Jim Adams invited me to participate in Song Lyric Sunday for his blog. This week’s prompt is…”a song that features a great bass line.” I knew it was going to be a Who song…and I changed it at the last minute from My Generation to this. This song has some incredible bass.
I have played music since I was around 14-15 and bass since I was around 15. I started out with an acoustic guitar with 2 strings. I could play Smoke on the Water, Down on the Corner, and other songs with those two strings. Soon I graduated to 6 strings and learned chords. A buddy of mine played guitar and he was more advanced than I was at the time.
We decided I would play bass and he would play guitar. I got a job cleaning up a vacant lot that had a massive mess for two days and earned around 50 bucks…and in the early 1980s…that could get you a decent bass guitar in a pawn shop. I learned by ear. We would listen to a record…slow it down to the slowest speed on the turntable and start figuring it out. I’m glad I learned that way because I can pick things out by listening.
Hearing this song around 8 years after it was released for the first time was exciting for me. It was a huge influence on how I played. I always made sure in any band I was in…the bass was heard. You could feel it in your chest… I made sure of that. I would hear some say…”Max is on 11 again.”
Where do I start with this song?
One of the most exciting songs of The Who. It was on the Mod concept album Quadrophenia. Roger and Pete are excellent in this song but John and Keith really stand out. The bass and drums do the heavy lifting in this song. It peaked at #92 in 1974.
I have sat for hours with a bass in my hand trying to get the runs right to this song. One of John’s best bass parts. I usually tie my fingers into knots trying to get this right. It wasn’t one of their huge hits but it was absolutely perfect for me.
I’ve never heard a hard rock band this tight yet carry a great melody underneath it all. John’s bass playing in this song is so good and he makes it sound almost normal. That is why I’ll always be in awe of The Who. Give me their rhythm section of Entwistle and Moon and I could rule the world. The word “revolutionized” is overused at times…but yes Entwistle did revolutionize the bass guitar as Moon did the drums.
The album told the story of a young mod named Jimmy. This song is about Jimmy’s inner turmoil and his quest to understand who he really is. He seeks answers and validation from his mother, a psychiatrist, and God, but finds no clear resolution. The album explores themes of identity, rebellion, and disillusionment. Pete Townshend wrote this and put a little of each band member’s personality in the character.
John Entwistle: “The Real Me” was the first take. I was joking when I did that bass part. The band said, “Wow, that’s great, that’s great!” And I was just messing around. They just loved the song. I was sitting on top of my speaker cabinet playing a silly bass part and that’s the one they liked.
John Entwistle: I think if you listen to my bass parts on their own, they sound unbelievably disjointed, but when you play them with the other instruments on the track, they fit. That’s what comes from playing with Keith.
Speaking of my favorite rhythm section…here is an isolated recording of JUST the bass and drums.
The Real Me
I went back to the doctor
To get another shrink
I sit and tell him ’bout my weekend
But he never betrays what he thinks
Woo
Can you see the real me, doctor?
Doctor?
Can you see the real me, doctor?
Woah, doctor
I went back to my mother
I said I’m crazy ma, help me
She said I know how it feels son
‘Cause it runs in the family
Can you see the real me, mama?
Mama?
Can you see the real me, mama?
Woah, mama
Can you see
Can you see the real me?
Can you see
Can you see the real me
The real me
The real me
The cracks between the paving stones
Look like rivers of flowing veins
Strange people who know me
Peeping from behind every window pane
The girl I used to love
Lives in this yellow house
Yesterday she passed me by
She doesn’t want to know me now
Can you see the real me?
Can ya?
Can ya?
Can you see the real me?
Can ya?
Woah, yeah
I ended up with a preacher
Full of lies and hate
I seemed to scare him a little
So he showed me to the golden gate
Can you see the real me, preacher?
Preacher?
Can you see the real me, preacher?
Can you see
Can you see
Can you see
Woah
Can you see the real me, doctor?
Can you see the real me, ma?
Can you see the real me (me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me)?
…
PowerPop... An Eclectic Collection of Pop Culture 
Great pick! The Bass is like the lead instrument on this tune. Along with the drums it drives The Real Me. Crazy to think that it was all done in one take!! If you want to check out a pretty decent cover of The Real Me search WASP doing a cover of it. They pull it off with the late Frankie Banali doing the drums. WASP put there version out back in ’89.
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Thanks Deke…I thought if I was going to pick one…I was going to pick one that was one great bass line after another. I know that cover pretty well you are talking about because this song isn’t covered as much as their others. For me…I could have just listened to the bass and drums and been happy with this song. I love that isolated track.
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Thanks for joining in with this great post Max and giving everyone a bassist prospective. I like your story of learning by ear, as the bassist needs to be able to follow all the other instruments and work tightly with the drummer.
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Thanks for inviting me Jim…I switched songs last night around 10pm…this one gives plenty of bass plus it’s one I never learned properly…and is a good example of bass and drums laying a great foundation.
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It’s impossible for me to pick a favorite track from the Who, but this one is definitely toward the top of the list! They just don’t make rhythm sections like John & Keith anymore!!
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It’s impossible for me as well….yea I tried to emulate Entwistle when I played…impossible but I gave it a try lol. One of the few things I like about modern technology….is how they separated the tracks.
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This is one of those bands that perplexed me. I just never really “got it.”
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There are bands that do that to me also…but this one I got…hell we tried to sound like them. You have to have great voices to nail the Beatles…so we set on the Who and Stones.
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I understand Gary. I loved the early stuff, the more they went in the 70s heavier style the less they moved me somehow.
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New song to me, definitely does have some ace bass ! Those isolated tracks are cool when you have a great player
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Oh that is all I’ve been listening to is those isolated tracks. Being a bass player…I wish I would have had those back in the 80s to learn by.
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If you’re going to play rock n roll bass this would be the example. I just had this cranked and the gal came and shut the door to the room and gave me the evil eye. Thanks for putting me in the doghouse Max.
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Don’t mention it CB! LOL…. I get the same treatment. Yesterday I plugged my Fender Amp in and blasted it…and got the expected knock at the door. Well…I shouldn’t say this but I did get some peace and quiet afterward!
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PS. I could listen to the isolated bass and drums all day.
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That is all I’ve been listening to all morning. It makes me want to try learn it again.
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LOVE IT!!! One of my all-time favorite Who songs. Just a killer all around, which I feel features some of John Entwistle’s best bass playing.
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Listen to the isolated tracks Christian…not that I need to love Keith and John more…but it doesn’t get better than that.
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The isolated tracks are great. And proof that some musicians can’t be replaced by a synthesized loop.
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Yes…I was talking to a younger musician this weekend. He admited he copied and pasted parts in….hardly ever getting through the song. That is why to me…a lot of music today sounds stale and over produced. Sorry…I’ll get off my soapbox now.
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The ‘Ox’ is still sadly missed.
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Yes to that! I’m glad I got to see him once in 1989.
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So very cool when you break it down like that, great to get a musician’s insider look. Nicely done Maax
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Thanks Randy!
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One of my fav Who songs! Ask me, the horns make all the difference too
On Sunday, July 14, 2024, PowerPop… An Eclectic Collection of Pop Culture
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Thanks for commenting! I agree with the horns.
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I’ve been fortunate to see “The Who” a couple times in my lifetime. They’ve never sold out their iconic sound to crass commercialism like Grand Funk and love song crazy Chicago.
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