Favorite bass player/s?

Cliff Burton's always had a place in my heart, too.

also
Steve Harris
Phil Lesh

Me too. I wish I could find a bassist like that.

But I think bass guitars are pretty bland in general, especially the way lots of people play them. I like tuba and contrabass.

JJ Burnel - Stranglers

ihttp://chrissquire.com/images/imgAwaken.jpg

Jack Bruce
Stanley Clarke
Jaco Pastorius
Bootsy
Larry Graham
James McNew

question didn't say nothin' about bass guitar, just bass...hell, lets see a list of sousaphone blowers...

no idea who's my favorite, but i heard the lou reed live of martial law that was dropped on the us politics thread and i thought "oh man, that bass sound is so notably consistent with reed's new sensations album, gotta be the same guy?" fernando saunders, a frequent reed player. taking recommends.

https://youtu.be/vqY2apae6Nk

lol I *hate* his sound, def where I get off the Reed solo discography

Bohannon!

He's like Mr. Fretless B..

One of my favorite bass albums that no one talks about is Sam Phillips' "Martinis & Bikinis," where duties are divided between Jerry Scheff, Colin Moulding and Larry Taylor. Focus on the playing here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dKrfI5KGdas

(Saunders is Mr. Fretless, that is.)

And oops, that Waits track is awesome but it's Greg Cohen and not what I was talking about. I meant to post this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lC27yRuE6yo

And even then, I think I meant to post *this* one:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ezJKEWzSWYY

The bass runs on the chorus are so cool.

I tend to not really pick favorite instrumentalists/rank people but wth we're all trapped at home now why not

Pete Thomas (I really don't have much time for EC these days but every time I hear one of his basslines I'm like "holy shit, this guy improves every song he plays on")
Paul McCartney
Bootsy Collins
Robbie Shakespeare
Family Man Barrett
John Paul Jones
Larry Graham
Ron Carter
Mani

these all strike me as boring/conventional picks but whatever

Those are all great, though I never understood the love for Mani. Or that band entirely, tbh, so maybe that's it.

tbc Mani is also on some great Primal Scream records

Yeah, to the extent I've ever listened to, like, "Xterminator," I don't recall the bass ever sticking out, as much as people love Mani.

The other day I heard "Wake Me Up Before You Go Go" on the radio, and listened to the bass, which was surprisingly awesome. (I'm not going to link to it.) Turns out the bassist (who I think stuck with George Michael for years) was a Detroit dude mentored by James Jamerson!

I mean this one daaaaaamn, such a riff and such a great song

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kmf_uVKE9tU

overdriven sound (not "song" although it is a great song too)

Does sound cool. Essentially squelchy bass as sequencer. Kind of like cool Curve bass parts.

let's see some others

Pino Palladino (just for those D'Angelo records)
Carol Kaye

I admit I'm a guy that prioritizes riffs and melodies over playing a lot of complicated runs or whatever

Jenny Lee Lindberg, for one.

I love the dude playing on this whole album but especially this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c349vvwjkXo

Holger Czukay, Bootsy, Tina Weymouth, Larry Graham, Rick Danko... off the top of my head.

The other day I heard "Wake Me Up Before You Go Go" on the radio, and listened to the bass, which was surprisingly awesome. (I'm not going to link to it.) Turns out the bassist (who I think stuck with George Michael for years) was a Detroit dude mentored by James Jamerson!

― Josh in Chicago, maandag 16 maart 2020 20:01

someone i mentioned on my blog lately is a guy name of Abraham Laboriel, who i mostly know from his solos on the '76 henry mancini record "Cop Show Themes". really quality stuff tho.

His son is McCartney's now longtime drummer (among many credits). Musical family!

Speaking of Robbie Shakespeare, check him out here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L8q1J3CyDU8

v.uncool pick in 2020 but Eric Avery still really special ime

another even more uncool pick but I have come to really appreciate roger waters bein the plodding yin to gilmour's virtuosic yang

feel like the members don't really get singled out much, Fugazi was such a unit, but Joe Lally is great

shout out to Naomi Yang

Deon Estus (George Michael’s bass player) is a great pick, so slept on. “One More Try” is unimaginable without him - such a sparse production that it’s almost a duet between vocal melody and bass countermelody.

