Legendary bassplayer Rutger Gunnarsson plays Dancing queen by Abba.
Вставка
- Опубліковано 10 тра 2015
- He was the musican who played on most of the Abba songs. A great bassplayer, producer and arranger has passed away. He was a humble man and a great person who never bragged about what he had done. Still one can ask if some of the Abba songs would have had that same feel without him. I was deeply saddened by the news of Rutger passing away. My thoughts are with his family.
![[柴犬ASMR]曼玉Manyu&小白Bai 毛发护理Spa asmr](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/0TsXQ7z2Dh4/mqdefault.jpg)
Never realised that this song had such a kickass bass
@@zandithshloper2005 many. Most of the time the mix is made so that you can hear the vocals and guitar only
Then you never listened to abba. The bass is litterly the moast dominant part of it.
@@zandithshloper2005 im not rude
Rutger Gunnarsson is imo one of the top bassists in the world. He is terribly underrated.
@Saulo Carantino not always on other genres either, but yes it is worse in metal
Almost all ABBA songs have a killer bassline
Just for the record. I hadn´t told Rutger in advance that I wanted him to play along with any song. So we were digging out a white Fender Jazz and a similar Precision from the deep of a cabin in his apartement. And this was the the bass he had played in the session as well. This was the first take. He hadn´t played Dancing queen for ages. Probably over 10 years since the last time.
+kjell ekholm His playing will live on forever, some of his bass lines are incredible.
This was magic that you got this. Thank you so much for sharing.
No kidding? Pretty cool.
Awesome! Tack för att du delat detta klipp. Har du mer? (y)
REALLY GLAD you put this together! Casual listeners can't imagine all the intricate parts that make up a great song, and this bassline is flippin' brilliant. The guy who mixed the whole thing in the end had to be a genius. How you can get ALL that's going on in this tune put together without having everything step all over everything else is unimaginable!
Rutger seems so happy that someone has come to talk to him about bass riffs having spent so long in the background - what a lovely man, RIP Rutger - love your bass lines and other unsung contributions to the ABBA catalogue.
Haha! He simply looked like that. He almost always had that shy smile.
I just love how he goes from talking to be in the groove in a split second when the music starts.
It's only when you hear these parts played in isolation by the original artist you come to realise how cool they are.
er no, if you have ears, you don't need to see a UA-cam video.
@@Ichioku So Rutger Gunnarsson showing us the bass line from Dancing Queen is a total waste of time?
@@TweedSuit The point of the video was to interview the musician who played on the original recording not to demonstrate the bass line specifically to enable us to hear it in isolation.You are right of course, sometimes hearing a part separated from the main track can highlight certain nuances not always discernible to the average ear. I learned that bass line years ago just by listening to it. You started by making a huge assumption,primarily that everyone hears a song as a 'whole' without being able to hear the separate parts. Whilst this is true for many people, mainly non musicians, the rest of us are able to hear all the different parts without losing sight of the whole. To answer your question, is it a waste of time showing Mr Gunnarsson playing the bass line to dancing queen? What would a blind bass player say?
the isolation is great but I've always realized how cool they were, the bass on the original recording just jumps out of the speakers, since hearing it on the radio in the 70's.
Facts. Especially when the mix kind of down plays how awesome melodic this bass line
Most people don't realize how important Rutger's bass lines are in ABBA songs. He was the bedrock of their sound. What a wonderfully talented man.
so true, very little of him on the net. very sad, his bass playing on, one night in bangkok is amazing.
As a bass player myself, anytime I had to play an Abba song, I've always found the bass parts to be absolutely killer and always extol how great his playing was...
I actually just found out 2 weeks ago. I spotted a bass cover of Super Trouper and was really surprised how cool the bassline was. I never picked those basslines up. For some reason. Not when listening to abba as a kid, or even as an adult. So weird.
Preach!
