If This Bass Could Talk

Stanley Clarke | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (October 25, 1990)
• Original Release Date: June 14, 1988
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Sony
• ASIN: B0000026D3
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Audio Cassette  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #153,353 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

This CD can be considered somewhat rare now.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Electric Bass Playing, February 12, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: If This Bass Could Talk (Audio CD)

The first and last tracks on this album are worth the price of admission. Wicked funky bass playing. These two tracks really show off the strengths of the electric bass.

If you are an electric bass player, this album will keep you busy for a while, listening to Mr. Clarke's excellent work. His range of tone qualities and techniques are amply exhibited here. This is a showcase for Stanley Clarke's virtuosity, and really an encyclopedia of the state of electric bass technique at the end of the 20th century.

That being said, many of Clarke's tunes lie flat. They lack direction and fail to hold the listener's interest(at least this listener's interest). Charles Mingus he is not. Stanley Clarke's genius is in the expressiveness and technique of his playing.

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The REAL Stanley Came Back To Visit!, November 9, 2004

By 

P. McKenna "theowlwatches" (Atlanta GA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: If This Bass Could Talk (Audio CD)

When I first heard this disc it was a breath of fresh air for me and a relief at the same time. I thought, "At last, Stanley's doing GOOD albums again!"

Given the schlocky albums he put out from 1979 and throughout the 80's, I was VERY skeptical at first. But my doubts that Stanley still had it were pretty much erased upon first listen. Here, Stanley has shown how diverse a musical pallette he has:

The two cuts with tap dancer Gregory Hines are nothing short of FUN and BRILLIANT simultaneously, as Stanley pulls off some stunning chord melody bass to Hine's mercilessly complex tap rhythms! "Goodbye Porkpie Hat" the old Charles Mingus chestnut gets a very high-tech 1980's treatment here, featuring Wayne Shorter on soprano sax. Other tracks like "Workin' Man" and "Stories To Tell" just get flat out fierce like the Stanley of old, no fuzak here.

The only thing that I din't much care for was the album's now rather dated 1980's production (heavy reverb, tons of synths etc), hence the 4 stars as opposed to five. Sucha shame he didn't do more albums like this after for it sure was good to hear the REAL Stanley Clarke a-slappin' again!

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Best of Stanley's Later Years, September 7, 2001

By 

J. Liberty "jimlib" (Van Nuys, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: If This Bass Could Talk (Audio CD)

This is still one of my favorite Stanley albums. The first and last tracks are duets with Gregory Hines tap dancing. A first I'm sure, but I can take it or leave it. To me, "Goodbye Pork Pie Hat" is really the highlight of this record and probably my favorite version of that tune. It reminds me of Stanley jamming with Weather Report - both at their peak. "I Want to Play for Ya" is a little bit of that old school funky talking bass thang. It worked well on some of his older solo albums like Journey to Love and School Days and it really works here. What we get on this record is a mature artist at the peak of his songwriting skills. Stanley is STANLEY. He does not have to play at 200 mph every minute. What he does is craft some great songs, beautiful melodies, great sounds, and smoking solos. This is the type of CD that if it falls into your CD changer has a way of staying there for a while.