This week we’re looking at the bass of Red Red Wine by UB40, a reggae cover of Neil Diamond’s 60’s hit. It’s a classic that any bass player should learn, because you just might need to know how.
Song Info
Red Red Wine comes off of UB40’s 1983 album Labour of Love. It hit #1 in several countries, went gold in the US and Platinum in the UK Selling over 1 million copies.
Song Choice
I was requested to play this after I previously Covered UB40’s song Rat In Mi Kitchen. Like Rat in MI Kitchen, the bass line doesn’t change much throughout the song aside from a few recurring variations.
Bass Line
One of the reasons I love this bass line is it’s so satisfying as a listener. The syncopation and repetition that the line has draws in and keeps you engaged, but at just the right time, it changes up with a slight fill that leads into and resolves at the next section of the song.
Take Row Row Row your boat for example. If you stop at “life is but a…” there’s the tendency to want to finish the tune … “dream” and resolve the line, because it’s so satisfying to us. The bass line in this song does just that. Every now and again it adjusts the chord progression a bit to make the song less predictable, again, enhancing listener engagement, and then it resolves, satisfying our ears.
Cover
Comparing this bass part to the original version of the song, there are some similarities, but because it’s different genre, it has a stylistically fitting part that’s a bit busier than in Neil Diamond’s Version
It’s interesting to note that Neil Diamond really likes UB40’s version of his song and will often perform a reggae version himself.
Original Bass
The Bassist, Earl Falconer, can be seen using a headless bass live. The original singer, Ali Campbell, split from the band and did his own tours starting in 2014, and although the bassist on tour with him isn’t Earl Falconer, you can see the bassist use a jazz bass, which is why I chose to use mine for this video
Tone Settings of the bass
For my Bass tone settings, I used the Neck Pickup, no Bridge, no tone knob, and new strings.
For Effects, I used my compressor with release – 3 , attack 3, ratio 4, input – 2, output 2
And sansamp with level – 3, blend – 1, treble – 1, bass – 1, drive – 9, presence – 11
I always link the gear that I use in the description of the video so that you can find exactly what I use
Positioning on the Bass
For the most part, Earl’s positioning can be seen in live videos. The only spot I had trouble finding was the slide from Fret 11 on D (Db). It sounds closer tonally at that position, rather than on the G string, so that’s why I chose it.
I find that when I look directly at the 11th fret there, my fingers will slide to the right spot. It’s kind of similar to when taking a step before a swing in baseball, or when steering a boat to a landmark – you use your body to help guide you to the right place.
Is that all?
If you enjoy this type of content, you can find more Behind the Bass Here. I hope to eventually pair one of these with every new video that I do, but only if people like them. For now, if you did, please let me know by commenting on the YouTube video, or even sharing it with others.
Be sure to check out SamboatMusic.com to learn more about what I do.
