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Bassist-Lead singers

#66
+1 on Royston Langdon and Eddie Spaghetti

Bobby Patterson (DAG) should definitely be on this list. Some of the funk/soul/R&B lines this guy pulls off while singing are just astounding. Hell of a multitasker.

 
#70
Moe Monsarrat said:
You don't either. You are looking at singing and playing as two different things. They will eventually be one if you do it for very long. The key to keeping the bass part as you have been playing it is to realize the exact bass note the vocal starts on. Once you understand where the singing starts it makes it much easier. It will all be one thing soon and doing one without doing the other will be hard.
Click to expand...

I was with you until the last sentence. I sing and play, and have for years, but it is still a lot of work!
 
#71
I do. Well, I play and sing about 50/50 with my guitarist. We're a 3 piece. I do most of the screaming and some of the singing. My guitarist does most of the singing and some of the screaming. He also plays keys while doing all that, and I have an electric kazoo too.

Go google Something Involving A Monkey if you give a hoot.
 
#72
I'm thinking of going down the singer/bassist path.

A couple weeks ago we gave our last show with my band of 5 years with our lead singer (also my brother) because he couldn't handle it anymore. So without a frontman we are now unsure about what to do. We (me and the drummer) kind of 'forced' our guitarist to become the new frontman, since he has written the lyrics to about 80% of our songs and has always kind of harbored the ambition to become 'the next hetfield' (:p).
Anyway, our drummer has now called a break for a month or so because blablabla, but we are booked for a gig in just over a month, so we gotta be able to play the songs with our guitarist on vocals. We might try to pull it off, but I'm not sure. Afther that gig we don't have much of anything left, and I'm not sure if the band is still going anywhere the way it's looking now. (the drummer doesn't realy seem to have much ambition left and I kinda feel he just sees the band as 'a hobby')

So to get to the 'me singing' part.
I'm thinking of starting a new band, with me on vocals and bass, to kind of 'do something else'. We play Thrash Metal now, and I also play in another Thrash band, but I want to play something outside of the 'Thrash scene'.
I plan on it being a power trio to the likes of Rush meets Motörhead, or something :D
You know, just play what I feel like playing without confining to one genre (I have written quite some stuff over the years that just doesn't suit any of the bands I play in)

Now their is an actual point to this post, believe it or not :p
Any helpfull tips & tricks on learning to play and sing at the same time? Also, I'm not realy much of a singer (or does everyone just think that of himself :p) but am trying to 'learn' how to sing beter, I do backings on most of our songs now, but thats not realy 'singing'-singing.

Anything could be helpfull ;)
 
#73
Not that I'm putting him equal to the greats that have been mentioned like McCartney, Sting and Jack Bruce, but for the sake of the list, Tyson Ritter of the All-American Rejects.

And I don't think anyone's mentioned Les Claypool yet. Odd omission.

In my band, we have a dedicated lead singer but the guitarist and I take some songs, both for the variety and to give her breaks. Out of 40 songs on a gig, he'll do maybe a dozen and I do about 3.
 
#74
I have sang lead on some songs and usually do harmonies.

Bassists who sing are not as rare as people think. Here a few that some to mind.

Paul McCartney
Geddy Lee
Gene Simmons
Lemmy
Les Claypool
Phil Lynott
Benjamin Orr
Randy Meisner
Phil Lesh
 
#75
hrodbert696 said:
Not that I'm putting him equal to the greats that have been mentioned like McCartney, Sting and Jack Bruce, but for the sake of the list, Tyson Ritter of the All-American Rejects.

And I don't think anyone's mentioned Les Claypool yet. Odd omission.

In my band, we have a dedicated lead singer but the guitarist and I take some songs, both for the variety and to give her breaks. Out of 40 songs on a gig, he'll do maybe a dozen and I do about 3.
Click to expand...


Les Claypool has been mentioned a couple of times.
 
#78
It still amazes me that Geddy Lee can sing, play the moog pedals, keyboard and bass at the same time.
What really amazes me is the basslines he plays while singing. That is what sets it apart for me. I will give Peter Cetera a bump as well for his groovey bass playing in the 70s with vocals. But the cheesy 80s run did him in (but made them a ton of money and pushed him into a solo career). I could listen to Sting sing the alphabet and be happy.
 
#80
I guess I'll always be a bit of a hack on bass. I can kinda strum through playing rhythm guitar and sorta sing along. Truth is, I'm a very good and practiced vocalist (I have a very good paying gig every weekend...that's 100% acapella no less). But for some reason I'm just not there yet when I'm playing my instrument of choice.

As a few others have mentioned, and all others have shamefully left out, Gene Simmons has been doing it on the biggest stage of them all, all over the world, and being paid for it better than ANYONE in the history of music. Let that sink in. Gene Simmons is FAR and away the highest earning bass player, period, end of story. And, if you search a bit, you'll find a talented musician under all the crap.

Also, Paul Gregg of the C&W band "Restless Heart" is a great example of a guy with an amazing voice and great chops.
 

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