Slap-Bass R&B
tagStarted 1971Peak 1975-1983Last big hit 1985
Located in 1 route
Funk-soul where the slapped electric bass is the lead voice: thumb-thumped low strings emulating a kick drum, popped high strings snapping like a snare, driving percolating sixteenth-note lines under soul vocals. Built around the bass hook, it makes the rhythm section the melody and the body of the song.
History
Larry Graham invented the thumb-and-pluck technique in Sly & the Family Stone, then led Graham Central Station. Louis 'Thunder Thumbs' Johnson of the Brothers Johnson and, later, Marcus Miller carried it forward, turning slap into a defining R&B sound across the '70s and early '80s and a foundation for funk bass technique.
Defining artists
Essential listening
- Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin) — Sly & the Family StoneSpotifyYouTube
- Stomp! — The Brothers JohnsonSpotifyYouTube
- Hair — Graham Central StationSpotifyYouTube
- Strawberry Letter 23 — The Brothers JohnsonSpotifyYouTube
- School Days — Stanley ClarkeSpotifyYouTube
- One in a Million You — Larry GrahamSpotifyYouTube
Sources
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Larry_Graham
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slapping_(music)
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Brothers_Johnson