It's pure joy when I watch a video, and I get to see a cd collection in the background. Anybody who has shelves of cds( or vinyl) in their house is my definition of COOL!

The late great David Shields' baseline on Cheryl Lynn's "Got To Be Real" is another monster track every legit bassist had to know and play well!! Then there is Francisco Centeno, Allen McGrier, Larry Kimpel, Walter Jones, and Aaron Mills of Cameo!! The list goes on and on! Those cats are still untouchable!!

Pleasure is one of the most underrated bands of all time. So many good albums.

@TDProduction58

2 күн бұрын

Totally agree.

Glad you highlighted Nathaniel Phillips! That's my favorite Slap tone on a Jazz Bass. As long as I love Marcus, Nathaniel recorded the best as we often say "Marcus tone" 😉

Ahhhhh!!!! I said Glide just before you played the track! Brother, not only is Glide a super bad track, Future Now is a super bad album! One track after another. I still have my original vinyl my dad bought me when I was 14. Man, I’m so glad you covered this. Nathaniel Phillips is that dude! Pleasure is that band!!!

@johncaldwell881

6 ай бұрын

There’s another track on that album that’s worth looking at. Nothing To It

@chuckdawson1824

6 ай бұрын

me too ...i knew it...iconic bass line!!!!

@stevencsmith7644

6 ай бұрын

@@johncaldwell881 Yes! “Nothing To It” is super tight! Bro, there’s not a bad track on that album. This is not an album where you skip tracks. Just let it play from start to finish. My favorite is “Space Is The Place.” Nathaniel is groovin’. And then there’s the guitar solo from Doug Lewis. Killer!

@dwricha

6 ай бұрын

I also suggested that it would be Glide, Pleasure was That Band and the chemistry of those musicians can never been duplicated, loved the Future Now album and the title song, they killed it, and that guitar solo. RIP Bruce Carter@@stevencsmith7644

@khaz606

6 ай бұрын

Killer album from my favourie Jazz Funk band.

Always nice to see Nathaniel Phillips get some love. He's an incredible bassist. The Album was recorded near my old stomping grounds at Fantasy Studios in Berkeley, California. Back then, everyone (including myself) was trying to get that iconic bassline down.

Les Claypool plays a bit of this line while being interviewed by Geddy Lee in the recent 'Are Bass Players Human Too?' while talking about slapping, or thumping as Les prefers to call it. A little slice of bass TV heaven. Kind of amazing that show exists in 2023/24.

@BARTFUNKBASS

6 ай бұрын

I noticed it too, I watched it literally a week ago.

Classic. When I see people playing it now on KZread I say “we were doing that in the 70’s”

I'm "glide" you did this song!!! Being a guitar player, I have to say that Marlon McClain's parts are not for wannabes either! Thank you again Paul.

This channel is absolutely GOLD. It has prompted me to get back into playing....thank you!

I saw Pleasure when this song was new. They were a bill with Slave and the Bar-Kay’s. Nathaniel Phillips was playing a Stingray and they must have played Glide for ten minutes and Phillips took an incredible solo. Future Now is possibly the best Funk album of all time. It is a shame it is not on iTunes. Pleasure never got as big many felt they should have been. They were all incredible musicians.

@rambr0vids

6 ай бұрын

I'm jealous, but I did see Nate and Marlon McClain play with Jeff Lorber when Kenny Gorelick (G) was still in the Fusion

@greggpowers5839

6 ай бұрын

And, I remember him putting the bass behind his head and soloing.

Whoo! Pleasure was the TRUTH! I also love when "Joyous" makes an appearance on the radio. "Get off of that ego/into a higher place/check out my music/and dig my magic space".

@organgrinder55

3 ай бұрын

The combination of Nate's bassline, Bruce's metronome timekeeping, Marlon's distorted guitar solo with those lush strings under him on the outro of "Joyous" is the most beautiful funky thing I have heard!

80s funk is SO amazing! SOLAR was an incredible label! Thank you for focusing on this stuff!

@hardcorehouse

6 ай бұрын

It was 70s, wasnt Solar

@matthw633

6 ай бұрын

Solar with Leon Sylvers was outstanding! Check out the bass on his songs. Always tight !

@ObsidianLife

6 ай бұрын

@@hardcorehouse ...you REALLY are going to draw the line at 1979... ...Ok. Thanks for your pointless comment.

