Who Played Bass On What Songs...

General discussion about Pink Floyd.
ChillOnTheSun
Embryo
Embryo
Posts: 21
Joined: Sat Sep 14, 2019 12:47 pm

Re: Who Played Bass On What Songs...

Post by ChillOnTheSun »

Well, Rick Wright playd cello on PATGOD, he is not credited for it. He even played drums and slide guitar on Sysyphus, and trombone on Biding my time. Dave played bass and drums on Fat Old Sun, Pillow of Winds, Narrow way and it is not mentioned in any encyclopedia. Rick Wright played also occasional acoustic guitar (Summer 68).And I suppose some additional keyboard stuff was layered by someone else than Rick in early years (eg. piano on Narrow Way) . As Roger played lot of acoustic guitar. We even don't know who played vibraphone in Pillow of Winds, as there is consensus that vibraphone was played by Rick. No one cares. That was collective work.
User avatar
DarkSideFreak
Knife
Knife
Posts: 314
Joined: Wed Aug 05, 2015 4:22 pm
Gender: Male

Re: Who Played Bass On What Songs...

Post by DarkSideFreak »

Annoying Twit wrote: Thu Oct 08, 2020 10:04 pm As Guy Pratt himself said, he did get royalties for WtIO. He just didn't get credit on the album.
Well, that's good, but odd to hear... why would you not give him credit? :?
ChillOnTheSun wrote: Fri Oct 09, 2020 7:24 am Well, Rick Wright playd cello on PATGOD, he is not credited for it. He even played drums and slide guitar on Sysyphus, and trombone on Biding my time. Dave played bass and drums on Fat Old Sun, Pillow of Winds, Narrow way and it is not mentioned in any encyclopedia. Rick Wright played also occasional acoustic guitar (Summer 68).And I suppose some additional keyboard stuff was layered by someone else than Rick in early years (eg. piano on Narrow Way) . As Roger played lot of acoustic guitar. We even don't know who played vibraphone in Pillow of Winds, as there is consensus that vibraphone was played by Rick. No one cares. That was collective work.
We do know who played on The Narrow Way... all instruments David. Same goes for Sysyphus with everything by Rick.

The other stuff you mention is more interesting. I think the book that I have (song by song) mentions some of it, but not all.

The initial question was how much bass was played not by Roger but by David, and there's still not a really concrete answer to that. We know some songs on which David definitely played, but I've got a feeling there must be more.
User avatar
Annoying Twit
Hammer
Hammer
Posts: 1425
Joined: Sun Feb 03, 2008 1:26 pm

Re: Who Played Bass On What Songs...

Post by Annoying Twit »

DarkSideFreak wrote: Sun Oct 11, 2020 2:27 pm Well, that's good, but odd to hear... why would you not give him credit? :?
I ... do not know.
ZiggyZipgun
Hammer
Hammer
Posts: 1236
Joined: Mon May 05, 2008 3:04 pm

Re: Who Played Bass On What Songs...

Post by ZiggyZipgun »

He explained in his Lockdown Licks video that he came up with the volume swell-bass part, and Rick based the chord progression on that, and Anthony Moore wrote the lyrics. Well, chord progressions are not a factor of songwriting credits - it's only the melody (the vocal melody, if there are vocals), and the lyrics themselves. To credit anyone else is entirely up to whoever wrote the melody and the lyrics. The band used to share a lot of credits, including Nick on a lot of things, because they were all members of the band. Guy's situation was undoubtedly odd, since that was his first time in the studio with them for a proper album, and he would never, ever be made a full member of the band. The other odd thing is that while the band would generally never allow their songs to be used in commercials, Rick didn't give a shit if the price was right - he ok'd "Great Gig in the Sky" to be used in a Dole bananas commercial in 1974, and even re-recorded it in 1990 - with Clare Torry! - for a prescription drug ad, because Gilmour wouldn't let them use the original recording.
User avatar
DarkSideFreak
Knife
Knife
Posts: 314
Joined: Wed Aug 05, 2015 4:22 pm
Gender: Male

Re: Who Played Bass On What Songs...

Post by DarkSideFreak »

ZiggyZipgun wrote: Mon Oct 12, 2020 11:14 am He explained in his Lockdown Licks video that he came up with the volume swell-bass part, and Rick based the chord progression on that, and Anthony Moore wrote the lyrics. Well, chord progressions are not a factor of songwriting credits - it's only the melody (the vocal melody, if there are vocals), and the lyrics themselves. To credit anyone else is entirely up to whoever wrote the melody and the lyrics.
I specifically contrasted this with Jon Carin, who came up with the chord sequence for "Learning to Fly", was not a band member, and was himself surprised to see himself get credit on the finished article. So a certain inconsistency there.
ZiggyZipgun
Hammer
Hammer
Posts: 1236
Joined: Mon May 05, 2008 3:04 pm

Re: Who Played Bass On What Songs...