Don’t get me wrong, I’m a big bass fan and think it is one of the most crucial elements of a song, but the BEDROCK of ABBA’s music? I think that’s a bit much. The bedrock was the beautiful melodies and chord progressions Benny and Bjorn wrote. 🙄
1:07 i like those eyes. U can tell his mind is blank. hes just experiencing the muscle memory and letting his body go through the motions. Ive had this experience myself when playing a song that i havent played for years
How can you assume he hasn't play it for years ??!! ....i bet he plays every now and then for fun...you can see that he still has the juice....if had not played for years he would sure miss a lot of notes....i'm almost pretty sure he was like a couple of months without playin it max
@Silent Sven alright then...if you're saying so...i dont speak swedish so i didn't catch that
@@marstvredplanet9491 He played a lof of other stuff for years. Gunnarson worked as an arranger and producer before and after Abba. (Very much like Björn and Benny in fact.)
@@marstvredplanet9491 He mentions it in the beginning that that he has not played it in 10 years or so, chucklehead. Way to ruin a great and relevant comment with your ignorance.
@@marstvredplanet9491 Look at the top comment smarty
In my opinion, one of the most underrated musicians ever. His bass lines in Abba's songs are so awesome. He was one of the reasons I picked up a bass! I truly believe people don't have the speakers to hear his work and as good sounds becomes cheaper, bass will be more appreciated. The common listener has no idea how cool bass is
Bass bridges melody and percussion in a song. Without it, there’s no connection between rhythm and melody and the beat.
It is probably most important and most under appreciated in music.
@@guidenredhawkVery true. Bass is the ‘backbone’.
Videos like this are priceless. Before UA-cam no one would ever get to see this stuff. Amazing.
but now we are watching CNN-Biden...
@@drivingschool11 last time i checked, you can choose what to watch
@@hazardeur
calm down please. No riots today🤪
@@hazardeur 👍
@@drivingschool11 if you think my answers suggests in any way that i'm not calm then, in addition to your first post, i t seems to me that you might have problems to understand meaning in written language.
0:33 to 0:41 is a prime example of a very gifted musician. Gotta love the funk he added in there, and the journey to the resolution is so satisfying.
the passage you highlight is interesting, here we can clearly hear in the playing technique and the choice of note intervals the influence of bassist James Jamerson, a figure of soul and funk from the 60s/70s.
It's a small detail, but at 0:33, that E/D chord (E7 in 3rd inversion) totally makes this song for me. I guess it creates a #4 interval between bass and melody, which just sounds so beautiful at that moment. Always loved that part, and it's really all thanks to Rutger's tasteful note choice and groove.
Absolutely this.~
So sick
Majestic! Similar device used in "One of us" in the chorus, when the bass hits the G under the A (staring at the ceiling), totally makes the whole song. Genius understanding of harmony.
This is the best comment on this whole site.
is it an E/D chord? I hear it as a normal D chord (hence the D in the bass), but everything else you've said is still correct. The D and the F# from the vocal melody really does rub each other in a nice way then quickly resolves which adds sweetness to an otherwise bitter sound if left alone.
And to highlight Rutger's brilliance, I would use this example here at 0:22, when he goes from E to *F* to F#. These notes are chosen for the chords: E - *C#7* - F#m7. Now he could've used C# like most bass players would, but this F note is a really smart choice for the exact same reason as before: it creates a #4 with the B note on the vocal melody and creates t e n s i o n. Considering the fact that this happens before the very peak of the song, it just feels so satisfying hearing all that tension then suddenly resolving it by belting out the lyrics "HAVING THE TIME OF YOUR LIFEE~~". Now THAT's beautiful!
99% of Abba fans have no idea the Bass lines are what they love about the songs. Great bluesy runs throughout the track, undeniably good.
People who don't play bass don't understand what feel this man has. Its really like James Jameson. Ok he doesn't play fast lines, but the feel is there 100%
Kind of like Ringo. Playing the "correct" amount for the composition is wayyy harder than playing the most difficult or coolest arrangement you can come up with.
Yeah , it's called having "groove". And that's more important than playing fast
Yes! It’s not about playing fast or slow, simple or complicated, it’s about playing what is right for the music.
@@23igna And when you have both your name is Victor Wooten
He nailed it, amen!! Jaaj a Master
Rutger GUNNARSSON was the European JAMERSON!
May his soul rest in peace.
perfect perfect reply...could not agree more...
(y) (y) (y)
the man was pure music genius...rest in peace Rutger
Exactly!
This is my first time seeing this guy, and the first thing I thought was that he was a Jamerson fan. This guy has great feel.
