"Favorite bass player"...?

[The Davil]

Geddy is my favorite. But Bernard Edwards just always makes me stop what I'm doing and listen whenever I hear him.

[Snakeman1066]

Players that have left an impression and influenced me over the years...

Geezer Butler (Reason I picked up a bass)
Chris Squire
John Entwsitle
Geddy Lee
Lemmy
Steve Harris
Al Cisneros
Justin Chancellor
Dennis Dunaway

[Nightvision]

I think it's:
Paul Denman
Justin Chancellor
Willie Weeks
James Jamerson

[McThumpenstein]

The first recommendation I can give it to listen to everything you can. It sounds obvious, but a lot of people shoehorn themselves into only listening to certain styles or certain artists. One of my favorite bassists is Milt Hinton, but he probably never touched an electric bass in his life, but I try to take as much away from how he played and apply it to whatever I can. Forgive me for being wordy on this here, I'm just trying to help.

Recommendations I can give are:

Carl Radle: I don't hear much about this guy, but he backed up Clapton a lot and I never heard anything I didn't like.

Bobby Sheehan: I recently dusted off the Blues Traveler self titled album, and Bobby played his backside off for the whole thing. I think this album was also mixed really well because his sound really stands out. I think he gives a great example of how much flavor a bass can add to the texture and feel of music. As I'm listening, I ask myself what a song would sound like if the bass wasn't there, and many times I'm surprised to find that it probably wouldn't be as good. Anyway, Bobby was really darn good, and it's a shame he died because I think he would have contributed a lot to the world of bass playing.

Daryl Stuermer: He backed Phil Collins and the last incarnation of Genesis, and I really enjoyed a lot of the bass he laid down. Not the flashiest, but another example of a solid bassist.

Nathan East: Many people's first aural experience with a fretless acoustic was listening to the Unplugged version of Tears in Heaven where Nathan Mwah'd like nobody's business. I think I've seen it said he's one of the best examples of a professional because he shows up, has all the equipment he needs, knows what he's doing, and plays what needs to be played. Check out the live CD "24 nights". Nathan has a few solos on that album that are pretty good, and his backing stuff is always excellent. He also played on some Phil Collins songs (I wish it would rain) where he played some very tasty stuff. He's also a lot of fun to watch because he looks like he's having a great time.

Flea: I can sum this up in a few letters. BSSM. Often considered one of the best bass albums out there. Not a bad song on the CD IMHO. I also love the lines from "Soul to Squeeze", and for a goof, get Young MC's "Bust a Move" and hear Flea tearing it up.

Ray Brown: Upright Jazz player, but you can learn a TON from this guy. Same with Milt who I mentioned earlier. He was the most recorded bass player ever I believe, and aside from being one of the nicest guys ever, when I saw him live in his 80's, had some of the fastest hands I've ever seen. Check out his version of "a hot time in the old town tonight".

Francis "Rocco" Prestia": Tower of Power's bassist. He put down some of the best funk...ever. But in a way that is pretty unique to him.

Stuart Zender/Paul Fyffe/Paul Turner: The bassists for Jamiroquai. Look up the "Live from Abbey Road" recording on Youtube. Listen to the Albums. You can't go wrong here.

So, I could probably go on and on, but I wanted to give you a few names that I hadn't seen yet, and some of the ones that made me want to play bass, and keep me wanting to.

[Warmuth]

As a newer player with not much knowledge of anything, Mcartney stands out to me. I don't like the Beatles all that much, it's before my time, but he came up with amazing stuff. It makes learning all those songs tolerable for me, since it's a great education. I have the most fun playing Guns and Roses songs though, and the basslines seem very cool to me, so Mckagen is high on my list. His bass is also very present in the mix which I like.

I hugely favor fun to play over technical so a lot of the guys like Victor Wooten I view the way I view Yngvie Malmsteen on guitar. Awesome technique, don't care for the music most of the time. Love watching them on youtube though.

[Clef_de_fa]

Alain Caron - Uzeb and solo artist
Micheal Manring - Solo artist
John Patitucci - Chick Corea's Akoustic/Elektric band and solo artist
John Myung - Dream Theater, The Jelly Jam and Platypus
Alex Webster - Cannibal Corspe and Blotted Science
Bunny Brunel - CAB and solo artist
Rinat Ibraminov - LSO
Edgar Meyer

[Yawn 512]

John Deacon, Flea & Duff McKagan

[z65]

on electric, a man called Jaco ... :-))
on upright Scott la Faro

my actual favorite is the italian Dario Deidda

[mozilla314]

Originally Posted by McThumpenstein

The first recommendation I can give it to listen to everything you can. It sounds obvious, but a lot of people shoehorn themselves into only listening to certain styles or certain artists. One of my favorite bassists is Milt Hinton, but he probably never touched an electric bass in his life, but I try to take as much away from how he played and apply it to whatever I can. Forgive me for being wordy on this here, I'm just trying to help.