Post by ZiggyZipgun »

leftybassist wrote: Mon Oct 27, 2014 8:53 pm And I have listened to a ton of bootlegged versions of Have a Cigar and there are two problems with that approach.. first and formost it isn't Roger on bass for that live, it was Snowy White and secondly it still doesn't really have the same weird ghost note slides and odd timing. Maybe you need to be a bass player to really hear the nuances.
Snowy White actually played lead guitar on "Have a Cigar" for the '77 tour, while David played rhythm guitar and Roger played bass. Snowy played bass on "Pigs" while Roger played rhythm and David played lead (and Dick Parry played the Solina string synth on both).
The Gunner's Dream wrote: Mon Oct 27, 2014 10:36 pm I'm pretty sure it is Roger playing bass on Have a Cigar. Stylistically it is very similar to the bass playing on Animals, particularly Dogs. The slides, pull offs, use of plectrum and mute picking, and particularly the bass tone all scream of mid to late 70's Roger bass playing.
Funnily enough, "Dogs" is the only song on Animals where Roger plays bass; Gilmour faxed a clarification to Bass Player Magazine in 1998:
“About your Classic Revisited piece on Pink Floyd’s Animals [March ’98]:
I don’t think I’ve ever described Roger Water’s bass playing as “horrible.” If I did I must have been having a bad day. He was a good bass player when he wanted to be – which he often didn’t – and when he didn’t he often asked me to take over the chore. On Animals Roger played bass on “Dogs” and I played bass on “Sheep” and “Pigs.” Most of the bass line on “Sheep” (apart from the ending) was what Roger had been playing onstage, as we had been performing it as “Raving and Drooling” for a couple of years. However, in the studio Roger had a rhythm guitar part he wanted to play, so we swapped roles. On “Pigs” the part and the playing are mine."

And, as I've griped in a separate thread, Roger's Us+Them tour was the first time he played the "Pigs" solo himself, which means he had to sit down and learn David's part 40 years later, which is just a weird thing to do.

And one last time, the infamous Gilmour interview where he claimed to have played bass on "at least half" of their records was quickly followed by a Waters interview in response to many other things Gilmour had said, but simply shrugged off that particular point, and explained his complete lack of interest in playing instruments.
ZiggyZipgun wrote: Tue Aug 18, 2020 12:23 pmThe whole Who played bass? debate comes from one article, which was originally published in Musician magazine in August 1992, with excerpts being published in others, such as Rock Compact Disc in September '92. The original was titled Careful With That Axe: David Gilmour Chops Through Pink Floyd's Past to Build a New Future by Matt Resnicoff. In December of that same year, he published Roger and Me: The Other Side of the Pink Floyd Story.

Both of these have often been quoted in these discussions, but out of context. I'm only posting the relevant portions of each interview, one in response to the other, as they were given.

MR: Was Roger an effective bassist back then?

DG: He had developed his own limited, or very simple style. He was never very keen on improving himself as a bass player and half the time I would play bass on the records because I would tend to do it quicker. Right back to those early records; I mean, at least half the bass on all recorded output is me anyway.

MR: This is not a widely acknowledged fact.

DG: Well, I think it's been said, but it's certainly not something we go around advertising. Rog used to come in and say, "Thank you very much" to me once in a while for winning him bass-playing polls.

MR: Did you play the fretless bass on "Hey You"?

DG: Yeah. Hmm. Roger playing fretless bass? Please! (laughs)

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

MR: Is James Johnson actually Jimmy Johnson, the great five-string bassist?

RW: Yeah. He likes to be called James. I call him Steve. He's a very gentle man, and on 'What God Wants' I was going, 'This has got to have more aggression. What you're doing is too "Jimmy"; I want this to be more "Steve."' He's a great player. But the part I wanted more 'Steve,' somebody else played it. It's interesting, because it's the same bassline as 'Another Brick'; listen to it."

MR: In the video you're playing bass.

RW: Well, it's a pretend, but those videos always are, eh? I'd always thought it would be nice just to have cameras running the whole time we were recording, so that it was real. That would be the most watchable. But these things get made largely for MTV, and I'm not sure that they'd be interested in that sort of thing. They're much more interested in style and tennis shoes and baseball hats than music. I was never a bass player. I've never played anything. I play guitar a bit on the records and would play bass, because I sometimes want to hear the "sound" I make when I hit a string on a bass with a pick or my finger; it makes a different sound than anybody else makes, to me. But I've never been interested in playing the bass. I'm not interested in playing instruments and I never have been.
User avatar
space triangle
Hammer
Hammer
Posts: 858
Joined: Tue Jan 21, 2020 1:25 pm

Re: Who Played Bass On What Songs...

Post by space triangle »

ZiggyZipgun wrote: Tue Feb 09, 2021 3:23 pm I'm not interested in playing instruments and I never have been.
I can't magine someone playing for Manchester United or Real Madrid at some 25 years. And then, declare in an interview - I'm not interested in playing fotboll and I never have been. :lol: