ABBA’s True Secret Weapon
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- Опубліковано 28 тра 2024
- ABBA was always known for its 4 main members. Who else contributed to the band's incredible success?
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0:00 Intro + Background
2:41 Breakdown No. 1 - "One Of Us"
5:21 Breakdown No. 2 - "Lay All Your Love On Me"
7:42 Breakdown No. 3 - "Super Trouper"
#abba
WHOA! I received a message from THE actual Mike Watson! He said this to me. - "Keep up the good work. It's all about the BASS! By the way Benny was copying the bass lines we made we didn't copy him. Cheers, Mike..." (SO FREAKIN' COOL! Clearly he wanted to be clear that Benny copied him hahaha)
What is your opinion? Is it allowed to play bass with a pick?
Wow you got a message from Mike Watson........great. Yess ABBA had the best female singers, a very good songwriter and 2 cool bassists.....that was the whole package why they are so good.
@@degeneralist3.088Sure it is. McCartney does/did.Abba and The Beatles are bands with really interesting bass playing, so that must count fo something. U2 may also be included...
Hello sweetie, as a big Abba fan, I never paid attention to the bass, only the lyrics and the melodies. BTW, you re cute...
@@eliaspapoudaris6012 Thank you
You cannot forget Mikael B Tretow, if you are talking about Secret Weapon.
100%
Couldn't agree more. I call him the fifth ABBA member...
Hi Andrew, Thank you for this. Rutger and Mike really deserve to be celebrated not just as wonderful bass players but incredible musicians. Their work with ABBA was simply brilliant. Rutger, in particular, had that special feel which blended beautifully with what Bjorn and Benny were trying to achieve. And we must not forget Lasse Wellander and Janne Schaffer whose great guitar skills gave Rutger's bass parts plenty of room to breath. Cheers from the Land Down Under.
ABBA had so many 'true weapons".Bassists such as Rutger were really precious to their team not to mention their genius sound engineer M.Tretow and of course Agnetha's and Frida's vocal blendingt.That was outa this world.'No one to touch them in their field' .ThaNk u for doing Abba.
The “secret weapon” helped, but to suggest they were more critical to ABBA’s success is simply ridiculous. The two girls, Anna Frid and Agneta, have magical voices. Individuality and combined. Benny and Bjorn were absolute musical genius. One creating the music and the other one the lyrics. All four were the magic that made ABBA worked. Without any of the 4, ABBA may have not been the same. Without the “secret weapon”, ABBA would have still been successful
Rutger Gunnarson was an incredible bass player, for sure!
ABBA has been favorite band since I first heard them as a kid in the early 70s.
Everybody involved with ABBA were top notch. The guitarist, Lasse Wellander was also the best in the game. A wonderfully melodic player. A bit like David Gilmour.
R I P Lasse.😢
Lasse Welander and Mats Ronander on mighty lead guitars
Ola Brunkert on drums
Mikael Tretow behind the controls like a Swedish George Martin.
Soundtrack of my teens 😎💪
Rutger was amazing for sure. I was lucky enough to see them in Eurovision 1974 at Brighton with my wonderful (passed) Dad. It was un-cool to like ABBA in the 80's. Glad their music is still getting played all these years later.
At the cafe someone asked me “Who’s you favourite bass player?” I answered “Rutger Gunnarsson” they normally answer “Who’s that?” lol. I enjoyed this interlude here !
I played guitar in one or two indie bands over the years, and received more than the occasional quizzical look when I answered likewise!😄 As an aside, I'd often wondered to what extent Rutger influenced another favourite (and *certainly* underrated) bass player of mine: Mat Osman from Suede- some of his lines are beautifully inventive IMHO, and have that Gunnarsson groove (qv "Europe Is Our Playground", "The Wild Ones", "The Asphalt World").😁✌️
RIP Rutger, truly a legendary artist, a son of Sweden
I like reading these comments and seeing some less known but so very good songs mentioned . Nina, Pretty Ballerina, I've Been Waiting For You, Soldiers.... ABBA has so many great and beautiful songs. I've been listening to them solid since the 1st grade. I'm 55. Thank you for the music and thanks to all that point these wonderful elements out. Keep your music alive.
The genius behind the music is Benny Andersson
I would actually say it was a very lucky combination of people. They all contributed to the songs in their own way.
Exactly... this video would seem as the bassist was but there would be no ABBA without Benny. Other ppl added but to what was created already which Benny did most of it.
These are incredible. I knew aguitar player who hated Abba. He didn't understand why I loved them. I told him it was the groove.
As ABBA for decades, I actually did not pay much attention to the bass line. Only concentrate on melodies. But now I will listen more intensity. Thanks so much for this video.
Thank you so much for this video. You are 100% right. I had been waiting for a long time to see if anybody made a video about Rutger Gunnarsson's influence on ABBA’s songs, and I am glad you did it. His basslines are masterpieces. Unfortunately, he didn’t get more recognition for having so much talent.
The song "Knowing me, knowing you" has a really crazy bass line and its crazy good as well. Great video you made highlighting these basslines.
One of those “what is he playing?” basslines but it sounds so good!
The Name of the Game is another great ABBA bassline.
An analysis that was a long time coming!!
These guys were pure perfection in adult pop production and performance.
It's adult pop a term?
My dad said to me back when I was still a kid in the '80s that disco ain't disco without those amazing basslines
LOVE to see the Abba tracks dissected like this!
Gunnarsson's playing added so much color.
And fortunately Little Mike Watson is alive and kicking to this very day.
Mike is still playing and touring regularly, internationally even. Fantastic bassist!
Add “The winner takes it all”, “Crazy world”, “Angeleyes” and “I’ve been waiting for you” to this. Also extremely underrated ABBA bass lines
'Money, Money, Money' too
'MMM" gr8 bass but even also 'One of Us",'Gimme Gimme Gimme','One man one woman".'Voulez Vous" to mention but a few.
Oh i forgot 'Super Trouper",Great bass i was just listening to the backing track yesterday.Unbelievable details that aren't audible at once.
Fore the record, Rutger playd one of us and one man one woman. Mike Watson played gimme gimme gimme. Arnold Paseiro playd Voulez-Vous.@@christianoazzuro6711
Winner, Day Before, Soldiers…. The list goes on.
Thanks so much for doing this. It’s about time.
I couldn’t agree more Rutger was a monster bass player and his bass parts gave ABBA songs great foundation and syncopation. I love the vocals of course, great harmonies, but as a musician the bass lines rock and give so much character to the rhythm.
👍👍👍
Well said, my friend! Thanks for watching.
As always, great content. I am Swedish and grew up with ABBA. Rutger Gunnarsson and Mike Watson are two of the greatest Swedish bass players in my opinion. If Gunnarsson is the Polar Studio's James Jamerson, Watson is the Polar Studio's Bob Babbitt. A similar playing style but not as busy
Nina, Pretty Ballerina is another song of theirs with a standout bass line. My Mama Said also.
My Mama Said is seriously underrated. It just slicks along.
The Super Trouper bass in the chorus is Benny on his MiniMoog. The original bass line played by Mike wasn’t used.
I love Rutger. So nice seing him get some recognition
Nice to hear a bass players opinion. I´m a Swede who grew up in the 70´s and 80´s and Super Trouper was my first album. And it was different times back then. Absolutely everybody had a descent HiFi system at home and my parents were no exception. I realized quickly that ABBA´s bass was a very nice thing. In fact I got a life long HiFi hobby to thank ABBA for. Also, I always thought they mixed their albums very nice, and that is of course thanks to the brilliant Michael B Tretow. Thank´s for sharing. The bass was more amazing and interesting than I thought it was.
I played the Mama Mia show and all the parts were transcribed exactly. They were KILLER! I always respected with Gunter did but getting that in-depth with the transcriptions gave me a renewed appreciation and admiration. His parts were both busy, yet perfectly tasteful. And my favorite track to play was "One of Us."
True-but without the Four Incredible Singer writers the ABBA magic would have never happened. Everyone should see ABBA Voyage in London.
really true!!!
Every part of ABBA is important: the songs, the singers and the musicians. 🩷 ❤️ 🧡 💛 💚 🩵 💙 💜 🖤 🩶 🤍 🤎
Great job Andrew! Thanks for the heads up!
Lenny knew several ABBA Songs by heart. That’s fkn sick af
ABBA were just 'THE secret weapon' all elements included. My biggest regret is that I didn't go see them at least once on one of their later tours - and, yes, including their incredible rhythm section, not just the bassists.
