Best at Playing While Singing?

[dougjwray]

Last night I saw Cream at Madison Square Garden (a thread in itself), and on "Sitting on Top of the World" Jack Bruce was playing his Warwick fretless perfectly in tune, singing beautifully, and... soloing on harmonica!!

 

[SlavaF]

Last night I saw Cream at Madison Square Garden (a thread in itself), and on "Sitting on Top of the World" Jack Bruce was playing his Warwick fretless perfectly in tune, singing beautifully, and... soloing on harmonica!!

wow

you are a lucky, lucky man.

 

[bikeplate]

HI

Geddy, of course.

That being said, I think Doug Pinnick of Kings X is amazing. What an artist. Singer, writer, bassist, performer. My ultimate respect

Rob

 

[patient]

Hmm...
Paul McCartney
Sting
Lemmy
Jack Bruce
and
Dolf of the datsuns

 

[skewh]

Phil Lesh! I'm amazed at the fact that he could hit those high parts in the early 70's/late 60's, while keeping a solid groove going. Of course I do have a version of 'Box of Rain' in which he drops out completely on bass while he sings the lead . . .

 

[Calaverasgrande]

Resurrected!

Phil Lynott (Thin Lizzie)- his vocals are not only great, he is singing so far out of context to what he is playing that it is amazing to me that it is the same person. I only just recently figured out they are an Irish band? Which certainly explains the songwriting. Very Van Morrison meets metal.
Rob Wright( Nomeansno)- Also does a great job of playing the bass while puttin out some pretty decent performances vocal-wise. Back when I was a huge fan it took me quite a while to nail some of those songs. then the vocals on top too? Jeesh! I cant believe the drummer (his brother) can do it as well.

 

[Dr. Cheese]

Esperanza Spalding has no equal when it comes to playing and singing at the same time.

 

[bunkaroo]

I really wish there was a concise lesson program I could find to help me sing and play better. Some people are naturals at it but I just struggle. People like Geddy Lee and Les Claypool are not human!

 

[bottomzone]

Seth Horan.




A Groove is a Terrible Thing to Waste!

 

[El Raro]

I'm going to throw in Troy Sanders from mastodon in here. Although he lacks a little live (not as bad as Brent Hinds, though) he definitely gets props for playing some cool riffs while dishing out those gritty sludgy vocals.

 

[DWBass]

Larry Graham
Jermaine Jackson
Leon Sylvers

All played, sang and performed dance steps at the same time! Mark King amazes me though!

 

[smallbutmighty]

I believe "Geddy, Sting, and McCartney" is the correct answer.

 

[king_biscuit]

Mark King's sense of rhythm is ridiculous, he is able to do very complex stuff at the same time as singing!

+1 on Mark King!

 

[Dr. Cheese]

I picked Esperenza Spalding because she does a great job as a jazz singer will playing bass, often walking basslines, on songs with changes that are harder than most pop music. She can also slam on electric and play full bore fusion while singing. Just check out her Austin City Limits Clip.

 

[JTE]

While there're a lot who sing and play at the same time, most of them do it by getting the bass line fairly mechanical and focus on the singing. Yeah, it's amazing how active, complicated, or cool the bass part is, but they still come off live as not nearly as alive as they do in the studio. Actually singing and playing at the same time can only be measured by live performance.

As much as I like McCartney and Sting (Rush never did anything for me musically so I can't comment on Geddy 'cause I don't really know enough), they do fall into that area. It comes down to me to be Jack Bruce and Ms. Spalding- because they're quite improvisational in both the singing AND the bass playing at the same time.

John

 

[MixBass]

I saw Jeff Berlin w/Bruford a long time ago and he sang all night while playing all that odd time stuff. It was in the same league tech wise as seeing Mark King, aggro bass and singing relatively freely.

 

[XXL]

Les Claypool always amazes me with singing his tounge twister lyrics while playing some complex bassline.

 

[nickbass79]

Les Claypool for me. He has some crazy riffs, along with crazy vocals.

 

[phatbass]

Jack Bruce!! He plays fretless and sings (I mean, *really* sings) and both are always in tune!

+ a gazillion.

 

[MNAirHead]

Hands down.. Mark King.

I've seen him do a sound check.. talking on a phone.. singing a part.. then walks over to another station.. sings their harmony.. keeps on the phone.. picks up a guitar (while laying down bass).. switches.. plays their part.. keeps walking.. only putting his bass down when walking up to a drum set.

When he paused to pick up a different instrument.. the pulse never wavered.

Look at some of the live stuff.. he's laying down complex rhythems while holding a conversation with the audience.