Your Favorite Bass Player Thread!

  • Thread starter Thread starter A GUY NAMED JON
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lotsa really good players out there, but I`ll list a few of the ones that appeal to me the most for listening and churning the grey matter with their signature techniques.

Stanley Clark
Alphonso Johnson
Willie Weeks
Jaco pastorius
Robert Popwell
Bill Meyers (actually a jazz pianist, but the baddest keyboard bassist I`ve ever heard in my life)
Andy West
Berry Oakley r.i.p.
 
If you ask me, which you have...I've gotta say...me. Yes, go go ego! The motown folks set a real solid ground, and wrote some of the most hip lines goin'. Jaco was larger than life. But couldn't hang on. Mingus was great. As erratic as Jaco though. Both great performers, Mingus would get my vote as the better composer though. Niels-Henning Orsted Pederson though, he rocks...he did stuff on upright Jaco did on electric. But hey, go back to the session players for folks like Otis Redding. Educate yourself with some of that. Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmhmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm...yessir!
 
I guess Jamerson should always be on a list somewhere....

and Dunn.
 
I don't think I saw anyone mention Abraham Laboriel.

Squire is still my favorite
 
Best technical may be Chris Squire (of Yes). Add to the fact he plays bass with a pick, and you have one creative and talented player. He also has a signature tone because of the attack on the strings using a pick. He's always been a personal hero as a player (even if I choose to play bass, when I rarely DO play bass, without a pick).

Worth noting are:

Geddy Lee, because the man not only plays a mean bass (I'm a huge Rush fan), he plays keyboards and sings for christ sake. I saw old footage of him playing the root notes on bass, singing, AND playing keyboards during the briidge in Tom Sawyer (back when sequencing and triggers were still primative). :eek:

John Myung (of Dream Theater). Might lack style (because DT's stuff lacks style) but plays some very complicated lines on a very tough instrument to play them on. Imagine playing Petrucci's licks note for note on a bass... hence, his being mentioned here. ;)

[seeing the prog rock trend? well, now you don't!]

Nick Oliveri (of Queens of the Stone Age) -- very creative and solid bassist who gets no props!

Les Claypool (of Primus fame, Oysterhead, etc) -- while I feel "old" listening and not enjoying Suck On This or Frizzle Fry as much as I did as a teenager, the man has some of the rawest and unique chord sounds I've ever heard emanate from a 4 string instrument. He's 2 players in one, often incorporating slap and melodic lines simultaneously. Reminds me of some of that Jaco stuff I heard on cassette years ago. :p
 
Someone few of you may have heard of.....Larry Stallworth...He's a teacher @ Berklee(Boston),I saw him play in a Cover band and I've seen alot of great Bassplayers BUT this guy was Just Amazing....Yeah,Billy Sheehan,Dana Strum,Gene Simmons are some of my Favs..........
 
how about Bobby Dahl of Poison !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! yeah he can spin around on stage with the best of them, then puke !!!!!! Or how about Jack Blades of Night Ranger, man i saw them live, i dont think he played more that 5 notes the whole set, but he can sure jump around.

just kidding!!

steve harris of the mighty maiden and
Allen Woody from Almonds/Govt Mule. RIP both get my vote as my Fav.

yep
 
capnreverb said:
jesus christ people are you all morons. i'm sorry, but when it comes to guitar, sax, drums, piano its an open arguement about the greatest. not bass. find me anybody in bass history that can compete on all these levels. lets look at this subjectively.

composition - charles mingus
technique - charles mingus
innovation - charles mingus
influence - charles mingus
guys he played/recorded with - charles mingus
persona - charles mingus
arrangements - charles mingus
ability to make others around him sound good - charles mingus
historical significance - charles mingus
diy record label owner (debut, early 50's) - charles mingus
powerhouse piano player - charles mingus
social activist - charles mingus
visionary - charles mingus
finder of talent - charles mingus
child prodigy - charles mingus
teacher - charles mingus
bullshit funny autobiography - charles mingus
tone - charles mingus
brave humen being - charles mingus
serious mofo dude - charles mingus


yeah, phil lesh vic wooten geddy lee billy sheehan stanley clarke vic wooten james jamerson entwhistle flea primus dude blah blah fuckin blah cant even have half of this in their resume. if you dont think charles mingus is the one and only god of bass, you are a misguided dunce. if you don't know his work, you have no right to post your opinion on the best bass players of all time. go ahead, argue with his legacy and put any of your bass heroes against him
they
will lose...................................................................................................... ...........
badly!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Click to expand...


I agree Mingus was incredible, and definitely deserving of the praise lauded upon him, but man are you a jackass.


Moving on, in addition to Mingus, I enjoy these guys:

John Paul Jones, Roger Waters, Jaco, Wooten, Paul McCartney, Flea. I also like the bassist from The Cure's work on Disentegration.
 
Have to agree

lesterpaul said:
but my fav bass album is Govt Mule the Deep End ...lot of killer bass playing on there also the live album with dvd "the deepest end " check it out
Click to expand...
If you like bass you have to check this one out,something for everyone on this CD/DVD. There's a different bassman on almost everysong and three on the finale...'Thorazine Clusterf**k'
 
james jamerson
paul mccartney
eric wilson
p-nut
flea
matt freeman
bootsy collins
 
Here's my .02 cents.

Geezer Butler
Steve Harris
John Paul Jones
Flea
Paul Mcartney
Jack Bruce
 
Saw some Mingus footage on a 'History of Jazz' DVD for the first time the other day. Holy cow, what a player.
 
Geddy Lee (Top of my list)
Tony Levin (modern bassmaster)
Patrick Dahlheimer (holds his band together more than most realize)
Adam Clayton (made the steady 8th note sound great)
Peter Hook (really underrated in terms of using the Bass as a lead and melody instrument)
Simon Gallup (lots of tasty stuff in terms of tones)
Ross Vallory (good tones on escape and frontiers)
John Entwistle & Jack Bruce (the first time I made the connection bass == balls)

These are the guys whose playing I remember and can "feel" within me. These are the guys I am consciously and sub-consciously channeling when I play bass. However, being more of a pick player, some of these guys I'd never be able to cop.

Electic bass is what speaks to me so I suppose I didn't leave room for guys playing upright in Jazz situations. I've certainly heard some Charles Mingus and Jaco (who would fit in my 'electric bass' category), but I guess my heart is in rock and roll.

Funny, I've heard the same responses from guys in magazines and, later, dicscussions and articles on the Internet for 30 years now. Its funny how the same names get on the tops of lists so consistently. You'd think folks like Jaco and Mingus would be so much more vastly popular by mere diffusion.

For me, the players that inspire me seem to vibe well within the context of their music and a seamless connection exists from heart -> mind -> fingers.
 
whatever

the bass player in BOW WOW WOW is pretty great!

and that irish dude in thin lizzy, phil lynnot or someting, hes pretty great to
:D
 
Lots to like in this thread, especially those playing jazz. In the rock realm, though, no one shattered my perception of bass guitar more than Chris Squire. A classical-music approach to rock? People have been run out of town for less radical ideas.

To those youngins out there... pick up a remastered copy of Yes' "Close to the Edge" or Squire's "Fish Out of Water" and stay focused on the bass playing throughout. Absolutely stunning, ground-breaking stuff for rock in the early 70s. Nearly every bass player I knew at that time was scrambling to buy a Rick.

J.
 
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