The Bass Line That Started Disco ‘Fever’
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- Опубликовано: 24 авг 2024
- #bass #history #analysis #transcription #disco #paulthompson
Digging into the Bee Gees and the unsung brilliance of the bassist on most of their iconic disco hits: Maurice Gibb. I'll break down the bottom on "You Should Be Dancing" (from CHILDREN OF THE WORLD, 1976 - before Saturday Night Fever) and how Maurice creates and develops a great bass line over ONE drum beat and ONE chord. I'll also talk about how his gear switch (to Fender) changed the band's sound as well as Stephen Stills' amazing connection to this hit song!
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How Barry Gibb pronounces his brother MAURICE’s name: ruclips.net/video/lmZgaHWth8k/видео.html
Sounds right to me, it's just fast and not enunciated completely, so might sound a bit like morris... Thanks for the link! Love this band (even as a metalhead in the 80s/90s) great content, thanks again 🙂
Disco was disco electro in Europe before disco was disco in America
Well I stand corrected! Thanks for the video. I've been saying it wrong since about 1966 lol
MORRIS! It's an English pronunciation of a French spelling.
He just sounds a bit dehydrated or something there....
I worked for the Gibbs for almost a decade. Mo was really the musical director for the BeeGees. He was an excellent musician. He played bass, guitar and keyboards. On a personal note, he was one of the warmest human beings that I’ve ever known.
Oh! Maybe you can answer a question for me. I listen so closely to their beautiful voices, and watch many videos of them recording, nd while Barry is famous for his falsetto, I think that often Maurice also sings falsetto. Is it my imagination? Did you ever hear Maurice singing falsetto?
@@wolfwilliams meanwhile robin could sing falsetto, but it sounded... very distinctive, to the point of being annoying to some. (for example, the song Lovers from Children of the World)
Did you actually like disco? I'm guessing you're at least 65 years old.
Scott, thank you for those enlightening facts! I've sensed that about Maurice by his demeanor...you just confirmed it 😊
In one interview I read, Barry Gibb confirmed what you said. He said Maurice Gibb was responsible for about 80 percent of the group's music. My favorite BeeGees songs are "Subway" and "Songbird".
Maurice Gibb was a killer bass player thanks for reminding us how great he was!!
Maurice was actually a musical genius. Bass, keys, guitar, synthesizers and pretty much anything he could pick up he could play. He was the Bee Gees' secret weapon.
More Ease More Pulse
Just one request for our honorable host: Quit calling Maurice Gibb "Morris" ! ! ! 😝😝😝
A name very much adopted by Black culture & he's not even saying it right
@@magnificentmuttley154 I'm with you. I always say, " More Ease Less Sleaze"
@@mauriceortiz8817 😂More ease, less sleaze. Or just plain _mah' reese._ Ah, you should know! It would be like someone calling me "Mickey" instead of Michael. Not cool, man
On the other hand, there is _Morris Day,_ however. I never did get tired of him. He did a concert tour as recently as 2022:
Morris Day: Oak Tree
m.ruclips.net/video/332SqqV-buk/видео.html
Most think of Maurice as the "third guy" but he was the glue that held everything together. And his bass lines drove the band without question - especially on this track!
I also remember on "Nights On Broadway" it had that iconic opening keyboard part and it was Maurice doing that too! Didn't realize until I saw them do it in concert!
It's usually the Bass that 'holds' things together, it is really the only instrument able to successfully bridge the gap between the melodic and the percussive, apart from the piano/kbd. But the power in the lower register singularly gives it the ability to lay a foundation which the keyboard lacks.
Without a good bass player, four-on-the-floor can end up sounding like rhythmless 1:1 time.
He is still the third guy tho
As a bassist Ive long taken _You Should Be Dancing_ for granted. Of all the Bee Gees songs, _More Than A Woman_ is the one that did it for me. That & Donald "Duck" Dunn on Rita Coolidge's _Higher & Higher._ She is sister-in-law to the venerable Booker T. Washington of Booker T & the MG's. There are so many iconic songs back there, though: _Rock Your Baby, Get Down Tonight, Disco Inferno,_ & on & on
So nice to see Maurice getting some rightly deserved praise. Thank you for this!
