Best Bassist/Bass

In My Humble Opinion
1

In a previous episode, Montfort said:

Tony Levin, in addition to being the bass player for most of Peter Gabriel’s albums, has done some solo work and has worked with Lou Reed and Paul Simon, and was a member of King Crimson. His style is very different, sort of dropping into and out of the song. I really like it because it isn’t limited by expectations of what bass lines should sound like.

This got me thinking about other bass “Gods”. In no particular order, I’d nominate the following:
Chris Squire of Yes (produced the most amazing range of sounds and was a key part of the best of Yes)
John Entwistle of The Who (re-defined the rock-and-roll bass)
Les Claypool of Primus (modern virtuoso)
Mark Sandman of Morphine (sadly departed, but an wealth of talents, was able to make the bass a lead instrument in blues/rock)
Donald “Duck” Dunn of many, many Stax Records sessions (and, of course, the Blues Brothers Band)
Bootsy Collins of Parliment/Funkadelic (There would have been no funk without this guy)
Any other nominations/seconds/disagreements?

2

I second Les Primus and addFlea from the Red Hot Chili Peppers,Chris Novaselic from Nirvana andGeddy Lee from Rush. All personal favorites.

3

Geddy Lee has to be number one. Claypool and Squire are very close seconds. And while he isn’t as much of a song writer, Mark King of Level 42 fame is an excellent bassist as well. Honourable mention goes to John Myung (Dream Theater).

4

Yes, yes, yes, to all the above. I’ll nominate some more:

Dan Roberts, from the Crash Test Dummies, has some very nice, somewhat subtle, melodic bass lines. I’ve recently developed an interest in his playing.
I forgot the name, and don’t have time right now to look it up, of the bass player for Sly & the Family Stone. Just good, solid, 70’s funk.
In the jazz category, the list is long, but it’s hard not to mention Jaco Pastorius, who is no longer with us. Sad, sad story. He invented the fretless bass guitar, for cryin’ out loud. (I’m planning to get my first fretless this summer!)

And in the “pure” jazz category (this means double-bass, of course), there’s a guy from, I think, Montreal, that I’ve heard only a few times: Michel Donato. What little I heard was the most amazing bass playing I can imagine. It was him on bass and a singer named Karen Young, singing in French. Nothing else, and that was enough. I’ve seen a few CDs available of Donato, but I have never found a recording of Donato and Young together–I think they recorded on some local label. Any Canadian jazz lovers who can help me find this CD? (The song I remember best was called “Contribution.”)

5

John Paul Jones - Led Zeppelin

check out his solo album , ZOOMA and you will see … :slight_smile:

6

Well, here’s hoping I don’t turn this into a Great Debate, but…

Coldfire, I was thinking about Geddy Lee, and as much as I like his writing and singing, I don’t think his actual bass playing is really that innovative or techically impressive. If you have a particular piece that I should re-listen to to change that, I’d reconsider. I was listening to 2112 recently, and that seems to be more of an Alex Leifson piece (of course, it is about finding a guitar as a metaphor for individualism versus conformity).

hardygrrl, I’d also have to say that both flea and Novaselic really don’t impress me as more than thrashers. I like both groups, and they seem like they are having fun on stage, which is one of my personal standards for liking a band (flea especially). Yes, they are energetic and loud, but what do they play? Thumpa thumpa thumpa. I nominated those other guys because they did something outside the standard expectations of the bass player.

Another player that falls into the category of good player in a great band is, I think, Tina Weymouth from the Talking Heads and Tom Tom Club. Nice, looping bass lines, important part of the Heads sound, but not in the same category for me as those other ones I mentioned.

BTW, the title of this was supposed to be “Best Bassist/Bass ‘Gods’” Could someone (Coldfire?) fix that for me? Thanks.

7

Yes, Tony Levin is God.

But, don’t forget Paul McCartney in this list.

8

Montfort wrote:

Why not? I’d forget him, just the same as I’d forget Sting. They’re both competent bass players, but it’s not their strength, IMHO. They’re songwriters and frontmen before they’re bassists. Geddy Lee is probably better than McCartney as far as the instrument is concerned, tied with or slightly superior to Sting.

My personal faves that have been mentioned are Bootsy, Entwistle (!!!), Duck Dunn, and Tina Weymouth. Beyond them – sh!% dawg, I’ve been out of the musical loop for so long, I don’t think I could name any.

9

I see Les Claypool as the Jimi Hendrix of bass. There are other players that are more technically skilled, but he does things with the instrument that I’ve never heard anyone else do yet.

Flea is damn good too, I don’t care much for the Chili Peppers but if one of their songs comes on I will listen to it just for the bass part.

10

Roman Morykit - Gypsy Soul.
[sub]…yeah, anyone figure I’d post this?[/sub]

…but seriously, this guy shreds…and yes, as a multi-instrumentalist and composer, he may not focus solely on his bass-playing but, good God in a bottle, this guy must have ten fingers on each hand…

11

Victor Lemonte Wooten of Bela Fleck and the Flecktones is one hot potato.

Stanley Clark is no slouch either.

