Bass Player: Andy West

42 years ago. That was when The Dixie Dregs released their 1978 album ‘What If’ which featured the legendary track ‘Take It From The Top’ used, in the UK, as the theme music to the BBC Radio One ‘Friday Rock Show’. The FRS was THE got to radio show for UK Rock fans in these pre-internet days and it was this show that introduced generations of UK Rock fans to the music they love (there is a FRS Facebook page even to this day). Bilbo even played a session for the show with New Wave of British Heavy Metal band ‘No Quarter’ (see Bits and Bobs’ page).

As with all Dixie Dregs albums, the compositions were an eclectic mix of Rock, Funk, Progressive Rock, Country and classically influenced pieces. The transcription featured here is Andy West’s bass part to one of Steve Morse’s sophisticated ballads, ‘Night Meets Light’. It comes with a massive health warning: the time signatures are all over the place.

Bilbo: ‘It is all but impossible to figure out where the ‘one’ is in certain sections of this tune and I had to rely on what ‘felt’ right. There are sections where there are bars of 5:8, 6:8, 7:8, 4:8 and 4:4 in the space of about seven bars. All sorts of alternative variations are possible but, wherever you go, you end up with the same problem; off beats that sound on and on beats that sound off’.

Whatever you preference, the chart is actually faitly easy to play (barring ‘that’ one unison passage which requires a little attention). It is the counting that is hard.