The Greatest Dance Bass Solo EVER
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- Опубліковано 18 бер 2024
- #bass #funk #basshistory #transcription #analysis #paulthompson
Taking apart one of the greatest funk/dance tracks in history: "Stomp!" (1980) by the Brothers Johnson (produced by Quincy Jones) and the incredible bass playing by the late, great Louis Johnson (including that ICONIC bass solo!).
I'll talk about everything including how the song came to be, who were the legendary studio musicians that played on the track, and how exactly did "Thunder Thumbs" slap those rhythms?! Sit back, get a notepad, and get ready to dive deep into STOMP!
Website: www.paulthompson.us
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Hello 👋! My name is Darryl Sims and I was in Louis's personal inner circle!!! And beside the fact that he personally taught me BASS !...An awesome &amazing experience I'll NEVER forget ! Enough can't be said about Louis ' Thunder Thumbs ' Johnson...even from the grave he still kickin ass!!! Every session he played on U can tell that's Louis! He had a certain sound....I KNOW THE SECRETS TO LOUIS'S TONE!!! HE SHOWED IT TO ME AND I'M NOT TELLING ANYONE 😮!!! He will ALWAYS be The BADDEST Funkiest Bassist!!! All the sessions he's played on ( REMEMBER) his parts WAS NOT WRITTEN DOWN!!! They would tell him here's a track play what U want!!! His bass lines made the song 🎵 a HIT 💯💣💥!
You’re a fortunate dude to have that experience
If you know how he did it why would you keep it secret, share it and let someone else pick up the torch and improve on it
Darryl , didn’t know Louis well we went to Foshay jr high summer school in 1968. He and brother had started a group called the Johnson 3+1. The rest history!!
Strawberry Letter 23 is my fav, but this is an absolute next-level all-time banger - we ain't funkin' now without it.
Agreed. I never get tired of that line and come back to it often. Louis was a true innovator.
Agreed
Agreed! I’m a huge fan of that song too!
Agreed. Love it
One of my favorite openings-is the opening for Strawberry Letter 23
I'm not a musician, but:
I enjoy hearing actual musicians highlight the work of their peers.
Very informative.
its like listening to an announcer narrate a MMA fight. I would 've missed half of the stuff that is going on.
I met and interviewed Brothers Johnson several times when they visited Sweden.
A short story: We visited the Polar studio (ABBA's studio) and we listened to Super Trouper. Afterwards, in the cab, the brothers sat in the back seat and started to do an acapella funky version of Super Trouper. Wow, that sounded great. Then the cab driver asked me to tell the brothers to calm down and be quiet. That is a memory for life.
I remember Louis talking enthusiastically about his love for ABBA and the interviewer being thrown by this statement from the funky boy.
Wow. I can't imagine how cool a funk version of Super Trouper would have sounded. That cabbie must have tone deaf.
This was a magical period when Rod, Toto, Q and his crew were dominating. Thanks !
indeed
Louis Johnson is the sole reason I started playing bass at 14 in 1976. My style of play is less aggressive as his although I tried playing like him. 😂
Same here! And Weather Report.
RIP Louis "Thunder Thumbs"Johnson.
Requesting a spotlight on the late great Mark Adams of Slave, criminally underrated and his murder is still unsolved as far as I know.😔🎸
And chic I want your love. Bernard Edwards was on fire
A video on Mark Adams would be great!
Yes Mark “Hansolar” Adams definitely deserves a spotlight!
@@ratherbe7 Agreed!
I purchased ‘The Hardness Of The World’ back in 1980,( 77-78 album I know), and was blown away by them. Loved Mark’s playing and I know it got more flamboyant later. I’d heard on the internet about stuff relating to his death and it just made me feel sad.
Selfishly, if I’m honest, I just just remember him as an early bass hero, and I’d love Paul to do a retrospective of his playing,( he’s probably done one already on an individual track).
Simply amazing!! Louis Johnson has always been one of my all-time favorites in the Bass realm!!!
The string arrangement is off the charts
Jerry Hey did both horns and strings and that vamp 🔥
@@RealigndadjmusicA legend
Literally! 😂
This is one of my favorites, but Louis Johnson's work on Q's "Ai No Corrida" is magnificent.
Hush yo mouth...YESSSSS!❤❤❤❤
No way you're doing this song tonight! I heard this song just yesterday and was thinking: listen to that bass! Thank you. Love the Brothers Johnson.
I'll never forget hearing Stomp for the first time. That bass break blew my mind! Didn't know that overdubbing was a thing when I first heard it 😄. And the outro is like a surprise party - didn't expect it, and it elevates the song. There's so much to learn about bass technique from just this one song.
Wow you really can feel the overlap with this and Off The Wall and the George Benson stuff. Just brilliant work all round
Rod Temperton, former Heatwave keyboard player, is the connection. Quincy Jones signed him to Qwest Records.
