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Best Punk Bassist

#81
burgess said:
As a one-time Edmontonian scenester (1980-1995) and Friend of the Band I can't help but comment on the apparent mis-identification of SNFU's bass personnel. Yes, both Warren and Rob played in the band, but you don't seem to be describing them. Warren never even made it as far as the first LP, refusing to tour as he decided that he'd much rather stay at home with his Mom, collect records and drink his face off. I gather you must be thinking of Jimmy Schmitz (AKA Rimbo), who played on the first LP and for the first couple of tours, after which both he and original drummer Evan C Jones (AKA Tadpole) were replaced by what was IMHO the band's most formidable rhythm section, Dave Bacon and ex Personality Crisis drummer Jon Card. Dave was 6'5" in his bare feet, and played his black '85 Ibanez Musician with the body just above his knees. Being one of the best natural musicians I've ever met, and being a converted guitarist late of one of Edmonton's great lost post-punk bands, Ghost Shirt Society, Dave was not content with playing root notes at high velocity, instead treating us to some of the busiest and most creative "hardcore" bass that any of us had heard prior to NoMeansNo showing everyone up the following year when they first played Edmonton (this would have been 1985 or so). Often his parts were of such an intricacy that even his giant mitts were not long enough to get around with the bass that low so he would pull the neck up at a fairly extreme angle when required, ending up with the neck near vertical in some cases, but usually more like 45 degrees. Both he and Jon played on my personal favourite LP, their second, If You Swear You'll Catch No Fish. Check out "Scarecrow", "I Forget", "Snapping Turtle", "Better Homes and Gardens" and especially "The Ceiling" for exceptionally deft and creative lines executed at top speed and with exemplary feel. He also had a fairly unusual sound in that he went for an almost Entwistle-like brightness, playing with the freshest strings he could get and a Dunlop 1mm black nylon pick. I should also note that as good as that record is, the recording utterly fails to capture the overwhelming ferocity of their live show of the day, especially during their second major tour of the US and Canada that they undertook around then. They practiced like madmen for it, playing two fabulous back to back shows prior to departure, and upon returning they were just ****ing overwhelming: razor sharp from months of playing every toilet in America and pretty much as hot as any punk rock band I'd seen at that point, including the very best of them, which meant DOA, Personality Crisis and Minor Threat. Admittedly I had yet to see the Bad Brains or the Damned or even the Dickies, all of whom are right up there, but I never saw any of them prior to 1988, and none of them were actually any better. After Jon left to join DOA, Dave stayed for the third LP as well, before tiring of hardcore and/or touring and leaving to play guitar in a series of unknown Edmonton bands. His replacement, Curtis Craeger was nearly as tall, but didn't play quite as low (or as well, though he was a decent player for sure). Rob, their longest serving bassist, was with them in the 90's after they relocated to Vancouver. Though well over six feet himself and an excellent musician in his own right he was neither quite as tall, as talented or as original as his most formidable predecessor, Bacon. He did have an extremely long strap though, and powered the band through some of their more creative years, where they bravely but perhaps unwisely tried to grow beyond their original style just as huge numbers of kids finally got their old one, unfortunately in the form of other bands. Still, they were one of the great hardcore bands of the 80's, and deservedly legendary to those who have known their live shows. No matter what their latest record sounded like, you could always rely on them live, as much as you could rely on them to have seven words in the name of the record and feature a gigantic bass player (though Jimmy was only 5'6" or so). Made us proud to be from Edmonton.
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Yeah, what he said! ;)
 
#88
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You better ask somebody!
 
