When I was a student living in Leeds, I saw Maceo Parker play with his killer band. His bass player was (and I think still is) Rodney ‘Skeet’ Curtis. What a beast of a player! So much pocket, tone, EVERYTHING! Afterwards, I looked him up – he played for Parliament-Funkadelic, and also on this cut by The Whatnauts.
This is surely one of the most recognisable basslines of all time – it was later used in ‘Act Like You Know’ by Fat Larry’s Band, which got more mainstream airplay. I still prefer ‘Help Is On The Way’ though, and I think that has a lot to do with Skeet’s playing – impeccable groove, and a combination of ever-so-slightly lazy timing and perfectly defined triplets. Now I’ve finally got around to doing a playalong for this tune – it’s been on my to-do list since I first heard it, 8 or 9 years ago!
The bass I used is my Anaconda Ultra J5. It’s a beastly bass for a beastly bassline.