After Midnight

After Midnight
(J. J. Cale)
From the Eric Clapton album Eric Clapton

“After Midnight” was written by J. J. Cale and recorded by Clapton for his first solo album, Eric Clapton, produced by Delaney Bramlett. (Cale also recorded the song for his album Naturally, which featured Carl Radle on bass. See previous posts.) Bramlett initially wanted to call this album “Eric Clapton Sings” because of the emphasis on Clapton’s singing and songwriting rather than his guitar playing. At the time, however, Clapton was not a very experienced singer. On most of the tracks, Bramlett recorded a guide vocal and Clapton later overdubbed his own vocal, trying to match Bramlett’s phrasing and inflection. Because of this, and the fact that most of the musicians were currently members of Delaney & Bonnie and Friends, the album sounds less like a Clapton solo album, and more like a Delaney & Bonnie project.

When Clapton needed another song for his debut album, Radle played him a tape of some of Cale's demos. Clapton was immediately smitten, and chose to record "After Midnight," which would become one of the signature songs from this album. Clapton would later record Cale's "Cocaine" for his 1977 Slowhand album. Much of Clapton's post-Dominos music is seriously indebted to Cale's laid back approach. 

Radle’s bass line on “After Midnight” is a bouncy gospel groove. It is essentially a country bass line with embellishments. The ghost notes give it a percussive feel and infuse it with a sort of instant kinetic energy. The bass line would work without them, but the ghost notes are what makes it groove. Below is a sample measure from the verse, followed by the same line with the ghost notes removed. Play them both and notice how crucial the ghost notes are. The groove is in the ghost notes.

A full transcription is below.

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Crying Eyes

Crying Eyes
(J. J. Cale)
From the J. J. Cale album Naturally

“Crying Eyes,” like its album-mate "River Runs Deep" (posted last week), is another simple, repetitive song. The form of the song is AABA. The A sections are 8 measures long and are entirely on an F# chord. The B section serves as a refrain. It is a 4-measure phrase over the chord progression F#-B-A-A. (See form below.) Because of the long stretches of the song that are just on F#, it is easy to get lost. It can help to try to keep that form in your head. The song keeps this form the whole way through the song, after an 8-measure intro on F#.

A - 8 meas. (F#)

A - 8 meas. (F#)

B - 4 meas. (F#-B-A-A)

A - 8 meas. (F#)

Radle’s bass line on the F# chord consists mainly of variations of the two measures below. 

Like his playing on "River Runs Deep," Radle’s constant alterations to the line make this feel like an early take. This song would also be a good opportunity to practice sight-reading, improvisation, and feel. A full transcription is below.

River Runs Deep

River Runs Deep
(J. J. Cale)
From the J. J. Cale album Naturally

Tulsa native J. J. Cale was nothing if not efficient in his songwriting. Particularly early in his career, his songs often utilized a minimum of lyrics, chords, melodic patterns, etc. Many of his songs did not have a bridge or chorus, but were instead constructed by alternating between a verse and a simple instrumental break. Radle’s understated bass lines were perfect for Cale’s stripped down approach to songwriting. It seems a shame Radle did not play with Cale on more recordings. (He played on five tracks on Naturally, and three on his 1979 album 5).

“River Runs Deep” from Cale’s first album, Naturally (1971), is made up entirely of an Am-D7 chord progression. The basic groove never changes, though Radle alters the bass line very slightly throughout the song. It has the feel of a first take, with Radle constantly trying out variations of the groove to see what works best. The whole song can be played with the two-measure pattern below, though for most of the song, he is playing a simplified version of this.

This song provides a good opportunity to practice several specific aspects of your playing: 1) sight-reading, 2) improvisation on a basic pattern, and 3) “feel.”

1. Sight-reading. Playing this song note for note is a good sight-reading exercise, particularly if you are not a very experienced reader. Get comfortable with the pattern above—this will serve as a good starting point. Everything else in the bass line is just a variation of this pattern, so as you’re reading, you don’t need to worry about major changes. You can focus primarily on Radle’s slight alterations to this groove. (When using this as a sight-reading exercise, try to avoid looking at the tablature.)

2. Improvisation. The simplicity and repetitiveness of this song offer a good platform to practice improvising on a basic pattern. After you have played through Radle’s bass line, you will of course notice that his variations of this groove are quite minute, and they often involve taking notes away, rather than adding more notes. Play through the song and add your own embellishments. Start off with very simple alterations to Radle’s basic groove. How busy can your bass line be without losing the laid back feel of the song? How simple can your bass line be without losing the groove? Because of the simplicity of the chord progression, begin your improvisations using only notes from the A Dorian scale: A-B-C-D-E-F#-G-A.

3. Feel. In most musical situations, a bass player’s feel is infinitely more important than the notes he or she plays. A simple groove like this is a good opportunity to practice your feel. Once you are comfortable playing the notes in the bass line, play along with the recording and really focus on locking in with Radle. Try to match his time and articulations. Notice not only when he is attacking notes, but when he is cutting them off. If you can work on your feel with simpler grooves like this, you will improve your feel in more difficult bass lines.

