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10 Bassists You'd be Surprised I Like....

#25
agreatheight said:
10 is too many, but I'll do 5.

1. Fieldy (Korn) - points for originality. Bass as a rhythm instrument? Sure, why not.
2. Pete Wentz (Fall Out Boy) - not an amazing bassist, but a very good lyricist in a fun band.
3. Michael Anthony (Van Halen) - Have you heard the 16ths on Poundcake? Sounds a bit like Rocco to me... He's better than many think.
4. Sid Vicious (Sex Pistols) - If you think you need talent to be a rock star, think again. Sid still gets talked about today.
5. The dude from AC/DC (AC/DC) - I can't remember his name right now, lol, but I know his basslines. He's been doing it well for 30+ years, props to him.

Bonus: Jack White.
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Technically, Sid Vicious only wore the bass.

He never played on any of the tracks on their one album (Glen Matlock played on two and Steve Jones played it on all the others because Sid couldn't play.)

Live they turned him off. If you watch any remaining video of him live, you can see his fingering clearly isn't anywhere near what should have been playing.

Also, Malcolm McLaren thought that Sid was the look and tried to "invent punk" (although it already existed) so he fired Matlock, the only true talent in the band, and replaced him with a piece of human trash. Having had the "joy" of being around Sid and Nancy a couple of times in NYC, well, I am entitled to my opinion.

I enjoy Glen's and Steves work with the Pistols.
 
#28
Roy Vogt said:
So I've been over in a Forum where it seems like the debate is going on between the Jazzbos and the Rockers about the relative merits of a well-known Jazz Icon (that would be Jaco). That got me to thinking. Most people on TB assume from my profile and posts I'm a Jazzbo-Fuzo guy all the way. Here's some of my guilty pleasures and why.
1. Gene Simmons-there, I said it. I appreciate his sense of humor, his business acumen, the fact he's built this Rock Band he started into a business empire, the way he comes off as a total mensch and family guy on his Reality Show. I even think his bass lines totally work in all those KISS songs.
2. Mike Watt-Old Man Punk himself. I appreciate his creativity, his take no prisoners attitude in the pursuit of his Art and the way he plays every note as if it's his last.
3. Lemmy-the Original Derek Smalls. I can really appreciate the intensity he puts into his Music and demands from his Bands. Quite invigorating, really!
4. Flea-I actually got to open for the RHCP with a band in the late 80s. Really intense, high-energy stuff. He's not afraid to learn new things, either, as evidenced by his study of Bach and counterpoint during the band's hiatus. When he jammed with Stanley and all those other bassists on Stanley Clarke's Night School DVD he showed he could hang on School Days with the best of 'em.
5. Rick Danko (The Band)-Great use of space and funk in Americana style music. No chops, just taste. A great pickstyle player.
6. Bob Moore-played on over 20,000 records. If you listen to Pasty Cline you'll hear Bob on Upright. That cool walking intro to "King of the Road" by Roger Miller? That's Bob, too. When I first moved to Nashville I thought that playing Country was easy and Country Record dates would be a snap. I was wrong, but studying Bob's playing taught me how to do it right.
7. Byron House-a true gentleman and a great bassist on everything from Mark O'Connor to Robert Plant's Band of Joy. Great tone, touch, feel and heart on Electric and Double Bass.
8. Chris Hillman-my first bass hero. Never mind that session guys played on those first Byrds records. He was why I picked up the bass in the first place. Let's hear it for First Bass Heroes.
9. Bobby Valentin-after my trial by fire on a Latin gig, the MD suggested I study Bobby and how he plays in his band. I took it to heart and he's in every Latin/Afro Cuban tune I play to this day.
10. Dee Dee Ramone-Lester Bangs made me furious when he wrote that The Ramones mattered because they could play Rock and Roll like no other band in the late 70s and that we didn't get it because we couldn't play it yet, but that we would learn. He was right.....
So there's my top 10 guilty pleasures-bassists no one would ever suspect me of liking. Anyone else want to chime in?
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+1 to Chris Hillman. He was the "American McCartney" at that time.
 
#29
Love that list Roy. Not surprising to me either. Each bassist on your list has contributed something great to music in general, not just a specific genre. Does not surprise me that you "Jazz types" or is it "closet country types" would see the value of these folks' contributions.

Love that Rick Danko made your list. Sitting here listening to the Band as I type.

As for Chris Hillman, he was one of my inspirations too. Been looking up some live Byrds stuff on Youtube recently and his tone is fantastic! "My Back Pages" has a lot more meaning for me these days. Just learned the other day that he never really played bass before being recruited to join the Byrds. Was more of a mandolin/steel player. Funny that his musical visions translated so well to bass.

Anyway, well done sir.
 