Precisely 🎸🎸🎸
Yes
Yes, to tell you the truth I didn't know this about him.
As a bass player, I've always loved his bass playing and found it to be criminally overlooked.
Maurice was the whole package: multi-instrumentalist, amazing singer, writer, and by everyone's reports, a solid good human being.
Barry gets all the glory, and he is amazing, but so nice to learn about the contributions of Maurice. Thank you - I grooved through this one. 😅
Another outstanding analysis Maestro. Many people like to kind of joke about Disco music, but the Bee Gees were exceptional musicians and you do a great job breaking it down. These gentlemen were on top of their game and on top of the charts quite a bit in the 70's and rightfully so... 👍🏾
You could argue that popular music was generally well-crafted in the 70s, soul, disco, funk, everybody was at least nodding their head to these tunes but you often had pretty interesting bass lines or parts in general. Giving ABBA a listen with your headphones on will also make you explore things you didn't notice at 2 AM on your office party out on the dancefloor.
Disco was the real revolution, not punk.
Disco is still awesome. So many major hits that infused Philly sound, Motown r&b, etc.
@@DoNuT_1985 ABBA’s music had so many layers. They’re right up there with the Beatles and The Beach Boys for sheer production value.
These guys lasted so long because they were the complete package, singers, songwriters, composers and musicians. They couldn’t read a note of music, they heard it all in all its complexity in their heads. Can you imagine hearing all those instrumentals in your head and singing them to the musicians. Barry even said during the making of Tragedy, that it was hard because the musician can’t hear what you are hearing in your head. Its really nice to see someone appreciate how amazingly talented Maurice was. Songs are so much more than the singing.
I agree. I was amazed to learn that they usually wrote the music, first, and THEN wrote lyrics.
@@OhJodi69
That’s common practice
Composing music is a lot easier than you may think, and reading music isn't a necessary part of the process.
Hard to believe musicians that are so talented cant read a note of music come on , people play this stuff up like its mythical. I am sure these guys had no problems playing music from sheets and writing their notes down.
@@luisromanlegionaire I'll respectfully disagree. I'm a classically trained composer and guitarist but prefer not to read or write when performing and sometimes composing. I'm much more interested in the texture, context and feeling of the chords, or intervals in the melody being played to care much about what it looks like written down. I'm currently a private instructor for many different instruments and I find that the classical musicians who can only play music if it is written down in front of them are the least creative and non-musical students. Seems like reading music is like going to a nice restaurant and reading the menu but never eating the food.
In 1978 Barry Gibb wrote or co-wrote seven Billboard number one hits. Amazingly talented brothers!
Along with Robin and Maurice
When I first saw the intro sequence to Grease, I thought, heck Barry wrote the intro song?
the BeeGees were black. change my mind.
I can't think of very many bands that had at least 3 different phases of success, but the Gibbs were a uniquely talented group of brothers.
1) Late 1960s to early 1970s - the ballads! First of May, Massachusetts, How Can You Mend a Broken Heart, etc. Classic 3 part harmony!
2) They meet up with Eric Clapton in Florida in 1974 and start working on a new sound. Spirits Having Flown is the new album coming out of this and it eventually leads to Saturday Night Fever and the whole RSO thing with Grease. They become so popular that at one point the top 5 on the charts is all songs they'd done. If it wasn't one of their songs it was something they'd written for Samantha Sang or younger brother Andy...
3)...which leads to Phase 3. Barry has said in interviews that the disco backlash in the early 1980s hit them hard and suddenly no radio station wanted to play anything by the Bee Gees. Fortunately for them they had already started work on writing songs for other people in the late 1970s, such as the title song for Grease and Emotion for Samantha Sang and songs for brother Andy. So in the 1980s they started writing hits for Streisand (whom Barry did duets with), Dionne Warwick, Dolly Parton and Kenny Rogers and so on. Some very successful hits came out of this period, but the Gibbs weren't the ones singing them. If they aren't already, they should be in the Song Writers Hall of Fame.