They were pure pro in every sense!
Super-inspiring video to go, put on my cans, and plug in my bass to learn more on how to play it properly all over again - for the umpteenth time. (Nice-sounding Jazz-V, BTW!)
I actually saw ABBA live in Seattle in 1979, the only time they ever toured the USA. Thanks for posting this. I'd never really thought about the bass lines. One reason is that back when this music was new and released on vinyl, there were few people who had the quality of music systems one would need for the bass to stand out. You need a heavy duty receiver or amp, and some large speakers with big woofers on the bottom, and a graphic equalizer where one could boost the bass, and then one would actually have to think of doing that for an ABBA record.
1:53/1:59 deff that's some tribute band and not Abba btw.No one can really replicate those exotic Swedes in a convincing way.they are so gorgeously utopic.Thanks for 'One of Us" it's got such a fab bass.
I credited that at the bottom it’s a tribute band. It’s Mike Watson playing WITH them! Thanks 🤗
@@BassFreedomThank you Andrew for defining.The notification was just very brief and the letters tiny small some of us couldn't notice so easily so it escaped my sight too same way it happened to couple of other commentators from what i read in the comment text.But put the "blame" on me and keep the rest of my comment,lol.Btw can we hope for a part 2?I think there's more left to be explored and i feel many of us would have liked some more,eh?
I think that might be Arrival From Sweden. I saw them last year and only realised afterwards that they had an original ABBA bass player. They sound very good - well worth seeing if you get the chance.
This is why I like disco and ska. The bass lines and beats.
I would think it was a collaboration between all the musicians the audio and tape tricks plus the tape engineer (Michael B. Tretow) for the classic ABBA sound.
Hey, noticed you changed the camera angle. Looks good! Another great video.
I think great musicians know when to play a supportive role and know when to shine on a solo or other intricate part.
So cool listening to isolated tracks.
Its amazing hearing what a part sounds like apart from the rest of the piece.
Thanks for watching :D The isolated tracks are so cool for bass. And yup, switching the angles up...tryin' to keep it interesting haha :)
He stays away from pedalling letting the kick do the work. ❤❤❤
I’m so happy to see that people have not forgotten Rutger Gunnarsson. His melodic bass lines anchored ABBA’s sound. Yes the harmonize are incredible, and the melodies are catchy. But part of that sound is down to Rutger’s string arrangements. ABBA would not be who they became had it not been for Rutger.
The Name of the Game also has an incredible bassline!
The song Gimme Gimme has some of the sickest bass lines I've Ever heard
Andy, I am totally on the same page as you mate - Rutgers lines blow me away and you've absolutely nailed them - well done sir! I've adored this bloke for years and he, like Maurice Gibb, don't get a fraction of the credit they deserve. They were part of a group of bassist that made me pick up a bass in the first place and I NEVER get tired of playing their songs - massively influential
All the musicians ABBA used were great, but the true fifth member was sound engineer Michael B Tretow, a strange, creative and beautiful mind that helped creating the sound of ABBA. Rutger played a huge part as bass player and arranger, but the contributions of Tretow was more significant.
Wow WOw Wow...
Thank you for this!
6:20 I played „Lay all your love on me“ with my band and it‘s a really challenging but also satisfying bass line especially the melodic part in the verse that iirc gets doubled with guitar. I tried to do some octave double stops to simulate this sound.
Rutger was the man - I met him up north on my way back from Östersund - He told me about the simple harmonies that sounded huge .. I used in on one of my tracks from that time "Marie" :-)
I would definitely add their sound engineer, Michael B. Tretow as part of their secret weapon. He was indelible in mixing and making their vocals sparkle, against their unique melodic soundscape. His absence with their latest album i.m.o is sorely missed (though it's still a 👌🏻album).
"Money, money, money" bassline has always been one of my fave ABBA tunes.
So true- bassists are the unheralded dynamos! They propel the undercutrent of the song without many bein even conscious of it! I’m blown over by the bass on Philadelphia Freedom, for example.
The latest album, Voyage, is as incredible as the earlier ones, and was recorded after Rutger's passing away.
