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Bass Transcription – Silly Love Songs from Wings Over America By Rob Collier
Bass Transcription – Silly Love Songs from Wings Over America By Rob Collier… Click to dowload the bass transcription for Silly Love Songs
This summer Paul McCartney released a remastered edition of Wings’ classic live triple album, Wings Over America, which documents the American leg of the band’s monumental world tour of 1975-76. The album is available in various packages, including vinyl and an elaborate four-disc deluxe edition. Accompanying the album release is a DVD/Blu-ray release of Rock Show, the concert film from the same tour. This is Wings at the height of their popularity, and arguably their tightest, most impressive lineup on stage.
Much has been written about McCartney’s bass lines with the Beatles. His playing with Wings, however, is often overlooked. Wings tended to be a more straight-ahead, pop/rock band, far less experimental than the Beatles. By comparison, McCartney’s bass lines on Wings records are perhaps less innovative, but every album in their catalog has at least a couple of bass gems. (Check out “No Words,” “Mrs. Vandebilt,” “Big Barn Bed,” “Getting Closer,” “Rock Show,” and “Love is Strange” for starters.)
The Wings’ song most often singled out for its classic bass line is “Silly Love Songs,” from Wings at the Speed of Sound. This song was a hit single at the time of the 1976 world tour and was a crowd favorite night after night. Written in response to critics’ complaints of McCartney’s tendency towards sappy pop ditties, “Silly Love Songs” actually exhibits a fairly sophisticated formal structure. Though the song is roughly six minutes long, there are only two verses, which leaves approximately five minutes for horn breaks, a bridge, and multiple vocal melodies layered in various configurations.
Because there are so many sections, applying traditional labels like “chorus” and “bridge” becomes problematic. Thus, in the table below, I’ve labeled each section according to the lyrics of the particular section, with a couple of exceptions. The verse (“You’d think that people would have had enough of silly love songs…”) is easy to identify—it begins and ends the song, but occurs nowhere else. The horn riff happens three times with no vocals present. What could be considered the bridge (“Love doesn’t come in a minute…”) occurs only once, midway through the song.
“Silly Love Songs” Form
Meas. 1-5 Percussion intro
Meas. 6-9 Band intro
Meas. 10-21 Verse
Meas. 22-29 “What’s wrong with that?”
Meas. 30-33 “I love you”
Meas. 34-38 “I can’t explain”
Meas. 39-46 “What’s wrong with that?”
Meas. 47-54 “I love you”
Meas. 55-65 Bridge (“Love doesn’t come in a minute”)
Meas. 66-81 Horn riff
Meas. 82-89 “How can I tell”
Meas. 90-97 “How can I tell/I love you”
Meas. 98-113 Horn riff
Meas. 114-121 “I love you”
Meas. 122-129 “I love you/I can’t explain”
Meas. 130-145 “I love you/I can’t explain/How can I tell”
Meas. 146-149 Horn riff
Meas. 150-162 Verse
Notice that, though there is much repetition of material, the order of the sections is anything but regular. For instance, each time the horn riff occurs, it is preceded and succeeded by a different section.
Additionally, though there are so many melodic components, the band has only a few different “rhythmic accompaniments” that it plays throughout the song. Because of their similar chord progressions, the “I love you,” “I can’t explain,” and “How can I tell” sections may occur in various combinations over either the verse groove (mm. 30-38), or one of the more sparse accompaniments (mm. 113-145).
For much of the song, McCartney plays a very bouncy, energetic bass line. The verse groove, the most interesting part, consists largely of short, punchy notes, but with subtle and well-placed accents and occasional ghost notes. Getting the feel of the groove right is much more important than the actual notes. If you play through the line without any accents or staccatos, the straight eighth notes will sound lifeless and boring. Though McCartney varies the phrasing of the line throughout the song, thinking of the eighth notes as “bum-pah, bum-pah” (rather than “da-da-da-da” or “bum-bum-bum-bum”) will go a long way toward achieving the right feel.
This lively groove appears during multiple sections of the song: the verse, “I love you,” “I can’t explain,” as well as underneath the horn riff. During the more sparse sections, McCartney achieves great sustain and superb tone, particularly on notes in the upper register, which are given a subtle, singing vibrato.