At the end when he stares into space I can feel him looking through the decades of this song's history
To me that look is heartbreaking. Like he was remembering all of the good times and just how fleeting they were.
Same. It is a beautiful moment.
This guy was simply brilliant. Abbas base lines and Duran Duran’s were what inspired me to play bass guitar.
Likewise.
Great choices!
Great choices
I love the facial countenance as you can see the memories welling up. Playing the bass to a song he hadn't jammed on in who knows how long, just like ringing a bell. Rock on in that Jazz Fusion jam in the sky along with Jimi, Janis and Jim Croce!
Spot on !
He almost had a bittersweet look on his face at the end like he was holding back tears.
"It's been long since I touched one of these... You got 5 string nowadays." - is what he says in the beginning for those who don't know Swedish.
He's referring to the fact that most studio bass players switched to 5 stringed basses (with a string added below the E string, usually tuned to a B) in the 1980's, and that it thus feels funny to him to use a 4 string fender again.
One of the greatest musians in the world and responsible for that typical ABBA sound. He is missed.
Did he pass away?
Crazy how much it follows the vocal melody while still being all foundation
I'm sorry that you feel this way about the clip but you have to know that this was not filmed for musicans who want to learn how to play Dancing queen. It was a programme about the great musicans behind Abba and to give them some credits they so well deserved.
Did the program get made? If so where can I view it?
That can help anayway ;-)
extrañamos a rutger, ensero que lo extrañamos. desde Peru.
Ignore any criticism, Kjell. If someone listens to this for 5 only seconds, it is obvious that Rutger is not playing the bass part exactly note-for-note. He is improvising a lot on the original bass line - he never played the part exactly the same. He did the same on live recordings with ABBA and also on the Mamma Mia soundtrack. If someone wants the original CD bass line, there are lots of videos/ written sheet music available. What he's playing here is yet another great version. More importantly, we see the modest genius he was. Amazing to see. Thank you!
Ha. lol Tell him to go look up the bass tabs
that riff at 0.30 ....unbelievable!!
Vicky Viking played 30 times and i m still dont get it... wooow
@@killabyz it's just octaves of F# but the timing is beautiful
Indeed !
0:30
he’s just incredible. wish i’d known this bass line before, but better late than never.
That lick on the F#minor in the chorus is sooooooo cool (roughly 0:29-0:31, corresponds with the 'having the time of your life' line). Thank you so much for uploading this.
Love that little riff
I think he plays three triplets there…amazing.
It's brilliant. I can't believe I hadn't noticed it until this video.
@@ProgrammedForDamage I never paid any attention to the bassline of this song before this video either. It's really great
when I first listened to this video I was sitting on the toilet with the speaker against my ear, and I heard that little lick and immediately said, out loud "Oooh my god that was good" and my girlfriend yelled "why are you talking to yourself while pooping"
I spent half of my childhood listenning to ABBA bass lines.
Me too in 70's. Great music.
This footage is pretty much history!
All the elements of a perfect baseline and so many gems dropped....groove, bass echoed the melody, didn't overplay, tone is beautiful(sometimes it even sounded fretless!)...the baseline is a story by itself.
What an incredible bassist he was. Fantastic. RIP Rutger.
I've been playing ebass for 50 years and say this guy is terrific. Solid, fluid, bouncy, clever. The only bass player who ever reminded me of Jamie Jamerson.
I play bass since 10 years (i'm 26) and I just discover Rutger Gunnarsson(shame on me). I never listened ABBA song bass line but it was an amazing moment to learn dancing queen, so much groove !
disco bass players! They're out there, man...
I discovered him recently too , he makes you realize that just because a song has a simple structure that doesn’t mean you can’t be creative . Check out James Jameson if haven’t already , cheers bro
Together with the drums on this song it makes for an amazing drive and groove
Same
Those syncopated ghost notes are not easy
Bass lines will always build master hits thru the centuries. Period.
Why is it so satisfying to watch someone play bass like this, louder than the other tracks? He even has enough sense to not make uncomfortable eye contact with the person he's playing it for... That should be a rule lol
Not make uncomfortable eye contact with the person he's playing it for... So true and I laughed so hard realizing this! Such an underrated comment bro! 😂
We Swedes avoid eye contact as much as possible. It's our most distinguished cultural trait.