Such an incredibly talented group. Now sadly Barry is the only one left.
@@moeball740 Main Course was their album that came out when they moved to Florida.
Spirits Having Flown was after Saturday Night Fever.
Yes a very talented group that was influenced (in my opinion) by their manager and pressured to pump out hit after hit.
The reaction against their success was natural as they were so dominant in the late 70's.
Their manager should have considered this as they had the potential to have very long term success.
I've always loved Maurice's bass playing! His bassline on "Nights on Broadway" is another gem from this period.
One of my favorites.
Don’t forget Blue Weaver’s synth bass (ARP 2600) on that track
Indeed, speaking of "NIGHTS ON BROADWAY" (even though this thread is about, "YOU SHOULD BE DANCING") Maurice played electric bass guitar on "NIGHTS ON BROADWAY", but however, ONLY DURING the "mellow breakdown middle bridge". The original "cut" did not have that in the first mixdown. The ENTIRE bass track was handled by keyboardist Blue Weaver's analog ARP 2600 bass note keyboard. BUT when executive producer Robert Stigwood heard the initial mix, he immediately said something kin to, "this song needs a slow breakdown bridge, right there in the middle guys". So, the 3 brothers went back in the tracking studio, along with their lead guitarist Alan Kendall, drummer Dennis Bryon & Blue Weaver ONLY on the grand piano and cut the bridge; BUT THIS TIME Maurice played his infamous electric bass guitar on that very melodramatic insert, on "NIGHTS ON BROADWAY". It was literally spliced into the song by engineer Karl Richardson and hence, the new "album version" was completed. However, it was left out on the 45RPM commercial & radio edit single, regretfully; so the story goes. I first noticed this amazing difference...when I first brought home my "MAIN COURSE" album...in 1975.
BCRadio
@@BolsaChicaRadio Sounded synth to me. I guessed maybe studio grease and the video he's strumming away. I play it on string bass best I can.
@@johnnytacokleinschmidt515 Indeed...I hope we are taking about the same song? This thread was originally about "YOU SHOULD BE DANCING", but moved over to a side-thread about "NIGHTS ON BROADWAY". If you listen closely to the album version of "NIGHTS ON BROADWAY", the ARP 2600 Bass Synthesizer is replaced with Maurice Gibb's Bass Guitar. One has to listen closely & intently, with a good pair of sub-woofers; one can DEFINITELY HEAR Maurice on his true & rich sounding, Bass Guitar!
Thanks for your thoughts!
BCRadio
Fantastic! If you remove the bass track, the song is over.
Most songs are like this
@@Walkeranz Not Prince's "When Doves Cry" 😏
@@spinalcrackerbox they said most not all
@@spongebobsquaretits Do you know any other well known track that had its bass track removed on purpose? It just had to be mentioned.
Some producers don’t allow bass tracks to stand out in a song. Ted Templeman was a bit miserly with Michael Anthony’s bass parts.
When I saw your Bee Gees ThumbNail,
I knew was going to be this Song.
I always like Maurice Bassline on
You Should be Dancing.....
Surprisingly, Some of the Best Basslines in Bass History have come from Disco Music.
Maurice was a legend, I love nearly all of his bass lines. ✌️☺️
What I love about Maurices bass playing is that he knew how to drop in the perfect accent notes. Nothing flashy, just good solid bass grooves.
Never overdid it either. Always very tasteful.
Killer bass lines! We need more of this in popular music.
Maurice Gibb was a Underrrated Master Musician, Main Arreglist , Multi-instrumental Player and Excelent Singer, Tx for your video
Thank you so much for highlighting Maurice Gibb's bass playing!! I have looked around for any articles on his bass playing but didn't find any which I found to be baffling. He is an amazing, intuitive bassist as well as groovy! I absolutely love his bass work on "Night fever" and "you should be dancing" ! I wish his brother Barry could see your spotlight on Maurice. He would be very happy and probably provide you as well as us with more valuable insights into Maurice's musicianship and what he brought to the BeeGees sound. You did a great job!
Believe that Quincy Jones once told Maurice that his baseline on the Bee Gees’ song “Fanny” was his favorite bass line ever. Loved this video breakdown, thanks.
Really?
@@shawnbruce6934yes really
Thank you I didn’t know Maurice Gibbs was that gifted a musician.
Maurice Gibb contributed so many great hooks to their songs; if you go back to his 1968 solo recording, On Time, you'll hear where he really started to develop a sophisticated feel and arrangement that would later explode on Main Course, Children of the World and, of course, Saturday Night Fever. Great video, thank you for sharing.
Sorry for dropping some musical jargon @4:18! The "hemiola" used here is a 3-beat pattern repeated over a 4-beat rhythm which gives the bass line a "turning around" effect at the end. 😎
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hemiola
Don't apologize for sharing a little free education. Not everyone glories in remaining ignorant. Some of us love to learn!
No worries: I googled it.
How we gonna learn if you don't push us? ;)
You are forgiven. I had no idea how good a bassist Maurice was.
No need to point it out...we all noticed. :)
One of my favorite and most influential bass players .
No one could out disco bass Bernard Edwards from Chic and Maurice from The Bee Gees .
Bernie was a beast. One of my favs.
Maurice Gibb had a wonderful voice too. With his brothers they had harmonies that just can't be beat. Their earlier music, before Disco are wonders that I love.
It honestly surprises me that people don't talk more about his abilities on the bass. Dude knew what he was doing for being self taught.
Always loved the scale bass intro of "I started a joke", "how deep is your love" too, and all of Maurice's basslines.
The 1950s-1970s produced the best catalogue of music in world history. That era will never ever be repeated. I'm glad I was around to experience most of the era first hand.
Saw Bee Gees live in 1979, Pontiac, MI.
Thank you for highlighting this talented man. I think as time goes by people will recognize what a great talent he was but I often was in the background of the three brothers. They were all very multitalented.
The BeeGees & ABBA are some of the best songwriters.
I grew up listening to these disco bass lines...Maurice was a frickkin genius!
I am so thankful that RUclips recommended this video! It opened my eyes or rather my ears to the sounds I was hearing but wasn’t noticing! Thank you Sir, for enlightening me! I have a greater appreciation for Maurice Gibb after watching this fantastic video! Thank you for sharing your knowledge! ☮️🖖🏽
This was very short but informative. I'm a college student who recently got into the bee gees and definitely Mo was very talented. All 3 of them were. As Barry said Mo had very good musical insight he just knew what to add and where >< RIP Mo, treasured forever.
Man, this is huge. It's a revelation actually !
Now it seems to me that this man influenced all the disco and funk bass players after him, and I'm not sure they're all aware of that.
Thank you very much for this accurate analysis.
Paul, french funk lover.
Great tribute to a true unsung hero on bass. I always loved his tone on that album, but never realised he switch to a P bass. Another insightful and educational video analysis, Bassman 😊🙌🎵🎶❤️
I’ve always said that Maurice was very underrated as a bassist! Betting most folks just assumed that various studio musicians played those bass lines so never thought it was Maurice at all.
Yeah it's news to me, I always assumed the bee gees employed serious professional session bass players - it blows me away - how good are those bass lines !!!
But the band at that time really consisted of all professional players and due to his alcoholism they even muted Maurice's mike during the 1979 Spirits tour, the hight of their success. Barry Gibb was the mastermind and producers Albhy Galuten and Karl Richardson made them sell 100 million albums from 1976 to 1986.@@timmckenzie2727
What awesome bass riffs! I never listened to this music carefully enough - thank you!!
Thank you!!! I talked about his playing before to an old bass player boyfriend who straight out wouldn't believe me when I told him he was on many of those tracks . Such a Badass! His playing was such a big part of that vibe. I grew up listening to the Bee Gees and absolutely love them. Such a talented group of brothers.
Of course Stills plays on the track. I swear that dude shows up everywhere. He’s like the shadow hiding behind soooo much great music.
This one came out of left field. Never thought about the baseline behind this song but it's a monster and as always, it takes Paul to bring it to life. Excellent work!
Maurice was an outstanding bass player. His líneas are often brilliant and creatives.
He was the kind of bass player every band want to have in the lineup.
