K-Chuck Radio: It’s All About That Bass…

On occasion, if I’ve heard a song on the radio more times than I care to count, I’ll start focusing on a specific part of the song itself – the drummer, the bassist, something to find a nuance that I hadn’t noticed before.

On today’s K-Chuck Radio, I want to take you into the rock world and show off the greatest bass players – by simply showing their amazing bass lines as they’re stripped from the rest of the songs.

So crank up the speakers and enjoy.

Here’s John Entwhistle, ripping through “Won’t Get Fooled Again” by the Who… if you just hear the bass line, you can understand how incredible he was as a rock bassist.

It’s amazing to hear Yes’ “Roundabout” with the power of Chris Squire’s bass charging through the track, you can hear from the bass line how the melody would hang off the bass.  Great stuff.

Not to be outdone, here’s the incredible John Paul Jones of Led Zeppelin powering his wya through “Whole Lotta Love.”

There’s a great theory that the Motown Sound is essentially James Jamerson’s bass on more than 100 different pop and soul singles of the 1960’s and 1970’s.  Take a listen and tell me that you agree.  Here’s James Jamerson powering through Marvin Gaye’s “What’s Going On.”

Steve Lukather, who you might know from the band Toto, ripped through the bass line for Michael Jackson’s “Beat It.”

And here’s Boston creator Tom Scholz, showing that he can also play bass just as fluidly as he can play guitar.  Here’s his isolated track on “Hitch A Ride.”

The Clash’s biggest U.S. hit, “Rock the Casbah,” bounces along with Topper Headon’s bass picking.  Follow along with me here.

One more.  In 1983, the band Big Country had a hit called “In a Big Country,.”  Here’s their bassist, Tony Butler, as he carries the track from start to finish.

Awesome speaker-shaking bass tracks.  Right here on a place where it’s all about the bass (no treble), K-Chuck Radio!