The Swedish Jamerson, with a scandinavian relaxed feel. So good to see him play...
Probably one of the best recommendation by UA-cam. Gold Dust!
This is the worlds most underrated musician :)
He's a very gifted bass player. Probably one of the top 10 in the world 🌎🌍
umm..no he is out of tune and has very bad timing
maybe top 500
@@frankdiscussion2069Let’s hear you play ‘champ’. Post something, show us what you’ve got player.
He just makes all the right choices
A true MASTER at work. Much respect.
Coming from one of the best bass players. Wow!
So true. Said by a legend himself!
Their voices and this dude’s bass
Wow
This guy is definitely a bassgod. 75% of the notes he's playing I haven't heard in the original song 'til now. Fascinating...
I have heard Dancing Queen by ABBA a hundred times, but I never realised all this was going on underneath. Truly shows how a great bass line makes a track. Now I will listen out for Mr. Gunarsson's playing whenever I hear this track.
he does a bit of improvising there...
Why did i not know about this man? And the complextivity of this song. He seems so humble and cool
Rutger . . “Thank you for the music” R.I.P
I could listen to him play all day long. RIP 🙏
I’ve seen this video several times. I always watch every time it pops up on my recommendation. Because every single time I’ve watched it, it always made me smile 😊
I’m a guitar player, but I had to watch that at least 10 times in a row 😁😎
Ok so the question is
Have you bought a bass yet?
Yes its just wonderful.
Bass players are the nameless heroes of the music industry.
The groove is everywhere.
Even in the blood of hyperboreans men.
I'm not a great fan of ABBA and their style of music, BUT they were masters of their craft. Excellent productions, melodies, musicians, AND Rutger Gunnarson was brilliant!
Playing bass for ABBA standing behind Agnatha......heaven!
This is a lesson on how to play bass! His left hand is so relaxed playing with ease without any tension and only with the weight of his arm aligned to his fingers, perfect technique, a true master!
I can listen to this the whole day.
Just that 1 & 1/2 minute clip is an absolute clinic for even an experienced bass player. He gets so much feel out of the instrument
0:36 thats some groovy shit right there
How many millions of people have found joy or danced to the grooves that very bass has laid down?
How lovely it is to see this video randomly appear in my UA-cam feed! Those bass lines are pure 🔥🔥🔥
0:24 just one note can change everything
I know right? Such clean quick flourishes. He adds so much with so little
Was searching for this comment. Spot on!
I like more this version!
Adds the perfect amount of tension
I always loved chromatic approaches. You can easily change a scale, make a lick and going back to the original root.
This will be remembered for eternity 👍🏻👍🏻
The bass and drums are so sick on ABBA songs
Where’s the full video? Amazing can get enough
The rhythm, dynamics, the ''attack'' of the fingers, those little mute notes, it all comes together perfectly... it's easy, yet complicated at the same time. Like playing the blues... pentatonic is easy, but no one can hit the tonic like BB... or what about those Albert King crazy bendings or Robben Ford's diminished runs?? The easier, the harder...
As a drummer and a big fan of ABBA from Poland, I would like to pay tribute to Mr. Gunnarson (what a pity it's a posthumous homage). What a wonderful, sensitive artist he was! I especially thanks for the bass lines in "I've been waiting for you" and "One of us". Thank you, Master; delight God with your cheerful, joyful and lyrical groove ...
What an absolute genius!
I love the look on his face, you can tell how much fun he has 🥰
This doesn't last long enough ! I could watch him playing this all day it's so effortless and beautiful ..
Put the video on repeat!
Unit I heard it isolated like this, I had never realized how closely the bass line follows the melody of this song. Absolutely wonderful 😊
Well in a song structure the bass player is the originator of melody and everyone else plays on top of that
So they follow him so to speak
A well recorded song has many layers but the most common layering style starts with the Bass, then drums, and then a rhythm section usually a rhythm guitar and lastly a lead section, typically a lead guitar
@@rejvaik00 being a bass player myself I couldn't disagree more. The bass is usually following/complementing/building the rhythm of the song which is usually closely mirrored by the drums. In a rock/pop song it quite unusual for the bass to be following or building on the melody.