The bass line is impressive enough on its own, but is even more remarkable considering it was played live while McCartney was singing the lead vocal. It’s an active little groove, and it can be difficult to get the feel exactly right, but he nailed it while also delivering a stellar vocal performance.
Though McCartney will forever be associated with the violin shaped Hofner 500/1, his primary studio instrument from late ’65 through the end of the Beatles recording career was a 1964 Rickenbacker 4001S. This bass became his studio and stage instrument throughout his tenure with Wings, being used on every album and every tour. It was to Wings what the Hofner was to the Beatles.
McCartney’s Rickenbacker always had a great tone, but on “Silly Love Songs” from the newly remastered Wings Over America, it has seldom sounded better.
Click to dowload the bass transcription for Silly Love Songs
Bass Videos
Interview With Bassist Erick “Jesus” Coomes
Bassist Erick “Jesus” Coomes…
It is always great to meet a super busy bassist who simply exudes a love for music and his instrument. Erick “Jesus” Coomes fits this description exactly. Hailing from Southern California, “Jesus” co-founded and plays bass for Lettuce and has found his groove playing with numerous other musicians.
Join us as we hear of his musical journey, how he gets his sound, his ongoing projects, and his plans for the future.
Photo, Bob Forte
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www.lettucefunk.com
IG @jesuscsuperstar
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Working-Class Zeros: Episode #2 – Financial Elements of Working Musicians
Working-Class Zeros: Episode #2 – Financial Elements of Working Musicians
“These stories from the front are with real-life, day-to-day musicians who deal with work life and gigging and how they make it work out. Each month, topics may include… the kind of gigs you get, the money, dealing with less-than-ideal rooms, as well as the gear you need to get the job done… and the list goes on from there.” – Steve the Bass Guy and Shawn Cav
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This Week’s Top 10 Basses on Instagram
Check out our top 10 favorite basses on Instagram this week…
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Bass CDs
New Album: Jake Leckie, Planter of Seeds
Bassist Jake Leckie and The Guide Trio Unveil New Album Planter of Seeds,
to be released on June 7, 2024
Planter of Seeds is bassist/composer Jake Leckie’s third release as a bandleader and explores what beauty can come tomorrow from the seeds we plant today.
What are we putting in the ground? What are we building? What is the village we want to bring our children up in? At the core of the ensemble is The Guide Trio, his working band with guitarist Nadav Peled and drummer Beth Goodfellow, who played on Leckie’s second album, The Guide, a rootsy funky acoustic analog folk-jazz recording released on Ropeadope records in 2022. For Planter of Seeds, the ensemble is augmented by Cathlene Pineda (piano), Randal Fisher (tenor saxophone), and Darius Christian (trombone), who infuse freedom and soul into the already tightly established ensemble.
Eight original compositions were pristinely recorded live off the floor of Studio 3 at East West Studios in Hollywood CA, and mastered by A.T. Michael MacDonald. The cover art is by internationally acclaimed visual artist Wayne White. Whereas his previous work has been compared to Charles Mingus, and Keith Jarrett’s American Quartet with Charlie Haden, Leckie’s new collection sits comfortably between the funky odd time signatures of the Dave Holland Quintet and the modern folk-jazz of the Brian Blade Fellowship Band with a respectful nod towards the late 1950s classic recordings of Ahmad Jamal and Miles Davis.
The title track, “Planter of Seeds,” is dedicated to a close family friend, who was originally from Trinidad, and whenever she visited family or friends at their homes, without anyone knowing, she would plant seeds she kept in her pocket in their gardens, so the next season beautiful flowers would pop up. It was a small altruistic anonymous act of kindness that brought just a little more beauty into the world. The rhythm is a tribute to Ahmad Jamal, who we also lost around the same time, and whose theme song Poinciana is about a tree from the Caribbean.
“Big Sur Jade” was written on a trip Leckie took with his wife to Big Sur, CA, and is a celebration of his family and community. This swinging 5/4 blues opens with an unaccompanied bass solo, and gives an opportunity for each of the musicians to share their improvisational voices. “Clear Skies” is a cathartic up-tempo release of collective creative energies in fiery improvisational freedom. “The Aquatic Uncle” features Randal Fisher’s saxophone and is named after an Italo Calvino short story which contemplates if one can embrace the new ways while being in tune with tradition. In ancient times, before a rudder, the Starboard side of the ship was where it was steered from with a steering oar. In this meditative quartet performance, the bass is like the steering oar of the ensemble: it can control the direction of the music, and when things begin to unravel or become unhinged, a simple pedal note keeps everything grounded.
