Greatest Bass Line Ever? Ep4 'Good Times' Chic
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- Опубліковано 25 лют 2022
- Written by Nile Rodgers and Bernard Edwards, CHIC’s Good Times remains one of the most-loved disco bass lines EVER! Relentlessly sampled to the point that it’s woven into every bass player’s DNA, its tempo and groove is a case study in how to make people dance.
In today’s new video, Ian Allison breaks down the Bernard Edwards bass-driven classic. We’re going to teach you the bass line (which the Sugar Hill Gang famously sampled in their breakthrough hit, Rapper’s Delight) and also give you a FREE DOWNLOAD with all of the tab and notation.
🔥 Download your FREE workbook → bit.ly/3IxzzvQ
As always, see you in the shed…
Scott :)
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The craziest thing about Rapper's Delight is that it wasn't sampled or looped or anything. Bass player Chip Shearin was hired at 17, and had to play the whole nearly 15 minute backing track in one take.
WAIT - is that true?!
@@IanMartinAllison Chip gave an interview in 2010 about it. He said he was paid $70 for his services.
damn... that's steady tempo 😍
Holy shit
I couldn't believe it either. Always thought it felt a little different to the original.
Bernard Edwards....
THEN
NOW
FOREVER!!! R.I.P. MAESTRO
Minor correction: It was a few months, not years, later that "Rapper's Delight" came out.
"Good Times" was released on June 4, 1979.
"Rapper's Delight" was released on September 16, 1979.
I've been telling folks for years that Bernard Edwards is one of the most underrated bass players of all time. People considered Chic a disco band and the crazy anti-disco movement made people not pay attention to his greatness. Folks need to listen to Bernard, Nile Rogers and Tony Thompson. A great rhythm section.🔥🔥
Reminds me of this guy
ua-cam.com/video/fpu0XDDh3zA/v-deo.html
I think he is very well respected among bass players. I think he has done a lot for the Musicman Stingray sales.
Great work. Thank you sir.
Thanks for not employing the overused “criminally” adverb
This!!!
A master of bass minimalism. One note played with the right technique implies a billion more.
🧡🧡🧡
Bernard and Nile left each other so much room to get it on. The best pairing in the history of music. In my humble opinion.
Chic is so underrated because of the proximity to disco ... but people don't realize all the great acts they influenced and helped to produce. Just awesome, so funky.
Bernhard Edwards and Chic are so great! The footage of him was as far I remember the night he died, his last concert in Japan. R.I.P. his groove is still going on!!
Bernard Edwards has been my favorite bass player since I first heard Chic, 45 years ago. Because he is not showing off, but playing only the notes that matter.
🧡🧡🧡
About Friggin' time Bernard Edwards gets the attention he deserves !! He is the reason
I became a bassist. I heard " Le Freak ", and that put me on the path of learning about
groove and timing..
I get what you mean, but this song and Bernard's work and contribution to bass is well documented on YT.
This lesson is a bit late, but will help some. There's lots of lessons covering this song that have been around for years. Yep, Bernard certainly knew how to groove and keep it tight and funky.
Cheers
Reminds me of this guy
ua-cam.com/video/fpu0XDDh3zA/v-deo.html
Bernie Edwards was one of the greats and highly influential.
Bernard Edwards' bass line for Good Times is a classic. The kind of line you had to learn back then if you wanted to be a bass player. The combination of Bernard Edwards and Nile Rodgers (another underrated guitar player along with Ernie Isley ---- think rhythm , riffs and timing) made them unstoppable with all the projects they were involved in collectively and individually. Nile Rodgers still makes his mark in popular music today by way of Daft Punk and a current Lizzo track.
Every Chic song Bernard Edwards gives a lesson on how to play the bass, he was great, Diana Ross song Now That You're Gone, co-written by Bernard Edward, is the only ballard that you can't help but listen to the bass line, real funky
What an enthusiatic, clear-speaking educator you are! Wonderful!
The enthusiasm is quite infectious :)))
agree 100%
Being a kid of the Disco Era, Chic is my all-time favortite band. You can hear Nile Rodgers in many other songs.