@@jim2lane well then we are at an impasse cause nothing you say will convince me otherwise
But regardless let's just enjoy the good music
@@rejvaik00 I'm always cool with agree to disagree 😊
@@jim2lane music always comes first
Now realizing how important part of my youth you whwre! Good jouney Rutger!
I have no musical brain, it’s all alien to me. This, like many other guitar playing videos watched…… seems an almost impossibly difficult thing to do. Sounds great, brilliant talent. Thank you for sharing
One of the most enjoyable bass line ever made
Whenever you looked at him on abba videos he always had a huge smile on his face,obviously enjoying his work immensely no doubt being positioned usually behind the girls helped,
Your comment is gold comedy
The only time you want a G-string to break :D
@@dazednconfused31337 very good lol
I bet his trousers were straining.
I always enjoyed the way Bass was played in ABBA’s songs and I too picked up the Bass
Im speechless, I need to listen to this song again...
BEST bass line ever written fkn hands down
listen to the bassline in "one of us" .. its eargasmic....
Agreed - Absolutely phenomenal bass part - like a light funk feel under a straight ballad. The chord movement is sublime. My favourite ABBA song.
BonesBrigade73 Absolutely!
Amazing, talented bass player. His ability to find pockets to lay down a groove and to create counterpoint with melodies are pretty much unmatched
No midi, no syntho pop. Just talent. 😋❤💪
I would realy like to see more of this great artist's contributions (to ABBA and anything else). There is starting to be a little appreciation for some of his amazingbass work on other songs (One of Us, Super trouper,...) but he really deserves more than the very sparse sniuppets on (English) UA-cam right now.
What a stupendous bass line! Simply one of the grooviest grooves ever laid down.
I had the great pleasure of meeting him on the Premier performance of Mamma Mia the musical in Stockholm. It was an amazing moment to meet this humble, friendly man. A true gentleman.
I could watch him play for hours
When he transitions into that chorus - the fucking feels.
1:07 look at his eyes.. he mentally returns to those days
It may only be 90 seconds of footage but what a great 90 seconds! Footage like this is absolutely priceless when talent like this is no longer with us. You really get a feel for the song and the rhythm from his playing. It's not just playing a note. It should be a real inspiration to those learning. Thanks for posting this.
Never in my life have I appreciated ABBA's basslines. Thank you for opening my eyes
My new bass inspiration
Amazing bass player!!!
I could listen to this all day. Such an intricate and beautiful bass line. It complements all the other parts so well, you could almost say it's perfect.
Legend, you could see his face lit up as he began playing.
And that smile on his face, priceless
was so sad to hear about Rutger. RIP you true legend. you made abba sound the way they did
A truly awesome bass player was Rutger incredible feel and such clever notation
May GOD eternally bless this genius of a man.
His incredible talent & generous contribution to the world of popular music
is forever cemented in the pantheon of musical greats.
Rutger Gunnarsson (12 February 1946 - 30 April 2015) was a genius on the Bass, and was also responsible for producing all of those brilliantly complex “String Arrangements” on all of ABBA’s most successful albums.
He was a vital ingredient in the very complex recipe that created those unique sounding ABBA masterpieces.
Unfortunately, he is no longer around to see their amazing come-back, but remains immortalised on all those incredible ABBA recordings of the past.
I have always loved his Bass Guitar Line, since hearing "Knowing Me, Knowing You".
It was originally mainly delegated to the background, but “blossomed” more prominently in their re-mastered Spanish version of the song [Conociendome, Conociendote] in 1980.
I have heard very few cover versions that have ever been able to replicate it successfully (not to mention those harmonies) - due to its complexity.
A truly talented musician, arranger and producer.
Wonderful bass playing, I was an Abba fan from an early age but just for the music not the singing, that bass made so many of Abba's songs come alive.
The feel. The groove. Man that guy's got it! 🤩
You can see in his eyes the memories were flooding back... Happier times...
Fantastic player and musican
Absolute Legend
Gunnarsson ! was very good bass player !
So many memories you can see through his face.
This bassline, and the way he plays it, does me think so much about James Jamerson. It's unimagineable how much influence and recognition the basslines of Abba are. Rutger is top of notch which belongs in the line of Jamerson, Pastorius ... Totally awesome.
Yes