Yeah; I’m keying on the relatively part here…I think I already said none of them were bad. Anybody who goes through any significant amount of gigging/recording is going to be more proficient than the average person, if only in knowing the ropes, impairment notwithstanding.
To some degree, I think people are talking about the luckiest muscians too. The ones who maybe aren’t terrible, but are average, dime-a-dozen type players who just had the good fortune to fall in with superstar talent and ride the gravy train. I think my first example, Michael Anthony, is a poster boy for that.
One of the best drummers of the period even if he insisted on taking very, very long solos. But that reminds me: Noel Redding in the Jimi Hendrix Experience, and to a slightly lesser degree, Buddy Miles in the Band of Gypsys.
I don’t hate Hammett, but he can be monotonous and I don’t find his solos very dramatic.
Oh don’t get me wrong, I love Denny and what he brought to the band. Between Brian and Mike, the Beach Boys are the tightest-assed band ever to sing about fun in the sun. Somebody needed to be having a good time.
And of course most of their albums were produced by studio players - not just the drumming. But I have seen/heard enough clips of Denny playing live, and even saw him with the band shortly before his death, to know he wasn’t a great drummer. But yeah, he could bang his way through “Fun, Fun, Fun” while 12,000 girls screamed so who really cared.
(mind you - with my screen name, I admit to being a big Hal Blaine fan)
I’m sad to hear this because I usually defend Mason in these threads, but I haven’t seen him live so his skills may have deteriorated. But it was fun in the video to see the other drummer banging his life away to the beginning of Time, and you could tell this was the absolute highlight of his life by his energy, and he totally knocked it out of the park, too.
I’ll even admit that compared to Gilmour (and even Wright), Mason was relatively untalented. But despite his simple technique, he managed to do things that no one had done previously. The drums are not that hard to play or compose for DSOTM, but the feeling he evokes with minute variations in the timing of them is sublime. DSOTM is probably my favorite album for the drums.
Don’t beat me but I always thought that JJ was mediocre, image without substance.
“Bob your head like me Apple D / Up inside the club or in your Bentley.”
So I guess the dude bobs his head.
Bobbing for Bentleys?
I’ll nominate D’arcy Wretzky of the Smashing Pumpkins. Love them or hate them, Chamberlain was a monster on the drums, and Billy Corgan was a great songwriter, arranger, and (I think) a solid guitarist. Well, all those until he lost the plot sometime after Adore. I would consider them both great musicians in their prime. James Iha was largely overshadowed by them, but also a solid player with an interesting ebowed sound that came into maturity in their later albums. D’arcy, on the other hand, was just competent enough, who I think was there more for her look (and it seemed to have a woman on bass was especially fashionable at the time) than her playing. Billy famously played all her bass parts on the recording of Siamese Dream, as well as overdubbing much (if not all) of James Iha’s parts. Of course, Billy comes across a crazy, perfectionist control freak, so that doesn’t necessarily say anything about either of their skills.
…and who can forget Jerome from The Time?
Half expecting wails of Blasphmer! Burn him!
Donna Jean Godchaux couldn’t sing a note on key to save her life when she was in the Grateful Dead. Not that singing (or playing) on key was ever important but she was real bad.
I dug his pithy melodiousness 
I happen to *love *Jerome. Dude could move, and there’s nothing wrong with a little Harlem showmanship in your Minneapolis, I always say…
She was/is the single reason I couldn’t/can’t stand listening to live Dead tapes from that era. How she sang on key for the studio recording of Terrapin Station I’ll never know.
Michael Anthony IS a great example, one I’d have posted if you hadn’t beaten me to it… though, in fairness, he contributed a bit more than bass playing. His background vocals and harmonies were a substantial part of Van Halen’s trademark sound.
I thought it was a nice touch, too. Actually, I don’t know if you can count someone like that or some of the other “excessive personnel” often found in R&B/dance acts, since it’s really just for show, anyway. It’s like calling a hat the least talented member or something.
That’s not fair; playing those off-beat notes during Jump when Diamond Dave is singing (well, his form of singing) “can’t you see me standing here I got my back against the record machine” is hard, man.
I love VH as an old-school guitar guy, but Anthony was the Bill Wyman of pop-metal; the relationship that mattered was between Eddie and Alex and Michael was filler.
Average bass player…extremely gifted singer in the upper register. All those early VH songs with all those high harmonies? All Anthony. The band wouldn’t have sounded the same without those.
Crap: slain by astorian!
In fact, wasn’t there a joke about that after Cobain’s suicide (and before the Foo Fighters)? Something like "
What has four arms and four legs and works at McDonalds?"
“The living members of Nirvana”
Anyway, like Marley said, wasn’t Noel Redding (in the Jimi Hendrix experience) essentially Sid Vicious without the charisma? My understanding was that (like Sid) Noel didn’t even play most of the studio tracks, that Jimi recorded most of the bass parts himself. At least Sid brought something to the image of the band.
Nope, not at all, Wordy. I’ve found your contributions great in this thread.
Like the support for Michael Anthony. Average player but great singer - glad that’s been pointed out.
Sid Vicious was obviously a sideshow, so he’s almost beyond this thread.
I’m standing behind Adam Clayton. He’s a “serious” musician, has more money than God, has the huge benefit of having one of the most inventive guitarists and frontmen in rock, and as far as I know, he essentially serves the role as the “no vote.” His opinion has pretty big sway in U2, so I suppose much of their success is due to his taste. But musically, I’ve never heard a bass line that made me go, “Wow, he’s good.”
Maybe “Two Hearts Beat As One,” or the bass solo in “Gloria…”
Having been in a number of bands, I can tell you that the ability to get along with your bandmates is, in itself, a talent.
Bands aren’t just about music, they’re also about the chemistry of the collective. Some people who may only be average musicians can add a lot to the overall feel simply by being there. Like any job, it can be made a lot better or a lot worse by the personalities of your workmates.
Bassist X may be an average bassist, but I’d rather have a passable bassist who’s a nice person to be around than a great bassist who’s also a creep.
Bands do break up because of musical differences, but they also break up because nobody can put up with that wanker any more.