# Bands with 3 or more members in the top 1% players of their respective instrument **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 12, 2011, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bands-with-3-or-more-members-in-the-top-1-players-of-their-respective-instrument/596068 "2011-09-12T16:40:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Toxylon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f05b48/32.png) [@Toxylon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Toxylon)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2011, 11:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bands-with-3-or-more-members-in-the-top-1-players-of-their-respective-instrument/596068/41 "2011-09-13T11:45:13Z")
Paul McCartney was most certainly a virtuoso bassist in the later years of the Beatles. In the context of popular music in the 1960’s, McCartney did stuff with bass no-one had done before, with impeccable musicality and skill. Some of his bass lines are technically tricky, too, after 40 years of the numbers of bass players and the demands on them growing exponentially, in large part due to McCartney’s early influence. Claims as to no serious bass aficionados considering McCartneys instrumental skills as “beyond serviceable” are preposterous. Go to the [talkbass.com](http://talkbass.com) forum for serious discussions on the issue and see for yourself how things really are: McCartney is widely regarded as a master bassist. He’s number two on the list of Bass Innovators in the _Bass Player Book_ by Karl Coryat (1999), just for a quick example off my bookshelf. (number one is a Motown session man James Jamerson, who had a big impact on McCartney but remained unknown). McCartney was never a bass player foremost, but a songwriter and a singer instead who first took to bass only because “no-one else did”. The fact that he still changed the face of the instrument by setting a high-profile example of bold, complex, innovative pop bass instrumentation speaks for the talent the man has. As he is no bass instrumentalist per se like Stanley Clarke or Victor Wooten, I wouldn’t put too much stock to his recent live performances or the use of session players: why should he care? Had he committed himself to the bass throughout the '70’s and beyond, he’d be a monster player today. ETA: Sorry for furthering the drift. ---
**Author:** ![Toxylon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f05b48/32.png) [@Toxylon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Toxylon)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2011, 11:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bands-with-3-or-more-members-in-the-top-1-players-of-their-respective-instrument/596068/42 "2011-09-13T11:55:14Z")
Regarding the OP, I’d nominate Gentle Giant. Ray Shulman, John Weathers and Gary Green were virtuosos on bass, drums and guitar, respectively. (The fact that each played a dozen or so other instruments with great skill and style adds to my appreciation, even if not to their virtuoso status). ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2011, 12:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bands-with-3-or-more-members-in-the-top-1-players-of-their-respective-instrument/596068/43 "2011-09-13T12:24:27Z")
\*Maybe \*the John Frusciante-era Chili Peppers. One might call him and Chad Smith virtuosos on the lead guitar and drums; Flea is definitely one on the bass. ---
**Author:** ![Ronald\_C.Semone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/cc9497/32.png) [@Ronald\_C.Semone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ronald_C.Semone)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2011, 12:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bands-with-3-or-more-members-in-the-top-1-players-of-their-respective-instrument/596068/44 "2011-09-13T12:34:29Z")
You’ll have to go a long way to beat The Benny Goodman Quartet with Benny Goodman on clarinet, Gene Krupa on drums, Lionet Hampton on vibraphone, and Teddy Wilson on piano. Seventy years after it was recorded, their music is still selling. Do you think that will be true of most of the bands mentioned so far? ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2011, 12:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bands-with-3-or-more-members-in-the-top-1-players-of-their-respective-instrument/596068/45 "2011-09-13T12:35:35Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > The OP sets an impossible task, since “top 1%” is purely subjective. But in rock terms of the time, Cream clearly qualifies; all three members – Eric Claption, Jack Bruce, and Ginger Baker – were considered among the best at their instruments. Hence their name. ---
**Author:** ![StusBlues](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dc4da7/32.png) [@StusBlues](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StusBlues)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2011, 1:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bands-with-3-or-more-members-in-the-top-1-players-of-their-respective-instrument/596068/46 "2011-09-13T13:22:20Z")
> [@Ronald\_C.Semone](#): > > You’ll have to go a long way to beat The Benny Goodman Quartet with Benny Goodman on clarinet, Gene Krupa on drums, Lionet Hampton on vibraphone, and Teddy Wilson on piano. Seventy years after it was recorded, their music is still selling. Do you think that will be true of most of the bands mentioned so far? Considering that the bands mentioned so far include the Beatles, Led Zep, and the Miles Davis ensembles…yeah, possibly. And to piggyback on the McCartney theme: if Paul counts as top 1%, then so does John Paul Jones. I’m no longer a Zeppelin fan (it got old), but Bonham and Page were clearly at or near the top of any continuum on drums and guitar; Jones would make three. ---