YES! Every song on this album is great. Still listening, since the 80's

What a pleasure to hear Pleasure getting some recognition! A brilliant band, whose entire discography is a beautiful treasure trove. Nate and Bruce Carter? What a funky foundation! ❤ PS - One of my personal favourites? Joyous. The title says it all!

Nicely nailed breakdown btw. Every time I come to this channel I say "Yes, finally some love and recognition" for whoever bass player you choose. Nobody is doing this, so thank U again. Nat for me is up there with the most inventive bass players around and deserves his shine. The link he had with Bruce was so deep. Bruce's death was such a sad loss but the music lives on. Take care PD.

I beat Glide into my head awhile ago but I missed Take a Chance. So so funky. PD you singlehandedly make me want to learn the Bass. I played drums for awhile but as I get older my ears kind of shifted to the bottom.

What a song and what an album to go along with it, Pleasures whole catalogue is brilliant, Nathaniel Phillips is just next level!

Hell yeah Nate is definitely one of the greats, been a fand and trying to play his licks for many years.

👏👏Bravo, Bravo!!!!! finally someone showcased this funk master piece! Thank you Bro.... for this video👏

I’ve been saying for years that this is “thee” funkiest bass line ever written….in my humble opinion. Thank you for finally bringing it back to the forefront as I still introduce this song to people who’ve never heard of it who are seasoned musicians. Thanks. 👍🏾

Anytime you play FUNK you got me. Glide is a always in my funk playlist

I love your channel and analysis of this iconic bassline by the phenomenal Nathaniel Phillips!! Every bass player in my hometown of Detroit had to be able to play this ridiculously badass bass part to prove themselves!! It's right up there with anything by Louis Johnson, Marcus Miller, and Larry Graham!! Funk royalty!! ❤❤❤

I learn so much from this channel. Thank you for posting another mind opener PD.

As soon as I read the title, I knew. It really is the ULTIMATE! Great work as always, my brother.

I have been waiting for this video for 2 years, at least. I thought maybe that you have discussed it a while before I found your page. I found this ,back in the day, bought the 45 and played it for hours. jumped for joy when I found out it was on cd. thanks so much for the break down. I never saw it performed by any bass player

🔥 One of my all time favorite bass performances! And Nate is one of the most humble cats ever!

I'm so glad Take a Chance (from 1980's Special Things) got a shout-out in this video - not just because it's a great song, but also because it's one of the only funk tracks I've ever heard that features a walking bassline. I presume @pdbass couldn't feature more of the track in this video for copyright reasons, so if you haven't heard it, please do yourself a favour and look it up. It's also worth mentioning that Nate Phillips (and the rest of the Pleasure musicians) were basically the in-house band for Wayne Henderson's At-Home Productions after he left the Crusaders, and they feature on a ton of great albums including Ronnie Laws Fever and Friends & Strangers, the first three Side Effect albums, Gabor Szabo's Faces, Allspice's self-titled debut album, Billy Cobham's B.C. and also his collaboration albums with Wayne Henderson along with Henderson's solo albums from the late '70s. Truly a great and underappreciated player.

Love that whole album🏆

Wow this is unbelievable bass line!!! Time to go to the shed again!!! Thanks Paul!!

It’s easy to learn it now with YT but back then I played nothing else for a week until I had it perfect. At age 61 it’s still my favorite bass line to play and the one I show off with 😂

The breakdown in this track still blows me away

Nate has played so many outstanding lines over the years. So many great things with Bobby Lyle too. Nate and I used to teach at The Bass Centre back in the day, and at that time, I did not make the connection that he was the guy who played on so many of the albums I loved. I was teaching slap playing, and was a younger guy, and I remember Nate giving me a lot of side eye back then. Once I figured out who he was, and how he had influenced me for years, I guess I deserved those glances. LOL. Truly one of the greats!

My brother this analysis was spot on. Back in the day, that line separated the men from the boys (No offense ladies). It took me a minute 🙂(really a couple of weeks) to learn it.

Yeah, bout time u give some much do credit to Nate!!!!!!!

yes sir. I love it when the science of music parts built on top of each other create a masterpiece and the individual parts are unique. Thanks for breaking down

I got hipped to Pleasure when I moved to Portland, Oregon during the early 90s (From NYC. Been back for over 20 years now). I was running into a slew of Music Peeps who knew their Frontman, Marlon McClain when I did Radio in that city. Never knew Portland "Funked" like that until hearing that band and Nu Shooz.

