DADDY'S UPRIGHT BASS
Recorded Jay Vern Studio, Nashville
Vocals - MAB
Background vocals- MAB
Upright Bass - Don Kerse
Lead Guitar- Chris Luzenger
Drums- Tommy Wells
Mix- Jay Vern
Written by: MAB, Greg Powers, Steve Harris (OD)
Guys, you know I like to tell the story behind a story. SongRamp member Greg Powers and myself were working on a song idea Greg had posted in the Writers Room. We soon took a different direction and began writing a song about Bill Black's daughter, Nancy, from a newspaper article a few years ago. The story explained how Nancy was only four or five years old when her Daddy started playing Upright Bass for Scotty and Elvis.
Her early memories was riding it like a pony, while it was laying on it's side; until her Mama would chase her away. Nancy read in the late seventies that Paul McCartney had ended up with her Daddy's bass. She tried to write to Paul but got no response. Nancy gave up on ever seeing her daddys bass again. Later, in 2006, she saw a YouTube video with Paul and the Bass before a small audience at Abby Road Studio. Paul introduced the bass, told a couple of stories about it, then played a short version of Heartbreak Hotel.
Nancy contacted Paul, through a contact Scotty's assistant gave her, and Paul invited Nancy and her husband over for a reunion. That is how the story went and how our song started.
A link to the article we got our story from; it has a great picture of Nancy, Paul, and the bass. There is also a link to the YouTube video Nancy saw.
http://www.scottymoore.net/article122507.html
We sent our finished lyrics and chorus to MAB asking him to put some music to it. MAB polished the lyrics, wrote a better chorus with a stronger hook and added the Retro Elvis music to the song.
I think the music is perfect for the story behind the song.
Daddy's Upright Bass
Nancy grew up in Memphis, her daddy's band was all rage
Sneeked pony rides on that big upright, her Daddy Bill played
Friday's she'd wave good-bye to Uncle Scotty and Elvis too
They'd hit the road in that station wagon, big fiddle on the roof
Chorus:
Was bottom end on Houndog, That's Alright, Heartbreak Hotel
Each note has a history in the songs the world knows well
But there was more than music, that those four strings played
It's a daughter's living legacy, of her daddy's upright bass.
They tore up the fifties, while Nancy was still young
Can't forget that night she saw 'em' on Ed Sullivan
When they came on the radio, could see her swell with pride
Those sounds lived on after Papa passed on in '65'
Chorus:
Bridge:
They lost track of that instrument for over forty years
Then she was on the internet, it suddenly re-appears
In the hands of a Beatle, Paul McCartney now was usin
One day he brought her over, for a family reunion
Instrumental:
Chorus:
End