About bein’ a bassist who “sings”

I said at talkbass:

As a guitar-player who was a creative writing major, I hadda start singing to get my lyrics used.

As a home-recordist, and then BL, I hadda learn and then improve on bass.

Guitar and voc can be much easier because you can play the rhythm or lead around the voc; think BB King for an extreme example. Of course, doing other kinds of music is not so easy, but you can artfully underplay and drop out, especially if you have a second guitarist or keys, etc.

Doing bass and vocal is often harder if the voc strays off the bass line. I sometimes hafta simplify bass lines to sing over ’em, but you can much more seldom just stop playing. One seldom has a second bassist, after all.Vlayman

Lucinda, Dylan & Petty

A cuppla records to reco:

Dylan, Time Out of Mind: if you don’t know this, you really should. Like Buddy Guy’s Sweet Tea or Miles’ Bitches Brew, it opened a new thing for its creator, a sorta knew way of writing and definitely a new sound for Dylan. Indeed, it was a pretty new sound for us all, Lanois just getting creative like he has before, but swampier and more ambient (with jammy rhythms) – oh, the smoke and mist sound (check out his work with Chris Whitley) …

Lucinda Williams, Bob’s Back Pages …: Ray Kennedy (he worked on Car Wheels … with Earle) with Tom Overby get a little of that Lanois goin’ on, just a little here and there. And it works great here: this is the best of Lucinda’s 4th (so far) covers albums. Her band is smokin’, and they take the Jimi cue of re-arrangein’. (The Petty covers are great too, followed by the Memphis and then the Country – all are really good.)

TMP & the Heartbreakers, Damn the Torpedoes: if you don’t know this, you really should. Like Buddy Guy’s Sweet Tea or Miles’ Bitches Brew, it opened a new thing for its creator, a sorta knew way of writing and definitely a new sound for Petty. Indeed, it was a pretty new sound for us all, Iovine just getting creative like he has before, but bigger and glossier – oh, those cavernous drums (his U2 and Springsteen stuff still works, also) …

Lucinda Williams, Runnin’ Down a Dream …: Overby and Kennedy, but cleaning it up, not as murky as the other Lucinda, nowhere near as 80’s grandiose as the Petty, more Americana.

Also, if ya comment, please tell me, did Jason Isbell ever do a bad record?