#30
pie_man_25 said:
I have to agree with you completely on all of those names, at least the ones I've heard. Especially Rick Danko - every time I try to learn a song by the band I approach it in a very busy way, his use of sonic space and his approach to groove propels the song in a way that I hope to learn myself, but can't seem to properly understand.
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Rick has an basic bass instructional DVD available from Homespun tapes. Ain't no shame in learning form the master.

Ray, good list. I guess I am totally in the rocker camp, but, there are some bassists and musicians whose low end work I admire a lot. So I will take the other POV. You mentioned Thrust, Paul Jackson is wonderful on that record. I agree.

Andy Pyle is a guy whose wotk I have always admired. Jazz, blues, prog. The guy could do it all.

Yo-Yo Ma. Incredible classical low end talent.

Miroslav Vitous. Not sure I can begin to understand it sometimes. Lot of meat on the bone there. Add Wayne Shorter and Joe Zawinul and your plate is full with a lifetime of leftovers to take home.

Harvey Brooks. Super Session AND Bitches Brew? Need I say more?

Rick Laird. A very understated and in the pocket bassist for the group that made Fusion Jazz a mainstream draw, Mahavishnu Orchestra. The least flashy of a very eclectic crew.

Tim Bogert. I recently viewed one of the old Vanilla Fudge vidoes on youtube. Conclusion? Tim and Carmine really drive what would otherwise be a pretty camp wedding band. Tim plays with b**** to the wall energy.

Joe Osborn. I have to admit, I grew up hating many of the recordings and bands he did sessions for. And loving others. The bubblegum pop and Carpenters stuff would make me cringe. Yet the bass work is often brilliant. Some I loved, the Mommas and Poppas, 5th Dimension, Stoned Soul. On and on. Seminal stuff.

Willie Dixon. It has taken me a lifetime to begin to appreciate his work.
 
#31
Thor said:
Rick has an basic bass instructional DVD available from Homespun tapes. Ain't no shame in learning form the master.

Ray, good list. I guess I am totally in the rocker camp, but, there are some bassists and musicians whose low end work I admire a lot. So I will take the other POV. You mentioned Thrust, Paul Jackson is wonderful on that record. I agree.

Andy Pyle is a guy whose wotk I have always admired. Jazz, blues, prog. The guy could do it all.

Yo-Yo Ma. Incredible classical low end talent.

Miroslav Vitous. Not sure I can begin to understand it sometimes. Lot of meat on the bone there. Add Wayne Shorter and Joe Zawinul and your plate is full with a lifetime of leftovers to take home.

Harvey Brooks. Super Session AND Bitches Brew? Need I say more?

Rick Laird. A very understated and in the pocket bassist for the group that made Fusion Jazz a mainstream draw, Mahavishnu Orchestra. The least flashy of a very eclectic crew.

Tim Bogert. I recently viewed one of the old Vanilla Fudge vidoes on youtube. Conclusion? Tim and Carmine really drive what would otherwise be a pretty camp wedding band. Tim plays with b**** to the wall energy.

Joe Osborn. I have to admit, I grew up hating many of the recordings and bands he did sessions for. And loving others. The bubblegum pop and Carpenters stuff would make me cringe. Yet the bass work is often brilliant. Some I loved, the Mommas and Poppas, 5th Dimension, Stoned Soul. On and on. Seminal stuff.

Willie Dixon. It has taken me a lifetime to begin to appreciate his work.
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That's great! I wanted to see everyone's top 10. Some great players there.
 
#32
OK Roy, well here's my list. Might not end up being 10, but here's a few:

1. Cliff Williams from AC/DC. Anyone who thinks what Cliff does is easy has never heard a bar band butcher the feel on an AC/DC tune. Try playing the same two notes for 5 minutes while Angus does his striptease and never be tempted to add anything else. I don't think any of you who don't respect what he does can do it. Of course, we didn't have Malcolm Young telling us "Play what I want and I'll make you a multi-millionaire," but still, I have a hard time recognizing anyone as a bass player if they can't play "Back In Black" without rushing, no matter how good they are.

2. Dozy from Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick and Tich. One of the most grossly underrated bands of the British Invasion who kind of stiffed in America, they had soaring Beatle-ish harmonies and great pop sensibilities, driven by Dozy, who along with being a great vocalist who took over leads when Dave quit (and again when he died a couple years ago), had an awesome overdriven hollowbody bass tone with a Gibson EB-2 and what looks to be a Selmer bass amp: Dave Dee ... - Hold tight 1966 - YouTube

3. Gene Simmons of KISS. He's Gene Simmons of KISS, and he comes up with very inventive bass lines that often go against the grain of the band but work perfectly. That's enough.

4. Dusty Hill of ZZ Top. Before ZZ Top dated themselves by going synth in the 80's, they were one of the very best boogie bands ever, and Dusty's big fat early 50's Precision drove it. Plus he sings way better than Billy Gibbons.

