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What feels and sounds right
Bass Player magazine has a short article about Roger Glover’s playing style, with a couple of quotes from the man himself.
I believe in playing simply, because of the virtuosity that surrounds me in the rest of the band. I have to be the bedrock for them to lie on and do what they do – I never think too much about what I play – I just like to go for what feels and sounds right at the time.
In terms of the high-speed accuracy, feel and attack needed to play Deep Purple’s music, I get more volume and power when I play with a pick. When I pick up a bass guitar and just mess around, I usually play with my fingers, but I’ve always played better with a pick. I’d never properly be able to play Highway Star with my fingers.
Read more in Bass Player.
Unauthorized copying, while sometimes necessary, is never as good as the real thing
A nice little article about that Glover boy, good to see. And we all know that at least one AFICIONADO here will be salivating at the shrine. Cheers.
July 12th, 2024 at 23:34Roger always belittles his own bass playing, unjustly so, but in fact his Highway Star bass line is unorthodox. Why? The song is in G in most parts of the world (some more rural parts in Tasmania: likely Bb … 😉), initially at least (it jumps to A in a key change at one point). Nine out of ten bassists would play the low G on bass to it (E string, third fret), but not Roger! For most of the song he grinds on the G one octave HIGHER on bass (D string: fifth fret, or A string: 10th fret, or E string: 15th fret, or simply G string empty – but Roger hammers on the D string) and that means his G isn’t any lower than Ritchie’s lowest G on his guitar.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1mLryrT1ZMc
He’s NOT adding the depth of the G on bass like he does, say, in SOTW (or like Glenn does in Burn). What might possess him to do such a thing? I believe he wanted to emulate a driving rhythm guitar sound to the song, rightly thinking that enough low frequencies would come from Jon’s Hammond. That is pretty much counter-intuitive to how most bassists think (and what is expected from them). Roger could have played the central parts of his bass line on a guitar, there are only a few notes for which he really needed a bass (which is one octave lower than a guitar).
It makes a world of a difference in sound. That whole chugging intensity of Highway Star? That is Ritchie power chording and Roger hammering THAT SAME G IN THE SAME OCTAVE.
Interestingly enough, Glenn – normally prone to do all these really high fills on bass – played Highway Star one octave deeper than Roger, i.e. the conventional way!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D7kMFd-pkDQ
Which explains why Glenn’s Highway Star has none of the drive and grit Roger’s does – even though Glenn is generally more the “I need to get myself heard!” bass player. I don’t even think that Glenn consciously “went deeper” than Roger, he more likely never gave Roger’s original bass line a concentrated listen and just played along by ear, assuming – like most bassists would – that Roger would do the obvious thing.
Well, he didn’t!
And it’s “little things” like these that have Roger’s bass playing make DP Mk II, V, VI, VII, VIII and – exhales, phew! – IX sound the way they did and do.
Bass class closed. 😂
July 12th, 2024 at 23:53Yo,
Wise words indeed…And it takes a lot of appreciation for the music, band-members & audience alike to play in a restrained, yet perfect way to suit the tune. Once the bottom-end goes astray, it all falls down.
Peace !
July 13th, 2024 at 01:12From the article:
“While Smoke on the Water – the autobiographical song kicking off Side Two that details the album’s recording in the south of France…”
I suppose that’s why he sings, “French time is running out”!
Oh the yoof, and their ignorance.
July 13th, 2024 at 03:04Montreux is not in France you mean? Well then it must be in Canada for sure.
July 13th, 2024 at 11:15The south of France is where Deep Purple recorded the amazing “Exile on Main Street” album, attributed to the Rolling Stones by some.
July 15th, 2024 at 15:30Stones aficionados will kill me for this, it is their holy grail, but Exile On Main Street never did anything for me, it sounds like session outtakes (which it was!). I thought Sticky Fingers is as close as the Stones ever got to recording a consistently strong album and I love Goats Head Soup for its sheer decadence as well as Black And Blue, Some Girls and Vooddoo Lounge. The last album wasn’t bad either if you accept that the band now has a different groove without Charlie Watts.
There is also not a lot of Bill Wyman on Exile and it suffers from it.
July 15th, 2024 at 20:08