This is great stuff. ABBA songs were the ones that really had me listening to the bass parts, not to mention the entire arrangement. Rutger was such a fantastic player, so amazingly musical. He was also a hell of an arranger. I transcribed his string arrangement for "My Love My Life" and it's so masterfully written. Sits in the song so well.
11:18 - so true! Great work mate.
Even though I was smitten with Agnetha, since the 1974 Eurovision song contest. And - never got over that. Rutger, influenced me to be aware of bass in the mix, and want to play it. That started in 1976, when I was 13. I have only just processed the impact he has had over me, most of my musical life. What a great time to be alive.
What have liked to see Waterloo examined in this way.
Don't know anything about playing bass but watched you videos bc Abba and thebee gees are two of my all time favorite bands
I agree that session players can have a massive effect and input on to a musical track but dont for one second put them at the top of the tree as a secret weapon. At the end of the day, 1 or 2 key members of the band started the track. Laid down an initial groove or chord arrangement. Developed it and finally in a studio a person will come along and play something and add their own little piece of it. The original arrangement was done long before they turned up. Benny and Bjorn, but mainly Benny are the geniuses behind ABBA songs. The girls harmonised it perfectly.
I HAVEN'T LISTEN TO ONE OF US SINCE IN 20 YEARS; I NEED TO CHECK IT OUT AGAIN AND PAY ATTENTION TO THE BASS. THANKS FOR THE INFO MAN!
For me the most stunning group 😍
Happy to see Rutger‘s amazing work highlighted. Outstanding, legendary bass player, phenomenal musician and by all accounts he must have been a really good guy as well. What a legacy. Definitely one of my bass heroes!
One of the best groups ever..
I totally agree, I always was connected to ABBA even before I started playing bass, maybe it was the bass that drew me subliminally.
I have always been an ardent admirer of the late, great Rutger Gunnarsson. However, let us also give due to the other half of the ABBA rhythm section, Ola Brunkert. While other bassists/drummers did some session work with the group, only Gunnarsson and Brunkert appeared on tracks featured on every ABBA album (save for 2021's Voyage).
Rutgers bass is absolutely badass for a bass player to copy 😃👍❤️
Fan of Rudger’s. He played a melody in the background. Fan since 1976.
Have a listen to Rutger's bass on My Mama Said, very underrated song.
Absolutely! One of my favourite ABBA songs, mainly due to the fantastic bass.
I always wondered who played the bass in ABBA as I couldn’t see any of the 4 main member playing it. Now I know!!
Yup. I have said this for some time, to anyone prepared to listen, or even not.
Just WOW ! The guys were awesome !
Rutger is a legend (RIP) and the bass line on One of us, is definitely epic, busy bass a la Motown, nice and tastefully carved into the arrangement, always loved that one!
When I first heard "knowing me, knowing you" I had to find out who played the amazing bass......it was Rutger.....and I never heard better. Great vid thanks.
I am not a musician, but I enjoyed every second of your video. I grew up with ABBA music, and from time to time I still like to hear them, and I knew that Rutger was a first class bassist (although in some comments I've heard that he was bassist on concerts, but not on the albums, which might be wrong). But your analysis, and playing live was such a pleasure to listen. Keep such a good work, you have one more follower. Regards from Serbia...
The same is for the drumtracks...amazing
Listen to Soldiers, the bass is great.
wow!yes indeed.
I think that is an under rated composition. The bass is great as you say. A lot going on behind the vocals many changes throughout so every verse is slightly different.
And where are the goosebumps come from? Two seconds of ABBA did that to me.
Their music is incredible and does not receive the respect it deserves. Even in the Broadway show and movie soundtrack, Benny and Bjorn made sure the music had the ABBA sound and feel.
Not to take away from the work of these two studio bassists, but I always felt the synthesizer bass-line in "Under Attack" was KILLER! I almost SANG with the melody. I actually have an A432Hz conversion of that one on my channel, but any search for it will bring it up. To me, "Under Attack" is one of their great lost hits!