Temperton wrote Off The Wall, Thriller, Stomp, Give Me The Night, Love x Love and Heatwave's hits: Boogie Nights, Groove Line, Always and Forever and Mind Blowing Decisions.
Yes!!!!!!! may Louis Johnson "R.I.P!!!!!!!
I had a VHS with Louis Johnson on it it was called bass as a solo instrument and it melted my head
Louis Johnson was an amazing bass player and his finger style does not get the attention it deserves. Give the Blam! Album a good listen and you will discover. His live slap solos are crazy. Right hand way off the strings so powerful and yet precise. One of my major inspirations when I started playing bass in the seventies.
I love the inventiveness of Louis's bassline on "Don't stop 'till you get enough", it's a masterpiece bass job to me.
@@_pdbass1Pleasure.
Wow. Watching you play this tune with such an economy of motion is just fabulous. I think you've inspired me to pull a bass out of the closet and see if I can get anywhere near that smooth and economical while still having some feel. Nice!
And yes - the Brothers Johnson delivered some killer funky grooves. Glad to see them covered with examples and notation. Awesome.
"The human drummachine" strikes with unnatural precision and musical accuracy a forerunner for many many bassplayers and music loves!
We could hear what was coming down the line on '"Get the Funk Out Ma Face" , we just didn't realise how far Louis would take it to create a whole new style of playing bass. Sensational !
My all time favorite bass player and bass. Thank you for showcasing Louis finger style , thumb work, and his left hand technique. He is so underrated because people just focus on his thumb .
Man you NAIL IT! What a great song and such an insane superstar lineup on there.
They were just as amazing live, in many ways more so. Even though Louis's thumb and hand would fly far away from the bass, it was still hard to see because he was so fast. RIP Louis Johnson, you truly were one-of-a-kind.
Louis Johnson's work on Something Special by Q And Patti Austin was just as magical!!
First time I heard this song (about 10 years ago) it just floored me! Funky, musical, catchy, solid groove. Checking the personnel out later was a bit of an "of course" moment seeing the all-star crew. Superb bassline, Louis nailed it.
LJ played a Sabre (both pickups on) with flats on this track.
I danced to this song at my high school prom in May 1980. I clearly remember the bass solo pounding in my chest. That's the only thing I remember from my prom! This song is one of the reasons I fell in love with bass.
I had my prom (we called it ‘Send Off’) at the same time. This was really one of the hit tunes of that era. Lovely memories!
Thank you pdbass for giving us the best analysis/documentary of the most important bass and bassists. You are awesome!
I’ve said it many times…
LJ had the vibe to bring heavy grooves, but not too fast for the average listener to get into.
So funky!
Thank you, Paul, for another bassline sandwich......It continues to amaze me about the artistic talent that went into those basslines we may have taken for granted.
What A GREAT bassline! Love his technique and you play so good 🤘!!
My favourite song since 1980! The keyboard intro always fills me with joy once i hear it and this is the first song i ever played air bass to! A true masterpiece!
Maestro, you just continue to kill it with your bullet proof analysis of these great bass players and great bass lines. This may be my favorite one of all time. Thanks for all that you do.
Watching Lewis Johnson play live was like witnessing a felony assualt. He literally beat the hell out of the Music Man and Alembic. His right hand technique was absolutely precise but heavy handed and even violent at times. We've all heard of tennis elbow, but I think LJ had Bass elbow. What a legend!
@_pdbass1 Wow, I'm really flattered and would love to chop it up with you sometimes. I'm just an OldSkool R&B, Funk, Soul music guitar guy who started playing back in the 70s. I own all these great guitars but rarely even play anymore...but I do a lot of mental reps thanks to UA-cam.
I'm fortunate to have come up in a time (waaaay before the internet and UA-cam) where you could go to concerts and see all these great acts up close and personal and I went to countless events. I probably have some hearing loss to prove it, too. After these shows, we would sit up until sunrise trying to play what we saw and heard...before we forgot...because there was no video or tabs to refer back to.
We developed our ears because we would hear a song on the radio, and we had to learn it before the song ended, because you never knew when you'd hear it again. You figured out the bass line first to get the roots and changes, and then you could figure out the chords. Seeing the artists live just reinforced that we were on the right track or corrected what we were doing wrong. That was the school of hard knocks for us.
Fast forward to today, and we have so many great resources to learn from. Concepts that took me years to learn are often covered now in a 5 minute video. I get the best of both worlds, and your channel is absolutely required watching because of your command of theory, solid break downs and analysis. Just the history alone is worth watching for. You have an uncanny way of taking complex ideas and describing them in a very clear and understandable manner. You are a blessing to musicians of all levels and I don't hesitate to watch your videos as soon as a notification hits. I don't even play bass, but I never fail to learn something from your videos, and I often send links to my music loving friends and old band mates. Thanks for all that you do.