Tracy Wormworth doesn't get as much recognition as she deserves imho. The basslines for 'Christmas Wrapping' and 'I Know What Boys Like' are amazing for instance.

She's got this lovely percolating feel but it's not too showy, like Norman Watt Roy or a funkier Pete Thomas, total joy to listen to.

Whoops, *Bruce* Thomas

lol, shit, I made the same mistake upthread

Shout out to James Hornsey of the Clientele.

Tracy Wormworth is not on “Boys Like” though; although she’s pictured on the album she doesn’t play on it. My stock answer to this question in Graham Maby from Joe Jackson’s band.

^this! That guy is great! Friend of mine played with him as a trio with Marshall Crenshaw for quite a bit. But yeah Bruce Thomas and Tracy Wormworth but great as well.

OP3:
Tina Weymouth
Jack Casady
Pete Farndon

Weymouth? Really? She’s so stiff they had to hire a second bass player...

Reminds me I shoulda listed Kim Deal tho

Bollocks, Tina Weymouth is great.

Steve Hanley
George Porter Jr
Eric Avery
David Hood
Jerry Scheff

My stock answer to this question in Graham Maby from Joe Jackson’s band.

Did he play on the first couple of albums? If so, he is crazy good! My band is covering 'One More Time' and the bass lines on that are very difficult. They swing, but they're also very intricate.

Glad to see Graham Maby mentioned. That British punk/new wave era threw up a lot of good players; Maby, Colin Moulding, Bruce Thomas, Bruce Foxton, and Paul Simonon are all pretty cool.

Reading about how rudimentary Simonon’s skills were when they started has been pretty eye-opening, sounds like Jones wrote the majority of those basslines

Maby is a master. But some are the best Clash bass lines, especially on Sandinista and Combat Rock, are not Simonon, they're by the Blockheads bassist (who is awesome).

That too

Thats him on two of the best - Magnificent Seven and Rock the Casbah

I’m the Man came up on my social distancing running outside mix - so, yeah, Graham Maby.

Maby is a master. But some are the best Clash bass lines, especially on Sandinista and Combat Rock, are not Simonon, they're by the Blockheads bassist (who is awesome).

― Josh in Chicago, Tuesday, March 17, 2020 8:18

the players i always think of as faves are dynamic or melodic, and many of the ones listed by everyone here, esp thomas and maby, also entwhistle.

i started the revive at saunders not because it's what i like, but it was that even in a passing listen to that youtube, there was NO missing it, it was so immediately identifiable completely on its own. as one pretty ignorant of bass and musicianship, i feel like i can sometimes say "this sounds like how x would play it," but i don't think i ever have gone "whoa, that MUST be the same guy."

I came across this guy when I was researching fanned fret bass guitars, can't say I know or care from the band/music, but I like fiddly metal players and enjoy his tone and feel, it was kinda interesting to watch the way a lot of the part was very on-grid and others there was more swinging.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-w5qFCT6EZY

Ron Carter
Danny Thompson

Leigh Gorman of Bow Wow Wow is amazing & you don't see his name come up much

I keep imagining a Traveling Wilburys of bass players and how fucking awful/wonderful a song like "Handle With Care" would sound, all-bass.

Thinking --

Kim "Nelson" Gordon
Kim "Charlie" Deal
Mike "Lucky" Watt
Nick "Otis" Oliveri
and
Geddy "Lefty" Lee

Marino Pliakas, who plays fearsome electric bass w/Peter Brötzmann

xpost There was one! Freebass, with Peter Hook, Andy Rourke and Mani. I'm never going to listen to it.

Danny Thompson is one of those incredible players who is on everything, from Fairport and Nick Drake to Talk Talk and The The.

Talking of Fairport Convention, Dave Pegg is pretty good!