YES SIR!!! This is great Paul!!! Nate Phillips is an absolute BEAST!!! Can't forget him BLAZING on Law Of The Raw from the Special Things album!!!

Serious SERIOUS Bass Line.....Love it

All the bass players in my city jumped on this track when it came on the radio tricky but it was accomplishment if u learned it.

Ha! Great call out!! 👍🏿👍🏿👍🏿 I still play at least part of this bass line almost every single day!! Another amazing Pleasure bass line is Spread That Feelin’!!!

My 2 favorite Pleasure songs in one video. What a treat!

one of favorite bass to play...it was a monster to tackle.....

Love that you covered this, Paul!! Between this and “Joyous,” Nate Phillips is one of the reasons I wanted to start playing bass. Hope they bring that reunion show on the road!

@FAMUCHOLLY

6 ай бұрын

@rboskey, throw in "Life on Mars" by Dexter Wansel, and you described me too!👍

I KNEW! you were going to say Glide! as I was watching! lol. One of my favorite songs and the one song you play if your you find someone whose soul is dead. Put this on and the victim SNAPS out of it. The head starts bobbin'. Its like smelling sauce lol. Awesome! 👍🏼😎

Was an honor hosting Nate Phillips for my Jazz Safari project in Nairobi, Kenya. Very nice talks we had. Nice Cat. Greetings from Uganda 🇺🇬👊🏿🖤

Just back from a dig on the Pleasure back catalogue thanks to this video. Wowsa! Nate Phillips is a freak, and Pleasure are amazing. As a bass player myself I can't believe he/they escaped my notice all these years. Thank You!!

I love the bands you are introducing to myself and others. Thank you.

Not a bassist but Tracy Wormworth taught me that line back in the day, ‘79 - ‘80. Great to hear Nate’s inspiration for the line. Bassists Alex Blake & his brother Russel are also extremely adept at 2 (or more) note chords. There’s a praise song called Trading My Sorrows, that uses that approach as well. Soon as the congregation hears it, they know it’s time to get your dance on. Great post as usual!👍

Fantastic band! Greetings from Denmark :-)

Commenting right away to push this up!

I came across your channel by accident but so glad i did. As a dj and record collector of 40 years all my fav tracks are bass driven. After your analysis ive started listen with a whole new mind set! Some of my top tracks are keni Burke-Risin to the top, Change- Mutual attraction and Don Blackman- Hearts desire! 🎶🎶🎶👊🏼

Thanks soooo much for this one. And yes, I’ve definitely “got some homework to do!” 🎸🔥🎵🔥🔥🙌🏿🦁☀️ A suggestion for a future clip: If you haven’t covered it already, Fat Larry’s Band’s “Act Like You Know” is hands down one the nastiest, stank face-inducing funk bass lines ever recorded. I’d love to see a breakdown of that one. Thanks again for all the great content. 🙏🏿🦁☀️

Yessah love playing Bass when we're performing this song. But alot of y'all sleep on, "Future Now" and "Universal Love" . We always get a standing ovation when we perform those 2 song's as well. Not to mention the Bass lines are freaking incredible ya huuuurrdd me

YESSIR!!!!!!! The AMAZING NATE PHILLIPS AND PLEASURE!!!!! Nate was only 17 when he came up with that bassline!!! Pleasure was one of the most skilled R&B bands in history!!!! Almost every member of Pleasure went on to play with Jeff Lorber! Guitarist Maron McClain is a wizard!!! Check out this song from Pleasure: kzread.info/dash/bejne/Z6SemLCqg6uaaLg.html

Thanks for recognizing Phillip..

Yes finally!! Probably one of the more complex lines in that era. Thank you!

The tail end of that chorus is the only thing that trips me up on that bass line. It's so good and I'll get it eventually. Definitely gotta slow it down so I can get it.

Such an incredible line. One of my favorite songs. Thanks for pointing it out!

Man you are definitely telling the truth. I am a child of am 70s radio and I remember that song being played. With all those genres of music back then. I had to have some drumsticks and bass guitar in my hands at a young age.

When I saw the title of this clip, I was saying to myself, it’s got to be glide. I haven’t anything like it and you wonderfully broke down the compositional prowess in this song. I work in a music store where I’ve introduced this song to so many bassist who sitting around loud slapping, who struggle to get this one right. They always cheat and dumb it down. So it’s really great to see some who is what they claim, actually break it down and teach. Thank you.