Esa linea de bajo influyó a toda la industria musical durante años .
Hasta Queen con " another one bites the dust " .
Bernard Edwards es leyenda
This bassline really is the GOAT 🐐
No other comments required
That last clip was Bernards last show. He passed in his Hotel that night from pneumonia RIP the greatest
We want More Ian Allison!
For me Bernard is the best of all!
I worked this out myself a couple of years ago, but kept discovering other little subtleties in the part that I hadn’t noticed. I always get a massive kick out of playing this bassline. Probably my favourite baseline ever. Thankyou to Bernard Edwards, for his utter genius.
Agree. Also the funky guitar part from Nile Rodgers is so great .
@@strat0871 Yes, that is also a legendary part. Awesome.
If a bass guitar commercial from the designer features a history lesson and economics jibberish, you know you entered Jack Stratton's realm. 😆
Bernard was so frickin cool bro just hangin back in the groove
This is a prime example of less being more Bernard Edwards and Tony Thompson created a pocket and lived in it. Bernard Edwards made me want to pick up the bass
Not sure there’s ever been a sound check where I didn’t play a bit of this bass-line at some point. EVERY TIME, I’ll get a couple of ‘woo-hoo’s from the crew or someone standing nearby.
Is this the greatest bass-line ever? Yes. Yes it is.
Rest in peace Bernard Edwards, he is one of my top favourite bass players!! ✌️☺️
Bernard Edwards, c'est la classe. Des fois, c'est indéfinissable. Le son, le phrasé… Il a tout. J'aime ce mec.
Even though it came out in the '70s, it was definitely the most important bassline of the '80s. "Rappers Delight" was the world's intro to rap music; John Deacon intentionally wrote "Another One Bites the Dust" to sound like "Good Times." "Another One Bites.." was a huge hit and got a lot of people interested in Queen who then went on to become musicians because of Queen. Then Duran Duran took over early-80's pop with John Taylor blazing on bass, doing his best to play like Bernard Edwards (when Bernie Edwards died, he left his favorite bass to John Taylor). Duran Duran shaped the direction of 80's pop.
Have you ever taken the time to learn a bassline you love so much and you're almost disappointed by how simple it is to play? That's how this one was for me. It's so simple and it's so obvious I can't help but think he just made it up on the spot. This sounds like something I would play when I'm deciding what I'm going to write. I figure out the key, and they just kind of walk up the scale then walk back down a different way and that's really all this is, only with magical flair and perfect touch.
The best tutorial of this bassline
🧡🧡🧡
I’ve probably said this before on one of the videos with Ian, but he literally could be a TWIN to a guy i know! Same sense of humor, same way of talking, similar voice, and (i kid you not) even a similar face. They even wear similar glasses! It’s like they could be brothers. It trips me out! Lol
I get that a lot lol
@@IanMartinAllison weird. Lol
Why do I love Mr. Allison so much???
Appreciate this so much, my personal top 3 are Bernard, Louis Johnson and Leon Sylvers. Please feature Mr. Sylvers, his bass lines are some of the greatest ever in R&B/Dance Music, namely “And The Beat Goes On” he produced for The Whispers on the Solar record label. He truly hasn’t been featured enough.
I met Louis Johnson at NAMM one year. He was walking the aisles with a Stingray (of course) bass. He had the end of a silver teaspoon bent into a ring to cover his thumb slap joint. He had a callous there as hard as a rock. It looked like bone. One of Louis best pieces was Rock with You by Michael Jackson. Very melodic piece of art.
the little ghost note dropping your hand on the string to the back beat is so helpful too . I do it to every song i play now and it just really helps with timing and rhythm. made me realize ive been playing a lot of songs slightly off lol. so little tutorial has so much useful information in it.
THAT IS WITHOUT A DOUBT THE GREATEST BASELINE EVER...........PERIOD!!!!
The perfect bass line example of what the groooove is !!!!
Ian fills your heart with joy for bass.
