Smiling Phases – Blood, Sweat & Tears – Bass Cover – Request

Hello ????

Here’s a transcription I’ve done of the “Blood, Sweat & Tears” song “Smiling Faces”. This track comes from their self titled 1968 album. The bass player on this track was Jim Fielder.

You can find this transcription at Muzento under the Advanced Songs category.

Whoa — you know those songs that keep you humble and remind you that music is a never-ending path of learning?
Yeah… this was one of those for me. ????

It took me about 12 hours over 7 days to get to what you see here. I had to work pretty hard on this one — it’s a tough song!

This late-60s style always makes me think of rock musicals like JCS or Hair. I think it’s because of that Boogaloo style of bass lines and all the different parts. It’s like a jazz-rock odyssey 🙂

Once you slow it down, the rhythm and line start to feel familiar. It reminds me a little of Jaco’s The Chicken.

You gotta love these old recordings from before everything was quantized. I get the sense they were playing right at the edge of their limit. It’s not the tightest performance ever recorded — it feels like it could fall apart at any moment… but it doesn’t. That’s part of what gives it so much energy and excitement.

During the piano solo, there’s a two-bar break before the swing section. My tip: listen to the piano player to know when to come in. If you stick to the previous tempo, you’ll be off. And when you do come in, it’s on a half note-triplet — just to make it even trickier.

Gotta give kudos to David Clayton-Thomas, too. I found a live Ed Sullivan Show performance, and he sounded spot-on. I love that. It’s so disappointing when you’re underwhelmed by a live version of a song.

If you’ve got a few days and want a good challenge, this is a great “project song.” I’d suggest breaking it down into sections — verse, chorus, solos — and slowing it down, and building up the tempo. Really understanding the rhythms really helps when you start pushing up the tempo 😉

Hope you enjoy it.

Don’t forget to like and subscribe — and thanks for watching! ????

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Originally posted by UC6wmENgf58_ca8VNfO-NWuA at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jdraZJ1TlPk