John Hartford: Back in the Goodle Days[purchase]
Haven't had a good Hartford post on here in a while... so why not serve up a nice, progressive, bluegrass bassline?
Randy Scruggs does the honors here on "Back in the Goodle Days" from Hartford's classic Aereo-Plain album from 1971. The bassline here is simple and understated, and at times buried a bit in the mix. It does, however, set the tone for the track right from the start and provide a strong, loping beat for the rest of the band (Vassar Clements, Tut Taylor, Norman Blake, and Hartford... a tremendous line up) to play over.
The interaction between Scruggs' bass and Hartford's banjo in the song's intro is especially soothing.