Your whole nerdy happy enthusiastic excitement and love for what music does to you…..is almost more beautiful than the music itself. I just had to say, I love the feeling I get when I watch your videos. You are a gift. On the lucky occasions you release a video like this, I know I’ll watch it many times. MORE VIDEOS PLEASE!!!
Btw…No disrespect meant at all by “nerdy”
Rappers delight came out just months after Good Times.
Hi Ian
Thanks for this lesson. I would like to request one of Duran Duran’s John Taylor’s basslines...
Bernard Edwards was a big influence on him. Whilst John is far from a virtuoso improviser, he has written some great lines. I feel he is underrated by dint of the stigma that surrounds Duran, never truly having shaken off the teenybopper, popstar label...To me, the bassline on New Religion is as funky as it gets. He did great work on the Notorious album, which was produced by Nile Rodgers.
Many thanks.
The bassline in Rio is also awesome!
You can clearly hear the influence on Taylor's bassline in Powerstation's Some like it hot which Edwards produced
Rio and Girls on Film (Night Version) are great basslines. Bernard was such an influence on John that Bernard ‘s widow Alexis gifted John one of his Music Man basses after his death.
Here in Brazil, Gabriel O Pensador also sampled the bass line, with his song 2345MEIA78
Bernard Edwards... Legend!! Well done for a great video. Shows that the sense of time and subtle rhythms transforms a good line into a great line
Ian, people sure loved roller skating to that song!
I'm a rookie bass player, and just yesterday I put flats on my Ray 4 bass. Looking forward to learning this iconic bassline. Thanks for the tips!
Reminds me of this guy
ua-cam.com/video/fpu0XDDh3zA/v-deo.html
Bernard Edwards would sound hyper-funky falling out of bed...
The Dry Cleaner from DesMoines, please...
LOL !!!! 100%
Flats on a Stingray! Thank you! I think I’m gonna put flats on my stingray soon.
A good, concise explanation of a classic line.
You said in the video to place suggestions for further tracks in the description - I don't know where that is, so I'll place mine here. I don't know if they're well known enough, but... Endicott... or Annie I'm not Your Daddy by Kid Creole and the Coconuts.
Another great episode, Ian, thank you =) What's next? "Stomp" Brothers Johnson would be awseome
Ian Marin Allison! Congratulations for doing exactly what you were born to do! Love the energy and legit passion for bass tutorial. You are clear and entertaining and can really play. What more could I ask! Keep up the Juju brother
Yes We Can Can - Pointer Sisters or Tony Hall version with Maceo. Tricky little line
Loving this series, Ian! Great choices so far. How about we head into some 80's pop rock with Rio by Duran Duran. John Taylor doesn't get enough love for his playing.
I heard Thelma Houston's "Don't Leave Me This Way" on the radio today and for the first time (in 45 years), I was conscious of the bass line. Wow! That's a great one! How about trying that song on for size, Ian? Let's face it, Soul/Funk/Disco had/has the most iconic bass parts. 👍
Disco and funk is to bass what rock is to guitar.
@@broskimedula5300 🤘 👍
And this is the Basic “101” Intro Course for B’Nard Edwards. Wait til we get to “Everybody Dance” and his “chucking”. Even Chic’s current bass player has to use a pick instead of “chucking” Everybody Dance is a rite of passage for any funk/RandB/dance music bass player. Great video. You have just an incredible ability to teach.
I'll get laughed off of here with this suggestion but you should do something on Mike Mills from R.E.M. Amazing melodic lines and really drove the band in the early days, plays with a pick and sings harmonies and lead at times.
I love Mike Mills! Orange Crush
Would like to see that as well. His bass work needs more recognition.
I think I am remembering correctly: Mike Mills once said in an interview that John McVie was his inspiration and he always asked, "What would John do in this song". Another understand bass player, like Paul Denman. Bernard, John, Mike, Paul. Man what great basslines. I am thinking of John's bass line at the end of "The Chain", or that hook he tastefully put in every-once-in-awhile on "Gypsy". Love those rock-solid basslines like what Bernard does here.