Wonderful acknowledgement to very talented man whom like many musicians in popular groups, don't get recognized for their contribution in music as they should.
Maurice is one of the most under appreciated bass players ever. His feel and the space he left made his bass lines so musical and flowing while at the same time singing 3-part harmony with Barry and Robin. Fantastic musician!
I don't think he's that under appreciated... I've been a drummer for 30 years and I know many bassists who list his work as an influence.
@@KaospatternThat's good to hear.
Thanks for giving Maurice his due. He is often overlooked when talking about the great bassists in music!
Huge Bee Gees fan here, and yes, you got this dead on. Great video!! Maurice was an unsung hero in the Bee Gees, constantly supporting his more popular brothers. His vocal harmonies, keyboards, guitar, and of course bass playing were instrumental (pardon the pun), in the Bee Gees greatest hits. Gone too soon.
Maurice Gibb is so underrated. I've always thought that. The guy was awesome.
I have the Children of the World vinyl. Great stuff.
Popular music history at its finest.
Saturday Night Fever was one of the first records I bought. Lots of great music on that album.
I'm ALWAYS keyed in to the bass line when listening to great music. Part of the reason I love Yes, Rush, and RHCP so much.
I am always listening for great bass lines and I've always praised "You Should Be Dancing" as having an outstanding bass line. The bass line makes the song.
I like that Maurice introduces rests between notes. It gives enough space for other instruments to shine thru the mix.
Thank you pdbass.....you made me see songs in a different way now!!
Thanks, Eric. I love knowing this. Many thanks for sharing your knowledge and skills.
One of the things that made the Bee Gees so great is the each and every brother brought amazing talent in multiple areas. Mo was just as crucial to the band as Barry and Robin. Love them all!! Thanks for highlighting the sometimes underappreciate Maurice Gibb. It is funny that on the surface this songs seems simple, but it is more complex than it first appears - a bit like the brothers.
Moe Gibb is so under-rated. The bassline to Staying Alive is next level.
Maurice’s bass on Jive Talking is amazing, too.
They were some of the most talented song writers (and performers) in history.
Kudos for giving this great band the musical credit they deserve.
The best bass channel on RUclips. For those of us told enough to remember, yes, the BeeGees were all over the charts in the late 1970, dominating 1978. Great video!
Excellent content sir, as always. It's great to see Maurice getting some love for his contributions...the BeeGees definitely influenced me from early on in my life, and were one of the reasons I started playing bass. Funky music of all kinds pulled me in and never let me go. 👽
First bass line I ever learned to play. I still warm up with it every day (although I play it fingerstyle rather than with a pick).
Your analyses are sooo good! You know how to make small details interesting...
THANK YOU for this. My man is highly underrated as a player and a foundation of that sound.
Watching you play is amazing. Now I notice the bass much more in their sings.
Paul, my best friend passed away in 2016. He was an amazing bass player. I mean he really seriously was amazing. He was very humble as well. It would never claim to be anything special. I would’ve loved to have shown him this video and breakdown that you just gave. Somehow, I know he’s smiling, knowing how exciting I think this break down is. Thank you for sharing.
OMG Paul! It’s like you read my mind! I recently did a deep dive into Maurice Gibbs bass playing! Such well crafted lines!
I love your videos! Fantastic work!
Bee Gees, my eternal idols. The Mo's bass line was so great.
He had amazing bass lines
You speak, so eloquently, clearly, and slowly. Such a nice refreshing thing. So many people rattle off so fast. Your brain has the time to comprehend what the person is even say. You’re a good job on your video.
Maurice was a criminally underrated bass player. He was easily the best musician in a family of musicians and definitely the backbone of the Bee Gees.
Both the backbone & the lynch pin--on many levels. I miss Maurice.
I was 15 years old when this record has been released! Just started playing bass I was totally into rock music in a small town full of jazz musicians :-)) but this stuff grabbed us all by the neck and pushed us on the dance floor ... sitting the next day at the casette deck with the bass: what did he do there? ;-)
Great video, Paul! It´s so good to be openminded to any good music!
Y'know. I've listened to disco very passively in times past.