I think Will Sergeant of the Bunnymen is a massively overrated guitarist, but Les Pattinson is a massively underrated bassist. I mentioned in some other thread that Flea had a lot of praise for Pattinson in his memoir, and claims he rips him off all the time. (This in a memoir that doesn't even mention Mike Watt, iirc.)

Leslie Langston, Throwing Muses bass player from their inception up through "Hunkpapa." The grooves she and David Narcizo created were otherworldly.

Οὖτις at 6:54 17 Mar 20

Weymouth? Really? She’s so stiff they had to hire a second bass player...

so fucking incredibly tired of men diminishing her skills and contribution to the band

Οὖτις at 7:10 17 Mar 20

Reading about how rudimentary Simonon’s skills were when they started has been pretty eye-opening, sounds like Jones wrote the majority of those basslines

it's hilarious there are pictures of early shows where they painted the noted like C B G etc on his fretboard with Wite Out

also Rick Danko

Weymouth's fine, Tom Tom Club is obviously awesome, I just don't think about the bass parts of most Talking Heads songs, it's not what sticks out to me

Something to be said for innate talent - by all accounts Danko had no idea what he was doing when the Band/Hawks formed, either. Levon made him and Robertson (another neophyte) woodshed like crazy.

I'm not a huge fan of Weymouth, tbh. Or I should say, she's perfect for the band, which is all I ask, just not a favorite bassist of mine. But then, for a favorite band of mine, no one in the Talking Heads is one of my favorite *anything*, ironically. More than the sum of their parts, etc.

I can't stand Tom Tom.

I've come up with my own way of thinking about bass parts that may have nothing to do with reality, but here it is: whereas most bassists accompany the listener on a trip from point a to point b, Tina stays parked on point a and builds really interesting structures.

But then, for a favorite band of mine, no one in the Talking Heads is one of my favorite *anything*, ironically. More than the sum of their parts, etc.

lol yeah *none* of them stand out as great to me, except maybe Byrne as a lyricist.

I just don't think about the bass parts of most Talking Heads songs, it's not what sticks out to me

I beg to differ, her basslines rarely do what you expect them to do - I'm talking about their early material btw, don't have much interest beyond that.

Chris Frantz, on the other hand...

I can't believe only one person in the thread has mentioned Mingus! Obviously his role as a band leader was more prominent than as a bass player, but he was pretty great instrumentalist too. Just listen to "Original Faubus Fables" or "Haitian Fight Song", for example.

Besides him, I guess my top 5 would consist of Meshell Ndegeocello, Jamaaladeen Tacuma, Bernard Edwards (of Chic), Janice Johnson (of A Taste of Honey), and Buster Williams.

Mingus is all-time.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fzGj_-5FGT8

While we're at it, I can't believe Tuomas is the first person in the thread to mention Bernard Edwards.

hell yeah Bernard Edwards and of course Larry Graham

I really like Barnaby Stradling's playing on the 00s Eliza Carthy records

I can't believe only one person in the thread has mentioned Mingus!

i mean, shit, i always feel like anytime we do "best [instrument] players" ever, there's like 50-100 midcentury jazz players that are better than any of the rock ppl

Yeah ums but - "favorite" is not the same as "best."

The best instrumentalists are usually not my favorites

My favorite instrumentalists are not virtuosi

Taste is a mystery and de gustibus etc.

Yeah, I hadn't really been considering jazz bassists, because there are sooooooo many.

But fusion ... there's Percy Jones, I love his work in Brand X and Eno. Oh, and Nathan East is a beast.

But yeah, of course Edwards, and Bootsy, and Graham, and Verdine White.

Nathan East is one of my personal heroes and I bought three Yamaha basses mainly because of him

I'm a big fan of Doug McCombs, *not* for Tortoise (snooze) but for his work in Eleventh Dream Day.

James Hornsey of The Clientele is pretty special - subtle, melodic, pushes the songs forward rhythmically in a very unique way

James fucking Jamerson

Sara Lee
Tina Weymouth
Meshell Ndegeocello

John McVie, man.

