Must-have albums - help me out!

[SoVeryTired]

I've come to bass relatively late in my musical life (been playing guitar for around 20 years, wind instruments before that) and I realise that my music collection is lacking in good bass! I hear many artists and albums mentioned that I've never listened to.

So, assuming you were talking to someone with no existing music collection, what five albums would you tell them to get to really hear what bass is all about?

I'll collate the responses and act on it - thanks in advance.

[3234718]

Jaco Pastorius by Jaco Pastorius
What's Goin On by Marvin Gaye
Umm.......Abbey Road/Let It Be (Naked)/every album by the Beatles
Thick as a Brick by Jethro Tull
Any one of the good Motown collections.

[SoVeryTired]

Thanks for the starter! It'll be interesting to see how many albums get repeat mentions. I'm expecting quite a range based on people's own musical preferences and that's cool - all genres welcome.

(Did I mention I don't own any Beatles? Yes, really.)

[mjac28]

Originally Posted by 3234718

Jaco Pastorius by Jaco Pastorius
What's Goin On by Marvin Gaye
Umm.......Abbey Road/Let It Be (Naked)/every album by the Beatles
Thick as a Brick by Jethro Tull
Any one of the good Motown collections.

+1 and get anything from the band 311 the bass is very prominent to their sound and of course the Red Hot Chili Peppers,Muse and the Clash.

[SoVeryTired]

Originally Posted by mjac28

+1 and get anything from the band 311 the bass is very prominent to their sound and of course the Red Hot Chili Peppers,Muse and the Clash.

Specific albums?

I've got Muse covered - well, up to the last two albums where I lost interest.

[mjac28]

Originally Posted by SoVeryTired

Thanks for the starter! It'll be interesting to see how many albums get repeat mentions. I'm expecting quite a range based on people's own musical preferences and that's cool - all genres welcome.

(Did I mention I don't own any Beatles? Yes, really.)

Ahhh... Say again? grab Revolver.

[mjac28]

Originally Posted by SoVeryTired

Specific albums?

I've got Muse covered - well, up to the last two albums where I lost interest.

I would grab the greatest hits from each of those groups to save time and money my favorite 311 song is Amber has a great bass line.

[Nashrakh]

Weather Report - Black Market
Parliament - Funkentelechy Vs. the Placebo Syndrome
Electric Wizard - Dopethrone
Hypnos 69 - The Eclectic Measure
Black Sabbath - same

This should get you covered in a very broad range of styles... from funk to bluesy to proggy to doomy sludgy.

Left out the obvious recommendations like anything Jamerson, Yes, Beatles etc.

[SoVeryTired]

The obvious recommendations are probably what I'm after. The stuff that's obvious to anyone that's been a bass player/listener for years but not to me!

So hit me with those obvious recommendations, and please mention anything that's already been written by someone else - i want to see which five get the most mentions.

[VeganThump]

For me, as far as bass tone and bass playing in general goes, the first 2 Led Zeppelin are pretty much as good as it gets.

[Nashrakh]

Originally Posted by SoVeryTired

The obvious recommendations are probably what I'm after. The stuff that's obvious to anyone that's been a bass player/listener for years but not to me!

Alrighty then...

Seconding rec. of What's going on by Marvin Gaye (pro tip: look for the Detroit Mix)

The second Led Zep record.

Tool - Lateralus

RHCP - Californication (I personally can't stand listening to it on loop but it is certainly a record with a big influence on young bass players the world over. If you look past the Flea slap stereotype you'll see his playing is not as one-dimensional as lots of folks make it out to be)

Still standing by my Black Sabbath recommendation though Paranoid is all kinds of awesome too. Though that is most likely a recommendation one makes to someone who has lived under a rock lol, bet you knew these already duh!

[SoVeryTired]

Thanks - I'm all for the 'lived under a rock' recommendations! Just because I'm aware of a band doesn't mean I own anythign by them or have really listened to the bass (see also: Beatles).

[AuntieBeeb]

There are probably five Who albums I could list, but that would be highly unimaginative and not all that helpful. So:

The Who - Quadrophenia
(exceptional "lead bass" playing on several songs, and great basslines in others. To be honest, any album from Tommy through Who Are You is essential listening.)
John Coltrane - Ole Coltrane
(double basses, not guitars, but the title track is a superb demonstration of what the low end can do in the right settings!)
Motorhead - Overkill
(a bit like Quadrophenia, demonstrates that the bass needn't just be the thing that goes "bom-bom-bom" at the bottom of the mix)
Hawkwind - In Search of Space
(play through good speakers. Good but not over-complicated basslines that will make your home shake like Chelyabinsk (too soon?))
Black Sabbath - any one of their first 4 albums
I'm going to second the Sabbath recommendations because the bass playing is excellent. It is, however, kind of buried under Tony Iommi's colossal guitar sound on a lot of tracks. But if you listen out for it, the basslines are great. I'd say get Paranoid, put into some good speakers and skip ahead to Hand of Doom. Wonderfully ominous bass that sadly gets lost in my headphones!

[mcm]

agreed. overkill by motrhead kills, and any of first 4 sabbaths

[Volpe25]

Led Zeppelin I - IV
The Who - Live at Leeds
Cream - Any album Jack Bruce plays on
Victor Wooten - A show of hands
(The next is more a guitar based album but the bassist/cellist (subtly) carries the songs she plays on amazingly. Plus one of my favourite albums I've ever heard not from a bass point of view)
Ben Howard - Every Kingdom

[SoVeryTired]

Originally Posted by Volpe25

Led Zeppelin I - IV
The Who - Live at Leeds
Cream - Any album Jack Bruce plays on
Victor Wooten - A show of hands
(The next is more a guitar based album but the bassist/cellist (subtly) carries the songs she plays on amazingly. Plus one of my favourite albums I've ever heard not from a bass point of view)
Ben Howard - Every Kingdom

I'm going to disqualify Ben Howard. But only because I've been playing that album to death for over a year.

[backup]

i find it funny that we bass players all have a similar taste in music somehow. each post contained at least one album i'd recommend too.

stevie wonder - my cherie amour (amazing james jamerson and the best work of benny benjamin imo)

love power peace - james brown ('71 live album bootsy and clyde)

tales of kidd funkadelic - funkadelic (mosson and brailey)

survival - bob marley (fams redefining reggae bass, super funky)

crusaders - street life (multiple bass players including james jamerson jr. and alphonso johnson

also, but already mentioned: marvin gaye what's going on. and any marvin gaye album before '72. especially his duets with tammi terrell.

[dalkowski]

"Quadrophenia" again
Miles Davis: "Kind of Blue" + any of the quintet recordings
James Brown: "Star Time" box set
Stevie Wonder: "Talking Book," "Innervisions," "Fulfillingness' First Finale" and "Songs in the Key of Life."

(More than 5, but who cares.)

[Bisounourse]

Marvin Gaye: What's Going On
Jaco Pastorius: Jaco Pastorius
Led Zeppelin: Live At The BBC (live highlights from Volume I, II and III)
James Brown: Startime (Ok, it is a 4 CD box, but so what, Disc 2 and 3 are the essence of how funk grow and what it was all about).
Soft Machine: Third (very tasty basslines by Hugh Hopper, although it is not really a 'classic' album).

[SoVeryTired]

Kind of Blue is in my jazz collection.

(Who am I kidding - it is my jazz collection.)