I’m the Man came up on my social distancing running outside mix - so, yeah, Graham Maby.
― that's not my post, Wednesday, 18 March 2020 00:51 (four years ago) link
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
― Josh in Chicago, Tuesday, March 17, 2020 8:18
― Lipstick Traces (on a Cigarette Alone) (James Redd and the Blecchs), Wednesday, 18 March 2020 01:47 (four years ago) link
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."
― blather rinse repeat 2020 (Hunt3r), Wednesday, 18 March 2020 02:49 (four years ago) link
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
― Maresn3st, Wednesday, 18 March 2020 11:19 (four years ago) link
Ron CarterDanny Thompson
― fetter, Wednesday, 18 March 2020 11:56 (four years ago) link
Leigh Gorman of Bow Wow Wow is amazing & you don't see his name come up much
― Josefa, Wednesday, 18 March 2020 13:37 (four years ago) link
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" GordonKim "Charlie" DealMike "Lucky" WattNick "Otis" Oliveri andGeddy "Lefty" Lee
― pplains, Wednesday, 18 March 2020 13:47 (four years ago) link
Marino Pliakas, who plays fearsome electric bass w/Peter Brötzmann
― the grateful dead can dance (anagram), Wednesday, 18 March 2020 13:54 (four years ago) link
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.
― Josh in Chicago, Wednesday, 18 March 2020 14:46 (four years ago) link
Talking of Fairport Convention, Dave Pegg is pretty good!
― God gave toilets rolls to you, gave toilet rolls to you (Tom D.), Wednesday, 18 March 2020 14:48 (four years ago) link
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.)
― Josh in Chicago, Wednesday, 18 March 2020 14:48 (four years ago) link
Leslie Langston, Throwing Muses bass player from their inception up through "Hunkpapa." The grooves she and David Narcizo created were otherworldly.
― Bougy! Bougie! Bougé! (Eliza D.), Wednesday, 18 March 2020 14:49 (four years ago) link
Οὖτις at 6:54 17 Mar 20Weymouth? 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
― Blues Guitar Solo Heatmap (Free Download) (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Wednesday, 18 March 2020 14:56 (four years ago) link
Οὖτις at 7:10 17 Mar 20Reading 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
― Blues Guitar Solo Heatmap (Free Download) (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Wednesday, 18 March 2020 14:58 (four years ago) link
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
― Οὖτις, Wednesday, 18 March 2020 15:00 (four years ago) link
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.
― Josh in Chicago, Wednesday, 18 March 2020 15:02 (four years ago) link
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.
― Miami weisse (WmC), Wednesday, 18 March 2020 15:09 (four years ago) link
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.
― Οὖτις, Wednesday, 18 March 2020 15:13 (four years ago) link
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.
― God gave toilets rolls to you, gave toilet rolls to you (Tom D.), Wednesday, 18 March 2020 15:26 (four years ago) link
Chris Frantz, on the other hand...
― God gave toilets rolls to you, gave toilet rolls to you (Tom D.), Wednesday, 18 March 2020 15:27 (four years ago) link
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.
― Tuomas, Wednesday, 18 March 2020 15:33 (four years ago) link
Mingus is all-time.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fzGj_-5FGT8
― Οὖτις, Wednesday, 18 March 2020 15:35 (four years ago) link
While we're at it, I can't believe Tuomas is the first person in the thread to mention Bernard Edwards.
― God gave toilets rolls to you, gave toilet rolls to you (Tom D.), Wednesday, 18 March 2020 15:36 (four years ago) link
hell yeah Bernard Edwards and of course Larry Graham
I really like Barnaby Stradling's playing on the 00s Eliza Carthy records
― love will keep us apart (Ye Mad Puffin), Wednesday, 18 March 2020 15:36 (four years ago) link
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
― Blues Guitar Solo Heatmap (Free Download) (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Wednesday, 18 March 2020 15:46 (four years ago) link
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.
― love will keep us apart (Ye Mad Puffin), Wednesday, 18 March 2020 15:53 (four years ago) link
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.
― Josh in Chicago, Wednesday, 18 March 2020 16:27 (four years ago) link
Nathan East is one of my personal heroes and I bought three Yamaha basses mainly because of him
― love will keep us apart (Ye Mad Puffin), Wednesday, 18 March 2020 16:32 (four years ago) link
I'm a big fan of Doug McCombs, *not* for Tortoise (snooze) but for his work in Eleventh Dream Day.
― Josh in Chicago, Wednesday, 18 March 2020 16:34 (four years ago) link
James Hornsey of The Clientele is pretty special - subtle, melodic, pushes the songs forward rhythmically in a very unique way
― umsworth (emsworth), Thursday, 19 March 2020 08:00 (four years ago) link
James fucking Jamerson
― brimstead, Thursday, 19 March 2020 17:11 (four years ago) link
Sara LeeTina WeymouthMeshell Ndegeocello
― ✖✖✖ (Moka), Thursday, 19 March 2020 17:32 (four years ago) link
John McVie, man.
― Josh in Chicago, Thursday, 19 March 2020 17:40 (four years ago) link
Jah WobbleGeezer ButlerBundy BrownBoris Gardiner
― Vanishing Point (Chinaski), Thursday, 19 March 2020 18:09 (four years ago) link
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.
― daavid, Thursday, 19 March 2020 18:46 (four years ago) link
maybe
― Οὖτις, Thursday, 19 March 2020 18:50 (four years ago) link
No.
― God gave toilets rolls to you, gave toilet rolls to you (Tom D.), Thursday, 19 March 2020 18:55 (four years ago) link
Mike Oldfield on those early Kevin Ayers records.McCartney up until the early eighties.Herbie FlowersDave Richmond for his work on Melody Nelson.
― Torei, Thursday, 19 March 2020 19:29 (four years ago) link
I can't think of a more famous/immediately recognizable bassline myself but granted I'm not trying too hard
xps
― Οὖτις, Thursday, 19 March 2020 19:38 (four years ago) link
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."
― love will keep us apart (Ye Mad Puffin), Thursday, 19 March 2020 19:46 (four years ago) link
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."
― Josh in Chicago, Thursday, 19 March 2020 20:14 (four years ago) link
...and "Another One Bites The Dust"!
― a bevy of supermodels, musicians and Lena Dunham (C. Grisso/McCain), Thursday, 19 March 2020 20:18 (four years ago) link
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.
― blather rinse repeat 2020 (Hunt3r), Thursday, 19 March 2020 20:22 (four years ago) link
We should have a list of least awesome baselines. Like "Runnin' with the Devil."
― Josh in Chicago, Thursday, 19 March 2020 20:26 (four years ago) link
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*
― blather rinse repeat 2020 (Hunt3r), Thursday, 19 March 2020 20:34 (four years ago) link
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.
― Maresn3st, Thursday, 19 March 2020 23:00 (four years ago) link
― Josh in Chicago
roger waters to thread
― Kate (rushomancy), Thursday, 19 March 2020 23:07 (four years ago) link
Greg Norton too, I know Dü are sacred cows but he was a bad bass player.
― Maresn3st, Thursday, 19 March 2020 23:14 (four years ago) link