Axe to Grind

Jammed for a bit with two friends yesterday. Right now we have two guitarists (I play rhythm) and one singer/guitarist, but we're just starting out so we don't even have a name, just building up our repertoire. Two things learnt: I apparently have latent talent as a bassist, and the E to G#m7 transition in the verse of the Beatles' "You're Gonna Lose That Girl" is deceptively simple, but sonically very effective.

Thoughts: why are there so many women bassists in rock bands? Melissa Auf Der Mar of Hole and the Smashing Pumpkins. Kim Deal of the Breeders. D'Arcy Wretzky, formerly of the Smashing Pumpkins. And of course, Kim Gordon of Sonic Youth, probably the mother of them all.

Comments

Indri said…
Mm, Daryl, got to call you on Kim Gordon. I'd say, back up to Sara Lee, who started out with Gang of Four and now plays with the Indigo Girls, with many stops in between.
Daryl said…
Probably didn't express myself well. In saying "mother of them all", I was going more for the idea that Kim Gordon was the "most influential" female bassist. Sara Lee's been underrated - I'd say being on both Gang of Four and Indigo Girls makes for a fairly eclectic resume - but I think the other bassists I named have cited Gordon as an influence... Chronologically, I guess it's quite neck-and-neck as to which one, Lee or Gordon, appeared on the scene first. (Lee, by a nose, I think: she joined Gang of Four by the early 80s, and Sonic Youth's first album was around 1983 or so.)

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