Catfish John - Grateful Dead - Bass Cover - Request

Hello :)

This is the requested transcription I did of the Grateful Dead version of the song "Catfish John" from their 1977 album "Terrapin Station". Wikipedia has listed this as a "Studio Outtake". What that means I'm not exactly sure? It may or may not have appeared on the original album maybe? The bass player on this track was Phil Lesh.

This transcription can be found at https://www.muzento.com under Advanced - Learning Songs subject.

I really enjoyed working on this one. It's one of those songs where the more I play it, the more subtle little things I hear and the more I appreciate what Phil did in this song. It's really unique bass playing and deceivingly difficult to play.

This one is all about the rhythm. It's basically just triads and pentatonics, but I love the rhythms and how he uses space. It's a very free and "Jammy" type part, but he's careful not to play too much, nor play on top of the other instruments. He kind of weaves around the other instruments and the vocals. His note and rhythm choices are very unconventional. Just when you think you've got the pattern, he changes things. Every bar is an adventure and a surprise :)

I'm quite sure this would be different every time he played it, which in itself is pretty amazing. To think he can come up with lines like this all the time, it's pretty cool. Wanna talk about underrated bass players... ;)

It was a little tricky to hear the bass in some spots. There are two guitars, plus and organ/keyboards and two drummers. It's a big sound and there's lots of subdivisions going on. I may have blended some of the keyboard's notes and the bass notes (the double stops). If it feels funny, I'm sure you could leave out one of the notes and it would be okay :)

Count, focus on the rhythms and really watch your note duration. The first few tries might be a lot of stop and go, but stick with it and it'll get there. It's really fun to play along with and you'll be glad you did!

I hope you enjoy it :)

Don't forget to like and subscribe and thanks for watching :)

--------------

If you appreciate what I do and or find it helpful, I hope you might consider supporting me through the following:
GregsTranscripts - https://www.gregstranscripts.com/

** Signup to the mailing list and get notified every time there's a new transcription! https://gregstranscripts.com/#subscribe

Muzento - https://www.muzento.com

Patreon -   / gregfairweather  
or
you can make a donation through

PayPal at - https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted...

-------------------

Copyright Disclaimer: Under Section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for fair use for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research. Fair use is a use permitted by copyright statute that might otherwise be infringing. Non-profit, educational or personal use tips the balance in favour of fair use.