**Author:** ![D\_Odds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/d_odds/32/2882_2.png) [@D\_Odds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D_Odds)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2011, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bands-with-3-or-more-members-in-the-top-1-players-of-their-respective-instrument/596068/47 "2011-09-13T14:29:53Z")
> [@NoCoolUserName](#): > > Top 1% = 100 out of 10,000. If you put 10,000 random professional guitarists in a room, I’m pretty sure Alex Lifeson would be one of the 100 best. > > Kansas - Phil on drums, Walsh on keys AND vocals (all the replacements have not come close, vocal-wise), Livgren on everything…monsters, I tell you, MONSTERS! I was a huge Kansas fan. I always though Phil Ehart was an excellent drummer who never got credit, and Livgren was very, very good. Walsh, however, was neither a great keyboardist nor vocalist. And over the years, his voice has gotten more and more shrill. I cannot watch them live anymore nor listen to their live work (_[Live at the Whisky](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Live_at_the_Whisky)_ is the last work I can stomach, and even there you can tell the voice is going) because his singing voice has gotten so bad. ---
**Author:** ![Rattlehead02](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rattlehead02/32/3944_2.png) [@Rattlehead02](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rattlehead02)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2011, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bands-with-3-or-more-members-in-the-top-1-players-of-their-respective-instrument/596068/48 "2011-09-13T18:09:03Z")
On the metal side of things I think Rust in Peace era Megadeth fits the bill: Dave Mustaine: Certainly in the top 1% of guitarists Marty Friedman: Ditto Nick Menza: I’d assume top 1% here, if not then my pick rests on Dave Ellifson: who may be in the top 1% of bassists, but I really have no clue. ---
**Author:** ![It\_s\_Not\_Rocket\_Surgery](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/it_s_not_rocket_surgery/32/312_2.png) [@It\_s\_Not\_Rocket\_Surgery](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/It_s_Not_Rocket_Surgery)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2011, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bands-with-3-or-more-members-in-the-top-1-players-of-their-respective-instrument/596068/49 "2011-09-13T19:34:05Z")
For hard rock, we can’t forget Dream Theater: John Petrucci - guitar John Myung - bass Mike Portnoy - drums All easily top 1% material. ---
**Author:** ![beagledave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6de8d8/32.png) [@beagledave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beagledave)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2011, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bands-with-3-or-more-members-in-the-top-1-players-of-their-respective-instrument/596068/50 "2011-09-13T19:41:35Z")
Alison Krauss and Union Station? Jerry Douglas is the best dobro player, ever. Alison on fiddle… Ron Block on banjo ---
**Author:** ![woodstockbirdybird](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/woodstockbirdybird/32/7905_2.png) [@woodstockbirdybird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/woodstockbirdybird)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2011, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bands-with-3-or-more-members-in-the-top-1-players-of-their-respective-instrument/596068/51 "2011-09-13T19:50:31Z")
> [@It\_s\_Not\_Rocket\_Surgery](#): > > Either Miles Davis quintet: Miles Davis (trumpet), John Coltrane (tenor sax), Paul Chambers (bass), Shorter, Herbie Hancock (keyboards), Tony Williams (drums). You could also make a case for the _Kind Of Blue_ band: Miles, Coltrane, Chambers, Cannonball Adderley (alto sax), Bill Evans (piano), Jimmy Cobb (drums). ---
**Author:** ![Bri2k](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/48db29/32.png) [@Bri2k](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bri2k)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2011, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bands-with-3-or-more-members-in-the-top-1-players-of-their-respective-instrument/596068/52 "2011-09-13T19:53:30Z")
How about Cream? Eric Clapton guitar Jack Bruce bass Ginger Baker drums or The Who Pete Townshend guitar John Entwistle bass Keith Moon drums all considered world-class musicians. Bri2k ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2011, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bands-with-3-or-more-members-in-the-top-1-players-of-their-respective-instrument/596068/53 "2011-09-13T19:59:47Z")