#90
burgess said:
Rob Wright from NoMeansNo could play circles around most of the people mentioned (Mike Watt of the Minutemen and Daryl Jenifer of the Bad Brains possibly excepted). Not to mention that NoMeansNo would wipe the stage with pretty much any of the bands mentioned. Back in the 80's I saw some pretty big name bands refuse to play after them for fear of embarrassment. For those of you whose experience of "punk" is the current mallpunk, do yourself a favor and go to the nearest independent record store and buy a copy of either
Wrong, Sex Mad Small Parts Isolated and Destroyed (which comes with the associated EPThe Day Everything Became Nothing on a CD called The Day Everything Became Isolated And Destroyed), 0+2=1, The Worldhood Of The World (As Such), or One. Any of these are excellent records, although possibly a little too creative for some kids who think Green Day or Rancid invented punk rock. I actually started playing bass after seeing NoMeansNo for the first time back in 1985. Having seen pretty much every worthwhile band the 80's hardcore scene had to offer (with the notable exceptions of Husker Du, the Minutemen , Fear and certain DC bands - though I DID see Minor Threat - a band very few people ever got to see - once and Government Issue twice), the corporate sponsered "punk" of today just seems a sad, pale imitation. There are in fact some good bands around still, but you won't see their videos on rotation.
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+10
 
#92
KromaatiKlauun said:
For thr Nth time

Chuck Dukowski - Black Flag
Arthur "Killer" Kane - New York Dolls
Gaye Advert - Adverts
Tina Weymouth - Talking Heads
Jerry Only - Misfits
Fred Smith - Television
JJ Burnel - Stranglers
Jah Wobble - PiL

The ones that I can think of right now


And BTW 1000 notes, and all that show off sux, to hell with Jaco, Wooten and all that ilk
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Yes to hell with them! To hell with pushing the envelope! Hell I say! Stick with that pick and three notes. You really don't need anything else. Dude, even the players you mentioned don't feel that way. But it's kew. Every style has it's place.
 
#95
I'll have to chip in another vote for Matt Freeman. I'm also surprised Mike Watt only was mentioned a couple of times, and he should get another vote of confidence. Beyond that, I don't listen to enough punk to air a laundry list of great punk bassists.
 
#97
KromaatiKlauun said:
Chuck Dukowski - Black Flag
Arthur "Killer" Kane - New York Dolls
Gaye Advert - Adverts
Tina Weymouth - Talking Heads
Jerry Only - Misfits
Fred Smith - Television
JJ Burnel - Stranglers
Jah Wobble - PiL
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This is a killer list. Especially the inclusion of Fred Smith, JJ Burnel and Jah Wobble, who I'm not sure were mentioned before now. Good call.

EDIT: Someone really oughtta mention Clint Conley from Mission of Burma. I guess I'll do the honors.
 
#100
KromaatiKlauun said:
For thr Nth time

Chuck Dukowski - Black Flag
Arthur "Killer" Kane - New York Dolls
Gaye Advert - Adverts
Tina Weymouth - Talking Heads
Jerry Only - Misfits
Fred Smith - Television
JJ Burnel - Stranglers
Jah Wobble - PiL

The ones that I can think of right now


And BTW 1000 notes, and all that show off sux, to hell with Jaco, Wooten and all that ilk
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KromaatiKlauun said:
maaaaaaaaaaan!!! how could I forget Clint Conley?!!

New additions:

David J - Bauhaus
Gerry Casale - Devo
Greg Norton - Hüsker Dü
Tommy Stinson - The Replacements
Gary McCormack - The Exploited (Punk's not Dead/Troops of Tomorrow era)
Hoxton Tom - 4skins
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After perusing this entire thread, I was shocked it took 91 posts for Chuck Dukowski to make the list - what a sin.

Talking Heads, Replacements are not punk rock - as much as I love the Replacements they are not punk rock.

Bauhuas = punk, yeah right.

Greg Norton was a way late add.

How could you posers miss Pete Farndon??? The Pretenders first album was not one of the best albums - ever!

Lastly as a first generation USA punk - Darby Crash is without a doubt the penultimate punk bassist of all time!

That should read "Darby would have been the best punk bassist of all time, had he played bass"
 

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