Continued success to you and your channel. Keep this great content coming, Maestro...!
lhjenkinsjr@aol.com
Always been one of my favorite songs of all time.
I hit like before the ads ended. Thunderthumbs is that dude! I still have my Light Up The Night vinyl.
I love Stomp! Thanks for breakin' it down. The Brothers Johnson had such a great sound. Quincy Jones was like a 3rd brother. Strawberry Letter 23 was great, and on that same album I really loved their instrumental pieces Q and Brother Man.
My favorite song in 9th grade. Had a bass player “boyfriend” that loved the Brothers Johnson. Strawberry Letter 23 was another.
Oh my STOMP Brothers Johnson …clear the floor I am on the dance floor now. The BEST bass solo EVER! Thank you for your excellent analysis of what took place.
They also made Strawberry Letter #23, one of my favorite songs ever.
@@protorhinocerator142
Oh yes! … and Get the Funk Outta Ma Face…clear the way heading to the dance floor! Running For Your Love
The Space in this song is Genius
My favorite.
The bass solo that turned me on to playing bass. Great video!
Song is the complete package. Infectious when you hear even a small piece of it.
Another Rod Temperton masterpiece composition here, what a songwriter!
Genius, the music master from Cleethorpes whose other songs were also mentioned on this video.
YES!! I was hoping you'd get to do this track. I used to love playing this in a funk coverband.
Much respect to Brother Johnson music.Stomp.Excellent track till now .
Fitting tribute to “Thunder Thumbs” ❤
Stomp is the song that made me decide to pick up the bass...still 20+ years later i've never attempted to seriously learn the slap solo part, like "i'm not worthy !"..! Thank you for breaking it down for us..!
Love Louis, and on the other side of the pond, Mark King was doing very similar things. Burning finger style lines and left hand slapped dead notes. King’s background as a drummer did lead him a little into the realms of excess. But, oooh, it was fun! 😊
What a bass player he was, definitely a big inspiration to me and many other bass players!! 😁👍
Great stuff!!! New Stingray I see.
Had never listened to Rene and Angela before and daaaaaamn! Got lost for a good 30 minutes before I remembered to come back and finish the video
LOVE the Johnson Brothers music. 🎶🎶🎶
I'm always happy to see one of your videos pop up. His hands always reminded me of birds' wings. And, yeah, he is such an iconic sound. I could be wrong, but I always thought that serving of disco was fun to listen to but probably didn't help their longevity as Brothers Johnson. There was never any shortage of session work for Louis, but The Brothers got sort of typecast. Thanks for putting this up.
You know... this gives you a perfect opportunity to compare this "Stomp" with the song by the same name by Parliament. There's some bruising bass there. Give Boogie Mosson some love?
Great jam! Louis also did a great job on Michael Jackson's Get In The Floor
My fav MJ song !!!
I remember coming across a bro' on the street in 1980 carrying this album "you gotta listen to this...!!!" Strawberry Letter 23 was the followup..? Unbelievably FUNKY :~)
This is the one I was waiting for!!!!!
Louis Johnson - what more can be said!
Hoping Dream of Tomorrow by Lonnie Liston Smith will get a look in soon.... Mr Miller did some great stuff on there 😊
"Get On The Floor" from Off The Wall (which he co-wrote with MJ) is my favorite. After seeing them live, and seeing how physically demanding his style was, I understood why he stopped touring with his brother lol. It was the Masterjam Tour 1980. Rufus, Brothers Johnson and Narada Michael Walden was the opening act. Bobby Watson (I think Paul is preparing a video on him) is more my style. I prefer less flashy but funky lol. Especially, my guy, RODNEY "SKEET" CURTIS
Anything quincy had his hands on was awesome
Good stuff... LJ's work on the George Duke album "Guardian Of The Light" is stellar!
As a non musician I am amazed at the skill and artistry involved, wow just wow! 👏🏾👍🏾
I fondly recall seeing the BJ supporting Steve Hillage on his Motivation Radio tour. Whilst that may seem an odd pairing, Steve always employed a funky rhythm section. On that tour he had the formidably funky pairing of Curtis Robertson Jr on bass and Jo Blocker on drums (both later of Karma fame). Needless to say the BJ tore it up that night!
I love your videos man. All of ‘em. 👏🏼
Sir your program is a musical treasure.
Excellent breakdown and demo…Louis Johnson was nothing short of brilliant 💯🎼🎵🎶
I love this song! I was twelve when it came out.
Brings back so so many memories this song in particular ❤❤❤❤🙏🙏🙏🪬🪬💎💎🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧🥃🥃
Louis also had a great solo Gospel album with his wife. He was a good vocalist & writer.
