Bands with more than one bass player

[ToneMonkey]

Sting has often included one other bassist besides himself. Usually, that bassist handles the more demanding parts, or in the case of Christian McBride, upright. And yes, I realize that in the Dream Of The Blue Turtles band that Daryl Johnson played bass while Sting played guitar.

 

[groooooove]

These guys:

my thoughts exactly. not only do they have two amazing bass players, but the arrangements work really well. it's hard to make it sound so good, but they do an exceptional job of it.

here's my all time favorite. only local cats will know it... but this was the coolest bass playing in town 15 or so years ago.

 

[Pdaddy1978]

I'm pretty sure both Phil Spector and Brian Wilson would commonly use both Stand-up and electric bass on many recordings.
Brian would also sometimes double electric bass lines.
And then of course there's also Owen Bradley's use of Stand up and six string bass that they called tic-tac bass in Nashville.
Hey,...mo bass...mo better!

 

[Cube Bass]

French band called Le Singe Blanc - quite innovative hard core. Saw them two years ago and totally blown my mind. Also czech band Deverova chyba.

 

[Jeff Scott]

I am shocked nobody has said SMV yet!
The ultimate 3 bass band.

Bands with more than one bass player

I was wrong about the date of the show; it was 2008, not 2012 (I was thinking of the RTF show I saw in 2012).

 

[knumbskull]

Since no one has mentioned it, Palehorse

aha, i’d forgotten about them!

saw them live back in the day, it was h e a v y

 

[Jeff Scott]

One of my Favorite Pink Floyd tracks...

I still remember being there at the edge of the stage when they performed that in June 1973 at Blossom Music Center.

Hetch Hetchy is a river waterfall on the way to the Northeast Kingdom in Vermont.

I'll have to look that one up.

I'm pretty sure they named themselves after the Hetch Hetchy valley in CA - it was flooded and a reservoir was created.

I've been to that Hetch Hetchy a couple of times. Hiked around part of it, and have many photographs I made there.

That was John Muir's last battle, and he lost. The O'Shaughnessy Dam was built to supply water to San Francisco and other parts of California, destroying what was considered the "Little Yosemite Valley".

 

[knumbskull]

Evil Blizzard have 3 bass players IIRC

EDIT 4 bass players!

No one asked but here’s a video, i like this tune!

 

[BassNugget]

How about when all the members (except the drummer) play bass?

Switchblade Kittens.

 

[BassBrass]

I'll have to look that one up.
I've been to that Hetch Hetchy a couple of times. Hiked around part of it, and have many photographs I made there.

Upon hypnotic recollection I got it mixed up with Quechee gorge.

 

[erik_ghoulet]

Glad to see Dianogah and GVSB mentioned. Both great bands.

 

[Why Nautilus‽]

Two from the Jazz end I didn’t see mentioned:

Andrew Hill’s Smoke Stack had two bass players playing simultaneously.

On the more obscure end: Chubby Jackson had a small ensemble with two bass players in the 40s. Extremely limited recordings survived.

 

[Craig Orndorff]

Curious why you describe Tap as satirical.
I prefer to think of them as legendary or benchmark.

I love the Tap. I’m sure you saw my avatar. One of my fondest memories growing up is my buddy Jeff’s mom calling and asking my dad if it was ok if he gave me a VHS copy for Christmas. And once I got it, oh man…..my world was rocked.

Do I love some of their songs at face value? Yes. Do I think the boys are talented musicians on their own? Absolutely. But as a friend reminded about “A Mighty Wind” when I tried to use it for a political event (the track, not the film), it’s ultimately still a joke. A particularly funny and endearing one, but still a joke.

Though as a joke? Legendary, absolutely.

 

[Polkatronixx]

I love the Tap. I’m sure you saw my avatar. One of my fondest memories growing up is my buddy Jeff’s mom calling and asking my dad if it was ok if he gave me a VHS copy for Christmas. And once I got it, oh man…..my world was rocked.

Do I love some of their songs at face value? Yes. Do I think the boys are talented musicians on their own? Absolutely. But as a friend reminded about “A Mighty Wind” when I tried to use it for a political event (the track, not the film), it’s ultimately still a joke. A particularly funny and endearing one, but still a joke.

Though as a joke? Legendary, absolutely.

I feel the same way about the Rutles. Amazing band - but still a joke (or a parody, I guess).

 

[Craig Orndorff]

I feel the same way about the Rutles. Amazing band - but still a joke (or a parody, I guess).

I will say that I recently used a line from Spinal Tap in a political conversation, specifically about a state party convention:

“Will our voices be heard, or will they break like the wind?”

 

[Dyna LowRider]

I haven't read through all the replies so I hope my comment here isn't redundant . That being said , the band "Dumpstaphunk" out of New Orleans with a couple members from the musical Neville family would be a great listen if you're looking for a solid two bass outfit . Lots of videos on Youtube if you're interested in checking them out .

 

[FARBass]

I saw Little Richard and his band in the late '90s and his band had two bassists and two drummers! The guitarist in the band mentions that in the interview in this link:

Shoals guitarist on being in Little Richard’s band

 

[hwolfson_1]

We know of groups with two drummers, several guitar players, keyboards, horns, and singers. But are there any with two bass players? One could low ball and the other could treble out so as not to make it a Mud Run. Double double bass orchestra players at In N Out doable?

John Coltrane recorded a few times with two upright bass players, including this excerpt from Olè
(sometimes one plucks, one bows, sometimes both bowing - sometimes keeping in very separate sonic spaces - sometimes very much a duet)

 

[dalkowski]

Opened for these guys at Chet's in Boston ca. 1994:

 

[RubyTuba]

Ron Carter's "Piccolo" album . . . just staggering!