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.

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.

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.