Flea: this generations Jamerson/McCartney/Lee?

[SpecialG]

Personally, I'd take the bass player from the Doobie Brothers over Flea. "But why the hell would you say that?" you ask?

Simple. He isn't the best. Better than me? Damn straight. Better than Wooten? Eh. Better than Geddy? I dunno.

But the best? Nah

I'll admit he's damn good, but not the best. Comparing him is kinda dumb, because of the obvious reason that no two bass players, let alone normal people, are the same.

And that aside, there's only one bass player I hate, and that's mostly because I don't consider people doing a Parthian volley of crap that are root notes a musician...

[Alan Vorse]

Originally Posted by MammaryVest

I think where Flea becomes revolutionary is in the style of the BAND (Red Hot Chili Peppers) No band sounded like them before, no band sounds like them now. Flea's playing has a lot to do with it. They made it ok to be different, and managed to keep doing it for over 20 years. I think that says something.

Wow. You might want to go buy Funkadelic's "Maggot Brain", The Minutemen's "Double Nickels on the Dime", and Defunkt's "Thermonuclear Sweat."

[Winterpegbass]

I like Flea's bass playing and I like some of the RHCP's tunes but he is not a revolutionary bass player like Jamerson, Jaco, Geddy, Louis Johnson, Bootsy, Marcus, Larry Graham etc. The most important aspect of Flea and the RHCP is that they are bringing funk to a wider rock audience.

I would also argue that Claypool, Sheehan and Wooten are not very revolutionary either although they play very fast and are great technical musicians.

The electric bass guitar triumvirate in terms of revolutionizing the way the instrument is played would be in my opinion: James Jamerson, Jaco Pastorius & Larry Graham. However my favorite bass player is Marcus Miller.

[toaster2k3]

He's influential in that he has inspired a lot of people to play bass. I don't consider him a musical pioneer of any sort though.

[Eminentbass]

Originally Posted by louieeadg

You have some homework to do, my friend. You'll learn...

That is a touch condescending isn't it? There seems to be a highbrow snobbery type of attitude amongst the general Flea detractors(apologies to those that do not fit the generalization). Jaco seems to be a sacred taboo and name to drop when one wishes to appear to be in the know within the bass community and flea seems to be the name to bash lately. We all have the right to like what our ears tell us to like and we can't force ourselves to enjoy something just because it's the done thing(even if it is Jaco, Geddy, etc). We are all individuals and will be drawn to different things based on our own tastes and how the music makes us feel. My personal enjoyment of Jaco(I'm not Jaco bashing, just using him as an example to express my point) is limited to very narrow spectrum of his work because I don't identify with a lot of what he was doing. I guilted myself for ages because of Jaco sacrilege but honestly, his music just doesn't move me.

Flea might not be a schooled player or half the virtuoso that countless other players may be but, love him or hate him, the man has a sound and style that is truly his own. As far as anti-pop snobbery goes... It takes a hell of a lot of work to become a virtuoso but it takes a gift to write something(usually simplistic) that will grab the attention of and speak to the emotions of millions of people.