So many memories of hearing this played at home. What a great song.

One of my absolute favorites. Thank you Sir. 👊

As always: The best 5 minutes on KZread

This was my ISH in Jr. High!!!!

I learned it as soon as I heard it and I still practice it.

I was a trumpet player and that group had some bad ass horn parts. I wanted to switch to bass after hearing that album.

Always loved this…an absolute classic ❤️

Thank you so much for reviewing my all time favorite bass line! I literally get chills everytime I hear it, especially when he hits those octaves, crisp!!! Pleasure and Slave made me want to play bass and I still dream of playing at this level! Awesome review!

PDBass, man, you always give me something that I didn't know I needed in my life!! I'd never heard this whole song, only bit pieces of it, but now I gotta learn to play it. Thanks for the awesome info, and your great exaamples of how to play bass!!

It's this song with that e7 movement and the melodic double note bassline was the reason that I wanted to play bass! Nate is the man!

Thanks for breaking this down and for the up close and perfect view I was finally able to see exactly what is being played really appreciate you!! 👍

I knew exactly what this would be before it even played. My all time favorite bass line!

Maestro, what you present in these 5-10 minute videos is consistently brilliant. Once again: thank you! It would be great if you can bring back the t-shirts, too!😉😎

Such an awesome line from a great, great player! Thank you!

I always wondered who the bassist behind the group Pleasure is. He is truly #BadAss widdit👍Sending My Love is still a banger in my opinion. Thanx Paul👍✌

Inspiring as always. Slap is one of my many weaknesses. Gotta hit the 'shed and work on this.

I never thought it, but that is absolutely a great bass line, by a great creative musician.

When preparing for a long drive, Glide is the jam that gets me started. Now all I need is a "Duce and a Quarter" to really lay back and cruise. Ask an old head about that...

All I can say is wow! As a 62 year old intermediate(-) player, I have to unlearn a bunch of bad habits just to even try to think about playing something close to that. Thanks for bringing us such great music masterpieces!

I knew you would get to this eventually. This is a top five funk bassline from the seventies, for me. Thanks!

Thanks for giving me Pleasure ☺️

@pdbass

6 ай бұрын

My pleasure 😊

Bro that hold album is “ Stank…I also like the Joyus album also.. Nathaniel Phillips, Marlon McClain and one of the tightest drummers that ever was Mr. Bruce Carter ( RIP ) I remember the 1st time I heard this joint on the radio I was like who is this cat on Bass ….my goodness.. Future Now is also a stellar album also..

Pleasure! I didn’t think of this one. Got stuck on Larry Graham. Pleasure is SO underrated. Major jazzy funk group.

Man, You are a SUCH A GREAT player and teacher. I’m a semi-retired keyboard player who made his bones in the 1970s. This song brings me back to my youth. I got instantly happy when I saw this video. It encourages me to see gifted, knowledgeable young cats like yourself explain and demo these great bass lines with such clarity and great feel. And the way you present your content is first rate. I wish you great success.

Yep It was one of the first Slap Basslines I learned how to play Slap....... Beacuase of everything you mentioned In this Breakdown of Video.....

I had the opportunity to watch Nate record most of an album and then go with him to the stage at night to play one of the most phenomenal gigs I ever seen as a bass player in my life next to Lewis Johnson

That is one of the most awesome bass lines I've ever heard, it set a higher standard.

I was listening to this just last night hahaha waiting for the bus !!!

Yep, this and “Slide” by Slave

My all time favorite hit just listened today.

I knew what this was going to be before I even hit play on the video!!! love it!!! great pick!!

Didn’t know Carter passed rip. “Law of the raw” an atf! Killer rhythm section, listen to the end!

My bass teacher had me on this at university. Massive tune. I haven't continued building on slap technique after my degree (except to learn Hair) but this tune and Let The Praise Begin by Fred Hammond made me appreciate how great a slap line can be.

Wow! Had not heard this album or group, but have hard of Nate. I will check these albums out soon! Thanks for this!

Yes it's certainly up there, this track absolutely slams! And it's supreme fun to play. Great choice! 👏🏿👏🏿👏🏿

One of my favorites to listen to and play

I LOVE playing Glide so much, it's one of the funniest baselines hands down

Great analysis of one of my favorite bass lines.

@pdbass I been looking for history behind this bassline for decades. ❤ thanks