No laughing from me! Great bass player.
He’s a great bass player.
How funny driving on my way to work just now was Good Times on the radio and I thought- this would be an awesome Greatest Bass Lines ever. I go on UA-cam and what do find? UA-cam is reading my mind. Great video thank you Ian!!
Man! Right now that's the best UA-cam series there is. Love the oldies of course, but my favorite ones are the takes on recent releases! What a moment to groove with a bass huh.
Best tutorial ever, he his feeling it sooo much that he became the bass line 👑
I have to admit.....I really like your lessons..>!!!!!!!!!!
Ian Allison thank you, I tried to learn this bass groove for awhile now and you must made it so easy to follow.
These are among my favorite videos on UA-cam. If IMA gets his own channel, I'm subscribing immediately.
Thanks Ian. I love your videos. You are my favorite teacher on the SBL staff!
Brave Captain, Fire Hose, Mike Watt's bassline on this song is one of my favorites.
Has Ian already done "For the Love of Money"? If not, that should be on the list
You can really hear how Bernard was a ridiculous bassist and an amazing song writer. John Taylor said in an interview fairly recently that Bernard told him a great bass line tells a story. I think that's what makes Bernard's grooves so satisfying, they always support or emphasize what the song is doing, while being disgustingly funky.
Thanks, this is, to me, the best walkthrough of this line on UA-cam. And a reason I try to learn to play
Ghost note - a note that is rhythmic rather than attached to a pitch.
Fantastic definition 🤌
Edit: You know what? SUBSCRIBED
I definitely need to put flats back on one of my Stingrays again. Thanks for the lesson Ian!
Thanks Ian,I've been tugging a bass since the early 70's and always get a golden nugget from you on your vids.
Bernard Edward's work with Chic and Sister Sledge are a master class in groove and taste.Sorrily missed but we're lucky to have so many great recordings.
Also a wonderful bassist,who in my opinion doesn't get the recognition he deserves,is Tiran Porter of The Doobie Brothers.Wonderful lines played mainly with a pick."Listen To The Music" is a fine example and tricky to get it right.Love those flats!
Bernard was also the bassist for the Robert Palmer fronted band Power Station.
Just the internet makes me having you as a teacher and I’m thankful for that 🙏🏽
Bernard Edwards actually passed away back in 1996. That video was someone else playing but he also did a great job.
the live footage... so cool
Great vid. I remember being 13 in December and getting a boom box for Christmas. Not a big one… just one
speaker for a 13 year old. Anyway, we decided to visit family in Puerto Rico, and I brought my little boom box with me. I had Rapper’s Delight on cassette and played it everywhere. You’d think I was annoying, but EVERYWHERE from the pueblos to the mall; beat boxes. Playing Rapper’s Delight. It was HUGE in ‘79.
Anyway, I’m an Aerosmith fan, and Tom Hamilton wrote Sweet Emotion. As the story goes, he wrote it and handed it off to the band to see if they could do something with it. When he came back, they had rearranged it backwards to what he left off. I always wondered what it started off as, and what were the changes the rest of Aerosmith did to it.
This is surely one of my fav base lines.
Yes. Yes it is and this is one of those bas lines that I play all of the time and I occasionally play it to warm up. Love this bass line and that can be said for pretty much every Bernard Edwards bass line.
You nailed it! This is my all-time-favorites! Actually, there are 2 bass lines from my youth that made me playing bass (I'm born in 64). That was definitely this one, and some songs on Santana's Abraxas and Amigos albums, which were the first records I bought as teenager. I find the bass line on "Europa / Earth's Cry Heaven's Smile" intriguing. Possibly not spectacular enough for many, but it touched me.
Hi Ian. Yet another great vid that explains more of the joy of bass playing. I love everything being put out at SBL and I so enjoy watching Scott and his antics, but your thrill at playing bass and making it real makes me want to just get to it! Thanks for all that you do and for everything offered @ SBL.
These are fantastic videos. Thanks very much!
