Marmalade (out of Scotland) used two bass players in the late 60's/early '70's.... one playing a four and the other a sixer....
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Bands with 2 bass players
- Thread starter 420bassplyr
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Not really a "band" per-se, but the last third of this one-off live concert of Casiopeia vs The Square is pretty fun (two of everything):
Although not a band, I saw Stanley Clarke, Marcus Miller, and Victor Wooten all playing bass on stage at the same time and in parts on YouTube a while back... even tho they're super pros I think that still counts. (to me anyway)
seen live James Brown with a huge band !!! 2 bass players ( one played only root notes and some fills mostly, with a marcus miller signature bass, and the other guy played the usual bass parts) 3 guitars, a drummer and a percusionist with a huge set of percusion a horn section with 3 horns, 3 female singers doing backing vocals, 2 dancers and a stage guy as "narrator" ... mr brown played also some el. piano in some blues medley he did that night. one of the guitar players was his son i believe...
that was in 2006 summer just before his death at christmas that year... great show and great bass lines...
that was in 2006 summer just before his death at christmas that year... great show and great bass lines...
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Oh, another one... Bert Kaempfert's orchestra (1960's) ..... a double bass player and the legendary Ladi Geisler on a Fender bass (Jazz, as far as I can make out)... the double bass also playing mainly the roots and Ladi playing fills with that unique "Knack-Bass" distinctive treble sound..... I'm obviously showing my age here...... 
Bassist4Eris
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I was in a similar band, except I was the "high note guy". The other player was all about flatwounds and Motown-inspired finger funk, while I was using 6-string bass and a lot of effects to cover area normally handled by guitar or keyboard. Other times he'd play fingerstyle while I slapped, or I might even play the bass line while he did chords up top. But perhaps we were at our most interesting when we were both grooving fingerstyle; sort of dancing around each other's parts, interweaving a tapestry of low end the drummer liked to call "uberbass".
- Jan 1, 2014
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- Decendant from the Clovis culture. "Emitting that wonderful bass effect since 1970".
And there was me thinking the same thing.
Evil Blizzard are ace, and were given a huge boost by none other than the late Mark E Smith. They've supported The Fall, Killing Joke, and a host of others.
Watch out for MopMan! Cha!
great band
They are great live, very entertaining and surprisingly don't sound too bass heavy. I didn't know anything about them until I saw them supporting The Chameleons in Birmingham and couldn't believe it when they rolled out with 4 bass players. I should have guessed it was going to be an entertaining night when a load of their strange fans turned up, including one wearing a pink collie dog's head.
I haven't had the opportunity to see them live yet, but I used to be in a band with one of them, and was friends with another. Knowing what I know of them, personally, and from what I've heard from other people who have seen them... it's an entertaining evening!
Check out the video of the Tramps playing Disco Inferno. They use two bass players. The one in front plays below the 5th fret and the one in back plays mid neck. Very interesting. Also the Cure use two basses in Primary. One of the best tunes they ever recorded.
They are well worth seeing, it's definitely an experience.I haven't had the opportunity to see them live yet, but I used to be in a band with one of them, and was friends with another. Knowing what I know of them, personally, and from what I've heard from other people who have seen them... it's an entertaining evening!
Oh yeah. How could you leave this behind.
You can get pretty much anything to work if you write and arrange for it. If you’ve got an idea for something, go for it. You’ll figure out pretty quickly if it’s unworkable.
Here’s a good example. Baritone guitar is notoriously difficult to arrange for. But Mike League has two baritones plus a bass going simultaneously in this song.
I don’t know if I’d be up for a full set of this particular type of sonic landscape since it’s so dense. But it definitely works for a single song.
And the late Mark Sandman of the band Morphine got a two-string slide bass plus a baritone sax (effectively a second bass) to work for several classy albums.
So I say why not give it a shot and show us what you got?
Luck!
Here’s a good example. Baritone guitar is notoriously difficult to arrange for. But Mike League has two baritones plus a bass going simultaneously in this song.
I don’t know if I’d be up for a full set of this particular type of sonic landscape since it’s so dense. But it definitely works for a single song.
And the late Mark Sandman of the band Morphine got a two-string slide bass plus a baritone sax (effectively a second bass) to work for several classy albums.
So I say why not give it a shot and show us what you got?
Luck!
