Does anyone like Cliff Williams?

[cxcxcx]

It’s funny to me listening to ‘bass players’ critical of Williams because he doesn’t fly all over the fingerboard/over-playing but instead perfectly performs the function of a top-tier bassist.

Agreed - I’ve been doing this forever. I have never met an experienced, accomplished bass player that doesn’t give Cliff props if his name comes up in conversation. Country players, Jazz, Fusion, Reggae, Funk, or Rock players - doesn’t matter.

Time brings with it the ability to hear and appreciate the right stuff played the right way that best serves the music that is there. Cliff’s an icon in that department. If I’m wrong about any of this, I absolutely don’t want to be right.

 

[kevin wells]

After getting back to playing bass after several years off (thank you, ex wife) Cliff helped me get my timing back. I tend to be a busier player, but Cliff definitely helped me get my foundation!

 

[WI Short Scaler]

What a great career he had. The drama and focus was mostly off of him, he had a time on huge stages around the world, and he played just what the songs needed. Had he played busier it would have taken the punch out of Angus's playing. Those solos were the focus of the band and they wouldn't have sounded as good over a busy bass line.

 

[Michael Stanley 2112]

I recommend studying Cliff to my students. Besides all the nice things that have been said here, he has an interesting take on his basslines and he makes some interesting chord changes.

 

[gvbassman]

For those interested in what Cliff has to say about his role in AC/DC.

Cliff Williams: “AC/DC’s songs are very guitar-driven, so I don’t need to be noodling around underneath. I just need to be driving it“

An old friend of mine that I used to jam with played with Cliff. His name is Jim Martin and he played with many bands around the Bay like Faith No More ,he still plays his Gibson Flying V from the 70's and lives in Castro Valley

 

[Hot Rats]

It’s funny to me listening to ‘bass players’ critical of Williams because he doesn’t fly all over the fingerboard/over-playing but instead perfectly performs the function of a top-tier bassist.

Every bassist is on their own journey. But eventually most realize that less is more. It took me 20 years to figure it out, but I cut my teeth on Steve Harris, Geddy Lee, Chris Squire and Geezer Butler. So, I was a busy player until I started playing for money in working bands.

 

[gvbassman]

An old friend of mine that I used to jam with played with Cliff. His name is Jim Martin and he played with many bands around the Bay like Faith No More ,he still plays his Gibson Flying V from the 70's and lives in Castro Valley

 

[JimmyM]

An old friend of mine that I used to jam with played with Cliff. His name is Jim Martin and he played with many bands around the Bay like Faith No More ,he still plays his Gibson Flying V from the 70's and lives in Castro Valley

Is he still growing giant pumpkins?

 

[iTzPrime]

It’s funny to me listening to ‘bass players’ critical of Williams because he doesn’t fly all over the fingerboard/over-playing but instead perfectly performs the function of a top-tier bassist.

There are enough Japanese Rock Bassists, that do both. However there is no denying that he does exactly what the music demanded at the time.

 

[5StringBlues]

I love his poems..

 

[Alexander Silva]

I respect the man! Dead stable and very solid time. It might not sound like much because it is meat and potatoes rock bass playing but it is really not easy at all to master those fundamentals, control yourself to stick just to them and to be so consistent at it throughout 40 years or so.

 

[TBird1958]

I like his playing and totally respect what he does, it fits what AC/DC as a band needs. I don't always like how the bass is mixed or his tone on everything they do though, sometimes, it could be more present and up in the mix, not a criticism of his ability.

 

[5StringBlues]

This should explain why simplicity works for AC/DC.




If U2 Hired Chris Squire to Play Bass (youtube.com)

 

[Wyrdlow]

Cliff has connections (and family I think) in my city, and although he keeps a low profile, he pops up here and there when he's in town. He works with young musicians at a local music academy and even performed with them here a few times. He even did a collaboration with one of our breweries a while back. Super genuine guy who indeed does have his collective STUFF together in more ways than just in music.... far more than most musicians (many on this thread) who like to talk smack about his playing. Take an example from Cliff. Be genuine, be humble, and see how far it takes you.

Rock Academy and Cliff Williams- Bassist for AC/DC – IamAvl

ACDCfans.net | AC/DC News and Forum

Top bloke! That's something those kids will remember forever.

 

[A.K.]

He is a great rock bass player. All down strokes and heavy palm muting, usually with flats although he used rounds for several years in the '80s. Totally in the pocket and grooving. He and Phil Rudd are one of the great rock rhythm sections.

Angus and Malcolm's older brother George was the band's main bass player in the early days. He played all the bass on the High Voltage album, even though Mark Evans is credited, and on early songs like TNT and Dirty Deeds. He created that heavily muted down-stroke style that to me is exemplified by Live Wire. Phil Rudd described George as "fantastic bass player." George is also the guy who got Cliff Williams into Stingray basses when Cliff came to Australia to record the Powerage album.

I don't know how Cliff has played that way for 45 years without developing crippling tendonitis and carpal tunnel syndrome! He is a badass.

 

[Hot Rats]

Fretless P-Bass in this video.

 

[jaibeau]

I play in back in black, Acdc tribute out of Dallas. Cliffs style, approach, attention to detail and discipline is magic. It is NOT easy. Tasty and precise. Focused. But just as important is his pocket with Phil Rudd. The two are like engine pistons finely tuned. Add Malcolm in on top.. a master class clinic for rhythm sections.

 

[jaibeau]

One more thing, there are a few “does what he needs to do” comments.. that can be ver dismissive unless you really know “what he’s doing” it ain’t just pounding 8th notes, FAR from it. You gotta read the fine print.

 

[micguy]

A lot of folks think "Cliff plays simple repetitive parts" - I could do that.

OK, so let's get real. Your next task is to pick up a live AC DC album, and play through the whole thing - twice (so it's as long as a concert set). Play as many notes as Cliff, play the same repetitive lines, and play with intensity. Somewhere in the first few songs, you'll suddenly realize "this isn't easy" - there's an endurance aspect to playing a lot of notes over and over that Cliff can do for an entire tour, and you probably can't do that for half an hour without getting messy. Next time you watch your favorite YouTube bassist and thing "they're awesome", remember that he or she did one good take (out of how many?) that lasted a few minutes. Cliff plays for a couple HOURS of intense, fast, repetitive lines without messing up, and does that every night for months. He does that while jet lagged, staying in hotels, eating strange food, having not slept in his own bed for the last 6 months.

I do church gigs. One of the groups that writes a lot of the tunes we do does a lot of lines that are sixteenth notes - for long runs within a song - a couple minutes at times. The bassist is a small, skinny Asian woman, half my age, probably half my weight. A long scale bass looks positively huge on her. You'd think that she'd run out of gas pretty quick, yet she can play circles around me endurance wise. I play what I consider to be great bass lines (and the folks that call me for gigs keep doing it), but when push comes to shove, what she does...I can't do.

Simple and repetitive seems easy, until you try doing it for real.

 

[WG Plum]

Couldn't say, I've never met him.