WordMan, good call on Mike Mills and Radio Free Europe. I would add Cuyahoga as another great Mills bass line.
I’m gonna keep on nominating Thorazine Shuffle by Gov’t Mule, but this time I’ll add Wandering Child, Trane and Mule. Chris Squire fans might want to listen to Sun Dance from **Gov’t Mule’s ** Deep End series.
I got a lot more.
Chilly Water, Rebirtha and Stop-Go from Widespread Panic.
MLT and Black And White from String Cheese Incident.
Rebubula and Buster from moe.
I would add Pegasus, True Gravity and Instrumental Illness to the **Allman Brother’s ** list.
I like Sting’s Shadows in the Rain and Driven To Tears, but played by Darryl Jones on Bring On The Night.
Santana has worked with some really good bass players, but especially Stanley Clarke on Borboletta. I like a lot of the bass work on Welcome and the bass featured on Runnin from Marathon.
Stu Hamm tears it up on **Joe Satriani’s ** Why.
I like the bass parts on **Lou Reed’s ** Rock and Roll Animal, especially Intro/Sweet Jane.
And somebody needed to mention Spanish Moon from Waiting For Columbus by Little Feat. And now I have.
Anybody interested in good bass players should find out about Jonas Reingold. He plays in several prog-rock bands, two of which are The Flower Kings and The Tangent. Seriously, do yourself a favor. Even if you don’t like prog, you’ll have to recognise the talent. (And if you happen to run across a drummer named Zoltan Csörsz you’ll have been doubly blessed.)
The Cure - Burn, Lovecats, A Forest, Primary, Friday I’m In Love, Never Enough
Jimi Hendrix - Manic Depression
Ozzy Osbourne - Crazy Train, No More Tears (and lots more)
Metallica - One, Enter Sandman, Whiskey In A Jar, I Disappear, Fuel, Memory Remains.
Iron Maiden - Can I Play With Madness, Aces High, The Trooper
Nine Inch Nails - Closer, Head Like a Hole, Terrible Lie, Down In It, I’m Afraid of Americans (With David Bowie), and Only.
ETA: Some of these are more from a listener’s standpoint, others took skill to pull off, and some are songs where the simple bass line skillfully played made the song.
Jeff Beck - Lady
Primus - Ol’ Diamondback Sturgeon and As The Toys Go Winding Down
George played bass on “She Came in Through the Bathroom Window,” which has the coolest bass of the entire medley, imo.
Rolling Stones, “Live With Me” (played by Keith)
Beatles, “Penny Lane,” “Hey Bulldog” & and countless others
James Brown, “Sex Machine” (a really young Bootsy Collins … it’s mesmerizing)
Van Morrison, “The Way Young Lovers Do” and all of Astral Weeks (jazzman Richard Davis)
Beach Boys, “Good Vibrations” (Carol Kaye)
and besides James Jamerson, kudos to Donald “Duck” Dunn of Booker T & the MGs and David Hood of the Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section.
In contrast to the OP title and most of the foregoing nominations,I praise the obscure.
It seems “best lines” could be taken two ways;one being the example of Tina Weymouth in “Take me to the River” where the sequence is repeated and recognisable,the other being lines that propel and underpin without necessarily repeating,Bruce Thomas being a good proponent.
Ray Shulman of the band Gentle Giant has the qualities that make me think,great bass player-he’s always tight with the rhythm,holds the bottom end,seldom repeats anything;is melodic and contrapuntal using other components of the material or other player’s parts,and manages to sing on top of that.Never exhibiting “I’m the star!” behaviour.
If you’ve never heard that band,give it a listen,but be aware that they progressed through musical styles-they were ill defined as a “prog rock” band.A good starting point would be “Interview”,“Power and the Glory” and “Free Hand”.
I think Berry Oakley of the Allman Brothers was one of the great rock bassists. I’d say Whipping Post and Hot 'Lanta were his best album efforts.
“Bitch” by the Rolling Stones.
“For the Love of Money” by the O’ Jays with its distinctive bass line by Ronnie Baker.
Again, not technically marvelous, but a memorable bass line: “My City Was Gone” by The Pretenders.
And has anybody meantioned Flea’s work on Higher Ground (Red Hot Chili Peppers)?
I didn’t have time to check those links that were posted so maybe this guy has already been referenced - how about anything Motown™ in which James Jamerson is playing? He did some sensational work as the studio bassist for about 99.9% of Motown’s songs. If I had to pick one as my favorite bassline it would be “Bernadette” by the Four Tops.
“Hungry” by Paul Revere and the Raiders was pretty cutting edge for its day. (1966)
First mention of Cream’s Jack Bruce? Let’s start with “Badge” and “Tales of Brave Ulysses”.
Another one: Noel Redding’s bass line on Jimi Hendrix’s “Fire”.