12

Gotta throw in a pair of Jacks here: Jack Casady from Jefferson Airplane/Starship and Hot Tuna. Among other things, he appeared on Hendrix’s Electric Ladyland. Listen again to some early Plane - absolutely awesom.

And a fella named Jack Brucewho not only was an integral part of Cream, but played with John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers, on six of Mountain’s albums, and with a whole host of other names from Frank Zappa to Minnie Ripperton to Bobby McFerrin to Los Lobos to Jimi Hendrix to Ella Fitzgerald to the Fifth Dimension to George Clinton and the P-Funk All Stars to Sheryl Crow. His “Appeared on” list in the All Music Guide (allmusic.com) scrolls forever.
Oh, and he wrote “Sunshine of Your Love” “White Room” and “Strange Brew” for Cream. That alone makes him world class in my book

13

John Entwistle of The Who.

14

I have two:

Abraham Laboriel of Koinonia and countless recording sessions.

AND, Pino Palladino. I LOVE that guy. Go listen to “Gonna Tear Your Playhouse Down” from Paul Young. I listen to that mostly for Pino.

15

Geddy Lee is the greatest, hands down.

16

Another vote for John Entwistle.

I also really like Robbie Shakesphere from the “riddim section”: Sly & Robbie (Peter Tosh, Black Uhuru, Grace Jones, Bob Dylan, Culture…)

17

It all depends on what you’re looking for in a bass player.

Geddy Lee and Chris Squire are obviously very talented and technically proficient players. Nobody can take that away from them. But their music bores the shit out of me. Except for a few notable instances, the concept of subtlety seems to elude them. I’d rather listen to Dee Dee Ramone pound away on root notes for 10 Ramones albums then listen to 30 seconds of “YYZ” or Tales of Topographic Oceans. (Squire bores me a lot more than Lee does. Actually, Lee’s playing on Moving Pictures probably suits the songs more than on any other Rush album. IMO, anyway.)

While McCartney is obviously not as technically proficient as those two, he knows how to make a bass line fit a song. Look at the difference between the walking bass of the verses in “Penny Lane,” the thudding octaves of “Helter Skelter,” and the bluesy riffing in “I Want You (She’s So Heavy”. He understands the role of the bass in each and every song, and plays appropriately. That should be the role of any musician – to not over- or underplay the song. He is my personal sentimental favorite.

As long as we’re not limiting ourselves to the electric bass, Mingus obviously has to be in there.

Entwistle overplays on a lot of songs, too, but in that respect he was the perfect partner for Keith Moon. He really does play some terrific stuff, and takes what would often be rote or cliche material and does something surprising with it. (Think of what he did on a simple “rawk song” like “Baba O’Riley.”)

**James Jamerson," the Motown house bassist for many years. That man laid down the groove in a major way. If I could be anyone, it would be him.

I can’t believe, though, that nobody has mentioned the incredible, peerless Carol Kaye. As a session bassist and frequent member of Hal Blaine’s Wrecking Crew, she set the standard for pop/rock/soul bass playing. Look at some of these titles on which her work can be heard:

“I Was Made To Love Her,” Stevie Wonder (This song alone elevates her to Goddess status!)

“River Deep, Mountain High,” Tina Turner

“Bernadette,” the Four Tops

The entire Pet Sounds album, especially “Here Today”

Nearly every significant Supremes single

“Light My Fire,” the Doors

Tons of singles for the Monkees, Simon & Garfunkle, Ray Charles, Henry Mancini, and on and on and on.

18

Gotta second Victor Wooten as the best. Listen to anything with Bela Fleck or on his own. He is truly amazing.

I would have to disagree with “paperback writer” with regards to Flea. The man brought the funk to a thrash band. Without him, the Chili Peppers would be just another band. Look what he did to Stevie Wonder’s Higher Ground.

Krist Novoselic is definately overated. Listen to “Smells Like Teen Spirit.” He plays four notes!

19

I’ll nominate three more for consideration, though all named so far are undisputed Giants of Bass:
Michael d’Albequerque (E.L.O.)

John Deacon (Queen)

Steve Wright (Greg Kihn Band)

20

Paul McCartney’s bass work with the Beatles was often remarkable. Even the simplest Beatles recording often features some surprisingly complex, innovative bass work.
So, he’s at the top of my list.

Among my other favorites, there are:

  1. Ron Wood. I never much liked him as a guitarist, but he did some fantastic bass work with the Jeff Beck Group.

  2. John Wetton

  3. The aforementioned Tony Levin (a very funny guy, in addition to being a great musician).

  4. Chris Squire
    Mind you, I’m sticking primarily to rock musicians. That’s because, while I recognize the skills of jazz musicians, I rarely appreciate the results! It took great skill for Jaco Pastorius to play as he did… but I never liked listening to him very much. There are MANY jazz bassists with purer skills than Paul McCartney, I’m sure, but none who made better records.

Incidentally, no knock on Geddy Lee (I like him, and own several Rush CDs), but Geddy himself has always cited jazz fusion bassists as his primary influences, and has often cited Jeff Berlin and Percy Jones (best known for his work in Brand X), among others, as bassists far better than himself.