous 1968 album, is constructed of only two chords repeated over and over. The melody and lyrics change as it moves between the verse and chorus, but the chord progression remains constant. On the rendition of the song on Mad Dogs and Englishmen, Radle plays a fairly consistent groove throughout.

The above bass line serves as a sort of starting point from which to improvise. Most often, Radle’s embellishments are rhythmic variations of this line. He does not vary the line to the point of distraction, but as the song itself is extremely repetitive, Radle’s improvisations keep the groove lively and fresh.

A full transcription is below. Because it is easy to get lost, I have included approximate timings for each section that correspond with the recording. 

Alcatraz

Alcatraz
(Leon Russell)
From the Leon Russell album Leon Russell and the Shelter People

Leon Russell’s “Alcatraz” from his 1971 album Leon Russell and the Shelter People, is based largely around a G minor groove. While the rest of the band is just vamping on Gm, Radle plays a tight, one-measure groove that becomes the main riff of the song. His line is built around the root, 5^th, and 7^th of a G minor chord.  Russell had a penchant for large bands with many layers of sound, perhaps something he picked up from his days with the Wrecking Crew. This recording has three guitars, piano, organ, drums, and percussion, all stacked on top of Radle’s bass. With all of that going on, Radle keeps his groove simple and steady, rarely varying it, other than adding the C on beat 4 of the 2^nd measure in the example below. Even this unobtrusive addition he uses sparingly. His role in this song is to be rock solid and provide a foundation for the guitars and keyboards to improvise over.

His bass line on the chorus is more linear (melodic) and relies heavily on neighbor tones (nt) and chromatic passing tones (cpt). He varies this line slightly from chorus to chorus, but the basic framework remains the same.

A full transcription is below.

Delta Lady

Delta Lady
(Leon Russell)
From the Joe Cocker album Mad Dogs and Englishmen

In the spring of 1970, Joe Cocker enlisted Leon Russell to help put together a band for his monumental Mad Dogs and Englishmen tour. Disillusioned with working for the Bramletts, the core of Delaney & Bonnie's ban--including Radle, Jim Gordon, Jim Price, Bobby Keys, and Rita Coolidge--joined up with Cocker and Russell to form a band ultimately comprised of over twenty members. The live double album compiled from the tour documents one of the wildest, most energetic bands ever assembled.

Radle's bass line on the Russell-penned "Delta Lady" is one of his most masterful on the album from a compositional perspective. His line on the verses is essentially "through-composed," meaning he does not utilize any repetition within that section. (He does, however, play almost exactly the same bass line for each verse, giving it even more of a "composed" feel.) During the first half of the verse, Radle emphasizes the off-beats. It is easy to see this in the first measure, but it is also present in the slurs in mm. 2 and 3. Notice how he attacks the note on the off beat, then slides into the note on the beat. This keeps the accent on the "and" of the beat, and makes the line feel like it is constantly falling forward. The off-beat emphasis continues until beat 3 of the fourth measure. Here Radle puts the accent back on the beat as he walks up chromatically from A# to C.

On the second half of the verse, Radle plays a nice descending arpeggio figure. This acts as a countermelody to the vocal, as it is the only other moving line occurring. 

Radle regularly varies the bass line on the chorus, but it mostly consists of eighth note arpeggio figures. After the syncopation of the first half of the verse, and the quarter note arpeggio line of the second half of the verse, Radle's chorus groove really makes the song drive.

Also notice through the many repeats of the chorus, Radle begins incorporating a figure first heard in the second half of the verse. On the first two beats of the F chord, he plays the same A-G-F lick we first heard in the fourth measure of the arpeggio pattern in the verse. It is two octaves lower this time, but it is the same rhythm and occurs in the same place in the measure (beats 1-2) It may seem insignificant or inconsequential, but it really is a nice way of tying different parts of the song together. 

A full transcription is below.