Jah Wobble
Geezer Butler
Bundy Brown
Boris Gardiner

Is it safe to say that Bernard Edwards is responsible for creating the most influential and memorable bassline of all time?

In any case, him, obv.

maybe

No.

Mike Oldfield on those early Kevin Ayers records.
McCartney up until the early eighties.
Herbie Flowers
Dave Richmond for his work on Melody Nelson.

I can't think of a more famous/immediately recognizable bassline myself but granted I'm not trying too hard

xps

Most-sampled or most-imitated is probably not the same as most famous / immediately recognizable.

Like, I think loads of people would recognize the bass parts of "Money" or "The Joker" pretty quickly - which is not to say those are good. Just recognizable. Ditto "Day Tripper" and "Come Together."

Or Under Pressure, or Billie Jean ... But sure, Good Times (if that's the one you mean) is pretty recognizable if only because of "Rapper's Delight."

...and "Another One Bites The Dust"!

i gave a customary dad-car-lecture to my 15 y/o on that bassline with forced listens across iterations, and the conclusion was unanimous: it’s awesome.

We should have a list of least awesome baselines. Like "Runnin' with the Devil."

I actually just walked into the kitchen to find my kid, and I told him about this argument over what the most memorable baseline is and his immediate response was “it’s got to be _another one bites the dust_.”

😰 *looks over to Usage Panel*

Hell, the bassline to Barney Miller is about as recognisable as Good Times.

As much as I like his music I can't agree with Mike Oldfield as a 'good' bass player while he was in The Whole World, technically yeah but he overplays all the time, like a guitarist who is slumming it, mind you he wrote some wicked bass parts for his solo stuff.

We should have a list of least awesome baselines. Like "Runnin' with the Devil."

― Josh in Chicago

roger waters to thread

Greg Norton too, I know Dü are sacred cows but he was a bad bass player.

A few years ago in work, chatting with my team about music and someone mentioned The Who. A guy in my team, not a big music fan and not really part of the conversation says "My uncle is in The Who". "Yeah sure" was the general response, we asked him his uncle's name: "Pino". I hadn't heard of him and had to Google him.

Pino is fantastic

it's funny, Norton is really great now, he had this mathy jazz group with a NY jazz guy and his new power pop thing is really tight

He stopped jumping around as much I think :)

i remember seeing the Replacements reunion and Tommy and Paul were so pro and I realized oh yeah these guys have like 30 years more practice

some favorites i haven’t seen mentioned:

johnny dyani
cecil mcbee
willie dixon
andrew bodnar
jimmy blanton
chuck rainey

pino did some great work with d'angelo too

CHRIS SQUIRE

yes!

Tony Levin

i was thinking of levin as the only often fretless guy i was aware of, then looked and heard about chapman stick and decided i should stay in my lane which is like pit row.

He has plenty of incredible fretted bass parts as well

https://www.fretlessbass.com/levin-tony/

He big-ups Pino, but also Carles Benavent, who I don't know. Chick Corea guy?

Kinda nuts to see him do this while talking:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_6wEAzKVhWE

There's so much sick playing on the King Crimson concert videos from the 80s.

Now it's Friday and I've finally had a beer...

Ric Grech
Andy Fraser

Keith Olsen from the Music Machine, who passed away a week and a half ago. (Became famous producer.)

Chris Hillman

Top Ten in roughly chronological order:

Jimmy Blanton
Charles Mingus
Oscar Pettiford
James Jamerson
Scott LaFaro
Paul McCartney
John Entwistle
Ron Carter
Bootsy Collins
Larry Graham

Oh snap, you know who I just learned about? Jimmy Johnson! Played a lot with James Taylor, but may be best known as the guy who helped create the 5-string bass. You'd think James Taylor would be the wrong place for some bass virtuoso, but I guess he goes along with the likes of Nathan East as incredible dudes anchoring bland acts. Anyway, his credits range from Roger Waters to Alan Holdsworth.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0IxDJcBZvA8

wow I never thought about who invented the 5 string