Primus – Candy Man (Bass Tab)

Video Lesson

Versions (2)

Auto-scroll

This song is played on an upright bass on the recording. Whatever effects are on it make it hard to hear it clearly on the studio recording, so I referred to this live version for a couple parts: Even still, I might not have gotten all of it right, but this is the closest I've figured it out. Listen to the song for the timing. Main riff (cow mooing):

G |-------------------------|
D |-------------------------|
A |----------------6/9===\0-|
E |-X-X-X-X-1-2-------------|

It also goes like this once or twice, not sure what note he slides up to.

G |-------------------------|
D |-------------------------|
A |----------------6/9===/--|
E |-X-X-X-X-1-2-------------|

Chorus ("Cover it in chocolate and a miracle or two," "The candyman can 'cause (...)")
Note: This is played in sync with the vocals, so it's not the same rhythm every time, but the right notes.
G |---------------------------------|
D |---------------------------------|
A |-9-9-9-9-8---8-8-7-7-7-7-8-------|
E |---------------------------------|

Then do this and go directly back to the main riff.

G |-----|
D |-----|
A |-----|
E |-1-2-|

Bridge ("The candyman makes, everything he bakes(...)"):

G |---------------------------------|-------------------------------------------|
D |---------------------------------|-------------------------------------------|
A |-8-8-8-9--8-8-8-9--8-8-8-9-8-7-8-|-8-8-8-9-8-7-8---8-8-8-9-9-10-10=====/20\--|
E |---------------------------------|-------------------------------------------|

After Les says "Ha-ha!" (keep it through the "beep beep beep howdy howdy" section): 
G |--------------------------------------|
D |--------------------------------------|
A |--------------------------------------|
E |--X-X-X-X-2/4-0--2/4-0--2/4-0--2/4-0--|
In the second half of the guitar solo, Les stops doing the dead notes and just does the slides.

That's the whole song. Just repeat the chorus riff 3 times for the outro, and good luck. If you're playing this on a bass guitar, like me, I suggest slapping the E, while hitting the A string hard (but not necessarily popping it). LEGEND: - X: dead/muted note - /: slide up - \: slide down - =: let ring