5. Jeff Berlin. Sorry TB staff but I love the guy now ;)
 
#33
JimmyM said:
4. Dusty Hill of ZZ Top. Before ZZ Top dated themselves by going synth in the 80's, they were one of the very best boogie bands ever, and Dusty's big fat early 50's Precision drove it. Plus he sings way better than Billy Gibbons.
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+1

Please add Tom Hamilton of Aerosmith for me, the intro to Sweet Emotion and overall tone back in the day really did it for me.

No guilt whatsoever w/Danny Thompson's sound, straight or processed (eg Kate Bush's "Pull Out The Pin" or Peter Gabriel's "No Way Out") nor Eberhard Weber.
 
#34
My 10. These are not the best bassists, nor the most underrated bassists, nor my favorite bassists. They're just some bassists that I like and you probably don't (or won't admit to).

1. Sid Viscious - for all the same reasons as everyone else mentioned.
2. Nikki Sixx - he had some good moments
3. Duff McKagan - the illigitimate offspring of #1 and #2 perhaps ?
4. Lemmy - what the O/P said
5. Dave Ellefson - metal may not be the best genre for bass, but he doesn't seem to care
6. Tom Araya - fast+simple
7. The dude from Hoobastank - one of the dullest, most boring bands in the most boring genre at the worst time for rock music. And then he shows up on a Katy Perry album kicking @$$.
8. The dude from Blur - a closet Duranie (?) in another lousy band
9. Randy Jackson - this guy really is underrated
10. Kip Winger - yes, I said it.
 
#37
OK. I'll play.

Here are a couple of bass players who get my respect, but those that know me would be shocked to know about...

1. John Taylor of Duran, Duran. Never liked that band or the new wave/disco stuff that came out of England at that time. But there is no denying Taylor's talent. Just listen to the bass line from "Rio.". Great stuff.

2. Rutger Gunnarsson of Abba. Same thing. Never liked that bubble gum pop music. But his lines just move those songs. How many million records did they sell? Enough said.

3. Every Weather Report bassist. Jaco, Victor, Alphonso, Miroslav... Not a big fan of their solo stuff (sorry). But their playing within Weather Report just mesmerizes. Great interaction with Erskine, Hakim and Zawinul. Beautiful.
 
#38
Really?

Pete Tork. Great all-around musician, and good guy. Welcome at my house anytime.

Charles Mingus. Most of the time, guys just don't even want to discuss him... Why? Then they get excited about the Mingus Big Band. Weird. I love Charles, though, warts and all.

Jim Kale- such great solid lines.

Randy Meisner. Eagles. One of these nights.

Rudy Sarzo. Yep. There he was, and here he is.

Mark Stoermer- Solid. Pumping. Lines.

Jamie Stewart. Love.

Tina Weymouth- minimalism at its biggest and baddest.

Dusty Hill. Playin', movin', singin'.

Bob Magnusson. Book: "Art of the Walking Bass." 150 studio albums. Worldwide orchestra. How'd we miss him?

Really.
 
#39
First off, great list. You nailed it for me with Byron House though. I got to work with him back in the early ninties when he was working with Stephanie Davis. He always played just the right thing, with just the right tone, at just the right time.

He is also one of the nicest, most genuine, insanely talented players I have ever worked with. His work with Band of Joy was just perfect.
 
#40
Tony Newton...he was the first real bassist I met when I was a kid around 13. Tony was Smokey Robinsons bassist and Smokey lived down the street from me in northwest Detroit. Tony made me consider starting on bass guitar since I had been playing primarily double bass. Tony was also helpful to me when I moved to L.A.

Gary Tallent...Does a great job in holding down the bottom on the whole E Street thing and doesn't try to outshine the outfront guys and doesn't complain.

David Hungate...a near virtuoso who often gets overlooked in discussions of great players.

Rex Brown...proably because I happened to play a round of golf with him and guitarist Jerry Cantrell and he was a nice guy who did have a background in Jazz and had a good understanding of bass. He propped Jamerson which put him close to my heart.

Ready Freddie...Great guy who goes unrecognized in certain circles.

Ralphie Armstrong...Detroit homey who possesses great skills...plus his dad was blues/country legend Louie "Bluie" Armstrong.

James Jamerson Jr (lll)...Fine player. It must be tough.

Ronnie Baker...Outstanding and underrated bass performer and arranger with MFSB in Philly. Some memorable lines. He rubbed his strings with chicken grease.

Phil Chen...this guy understands bass and was quite involoved on the Brittish music scene. "Scatterbrain" with Jeff Beck.

Milt Hinton...Total legend and cosmopolitan individual as well as bass innovator. Met him in my livingroom when I was a young kid and he worked with my brother.
 

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