Recommendations I can give are:

Carl Radle: I don't hear much about this guy, but he backed up Clapton a lot and I never heard anything I didn't like.

Bobby Sheehan: I recently dusted off the Blues Traveler self titled album, and Bobby played his backside off for the whole thing. I think this album was also mixed really well because his sound really stands out. I think he gives a great example of how much flavor a bass can add to the texture and feel of music. As I'm listening, I ask myself what a song would sound like if the bass wasn't there, and many times I'm surprised to find that it probably wouldn't be as good. Anyway, Bobby was really darn good, and it's a shame he died because I think he would have contributed a lot to the world of bass playing.

Daryl Stuermer: He backed Phil Collins and the last incarnation of Genesis, and I really enjoyed a lot of the bass he laid down. Not the flashiest, but another example of a solid bassist.

Nathan East: Many people's first aural experience with a fretless acoustic was listening to the Unplugged version of Tears in Heaven where Nathan Mwah'd like nobody's business. I think I've seen it said he's one of the best examples of a professional because he shows up, has all the equipment he needs, knows what he's doing, and plays what needs to be played. Check out the live CD "24 nights". Nathan has a few solos on that album that are pretty good, and his backing stuff is always excellent. He also played on some Phil Collins songs (I wish it would rain) where he played some very tasty stuff. He's also a lot of fun to watch because he looks like he's having a great time.

Flea: I can sum this up in a few letters. BSSM. Often considered one of the best bass albums out there. Not a bad song on the CD IMHO. I also love the lines from "Soul to Squeeze", and for a goof, get Young MC's "Bust a Move" and hear Flea tearing it up.

Ray Brown: Upright Jazz player, but you can learn a TON from this guy. Same with Milt who I mentioned earlier. He was the most recorded bass player ever I believe, and aside from being one of the nicest guys ever, when I saw him live in his 80's, had some of the fastest hands I've ever seen. Check out his version of "a hot time in the old town tonight".

Francis "Rocco" Prestia": Tower of Power's bassist. He put down some of the best funk...ever. But in a way that is pretty unique to him.

Stuart Zender/Paul Fyffe/Paul Turner: The bassists for Jamiroquai. Look up the "Live from Abbey Road" recording on Youtube. Listen to the Albums. You can't go wrong here.

So, I could probably go on and on, but I wanted to give you a few names that I hadn't seen yet, and some of the ones that made me want to play bass, and keep me wanting to.

Sorry, but Daryl Stuermer is a guitarist.

[mozilla314]

My favorite bassists are not known for
being the best soloists around but are
known for actually playing "bass" and
supporting the music. Guys like James Jamerson, Verdine White, Will Lee, Pino Palledino, Rocco Prestia, Bernard Edwards
and Tony Levin.

[michaelstrand]

Colin Greenwood.

[WarrenD]

Some of my favourites:

Jason Newsted (reason I started playing)
Sean Malone
Johan De Farfalla
Billy Gould
David Ellefson
John Myung
Alex Webster
Dave Pegg
Maartin Allcock
Martin Mendez
Mike Inez

[KMillington629]

Chuck Rainey........... if you haven't before, check out his work on Steely Dan's "Aja" album. Mr. Rainey is very smooth and pays a lot of attention to his sound. I'm a sucker for "Jazzy" music!!!!!

Walter Becker.......... very underrated bass player. Walter's guitar and bass work with Steely Dan is amazing. If you can't tell, I like Steely Dan.

Nathan East - smooth

Tal Wilkenfeld - She needs to be considered one of the best living bass players........male or female. Check out her work with Jeff Beck, Live at Ronnie Scotts. Her chops on Beck's version of Stevie Wonder's "Cause We've Ended As Lovers" is amazing. Just pure bass playing........no fancy show off, just groovin' and adding the low tone.

[wishface]

Tony Levin
Jah Wobble
Bill Laswell
Geezer Butler
Steve Harris

[DHowardAir]

http://www.carlradle.com

[phillybass101]

There are so many cats these days that can flat out play it's hard to say. I'm getting to the point where I don't have a favorite bass player anymore. Now it's like I have favorite things I like to hear in bass playing. I like taste over chops. Tone over mud, aggressive more than slick or cute, syncopated and percolated, articulated over bloom and boom. No effects more than effects,the immediate response and snap, and pop and presence of 10's more than 12's or 15's. Substance more than form although there is nothing wrong with having a pretty bass. etc, etc.

[Guinness20]

To name only one is an impossible task:

- Flea
- JPJ
- Nikolai Fraiture (just listen to 'Is This It?')
- Mike Dirnt
- Robert Been

Have a lot of respect for Simon Gallup too, fellow Thunderbird fan!

[scoopscallahan]

Duff McKagan
Geezer Butler
JPJ
Jason Newsted
Nikki Sixx
Mike Starr
Cliff Burton
Robert Deleo

[Jbassrockboy]

Alphonso Johnson needs to get a mention too

[Waynebass]

Sharay reed