Betty Called Me In

I heard GL sing this live in Toronto at Massey in the mid eighties.

He mentioned on that cold spring night he "loves" songs with a "walking bass" and this one has it. Any of you "GEETAR" players out there could explain what a walking base is, it would be appreciated here.

When I first heard it I really got the lryics mixed up...

Lyrics are:
"I think that was my big love scene,
I do belive her engine run all right"

I heard...
"She loved me like a Lovin' machine,
I do belive her engine runnin all right"
________
portable vaporizer

[Wes Steele]

I heard GL sing this live in Toronto at Massey in the mid eighties.

He mentioned on that cold spring night he "loves" songs with a "walking bass" and this one has it. Any of you "GEETAR" players out there could explain what a walking base is, it would be appreciated here.

When I first heard it I really got the lryics mixed up...

Lyrics are:
"I think that was my big love scene,
I do belive her engine run all right"

I heard...
"She loved me like a Lovin' machine,
I do belive her engine runnin all right"

[char]

well howdy stranger!!!
lol
i think a walking bass refers to the rhythm in the background of the bass sort of thumping along keeping pace. i remember when gord would say that he would look at Rick and Rick would start walking around the stage!
gord thought it was hilarious EVERYtime!
lol

[Wes Steele]

Didn't know that you were such an accomplished musician. Thank you for the reply and answer.

About Rick walking....Gord always liked those cheap jokes.

[james hill]

Hi Wes,

A walking bassline is one of the most often used bass lines in pop music. Another good example of the walk in GL's tunes is "Hangdog Hotel Room". The old rock n' roll chestnut "At The Hop" also uses it. Anyway it's hard to describe it in print, but "Betty..." definitely has it.
Thanks, by the way for refreshing my memory regarding "Betty Called...". I do recall Gord playing that in the '80's.

Take care,
James Hill

[jaybyrd]

I always thought that a walking bass was walking between chords on the bass strings. If you are a self accompainist (no bass guitar to back you) your thumb is your rhythm section. In Steel Rail Blues there is a fine example of what I mean. After "carry me home to the one I love" the chords run, C, Em, Am, G7. I try to emulate the recording by playing a bass line of C-B-A-G twice after the first verse and once before the oooo oooo sections.
Also another good example of my idea of a walking bass is often heard on Leadbelly's work. Play low E string open, then at 4th fret, A sting at 2nd fret then 4th fret (counting 1-2-3-4)thats one bar. Then run back up from D string 2nd fret A string 4th fret then 2nd fret, E string 4th fret. Repeat the whole thing twice more, that is 4 bars in E, do the whole thing again starting on the open A sting for 2 bars. That is 6 bars of a basic 12 bar blues in E. B7 is a bit tricky but can be sorted out. I play the 1st, 5th,6th and 5th, notes of the Bmajor scale for that bar. It sounds quite good. This is what I would call a 'walking bass'

[wattsdmatter]

I always thought that a walking bass was walking between chords on the bass strings. If you are a self accompainist (no bass guitar to back you) your thumb is your rhythm section. In Steel Rail Blues there is a fine example of what I mean. After "carry me home to the one I love" the chords run, C, Em, Am, G7. I try to emulate the recording by playing a bass line of C-B-A-G twice after the first verse and once before the oooo oooo sections.
Also another good example of my idea of a walking bass is often heard on Leadbelly's work. Play low E string open, then at 4th fret, A sting at 2nd fret then 4th fret (counting 1-2-3-4)thats one bar. Then run back up from D string 2nd fret A string 4th fret then 2nd fret, E string 4th fret. Repeat the whole thing twice more, that is 4 bars in E, do the whole thing again starting on the open A sting for 2 bars. That is 6 bars of a basic 12 bar blues in E. B7 is a bit tricky but can be sorted out. I play the 1st, 5th,6th and 5th, notes of the Bmajor scale for that bar. It sounds quite good. This is what I would call a 'walking bass'

[Cathy]

The best Lightfoot example I can think of for a walking bassline is Make Way For The Lady, particularly half way through the song, I think it's at the part where Gord sings, "Shake hands with the Father...."
Walking bass is very hard to explain in print. Believe me, I tried to explain it to Val last night on IM. I think I have her totally confused now!
You have to imagine the boom boom boom boom bassline continuously progressing part way up the scale, and back down, usually in groups of four notes, right on the beat. If you watch a bass guitarist playing it, it appears that his fingers are walking up and down the neck of the guitar.

Cathy

Cathy,
You explained the "walking bass" concept quite well. It's kind of like the typical left hand action in an old-style piano boogie woogie. It pretty much follows the chord structure with sometimes an added second or (more often) sixth interval, going up in order of pitch and then back down in the same order in straight rhythm. The "shake hands with the Father" part of "Make Way for the Lady" epitomizes the walking bass.
Heather

Cathy,
You explained the "walking bass" concept quite well. It's kind of like the typical left hand action in an old-style piano boogie woogie. It pretty much follows the chord structure with sometimes an added second or (more often) sixth interval, going up in order of pitch and then back down in the same order in straight rhythm. The "shake hands with the Father" part of "Make Way for the Lady" epitomizes the walking bass.
Heather

[Cathy]

Nice comparison, Heather, and probably one only a pianist would come up with. But you described it perfectly.

Cathy

[Brian 57]

There's a very funny scene in an episode of the tv show "Happy Days" where Marion (the mom) is taught that type of left hand bass line. She's playing the piano at a wedding of a family friend. The groom is out in the driveway playing with a basketball because he's too nervous to get started, and while Howard is calming him down to get him to come back in, Marion is playing every song she knows trying in vain to keep the bridal party, family and friends entertained. Finally, the groom's father gets up and goes over to the piano and shows Marion the bass line, and he improvises a melody line.

[Restless]

quote:Originally posted by Cathy:
The best Lightfoot example I can think of for a walking bassline is Make Way For The Lady, particularly half way through the song, I think it's at the part where Gord sings, "Shake hands with the Father...."
Walking bass is very hard to explain in print. Believe me, I tried to explain it to Val last night on IM. I think I have her totally confused now!
You have to imagine the boom boom boom boom bassline continuously progressing part way up the scale, and back down, usually in groups of four notes, right on the beat. If you watch a bass guitarist playing it, it appears that his fingers are walking up and down the neck of the guitar.

Cathy
You had it with "Make way for the lady".. A walking bass follows and changes with each change of word. Another words..lets define what it is NOT. When you pluck the bass string it will vibrate for awhile and continue to emit sound till it fades etc. So in the meantime a person may or could sing/say several words in the corus before the bass cord is plucked again.
So with a walkin bass it is plucked for each word sung. "Make way for the lady= bum bum bum ba ba bum" etc. It walks along or follows each word sung.