Favorite Bassists

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velcrozombie
Posts: 610
Joined: April 12th, 2015, 3:37 pm

Favorite Bassists

Postby velcrozombie » June 13th, 2017, 12:08 am

We did the vocals and guitar - might as well give the rhythm section it's due, right? Going to limit myself to 20:

- Les Claypool (Primus): What explanation do you need?
- Lemmy: Very unique style - pretty much transformed the bass into a brutal rhythm guitar and it worked wonders.
- Chris Squire (Yes)
- Ben Shepard (Soundgarden): Not a flashy or overtly complex player, but he was always so good at adding new dimensions to songs and avoiding the obvious.
- Mike Watt (The Minutemen, Firehose, Dos, solo, etc.)
- Rob Wright (Nomeansno, The Hanson Brothers)
- Mike Dirnt (Green Day and others): Pretty much the first bass player to get my attention and make me want to play the instrument, specifically his playing on the first four Green Day albums (Dookie in particular). Unforunately, in the newer material that I've heard his playing seems to have been relegated to a more subordinate role. Loved the way he could hold the bottom-end while adding fills and counter-melodies.
- John Entwistle (The Who, solo)
- Mark Sandman (Morphine, Treat Her Right)
- Tracy Pew (The Birthday Party, The Saints, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds)
- Jah Wobble (Public Image Limited, solo)
- John Paul Jones (Led Zeppelin, solo
- Bootsy Collins (James Brown, Parliament, Funkadelic)
- James Jamerson (Motown Records bassist)
- Peter Hook (Joy Division, New Order, etc.)
- Cliff Burton (Metallica): Overrated because of an early death, but I'd put him on this list if the only thing he ever recorded was "Orion" - not to mention that he was the source of the band's classical influences.
- Steve Di Giorgio (Death, Sadus, tons of others)
- Tim Commerford (Rage Against the Machine, Audioslave, others)
- Geezer Butler (Black Sabbath)
- Jaco Pastorius (Weather Report, Joni Mitchell, Al Di Meola, Pat Metheny, solo)

matmico399
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Joined: November 25th, 2015, 6:11 pm

Re: Favorite Bassists

Postby matmico399 » June 13th, 2017, 12:08 pm

John Paul Jones. Period.

Steve
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Joined: May 12th, 2015, 5:34 pm

Re: Favorite Bassists

Postby Steve » June 13th, 2017, 2:39 pm

Just to add to the above list and not post any duplicates (in no particular order);
Geddy Lee (Rush)
Jeff Berlin
Steve Harris (Iron Maiden)
Tony Levin (King Crimson, Peter Gabriel, others)
Phil Lynott (Thin Lizzy)
Paul McCartney
John Wetton (Asia, King Crimson, others)

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Stalvern
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Joined: June 18th, 2016, 7:15 pm

Re: Favorite Bassists

Postby Stalvern » June 13th, 2017, 4:46 pm

Squarepusher. The guy's inhuman.

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Retrology
Posts: 438
Joined: July 17th, 2015, 2:45 am

Re: Favorite Bassists

Postby Retrology » June 14th, 2017, 12:51 pm

Les Claypool: Dude can play guitar on bass.
Flea
Billy Gould
Colin Greenwood
Ben Shepard
Eric Wilson
Robert DeLeo

jon
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Joined: April 9th, 2015, 4:30 pm

Re: Favorite Bassists

Postby jon » June 14th, 2017, 12:51 pm

I'll go with Shane Embury from Napalm Death and a lot of other amazing bands.

rockofhysteria
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Joined: October 27th, 2016, 7:49 pm

Re: Favorite Bassists

Postby rockofhysteria » June 14th, 2017, 1:54 pm

1-Geddy Lee

2-Rick Savage

3-Hugh Mcdonald

4-Gene Simmons

5-Cliff Burton

GTS
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Joined: January 29th, 2017, 2:43 pm

Re: Favorite Bassists

Postby GTS » June 14th, 2017, 6:01 pm

Cliff Burton. Just watch old footage of him playing and you'll see my point. See https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WoDQl4gT3jA

Tron
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Joined: April 9th, 2015, 8:02 pm

Re: Favorite Bassists

Postby Tron » June 14th, 2017, 9:03 pm

The guy on the Olivia Newton John video for Make a Move on Me.

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velcrozombie
Posts: 610
Joined: April 12th, 2015, 3:37 pm

Re: Favorite Bassists

Postby velcrozombie » June 15th, 2017, 1:28 pm

Stalvern wrote:Squarepusher. The guy's inhuman.


I had no idea that he played bass - I only knew him for his drum-and-bass music. He's awesome!

Retrology wrote:Les Claypool: Dude can play guitar on bass.


I get where you're coming from, but it's more like he uses the entire tonal spectrum of the instrument instead of just the lowest notes - since Larry LeLonde sticks largely to high-register accompaniment and lead-work, Claypool has a lot more sonic space to work with. The fact that Primus is a three-piece and that his vocals are often used sparsely also gives him a lot more freedom.

Lots of other good picks - no idea how I forgot Geddy Lee or Robert DeLeo (who, along with his bass-playing, deserves credit for teaching his brother all those jazzy and diminished chords).

A few more:
Brian Gibson (Lightning Bolt) - Just pure volcanic energy.
Tina Weymouth (Talking Heads, Tom-Tom Club)
David William Sims (Scratch Acid, Jesus Lizard, Rapeman, etc.)
Armistead Burwell Smith IV (Pinback, Three Mile Pilot, etc.) - He's not as flashy or as out-there as Les Claypool, but his playing style is equally unorthodox - it often sounds like a combination of bass, guitar and piano. Underrated player.


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