- _The Acoustic Rabbit Hole_
I always have the bass turned up on everything I listen to.
omfg fucking finally. this man is soo criminally underrated
I am so glad you made a vid about this. I was watching a small gig of ABBA playing in Japan and it was blindingly obvious they were in fact a seven piece band. Gutner himself was classically trained and had a huge imput into their sound. So why weren't the other three given full credit and be named members? Basically for commercial reasons the two couples worked great as a brand and getting more names and faces added would not have looked so good. Also the other three came and went more, especially the drummers, so in a way they were session musicians. The Beatles on other hand were a genuine 4 piece, any one else joining would do normally for very minor roles and they were given full credit, although Billy Preston by the let it be album had a become the virtual 5th Beatle. If the beatles had carried on, would he have been a full member? Probably not as its best bands stick to their original identity.
I just love your passion and your enthusiasm! Thank you for this interesting video. I know those songs quite well but I never really paid close attention to the bass parts, except for Super Trouper because it is impossible not to notice it. Those are impressive pieces of virtuosity!
I didn't know that ABBA had a bass player. I grew up when they were popular. I never paid attention to bass players either. I didn't know that there were more people than the 4 singers 😳.
Strange because here I can actually hear a bass playing.
I'd say their secret weapon was Michael B Tretow, their sound engineere.
I remember that dave grhol said on a documentary ABBA, is section A secction B seccion B seccion A
A
B
B
A
Rocker David is a huge and very emotional Abba fan for some reason.He doesn't care at all if he's coming from a different / harder music genre but loves Abba's pop music purity and don't give a damn for any critical voices.He's a fan of the Swedes and just wants the world to know this.Benny got aware of this and uploaded a lil video in a symbolic response with him playing a sample of a FF's tune on his piano wearing a FF's T shirt.After he finished he showed flashed this T shirt on camera smiling out in meaningfull way and gratefuly.That was so sweet.
Love this !
The bass part in Super Trouper in the chorus is Benny’s synth. The actual bass line played by Mike Watson was muted in those sections, but can be heard in this unique mix that Michael Tretow made to help with vocal notation during the production of Mamma Mia in London.
ua-cam.com/video/hI628xj_p-Y/v-deo.htmlsi=mNwsdfpNx2NSqQ-S
Thanks that is really interesting, never knew these remixes existed, great work
This is cool! I noticed live Rutger would sit out, but in the final chorus that I highlighted in the video he is doubling the synth! I noticed this because I thought the way he played it was an interesting choice lol. Thanks for sharing!
Wow!! It’s as if my ears have been cleaned out!! Great to notice the wonderful bass lines!!
Never heard it like that - thanks a lot for this video! 👍
One of the reasons for ABBA's reticence with regard to touring was Agnetha's severe fear of flying.
Vorning 1966.. grew up with ABBA.. ❤ THANK YOU
Wonderful video with my ABBA's fav song
If you like groovy basslines I guess you'll love the French Claude François' "Magnolias forever".
I just found this channel. These are awesome 😎 I play Tuba and gee it would be so awesome to play these instead of the boring daa-da-daaaa we get written.
Can you do a breakdown of Under Attack?
Love that song and baseline is cool :-)
As with any ‘part’ of ABBA, remove one and the ABBA sound is gone. They all as important as each other. One of the reasons why the Voyage album sounds a bit different. No Mike or Rutger on bass, no Ola on drums and no Michael B Tretow as sound engineer.
'As with any part of ABBA remove one and the ABBA sound is gone".Such a great comment and observation,such a truth!Abba was such a 'together" thing.Each one was such a suitable and unique contributor that worked to make this wonder.
Yep, the album sounds like polished, decently fleshed out demos and not a fully produced ABBA work. It lacks the texture, dynamic punch, and magic of their classic recordings. Such a shame because the tunes themselves are great.
I like the lighter touch of Voyage. It brings an incredible depth of humanity.
I was disappointed with Voyage. Yes, great production, but so so songs and lyrics. I get it that they don't want to go back in time to their heyday, but, ABBA was great because they were hooky. No songs on Voyage made me want to listen to it again. Very blasé. Sad, because I was really looking forward to one of the Monsters of Pop.
That blond is the main attraction
Andrew thanks for all of these. The passion and kick you get out of these is really inspiring.
Thank YOU Phillip!!!
Fascinating … thanks for sharing 🙏
This channel deserves many more subscribers!
Janne Schaffer, playing guitar, was also one of their secret weapons.
Love your useful, informative analyses and presentations.
Rutger Gunnarson was the secret weapon, i've been telling people this for years, RIP.