I love the Brother Johnson have all of their albums. I was studying Louis bass lines like crazy. And Stomp is one of their most popular songs. 😊
One of my favorite Louis Johnson fingerstyle bass lines is "Blam!" from the album of the same name. Another great groove on that album is "Street Wave."🔥🔥
1995 on Sunset bvd HOB I saw them playing live " stomp". Magic.
Thunder thumbs and lightning licks.
Crazy this pops up on my feed when I just brought a fresh 9v battery for my musicman bass. R.I.P LOUIS MY #3 BASS HERO.
Sorry late to this. I'm 55 when this album came out it was one of my first albums I think I was in the seventh grade. And I got hooked on it cause I realize it Louis had played on Michael Jackson's off the wall. And the whole album is great. These guys and Ray Parker Jr. and radio were so good at the R&B the funk but with Pop sensibility. When I heard that Louis had passed away I teared up because he truly was a genius musician. You can hear people across soul funk rock rap who will talk about this man and what a legend he was.❤
I Love your vídeo class, Yes it's school class for me, other point I 'm from Brazil my English it's not so God than I need, but all of your videos are perfect , I understand everything that u tell.
Kajagogo for example was a great surprise.
Thanks, you are the bass guy
IT STILL ROCKS EVEN TODAY??????
THANK YOU,"BROTHERS JOHNSON"❤❤❤❤❤
💚That’s Awesome!🌺
Man, what a solid assessment. Great job.
3:45 I can create a whole song off of the slowed bass solo as a sample. That is so dope
Because of Louis, one the the first two albums I bought with my own hard earned money was Brothers Johnsons' "Look out for No 1" ( along with Bootsy's Rubber band's " Stretching Out.") My mind was blown then and it hasn't recovered
The choral background arrangrment was all Rod Temperton influenced. It's a distinguishing sound you hear across many of his songs, originating in his hits with Heatwave. Then, when Quincy got hold of him, their collaborative sound is unmistakable.
Wow! That producing team id an all-star cast.
This is music that gives me goosebumps! And thank you for including the handclaps - I miss handclaps. I miss music...
Merci.
Quincy went to Paris to study with Nadia Boulanger, one of the last people to carry on the Partimento tradition from Italy. I gave up on the bass since I have shoulder problems and it wasn't a good fit. I'm using Nadias keyboard exercises on the piano to learn technique.
There is always something about that bass in any music. The song itself is a masterpiece. The drums and the bass line....WHOOO!🩷🩷🩷😁😁😁
Great song!! And those bass solos!! You nailed it. George's rhythm guitar parts were always tasteful, clean and distinct.
The Brothers Johnson were magic! I love them!
Outstanding! This has always been high mark, and a genre blending masterpiece. ❤
A deep cut with Louis Johnson I don't often see recognized is "I Keep Forgettin'" with Michael McDonald. Expert level class in space and groove with the great Jeff Porcaro. ❤ The little dynamic flourishes they fly in under the radar are a delight every time!
@MiddleMalcolm Great example and Greg P played keys on that track also. The talent level of that era was insane!!!
Another great choice! Love this song, thanks for breaking this down. If only this level of musicianship were happening in today's pop.
It's a groove that makes you want to do the electric slide!
Great job as ever! This would fill the rink when we heard that intro.
Strawberry Letter 29 was a bad jam too. Good stuff as always professor.
I liked the Brother's track "Blam". That baseline is immortal!
This is the stuff that when I was young guy going to clubs that inspired me to play the bass.
Amazing Paul, thank you, thank you. 😎
Paul, I was so glad to witness you preparing for this video. This is simply excellent, one of the best videos I have seen PERIOD! I have much to learn from you!
Thanks, Ken. Still learning SO MUCH from you, Maestro!
Great video Paul !!
I just got chance to watch this properly and it is so nostalgic for me. This goes right back to my childhood and I saw this tour when I was about 13 years old,( within a few weeks from this, from memory, I saw Jaco at the same venue in the U.K. on the Weather Report ‘Night Passage’ tour).
I’m sure I remember Louis having a small keyboard on stage that he would play synth bass on,( which would make sense for the Light Up The Night album).
My favourites when young from that album,( and on listening again over the last twenty years or whatnot, is still probably the case), were ‘Smilin On Ya’ and ‘Celebrations’ on side 2.
Fabulous tracks that you remember forever 😊
What a fantastic piece of music..And there's another great Song, Strawberry Letter!
What about the Brothers Johnson playing on Outa Space with Billy Preston
I've seen a few of your videos and man...as a musician I love how you dissect them. Keep up the awesome work brother!
Such an awesome video. Thank you! You did Mr. Johnson proud.
Amazing song!!! This is a great bass song !!!