I’ve played bass guitar for about seven years and have noticed a lot about the styles of individual rock bassists since most of my musical education has come from careful analytic listening. I have been a huge fan of the Beatles ever since I was about 5, when my dad would play them in the car constantly, and developed an early appreciation of Paul McCartney’s bass playing - uniquely melodic for two important reasons.
He did not have formal music education, and played by ear, so he had no conventional understanding of the role that a bass line is “supposed” to play in a song.
He frequently played while he sang, so he was basically forced to play a bass line that would comfortably follow the syllables and accents of his singing, ultimately meaning that his bass “sang” along with him.
This is one of the reasons many of the Beatles’ songs have that distinctive sound to them that no other band, in my opinion, has really been able to duplicate (especially in their later stuff primarily, Sgt. Peppers and Abbey Road.)
I have not listened to the Grateful Dead much, but have been lately, more and more, and I’m finding that Phil Lesh’s bass playing has much the same feel to it. Well, I looked up Phil Lesh on wikipedia and found that like McCartney, he was self-taught and learned “on the job,” since he had not played bass before the Warlocks. He had in fact had classical education and claimed that his bass lines were more influenced by Bach counterpoint.
I’m trying to think of other bass players that played in this particularly melodic way, almost as if they were soloing over the chords the whole time they were playing rather than just laying down a simple bass line. Peter Cetera of Chicago comes to mind. I know that Sting plays bass but I have heard much of his music and do not hear the same kind of melodic quality.
I’m not really thinking of guys Victor Wooten, Jaco Pastorius or Flea, who are true virtuosi with real showy styles. McCartney’s playing is not technically or rhythmically spectacular and it doesn’t dominate, but it just provides a more melodic supporting role, more like the bass lines in classical music.
Who are some other bassists that play in this style? I’m trying to build up collection of them and listen to them more carefully.
I’d say the former is a good way to put it - any bassist who sort of does his own thing but stays dead-straight with the chords and the overall rhythm of the song (not neccessarily just the rhythm guitar.) I’d also be curious to know of other bassists that were self-taught and played by ear in this style.
The songs “Friend of the Devil” by Grateful Dead and “Maxwell’s Silver Hammer” by The Beatles are great examples of the style I’m thinking of.
My first thought was to recommend The Ox - that is, John Entwistle (of The Who). Although the more I think about it, he may be more what you call a “true virtuosi.”
Also, does anyone happen to know what axes Phil Lesh played? I think I have seen him on stage with a Warwick recently, but I wonder what he played with the Dead?
I would say the Moe bassist certainly applies, And I think he is also the main singer as well. I think a lot of the nu-metal type bands that play bass lines that are more melodic even though they play mainly 5string basses.
These might not be entirely appropriate, but I’ll throw them out anyway. Tool is known for doing strange things with their basslines, and there are a couple Death albums (Individual Thought Patterns, Sound of Perseverance) that feature bass playing that has nothing to do with the main guitars at times.
Keep in mind that once the Beatles stopped touring, the bass part would often be the last instrument to be recorded to the backing track. McCartney liked the freedom to work within a finished arrangement, as he could make sure he was providing exactly what the song needed, and no more.
Colin Moulding of XTC is a wonderfully fluid and melodic player; his fretless work on English Settlement is legendary, and his contributions to Oranges and Lemons are stellar as well.
You might also check out some of the work Carol Kaye did for the Beach Boys, including all of Pet Sounds and many of their peak-period singles like “California Girls.”
It may be that whoever’s playing bass for Derek an the Dominos fits the bill as well. Also Mike Gordon of Phish (I don’t know a lot of their stuff, but on a few tunes I know and like he’s definitely got his own lines going on).
No, Waters was the bassist. (Or was that a whoosh?)
I’m a big fan of Berry Oakley (the original Allman Brothers Band bass player). A very melodic and aggressive player who pushed the guitarists in a live setting, but never had to go out of his way to draw attention to himself.
Well since the OP went back to the 60’s how about the bass player for Paul Revere and the Raiders Phil Volk? I would say he was one of the few bassists of his time to play something other than the typical I to V bass lines. Listen to the bass part in “Hungry” - pretty unusual for 1966 - and a fuzz bass too. If you can get hold of either “Midnight Ride” or “Spirit of '67” you’ll hear some great bass lines. (Some songs that come to mind are “Ballad of a Useless Man”, “There She Goes” and “Louise”.)
As for his “main axe”? A Vox Phantom Bass - one of the coolest-looking guitars ever made.
Nonsuch - good choice with Carol Kaye - also from the 60’s.
Although Waters is the credited bassist, much of the bass playing on Pink Floyd records (including the fretless part on “Hey You” and the intro/middle on “Pigs”) is actually Gilmour. Gilmour jokes that Waters would occasionally thank him for winning him “Best Bass Player” polls.
Seems like my faves (Mike Mills, Colin Moulding) have already been mentioned. I’ll add Bruce Foxton from The Jam. In the case of Mills and Foxton, their style is greatly due to the fact that their guitarists (Peter Buck and Paul Weller respectively) were not… er, quite adept initially, so they played melody quite a bit.
The most melodic bass player I’ve ever heard was Jon Camp of Renaissance. Because they didn’t use a lead guitar, a lot of the melody devolved to Camp’s bass lines.
Cool. Looking him up online, I notice that I’ve also enjoyed his playing on a lot of other recordings as well (lots of Leon Russell tracks, Joe Cocker, and others).
Interestingly, I’ve never heard his name mentioned before.
Clapton basically formed the Dominos from Delaney and Bonnie and Friends. Most of D&B’s friends weren’t famous - although George Harrison liked to hang around, as did Clapton - but they had chemistry. Duane Allman also put in some time sitting in with that group, and he became in effect the fifth member of Derek and the Dominos.
