THE BASSIST’S FAKE BOOK
from Hal Leonard
Some of you have been anticipating this book even before me. At least, I have received more email about it before my review copy even arrived (although the slow snail mail system lived up to its name). In fact, I even got an “expert opinion” from an anonymous reader who told me that “us pro bass player’s don’t need yore ‘fake’ book – we know how to play from the real book”. I didn’t change the spelling, and I hope that most of you know the the series of Real Books are jazz fake books with melody and chord changes.
I mention this critique first because while the bassists that I know (including myself) can actually play from existing fake books on jazz gigs, and adapt to however the band takes a tune.
BUT … THIS IS NOT A JAZZ FAKE BOOK!
THE BASSIST’S FAKE BOOK is for classic rock and pop players who get called for gigs, audition for bands, or just want to learn more songs.The range is from Rock Around the Clock to Gangsta’s Paradise, The Beatles to Motörhead, Allman Brothers, Doobie Brothers, Michael Jackson, Johnny Cash and much more. There’s even some disco, and surprisingly (to me) BIrdland (the version by Weather Report).
There are 250 songs in here, all of which qualify as classics in their genres, many across genres too. But how “fake” are they? Meaning: are they dumbed down for those new to the songs, or full, exact copies of the bass lines? Well, the answer is a little of both but mostly very good.
Some songs are easy enough to be included exactly, like most of Sting’s Police lines, and others that are pretty repetitive such as Whippin’ Post. Some are pretty difficult (especially at speed) but still quite accurate such as White Rabbit (those triplet 16th’s can be killers) and Limelight, which leaves out some of Geddy Lee’s wilder flourishes but is otherwise accurate and will sound fine if you can find the right guitar and drum combo. Speaking of Rush, I was shocked to see YYZ in this book! Even though it is not 100% accurate (I’ve never seen a version that is, and this one is very good) this song takes real chops to play, so if you are looking to gradually improve your playing using this book (which I recommend) then I’d save YYZ for last.One other small point: the alphabetization of the book is off in several places so if you are looking for a particular song you might want to use the contents at the front of the book.
Since Beatles fans will ask, I went through Penny Lane and With A Little Help From My Friends very carefully. Penny Lane is quite accurate, and the few flourishes that are missing can easily be added if you like, but it sounds fine as written here (and in fact many little flourishes are included). WALHFMF is a bit less exact, and if you are really interested Hal Leonard has much better transcriptions in their other bass books. Still, if you are a die-hard fan you can figure out most of the rest of the song from this version.
The level of difficulty spans a wide range, so anyone from beginner to pro will be able to start playing from the book right away. Songs are in both notation and TAB, and most have guide words to keep you oriented within the song.
Obviously I don’t have room to run through 250 songs here, but you can find the entire song list here: https://www.halleonard.com/product/350979/the-bassists-fake-book
Most bassists should find at least 150-200 songs they want to play here. Another plus is that the binding works exceptionally well for a book of this size, and it sits open on the stand easily. There are few page turns, and the most difficult — YYZ— is a song that you are going to need to memorize phrase by phrase anyway; I speak from experience.
In summary, if these are eras that you are interested in, you will love this book. The quality of the transcriptions is consistently high, if not perfect (hey, this is a “fake book”) and you can gig or audition with this book without fear of sounding bad. Moreover, you will have hours of fun playing, and playing along with, these classic songs. I predict that you will even discover some new favourites.
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