Did you mix up McCartney and Jack Bruce? Jack Bruce is the guy that took the electric bass into new directions. IMHO McCartney got pretty good too. But I wouldn’t compare him to Jack Bruce. In terms of the OP, both these guys were top 1%. > [@Toxylon](#): > > Paul McCartney was most certainly a virtuoso bassist in the later years of the Beatles. In the context of popular music in the 1960’s, McCartney did stuff with bass no-one had done before, with impeccable musicality and skill. Some of his bass lines are technically tricky, too, after 40 years of the numbers of bass players and the demands on them growing exponentially, in large part due to McCartney’s early influence. > > Claims as to no serious bass aficionados considering McCartneys instrumental skills as “beyond serviceable” are preposterous. Go to the [talkbass.com](http://talkbass.com) forum for serious discussions on the issue and see for yourself how things really are: McCartney is widely regarded as a master bassist. He’s number two on the list of Bass Innovators in the _Bass Player Book_ by Karl Coryat (1999), just for a quick example off my bookshelf. (number one is a Motown session man James Jamerson, who had a big impact on McCartney but remained unknown). > > McCartney was never a bass player foremost, but a songwriter and a singer instead who first took to bass only because “no-one else did”. The fact that he still changed the face of the instrument by setting a high-profile example of bold, complex, innovative pop bass instrumentation speaks for the talent the man has. As he is no bass instrumentalist per se like Stanley Clarke or Victor Wooten, I wouldn’t put too much stock to his recent live performances or the use of session players: why should he care? Had he committed himself to the bass throughout the '70’s and beyond, he’d be a monster player today. > > ETA: Sorry for furthering the drift. ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2011, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bands-with-3-or-more-members-in-the-top-1-players-of-their-respective-instrument/596068/54 "2011-09-13T22:18:48Z")
> [@woodstockbirdybird](#): > > You could also make a case for the _Kind Of Blue_ band: Miles, Coltrane, Chambers, Cannonball Adderley (alto sax), Bill Evans (piano), Jimmy Cobb (drums). I have been debating with myself about suggesting the Bill Evans trios (all of them) which have included some exceptional bassists and drummers along with one of the most influential jazz pianists ever. If you are not familiar with Evans, I heartily recommend listening to [Bill Evans: ‘Piano Impressionism’](http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=46474288) which gives some fine examples of the various groupings he had, along with a good overview of Evans’s career. Very nice show. try: [http://www.npr.org/player/v2/mediaPlayer.html?action=1&t=1&islist=false&id=46474288&m=25230288](http://www.npr.org/player/v2/mediaPlayer.html?action=1&t=1&islist=false&id=46474288&m=25230288) (53:41) ---
**Author:** ![davidw](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c4cdca/32.png) [@davidw](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidw)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2011, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bands-with-3-or-more-members-in-the-top-1-players-of-their-respective-instrument/596068/55 "2011-09-13T22:40:58Z")
There’s Parliament/Funkadelic, with Bootsy Collins, Maceo Parker, Bernie Worrell, and Eddie Hazel. ---
**Author:** ![Truman\_Burbank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecc23a/32.png) [@Truman\_Burbank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Truman_Burbank)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2011, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bands-with-3-or-more-members-in-the-top-1-players-of-their-respective-instrument/596068/56 "2011-09-13T23:09:44Z")
Brubeck, Joe Morello on drums, and some guy who played the sax… ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2011, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bands-with-3-or-more-members-in-the-top-1-players-of-their-respective-instrument/596068/57 "2011-09-13T23:12:41Z")
> [@Truman\_Burbank](#): > > Brubeck, Joe Morello on drums, and some guy who played the sax… Paul Desmond. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2011, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bands-with-3-or-more-members-in-the-top-1-players-of-their-respective-instrument/596068/58 "2011-09-13T23:15:34Z")
Would Metallica count? The original lineup, I mean. And the original albums with the original crew. Lars Ulrich - great drummer Cliff Burton - great bassist Kirk Hammet - great guitar…at that time(lazier sounding now) Now, they really only have Lars. I think Hammet gave up trying years ago. ---
**Author:** ![Truman\_Burbank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecc23a/32.png) [@Truman\_Burbank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Truman_Burbank)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2011, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bands-with-3-or-more-members-in-the-top-1-players-of-their-respective-instrument/596068/59 "2011-09-13T23:20:34Z")
> [@WordMan](#): > > Paul Desmond. I know. It was a lame attempt at humor… ---
**Author:** ![Truman\_Burbank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecc23a/32.png) [@Truman\_Burbank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Truman_Burbank)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2011, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bands-with-3-or-more-members-in-the-top-1-players-of-their-respective-instrument/596068/60 "2011-09-13T23:22:44Z")
See, like I would know Joe Morello off the top of my head, but not be able to place the sax player… \*Slinks away [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bands-with-3-or-more-members-in-the-top-1-players-of-their-respective-instrument/596068.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bands-with-3-or-more-members-in-the-top-1-players-of-their-respective-instrument/596068.md?page=4)