In the late ’70s, Japanese bassist Tsugutoshi Gotoh released his instructional and demonstration album On Bass – a record originally intended as training material for aspiring bass players. A matching textbook was even published at the same time, sold in music stores in Tokyo and Osaka.

Gotoh was a highly sought-after studio and session bassist who played on countless recordings. On On Bass, he used popular songs to demonstrate his technique, including Theme from “Rocky” (Bill Conti), Fantasy (Earth, Wind & Fire) and I Shot the Sheriff (Bob Marley / Eric Clapton version).

These tracks served as examples of timing, dynamics, and groove – recorded with the precision that Japan’s studio musicians of the ’70s were famous for. The album insert described it as an “Educational LP for Bass Players” – part of a popular trend in Japan at the time: instructional material that also happened to sound fantastic.

Today, the LP is still relatively easy to find in Japan, but outside Asia it’s a real rarity – a small piece of music history from an era when musicians made instructional records with the same passion they brought to studio albums.