Video - Bell Bottom Blues

Bell Bottom Blues
(Clapton)
From the Derek & the Dominos album Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs

Here's a video of the bass line for "Bell Bottom Blues," one of my favorite Carl Radle bass lines. The transcription can be found here.

Video - Don't Know Why

Don't Know Why
(Bramlett/Clapton)
From the Eric Clapton album Eric Clapton

Here's another video of a great Carl Radle bass line. The transcription can be found here. I play a couple parts with different fingering than I indicated in the tablature--specifically, using the open G in the pattern that appears in measures 5, 6, 9, 10, etc. It works either way, but the open G felt a little more comfortable today.

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.

A Man of Many Words

A Man of Many Words
(Buddy Guy)
From the album Buddy Guy and Junior Wells Play the Blues

This track was recorded in Criteria Studios in Miami, Florida in October 1970, just as Derek & the Dominos were finishing work on Layla & Other Assorted Love Songs. Three of the Dominos--Carl Radle, Eric Clapton, and Jim Gordon--play on this track, while Dr. John adds piano. Clapton plays on most of the songs on the album, but "A Man of Many Words" is the only one to feature Radle. 

This is a simple song with a fun groove. The 2-measure riff heard in the intro utilizes syncopation over a bVII – IV – I chord progression (also known as a “double plagal progression”). Radle plays the same lick every time this riff is heard, with the only variant being an eighth note F or D on beat 2 of the first measure of the pattern (compare measures 1, 3, and 19 in the full transcription). 

On the verses, Radle maintains a lightly syncopated feel with another 2-measure pattern. The first measure is relatively sparse, but the staccato quarter note followed by a dotted half gives it a nice bounce. In the second measure of the verse Radle provides a little eighth note syncopation, ascending from scale degrees 3 to 4 to 5.

The bass line for the entire verse is based on this 2-measure pattern. Radle plays it four times over the G chord, transposing the second measure down an octave on the second and fourth repeats. He then transposes it down a perfect 4^th to D when the chord changes (m. 15).

The core of the song is over in about a minute. The next nearly 3 minutes is just a vamp on the intro groove. As we have come to expect from him, Radle sticks to his basic pattern, varying it only slightly on occasion.

A full transcription of the bass line 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.

Sugar Sweet

Sugar Sweet
(Freddie King)
From the Freddie King album Burglar

Radle plays a great boogaloo line on “Sugar Sweet” from Freddie King’s 1974 record Burglar. The bass is crystal clear and very up front in the mix. The rest of the album features a different band, but on this song King’s backing band was Eric Clapton’s band circa 461 Ocean Boulevard: Clapton, Radle, Jamie Oldaker, George Terry, and Dick Sims.

Radle improvises a lot on this song, but the basic groove is below. When the chord changes to F or G, he essentially just transposes this groove.

A full transcription is below.