Bark At The Moon Bass Cover

Before you do anything, please check out my young friend, Emily Kim’s cover of “Limelight”. It’s what we worked on when we met at the music store and I think she did a great job on it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TbydZk-IgVc

I’ve gotten a surprising number of requests for this song, so here it is - “Bark At The Moon”, the title track off the album by Ozzy Osbourne which came out in 1983 and features The Great Bob Daisley on bass.

I’ve always liked Bob Daisley’s playing (and songwriting). To my ears, he’s one of the few pick players who sounds as if he’s playing with his fingers, but there’s no denying that a pick is involved in the rapid-fire, bass bursts he’s known for. I’m able, to some extent, mimic that speed by using triplets, but I’d normally use a fretted note beneath the top note, or an open string, to land on. In this song, the triplets in the “Then when he's found who he's looking for…” parts are an F# octave which means I had to jump over the C# on the A string on the way do landing on the F# on the E. It’s doable, but a bit more tricky…for me anyway. I couldn’t imagine being able to play it as cleanly as Daisley does using a pick. Another thing I admire about his playing is the tight staccato he often uses. I noticed in this video that during the verses I seem to be actually pulsing (lifting my finger rhythmically off of the fretted A note) my left hand to assist in the muting and choking off the notes. Not sure if it’s actually doing anything, but it makes me feel as though I am.
I did the cover about a year and a half ago, using a beautiful Alembic Essence bass that my brother-in-law was selling and gave to me to check out. Everything about the bass just oozed “quality” but I just couldn’t seem to get this dog to bark. I’m sure another player could, but the bass just didn’t sound right in my hands, so I had to pass on it.

One of the people who suggested the song mentioned that there was an “isolated bass” track available on YouTube which I listened to (well after I recorded the cover) and, while I did fairly well figuring the song out, there are a couple of spots where I’m off. One thing I noticed was that he sounds like he’s hammering-on and pulling-off some of the notes in the bass/guitar unison riff just before the vocals come in…A#,A,A#,C,A#,A,G,F. I’m plucking each note and, on the isolated track, he’s got a bit more “flow” going on. The other part in question are the quick bursts that take place during the choruses. He’s playing each note quickly with a pick and I’m using triplets with the open E string as a landing pad. However, I’m playing an G,A,G, using the 10th and 12th frets on the A string, but it sounds like he continues going up, as in, G,A,B (10th,12th,14th frets). As hard as I listen for it in the recording, I still can’t hear it, but it’s there in the isolated track.

If you didn’t check out Emily’s “Limelight” cover, please do.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TbydZk-IgVc

Видео Bark At The Moon Bass Cover канала TJH3113