Layla

Layla
(Eric Clapton and Jim Gordon)
From the Derek & the Dominos album Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs

The title track of the Dominos' album is tuned between D and Eb. Likely the band played in D, but then sped up the tape in the mixing process as a way of increasing tempo and/or heightening the energy.

Carl Radle plays another great supporting bass line on this song. In the intro, the guitar riff features a syncopated melody, with attacks falling largely on the off beats. Radle counters this by playing a very straightforward bass line. His quarter-eighth-eighth line accents each beat, which helps to emphasize the syncopation in the guitar riff. This section would have been far less effective had Radle chosen to play a bass line in rhythmic unison with the guitar. The guitar riff creates tension because it is playing against the underlying groove. By playing a simple pattern on the beat, Radle is able to heighten the excitement of the riff.

Once the song settles into the verse, Radle takes the opportunity to play more active rhythmically, in addition to moving more melodically. His largely stepwise ascent from the low F# on the E string up two octaves to the F# on the G string in the second half of the verse is particularly nice. A long ascending melodic bass line like this is a great way to build drama within the song. After the climax of the high F#, Radle resolves in a shorter, quicker descent to the A.

Also, notice Radle’s use of rhythmic motives in the verse. (A motive, also called a motif, is a short, but recognizable musical device. It can be melodic or rhythmic or both.) In the second half of the verse, he uses two primary motives, shown below as A and B. 

Measures 5-6 in the verse rely solely on motive A, while mm. 7-8 utilize motive B. Motive A can also be found embedded in the groove in the four preceding measures. This use of rhythmic motives helps a bass line feel cohesive and well developed.

The song’s coda, written by Jim Gordon, allows Radle to once again show off his McCartney-esque melodicism. He plays the same basic line with each repeat, only occasionally adding rhythmic embellishments. 

Bell Bottom Blues

Bell Bottom Blues
(Eric Clapton)
From the Derek & the Dominos album Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs

The album Carl Radle is known for more than any other is the Derek & the Dominos album Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs. Playing with this band is as close as Radle came to being an equal member, rather than just a sideman. Though it was clearly a project started by Eric Clapton and Bobby Whitlock, Layla was not intended to be just another Clapton solo album. The Dominos recorded this classic double album, toured the US, and began work on a follow-up record before disbanding. 

Radle's bass lines on this album provide some of the clearest illustrations of his style of playing: repetitive grooves with little variation; tendency to play sparse, simple lines to keep attention on the vocal or lead instrument; supporting the song always being the primary goal. In a band where Eric Clapton and Duane Allman are the guitar players, a flashy bass line is seldom warranted.

Radle shows off his McCartney influence with one of his most melodic bass lines in "Bell Bottom Blues." The verse groove is understated and supportive. He leaves a lot of space, allowing the vocals and guitar fills room to be expressive. As you play through the song, notice how few embellishments he incorporates from verse to verse. 

In the pre-chorus and chorus, Radle holds down the bottom end while providing a beautiful countermelody to the vocal part. The B on the downbeat of the ninth bar of the example (taken from the end of the song) is an unexpected choice, but contributes to making this one of Radle's most sing-able bass lines. 

A full transcription is below. 

Delta Lady

Delta Lady
(Leon Russell)
From the Joe Cocker album Mad Dogs and Englishmen

In the spring of 1970, Joe Cocker enlisted Leon Russell to help put together a band for his monumental Mad Dogs and Englishmen tour. Disillusioned with working for the Bramletts, the core of Delaney & Bonnie's ban--including Radle, Jim Gordon, Jim Price, Bobby Keys, and Rita Coolidge--joined up with Cocker and Russell to form a band ultimately comprised of over twenty members. The live double album compiled from the tour documents one of the wildest, most energetic bands ever assembled.

Radle's bass line on the Russell-penned "Delta Lady" is one of his most masterful on the album from a compositional perspective. His line on the verses is essentially "through-composed," meaning he does not utilize any repetition within that section. (He does, however, play almost exactly the same bass line for each verse, giving it even more of a "composed" feel.) During the first half of the verse, Radle emphasizes the off-beats. It is easy to see this in the first measure, but it is also present in the slurs in mm. 2 and 3. Notice how he attacks the note on the off beat, then slides into the note on the beat. This keeps the accent on the "and" of the beat, and makes the line feel like it is constantly falling forward. The off-beat emphasis continues until beat 3 of the fourth measure. Here Radle puts the accent back on the beat as he walks up chromatically from A# to C.

On the second half of the verse, Radle plays a nice descending arpeggio figure. This acts as a countermelody to the vocal, as it is the only other moving line occurring. 

Radle regularly varies the bass line on the chorus, but it mostly consists of eighth note arpeggio figures. After the syncopation of the first half of the verse, and the quarter note arpeggio line of the second half of the verse, Radle's chorus groove really makes the song drive.

Also notice through the many repeats of the chorus, Radle begins incorporating a figure first heard in the second half of the verse. On the first two beats of the F chord, he plays the same A-G-F lick we first heard in the fourth measure of the arpeggio pattern in the verse. It is two octaves lower this time, but it is the same rhythm and occurs in the same place in the measure (beats 1-2) It may seem insignificant or inconsequential, but it really is a nice way of tying different parts of the song together. 

A full transcription is below.