Underrated player

[ScottE]

The only reason I say this guy is underrated is because I never see anybody talking about him. I just started listening to this group after having lost interest in them a few years ago. But now I'm totally into them again. The player: Dean Dinning. The band: Toad the Wet Sprocket. I don't know why nobody talks about him, he's fantastic! Listening to a Toad album is like a seminar on rock bass. He does everything right. Are there no Toad fans out there? What's up?

[Dave Siff]

Yeah, you know, I hate to admit it but you're right. I have a good friend who was into metal and hard rock with me back in college, and a few years later he's telling me about Toad. I just ignored him, but then one day I was in the Gap, and a Toad song was playing on the store PA system, and Dean was harmonizing this guitar lick a third above, it sounded really nice. I still haven't bought any of their stuff but I know he's a good player. He plays great parts for the song.

[Tony746]

I've always thought that Dinning was a sharp player
from day one. Nice tone, too. There's sooo many underated
players out there. Sometimes, man, I get tired of talking
about Flea and Victor. My point is proven by the fact that
I only have to use first names!
Most of my favorite players are underrated. I really like
Mario Cippolina(ex Huey Lewis), Lee Sklar(The guy with
the long white beard), and Alain Caron-although he's
popular in Canada. No one ever gives Anthony Jackson any
props, either. Not just for his playing, but for the fact
that he popularized the low "B" in the early eighties.He
got a lot of heat for it too-a lot of jingle and record
producers thought the notes on the "B" string wouldn't
be heard. 5 and 6 string basses had to be made custom at
great expense back in those days. I'm glad to see him
occasionally mentioned in this forum.

[gweimer]

Tony746, any idea if Mario Cippolina is any relationship to former QMS guitarist John Cippolina?
There are probably tons of bassists that could be named; I always hit on my faves, Martin Turner and Gary Thain, but you could include people that have turned up in David Bowie's band, Kasim Sultan (sp?, but from Utopia and now Meatloaf), Hunt Sales (or is it Tony?), Rick Grech, Joey Dimaeo (sp?), Gerry McAvoy, Chris Glen, and on and on.

[ScottE]

It seems to me that most of the players people talk about a lot are "soloist" types, like Victor. My favorite guys, though, are the guys who toil away namelessly in a good band. Guys like Bobby Sheehan from Blues Traveler, or Dinning, or Stefan Lessard. They're out there coming up with some very creative stuff, not just bass lines, but songwriting also. Bobby Sheehan wrote one of Blues Traveler's big hits, "The Mountains Win Again." You can tell he wrote it, too, because that song starts with the bass.

[Bassline1414]

I think the bass player from the Doors is underrated, as well as the guy who played bass on the Superfly album by Curtis Mayfield, very funky stuff.

[gweimer]

It's probably because The Doors didn't exactly have a bass player. It was either Robbie Krieger or Ray Manzarek dubbing the bass, and Manzarek usually handled it live on the key bass (if I remember). They did add a regular bassist, Jack Conrad, post-Morrison era.

[pedro]

>It's probably because The Doors didn't exactly have a bass player. It was either Robbie Krieger or Ray Manzarek dubbing the bass, and Manzarek usually handled it live on the key bass (if I remember). They did add a regular bassist, Jack Conrad, post-Morrison era.

I could be mistake about this but I think on the first album Ray pretty much did everything with the Fender piano bass, with the exception perhaps of 'Break On Through'. After that, they used studio guys for the records and Ray continued to handle everything on the piano bass live.

[Bassline1414]

Well whoever wrote those lines is cool, like Riders on the Storm is pretty sweet, simple, but cool, and they've got some other ones.

[john turner]

hey don't feel bad, there's no crime in being inspired by non-bass basslines. sh!t, stevie wonder's left hand is one of my favorite bass players

[JimK]

The Doors used several bassists on their studio albums(Jerry Scheff, Harvey Brooks, etc).
LIVE...Ray Manzarek played a Fender Piano bass(got a picture of one in a '70s Fender catalog that I still have); the piano bass has/had the EXACT same range as an early Fender bass(low "E" to a high "D#").

Can anyone believe Mario Cippolina actually played on a '70s Fusion record? I think it was Tony Williams' JOY OF FLYING album...weird!

[Blackbird]

One name that never comes up in these lists is Norman Cook. He was the bassist of a british band called the Housemartins in the mid-80s and the band broke up after two albums because they were too controversial. After the break up, the guitarists formed the band Beautiful South and Cook formed a band called Beats International. His playing with the Housemartins was very economical and tasteful, but quirky and angular. Very musical but economical. I think B.I. broke up. I wonder what he's up to now...

Will C.

[Junkie]

You must be joking or smth. His stage name nowadays is Fat Boy Slim.
the most underrated bass player for me is Aston"Family Man" Barrett.Very lazy and warm picking and velvet tone.

[Boplicity]

To those of you who mentioned Bobby Sheehan of Blues Traveler and no relation to Billy SHeehan of Mr. Big and Niacin, I can't tell from your posts if you realize that Bobby Sheehan is deceased. In fact he passed away about a year ago. When I read about his death in Bass Player Magazine, I was genuinely stunned. Sheehan was one of my favorite bass players. I was priviledged to see him play at the H.O.A.R.D. festival in 1996, plus I've played some of his songs over and over and over. To have him die so young just magnifies the tragedy.

He is being "replaced" by Chad Chinska's brother. (Forgive me misspelling the guitar player's name.) But it will be very hard to fill Bobby Sheehan's shoes, not unlike the challenge Jason Newsted faced filling Cliff Burton's shoes. Jason Oldsted

[ScottE]

I just recently learned Bobby Sheehan was dead. And it happened 2 years ago! It truly is a great loss for the bass world and the rock world in general. I always enjoy listening to his playing.

[frost13]

Bobby was working on a solo CD when he passed away. Does anyone know what became of that project?

[Brad Johnson]

Originally posted by john turner
hey don't feel bad, there's no crime in being inspired by non-bass basslines. sh!t, stevie wonder's left hand is one of my favorite bass players

Mine, too.

[Bruce Lindfield]

Originally posted by Big Wheel
One name that never comes up in these lists is Norman Cook. He was the bassist of a british band called the Housemartins in the mid-80s and the band broke up after two albums because they were too controversial. After the break up, the guitarists formed the band Beautiful South and Cook formed a band called Beats International. His playing with the Housemartins was very economical and tasteful, but quirky and angular. Very musical but economical. I think B.I. broke up. I wonder what he's up to now...

Will C.

The previous comments are right - Norman Cook has had far more success since leaving the Housemartins under various pseudonyms. He has had a string of number one hits in the UK & Europe, mostly now as "Fatboy Slim" and has achieved the ultimate "star" status of marrying a TV presenter!

Norman (not his real name either!) actually lived around the corner from me in Brighton and I used to see him most days walking his Papillon dog in the local park (Preston Park). He has now moved but still lives locally.

I must say that the Housemartins were hardly "too controversial" - I think that Norman saw them as too "middle of the road" and he wanted to do more dance-oriented stuff which was the main reason for the split.

The HouseMartins were pure pop and as you say most of the rest of the band went on to become "The Beautiful South" who have also been very successful with well-crafted pop songs and one of their albums was a best-seller for a long time in the UK.

[frost13]

This is going WAY back to the early days of Motor City rock. But there was a bass player with the original Amboy Dukes, who seemed to be always underrated. He name is Greg Arama... and he played some pretty neat basslines back then.

[winston]

Stevie Wonder Percy Jones Mike Gordon Mick Karn Berry Oakley Bill Laswell Alphonso Johnson...