This really opened my eyes up to the bass chops this genre has that I'm probably sleeeeepin' on.
Great vid! Subscribed!
Thank you. Thank you for the bass "lesson". I haven't played gigs for 40+ years but I love learning new stuff.
Great song. Short story here. I am a pro musician and started out by playing in metal bands in the 80's. I started to play in wedding bands in the early 2000's and got in a big wedding band with horns. We did a disco night in Boston outside every year and the horns were like being in a metal band again. Loud, jamming, killing it. We did this song And I loved it. Big smile on my face. We did a lot of other great tunes as well but my drummer was a metal singer back in the 80's (we got along well and formed another band which is over 12 years old now), he killed on this song because he had that high metal voice which was very compatible with The Bee Gees. I did one of the harmonies and the female singer did the other. It was kicking.
The Bee Gees had it all. Songs, harmonies, playing and KILLER production
Bad-ass! 😃 Thanks for the cool info. My hat's off to Maurice; may he rest in peace. 💐🙏🏽
Thank you for this segment - your ability to bring attention to critical detail is unmatched.
Saw them in '74nd was amazed with Maurice's ability as a musician. Impressive!
Thank you for this video! Maurice was a genius and he often doesn't get a lot of credit for the fantastic work he did. It's amazing how they were able to credit all this music and not one of the brother's read or wrote music notes.
A lot of people joke about their music, imitate the falsetto, etc., but the Bee Gees were on point! Such strong musicality and songwriting
What a great video! Thanks for showing so much respect to that great musician Maurice Gibb. Cool!
Lovely analysis -- they changed their sound about a dozen times through the years. Folk rock, funk, disco, R&B, etc. They were always casting around for new things, and insanely tight and talented. I don't think people nowdays can grasp the level of ubiquity their music had. No matter how popular people are now, the Bee Gees were more so in the late 70s. They were omnipresent, with a level of fame that can't be described.
Not to mention a level of musical talent.
Hearing this song in a club with a great sound system is an experience. I’m still amazed at how good all the parts of this song are. Most people have no clue about this song, it’s just dance music to them.
I never understood why he wasn't held in higher regard. His bass work was killing. Especially at the time these songs came out.
The disco sucks backlash was real. And given Saturday Night Fever's all-time popularity, the Bee Gees were going to be the first ones to fall to that backlash!
This is the first video of yours that I have ever come across. Great explanation and breakdown of the sections. I can't wait to hear more
What could i say???
The best channel for song breakdowns.
You got the groove and theorie.
Another great video.
His pre-disco bass playing was one of the biggest influences on me as a bassist
Yeah, he was great even before their disco era when he was very young
Nice to see Maurice getting his time in the sun.. He was always the unrated brother and has always deserved way more praise the he got. Glad hes getting noticed as more the just the bold brother..
Fantastic. I love all of your segments, this may be my favorite so far. 😁
My favorite bass work from Maurice was stayin' alive. Genius.
You should be dancing is also great
Great video! You thoroughly put this together with precision. You used perfect elements to really allow for any bassist to learn these lines quickly!
The whole song just grooves with bass but its the last minute or two after the break and the bass coming back in and right to the fade out where i get gossebumps just listening to it, and im a drummer pianist but i cant stop getting misty eyed listening to it
Fabulous video.. what a great dissection. Maurice was really a genius.
His bass line are exceptional
Once again, you change my attitudes. I still don't like disco, probably never will. But now I have to admit, it isn't trash. I always knew that, it couldn't have been so popular if it was trash, but now I have to admit it out loud. And it's all down to your knowledge and the enthusiasm with which you explain it. You make me smile while making me admit these dark truths. Oh my!
I always wondered what Maurice's role was! This was great. Thanks.
They were brilliant. Every song was so good, they were overlooked in a way. Each was just another great song in an era of magnificent music.
Great, detailed, informative and interesting. Kudos my man.
Thanks for highlighting Maurice's contributions to the group.....he was and to an extent still is criminally underrated as a musician...... which is so unfair..... essentially the Beegees ceased to exist after his untimely passing....
Excellent presentation! Thank you!