The two trio tunes on the album are proof that the establishment of his consistent working band The Guide Trio has been a fruitful collaboration. “Santa Teresa”, a bouncy samba-blues in ? time, embodies the winding streets and stairways of the bohemian neighborhood in Rio de Janeiro it is named for. The swampy drum feel on “String Song” pays homage to Levon Helm of The Band, a group where you can’t always tell who wrote the song or who the bandleader is, proving that the sum is greater than the individual parts. Early jazz reflected egalitarianism in collective improvisation, and this group dynamic is an expression of that kind of inclusivity and democracy.
“The Daughters of the Moon” rounds out the album, putting book ends on the naturalist themes. This composition is named after magical surrealist Italo Calvino’s short story about consumerism, in which a mythical modern society that values only buying shiny new things throws away the moon like it is a piece of garbage and the daughters of the moon save it and resurrect it. It’s an eco-feminist take on how women are going to save the world. Pineda’s piano outro is a hauntingly beautiful lunar voyage, blinding us with love. Leckie dedicates this song to his daughter: “My hope is that my daughter becomes a daughter of the moon, helping to make the world a more beautiful and verdant place to live.”
Bass CDs
Debut Album: Nate Sabat, Bass Fiddler
In a thrilling solo debut, bassist Nate Sabat combines instrumental virtuosity with a songwriter’s heart on Bass Fiddler…
The upright bass and the human voice. Two essential musical instruments, one with roots in 15th century Europe, the other as old as humanity itself.
On Bass Fiddler (Adhyâropa Records ÂR00057), the debut album from Brooklyn-based singer-songwriter and bass virtuoso Nate Sabat, the scope is narrowed down a bit. Drawing from the rich and thriving tradition of American folk music, Sabat delivers expertly crafted original songs and choice covers with the upright bass as his lone tool for accompaniment.
The concept was born a decade ago when Sabat began studying with the legendary old-time fiddler Bruce Molsky at Berklee College of Music. “One of Bruce’s specialties is singing and playing fiddle at the same time. The second I heard it I was hooked,” recalls Sabat. “I thought, how can I do this on the bass?” From there, he was off to the races, arranging original and traditional material with Molsky as his guide. “Fast forward to 2020, and I — like so many other musicians — was thinking of how to best spend my time. I sat down with the goal of writing some new songs and arranging some new covers, and an entire record came out.” When the time came to make the album, it was evident that Molsky would be the ideal producer. Sabat asked him if he’d be interested, and luckily he was. “What an inspiration to work with an artist like Nate,” says Molsky. “Right at the beginning, he came to this project with a strong, personal and unique vision. Plus he had the guts to try for a complete and compelling cycle of music with nothing but a bass and a voice. You’ll hear right away that it’s engaging, sometimes serious, sometimes fun, and beautifully thought out from top to bottom.”
While this record is, at its core, a folk music album, Sabat uses the term broadly. Some tracks lean more rock (‘In the Shade’), some more pop (‘White Marble’, ‘Rabid Thoughts’), some more jazz (‘Fade Away’), but the setting ties them all together. “There’s something inherently folksy about a musician singing songs with their instrument, no matter the influences behind the compositions themselves,” Sabat notes. To be sure, there are plenty of folk songs (‘Louise’ ‘Sometimes’, ‘Eli’) and fiddling (‘Year of the Ox’) to be had here — the folk music fan won’t go hungry. There’s a healthy dose of bluegrass too (‘Orphan Annie’, ‘Lonesome Night’), clean and simple, the way Mr. Bill Monroe intended.
All in all, this album shines a light on an instrument that often goes overlooked in the folk music world, enveloping the listener in its myriad sounds, textures, and colors. “There’s nothing I love more than playing the upright bass,” exclaims Sabat. “My hope is that listeners take the time to sit with this album front to back — I want them to take in the full scope of the work. I have a feeling they’ll hear something they haven’t heard before.”
Available online at natesabat.bandcamp.com/album/walking-away
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Debut Album: Nate Sabat, Bass Fiddler
