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Walking the Bass Line: How Original Does a Riff Need to Be in the Post – “Blurred Lines” World
A bass line was on trial in the recent “Blurred Lines” case that ended on March 10 with a jury verdict for the heirs of Marvin Gaye to the tune of $7.4 million on a claim that Robin Thicke and Pharrell Williams infringed on the copyright of Gaye’s 70’s hit “Got to Give It Up”.
While the verdict is in, many in the music and legal communities are outraged by what they perceive as a tone-deaf outcome that could stifle creativity. Jack Ashford, who recorded the original bass line on “Got to Give It Up” and bassist Verdine White of Earth Wind & Fire are among those who have denied that “Blurred Lines” ripped off “Got to Give it Up”, because the melodic and rhythmic elements are just not that similar.
Some expect the jury’s verdict will be tossed out by the trial judge, Hon. John A. Kronstadt, highly regarded as a copyright jurist, who could soon rule there was no copyright infringement as a matter of law. In any event, an appeal is likely, which could drag on for years.
Meanwhile, should a bass player on a recording session worry that a funky riff that comes into his head and rolls off his fingers might be too close to something someone laid down on tape decades earlier? Copyright law is not supposed to stifle creativity, and freedom of speech laws like the First Amendment in the U.S. and similar laws in other countries act as a counter-balance to copyright laws to ensure freedom of expression.
But some music copyright cases, like “Blurred Lines” and others, can be most peculiar. In 1991, a lawsuit claimed ZZ Top stole John Lee Hooker’s 1949 guitar riff from “Boogie Chillen’” for their 1973 hit “La Grange”. ZZ Top argued that the upbeat chord pattern was not his property but traced back to the Delta blues idiom and was free for anyone to use. ZZ Top prevailed in the case and, ironically, a music publisher who later purchased the La Grange copyright from the Texas trio went on to sue others for ripping off the riff from them. Perhaps more ironically, the attorney for the publisher who bought La Grange — the same publisher who was suing songwriters for stealing the boogie riff from ZZ Top, even after John Lee Hooker unsuccessfully claimed ZZ Top stole it from him — is now defending Robin Thicke and Pharrell Williams in the “Blurred Lines” copyright case. That attorney, Howard King, is one of the foremost music copyright litigators in the country.
So back to the bass line in “Blurred Lines”, a common, laid back groove that walks with the same slightly funky gait as so many others in its R&B-flavored ‘hood. One day it’s walking the line without a care, the next it’s hauled into court on charges of robbing the Marvin Gaye copyright bank.
During the trial, the Gaye family’s musicologist, Judith Finnell, testified against the “Blurred” bass line, presenting the copyright law equivalent of a police line-up where the “Blurred” and “Give” bass lines stood side by side. The similar hi-hat and cowbells rhythm from the original recording of “Got to Give It Up” was indadmissible at trial, as the case was only about infringement of the composition and as the sheet music deposited with the Copyright Office in the 1970s did not contain any percussion. With percussion out of the picture, Finell’s analysis heavily focused on the bass lines.
Finell — who testified she was paid $100,000 to render her opinion on behalf of the Gaye heirs — claims the first four bars of each song is enough to put the “Blurred” bass line behind bars.
Whether you read or listen to the music, two things seem clear: they aren’t very close and neither is very distinctive. Finnell and another musicologist on the Gayes’ team argued that the rests between notes were one of the most substantially similar things about these songs. In other words, they both have silences in similar places. Of course the Gaye heirs don’t claim they own silence, or should be paid every time a bass player lays out, but their argument that silent spaces between notes are a key similarity between these songs strikes some as peculiar.
Finnell also testified the bass lines were similar because they each emphasized the root of the chord on a downbeat, or anticipating the downbeat. Pharrell and Thicke’s team presented another musical police line-up, this time adding a third bass line, from “Superfly”, the 1972 hit from Curtis Mayfield, pre-dating “Got to Give it Up” by five years, noting that all of the bass lines play the root of the tonic chord on the downbeat or anticipating the downbeat.
These commonplace ideas are not protectable by copyright law, King argued, and even if they were, “Superfly” pre-dates “Give”. King also argued that there were “no two consecutive notes in any of the melodic examples in the Finell Report that have the same pitch, duration, and placement in the measure” in “Blurred” and “Give”.
But these musical arguments seemed to go in juror number one’s ear and out juror number eight’s. The jury was persuaded by the Gayes’ well-regarded attorney, Richard Busch, who effectively made the case more about whether Thicke and Pharrell were liars than whether the songs were too close. King argued that his clients’ credibility was irrelevant, that being “influenced” by earlier music is only lawful but the way most music is created, and that the songs should speak for themselves. But the jury didn’t get any of that.
As of now, the “Blurred” bass line is out on bail, praying that Judge Kronstadt will let it off the hook. If it takes the rap as a copyright infringement, countless other funky and syncopated bass lines may be packing their bags and fleeing the country before the Gayes or other R&B singers or their heirs come gunning for them too.
Already, the Gaye heirs are reportedly eyeing another lawsuit, saying that Pharrell has got to give it up again because his mega-hit “Happy” is too close to Gaye’s lesser-known “Ain’t That Peculiar”.
Peculiar indeed.
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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Visit Online
www.lettucefunk.com
IG @jesuscsuperstar
FB@jesuscoomes
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Bass Videos
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
Interview With Bassist Erick “Jesus” Coomes
Working-Class Zeros: Episode #2 – Financial Elements of Working Musicians
Tour Touch Base (Bass) with Ian Allison
New Gear: Spector Woodstock Custom Collection Volume II
