Bassists that have left great groups

[4StringAxe]

Jeff Jones was in RUSH... for a few weeks from what I understand. Not sure if he left or was fired though. He was all so in Red Rider.

 

[Duke21]

Jeff Jones was in RUSH... for a few weeks from what I understand. Not sure if he left or was fired though. He was all so in Red Rider.

Well that have to be way back before Geddy. Neal came into the band after the Rush album.

 

[pnut166]

the thing with Metallica, is that the live shows are always packed. that's the thing with 80's metal acts... they may be invisible in the charts, but they could always pack an arena, so it still took huge balls to walk away from a metal institution.

+1 except the "invisible" thing. Metallica still tops the charts; they have with every single album (undeservedly, maybe). Newsted had more testicular fortitude than all of his bandmates put together - it`s amusing now to hear them say "Yeah, we really screwed that up". Didn`t see a mention of QOTSA`s Nick Oliveri. Granted, he was fired, as were some of the other mentions here, but it came @ Queens` commercial apex.

 

[4StringAxe]

Well that have to be way back before Geddy. Neal came into the band after the Rush album.

Yeah, this was before Neil, Rutsey was still the drummer. This was when the band first formed.

 

[Rickett Customs]

Jason Newstead was the most surprising to me though, seriously, why would you do that?

Jason Newsted on Metallica - YouTube

Metallica why jason newsted left - YouTube

 

[Altitude]

Muzz Skillings Living Colour

No disrespect to Wimbish, but Living Colour was never the same after Muzz left. I have a feeling that Muzz was a significant presence in the songwriting.

 

[hearnow]

-Paul D'Amour quit Tool (Justin is better, but Paul had a pretty cool tone)

and He quit AFTER recording Ænima and before it was released... to do a project that was quote "More Psychedelic" That one always astounds me!

to each their own.

 

[SlugThrower]

There's a fairly unknown known guy named Jason Everman who played with Nirvana and Soundgarden and split from both bands right when they were beginning to get famous. I'd love to pick that guy's brain for an hour and ask him how it felt to be that close to superstardom twice and miss out.

I spoke with Jason awhile ago about his decision to leave those bands; he wasn't into the idea of fame. Jason is a very spotlight shy dude and ended up becoming an Army Ranger. His main purpose in those bands was to supply much needed $$/

 

[ShredderMaximus]

On a more recent note Jeroen Paul Thesseling leaving the brilliant up and coming Technical Death Metal band Obscura was a huge shocker to me, his fretless bass playing was a pretty signature element to the bands sound. Supposedly he left due to scheduling conflicts between Obscura and his other band Pestilence, a much more traditional Death Metal band that isn't nearly as big as Obscura. But alas, Pestilence was his original band, and I guess that says something for loyalty.

 

[Nino Valenti]

Sting left/broke up The Police.

 

[trunkshope6]

A personal favorite is matt riddle who left face to face at a pinnacle moment in their carreer, but he did join pulley and no use for a name which are extremely good bands

 

[bassplayer8953]

Roger Glover was asked to leave Deep Purple in favor of Glenn Hughes

This was said to be Blackmore's doing. Which is ironic, because a few years later he was hired to play bass in Rainbow, which was entirely Blackmore's band, and his call...

 

[prd004]

I could be wrong but it was my understanding that Glover left Deep Purple to pursue a career as a producer, in which he was quite successful.
One group that he produced was Rainbow and later he became the bassist as well. I have never heard of any bad blood between Blackmore and Glover.

 

[ModulusQ5-122]

Brian Marshall left Creed at the peek of their careers. Now he plays with 2 of the original members of Creed with Alter Bridge. Although on Creeds latest tour when they got back together Brian Marshall was playing when I saw them in concert.

 

[bassplayer8953]

I could be wrong but it was my understanding that Glover left Deep Purple to pursue a career as a producer, in which he was quite successful.
One group that he produced was Rainbow and later he became the bassist as well. I have never heard of any bad blood between Blackmore and Glover.

I believe I remember seeing a video with Roger describing his being fired from Deep Purple, collateral damage in the feud between Gillan & Blackmore.

Roger is 1st credited with producing Rainbow on the Down to Earth album, also the first album he played bass on. Prior to this album, Martin Birch was credited as producer.

 

[Stick_Player]

Can't recall anything memorable from the Rolling Stones since Bill Wyman left

I can't recall anything memorable from the Rolling Stones since Brian Jones left.

 

[JtSD619]

The departure of Dirk Lance completely changed the sound of Incubus, and the internet world is catching on. The new Incubus just isn't the same without him. He apparently had an impact some of the songwriting since he played acoustic as well.

Dirk Lance was a huge influence on my playing. Your soooooo right...incubus is just not as Groovin or rockin now that hes gone. DONT GET ME WRONG ben is a amazingggg bass player, but sometimes i feel hes just doing a little too much when he should just keep it simple. To sum it up..incubus sounds super pussy these days man...its a shame

 

[cjmodulus]

Dirk Lance was a huge influence on my playing. Your soooooo right...incubus is just not as Groovin or rockin now that hes gone. DONT GET ME WRONG ben is a amazingggg bass player, but sometimes i feel hes just doing a little too much when he should just keep it simple. To sum it up..incubus sounds super pussy these days man...its a shame

Yep, that's exactly how I feel.

 

[ThudThudThud]

Jack Bruce, John McVie, Larry Taylor and Andy Fraser all played with and left John Mayall

John Mayall seems to have had a lot of people in his band who wnt on to bigger and better things:
Eric Clapton, Jack Bruce, Peter Green, John McVie, Mick Fleetwood, Mick Taylor, Don "Sugarcane" Harris, Harvey Mandel, Larry Taylor, Aynsley Dunbar, Hughie Flint, Jon Hiseman, Dick Heckstall-Smith, Andy Fraser, Johnny Almond, Walter Trout, Coco Montoya, Buddy Whittington.

He can pick great players, but he just can't keep 'em.

 

[MaxSBM]

are you fans of any groups or bassists where a bassist left the group either before or after the group attained fame?

for example, maybe the old bassist from tool. so if you are a fan of tool, or the old bassist, this would count.

any others?

I liked Paul, but very much prefer Justin.