Massive respect to Bernard's restraint on this 🙌 Those that can... don't 🙂
Correct
James Brown formula = the bass never changes
I love your enthusiasm its inspiring! and that bass line !!
Great lesson, awesome historic bass line. Many thanks Scott!. The details about fingering techniques, ghost notes etc is super valuable.
That's actually our guy Ian. But thanks!!
Billy Bass Nelson better by the Pound
Hi Ian, I'd love to see one on Around The World by Daft Punk.
Phenomenal lines in there.
Cheers
It’s quintessential! Great feature. Gotta add that Flea did a send up on Young MC’s Bust a Move. And I gotta suggest featuring John Taylor of Duran Duran who switched from guitar to bass after hearing good times.
Loving this series, great work Ian! You’ve definitely gotta do a Beatles Macca bass line, Something has one of my favourite bass lines ever
I'm gonna have to echo your thoughts on restraint there. For me, if a bassist is pretty basic, and they play something so simple, I ask myself "I wonder if this bassist just isn't that good". But when they prove themselves talented, and they make this kind of decision, then I know it was very much intended and not an indication of their limitations. So cool.
Thank you for this! My fav bass player of all time. 🙏🏾❤️
Mine too 👏
Been playing this since I started bass a year ago. Just discovered I've been playing it WRONG!!!! Many, many thanks. (I always kinda knew I was playing it 'shady but close' - but I seem to have just internalised that and let myself off - Error!)
SBL member here - love what you, Scott and Phil Mann do. Huge respect.
Oh man Ian, I love the songs you bring us here and the way you explain them and make them understandable. You brought a lot of sun into my very cloudy weekend with this post. Keep it up!
Bassist worthy of a CloseUp would be Percy Jones (Brand X primarily). There's all you could ask for as in Ghost Notes, Harmonics (even some sliding ones) and some fretless trickery equal to, but so diametrically opposed to, Jaco Pastorius. 'Nightmare Patrol' from Brand X's live album 'Livestock', or maybe 'Malaga Virgen' has it all. Well worth deconstructing - British Quirkyness at its finest. Performed on fretless Precision bass! Excellent cover art also (Hipgnosis).
Love Percy Jones!
I love this guy!
I ve been playing bass about 5 years and I didn't have a bass Teacher so I was just playing to learn but this year thanks to this channel I get to know a little bit of theory which to be honest helps a lot maybe when I finish university and get a job I will start getting bass lessons
Thank you Ian. Not only is this a wonderful break down of a fabulous bass line, but you have also given me the motivation that I need, to get to grips with the modes.
No shade on Scott or the rest of the huge bass talent SBL has at its disposal, but I enjoy and look forward to your content the most!
Been in my head forever now i can play )a version) of it. Super thanks.
As always, you do such a great job in breaking everything down for the viewer to get some understanding to what’s going on with the monster bass lines. Bernard Edwards was one of my favorites back in 79 when I got my first bass. But the very first bass player who inspired me was Jermaine Jackson of the J5. After I found that the bass player on most of their earlier records was Jameson and Babbitt. Needless to say that I was a little disappointed. Anyway what do think about Jermaine as a bass player and if maybe could break some of his live performances playing bass with his brothers. Thanks.
This always brings a smile. Both versions of song that used this, plus the various (let's call them) homages to the great Bernard Edward line provided part of the soundtrack to my youth and way before I played the bass and could appreciate the craft. Thank you Ian for the comprehensive run through both of the song, it's history, and the theory that underlines the part. I now know how it should be played and why. Kudos !!
Infectious enthusiasm....keep up the Good (Times) Work Ian!!
Ian you now are one of my favorite go to UA-cam demonstrators/ teachers/explainers dudes!!! Thanks and can’t wait to see what’s next. ✌️❤️
Thank you thank you thank you! Love this series and the workbooks!
Rush YYZ is a mind blower!
Your enthusiasm is so infectious! Great editing too. Chic is tops.
i LOLed when he ask the camera to zoom in for the mention of dorian scale :D
Gotta love your enthusiasm!💪