You put on a Simon & Garfunkel record, hear the upright bass, and think it’s a really simple line. It does sound simple, and that’s part of the beauty of it. Then you try playing along with it, and you see how difficult it actually is.
Quick answer
Some great upright bass is on folk records: Danny Thompson on Nick Drake’s “Man in a Shed,” Bill Lee on Simon & Garfunkel’s Wednesday Morning, 3 A.M., and John Ryan on Cat Stevens’s “Wild World.” Danny Thompson and Bill Lee both play half swung, half straight, and Bill Lee’s sound isn’t jazz-specific. All three are playing exactly what the song needs.
Most people only know the upright bass as a jazz or classical instrument. To me it’s very underexplored and underrepresented, and what really fascinates me is its role, and its potential, in other kinds of music. So here are three folk records with upright bass on them: Danny Thompson on Nick Drake’s “Man in a Shed” (Five Leaves Left, 1969), the late, great Bill Lee on Simon & Garfunkel’s Wednesday Morning, 3 A.M. (1964), and John Ryan on Cat Stevens’s “Wild World” (Tea for the Tillerman, 1970).
What’s the feel on Nick Drake’s Man in a Shed?
Five Leaves Left is one of my favorite albums of all time, and “Man in a Shed” has an incredible bass line. You wouldn’t expect to hear it on a Nick Drake album. With all the triplets, it sounds like something Ray Brown might play.
The bass player is the great Danny Thompson, a British bassist who played in a lot of folk and rock bands in Great Britain, mostly on upright. That’s amazing to me.
What’s interesting to me is the rhythm. It’s half swung, half straight, but it isn’t swinging. Danny plays it in exactly that way, and that’s what makes the line really cool to me.
Bill Lee and John Ryan: play what the song needs
Simon & Garfunkel is one of my favorite bands ever. On their first album, Wednesday Morning, 3 A.M., the upright bass player is Bill Lee, Spike Lee’s father. He was an arranger, a composer and an upright bass player, and he did the music for She’s Gotta Have It, one of the best soundtracks I’ve ever heard.
You might listen to his line and think it’s really simple. It’s harmonically simple, but it’s a very difficult bass line. The first thing is register, because register is really important. Notice how Bill Lee starts on one F-sharp rather than the other one. Why did he do that? I don’t know. I think maybe it fits the song better, and the other one might be a little bit too heavy.
Then there’s the feel. It’s the same half swung, half straight thing: he’s playing in a way that suggests swing, but it isn’t necessarily swinging. And it isn’t a jazz-specific sound. If I played this line the way I would on a jazz gig, it would be way too harsh. He plays it very smooth and very subtle, and the line is just as beautiful as any jazz bass line.
“Wild World” is definitely the simplest of the three. Tea for the Tillerman is one of my favorite albums ever, and I only recently discovered, to my pleasant surprise, that there’s upright bass on it. The bass is tough to hear, so maybe you didn’t know either.
The great John Ryan plays bass on this track and on the album, and he’s doing exactly what Bill Lee and Danny Thompson were doing: playing exactly what’s needed for the song. “Wild World” doesn’t need a complicated bass line like “Man in a Shed.” It just needs someone to play the roots, and that’s exactly what he’s doing. I don’t know if that line is worth analyzing, but it’s worth noting that upright bass has a presence on one of the great albums of all time.
It’s a goal of mine to somehow include upright bass in more mainstream pop music.
I think the world would benefit from hearing more upright bass.
Cole Davis
Try this: play along with Bill Lee
Start with the Bill Lee line, the one that sounds really simple.
- Listen for the feel. Half swung, half straight. It suggests swing, but it isn’t swinging.
- Play along with the record. That’s where you find out how difficult the line actually is. If playing with records is new to you, here’s how to play along with a record.
- Try both F-sharps. Start the line on each one and listen for the one that might be a little too heavy for the song.
- Smooth it out. If it sounds like you’re playing a jazz gig, it’s too harsh. Go for very smooth and very subtle.
What’s in the transcription
The full transcription has these folk bass lines written out for upright in a PDF, plus the 8-minute video lesson where we listen to each record and I talk through what Danny Thompson, Bill Lee and John Ryan are doing.
Then go back through the folk records you love. You might find upright bass on some of them too.
Go deeper
Folk on Upright: Nick Drake, Simon & Garfunkel, Cat Stevens
The Bill Lee line sounds simple. Try playing along with it and you’ll find out it isn’t.
FAQ
Who played bass on Nick Drake’s Man in a Shed?
Danny Thompson, a British bass player who played in a lot of folk and rock bands in Great Britain, mostly on upright. It’s on Five Leaves Left. With all the triplets, his line sounds like something Ray Brown might play, and the rhythm is half swung, half straight.
Who played bass on Simon & Garfunkel’s Wednesday Morning, 3 A.M.?
The late, great Bill Lee, Spike Lee’s father. He was an arranger, a composer and an upright bass player, and he did the music for She’s Gotta Have It. His line is harmonically simple, but try playing along with it and you’ll see how difficult it actually is.
Is there upright bass on Cat Stevens’s Wild World?
Yes. John Ryan plays upright on “Wild World” and on the album Tea for the Tillerman, though the bass is tough to hear. It’s the simplest of these three lines. The song just needs someone to play the roots, and that’s exactly what he’s doing.
How is folk upright bass different from jazz bass playing?
The sound and the feel. If I played Bill Lee’s line the way I would on a jazz gig, it would be way too harsh. He plays it very smooth and very subtle, in a way that suggests swing without necessarily swinging. And the line is just as beautiful as any jazz bass line.
