Great Blues Bassists?

[RockNRollRanter]

Hey, folks. I have a question...I just became the new bassist in a blues-rock band. My first non-audition rehearsal with them was yesterday, and it's gone really well thus far. But up until now, my favorite bassists have been greats that have pretty different stylings from what I'm meant to be playing (my top three being Entwistle, Deacon, and Claypool). My question to you, O wise people of TalkBass, is as follows: Who should I be listening to in the blues realm? In other words...who are the BLUES bass greats? We hear about rock, funk, and jazz all the time. Any opinions?

 

[A.K.]

My favorites (and this is strictly blues, not blues rock):

Larry Taylor (John Mayall)
John McVie (John Mayall, Fleetwood Mac, Otis Spann)
Jack Myers (Junior Wells and Buddy Guy)
Joe Harper (Carey Bell)
Earnest Johnson (Junior Wells and Buddy Guy)
Mac Arnold (Muddy Waters and Otis Spann)
Benny Turner (Freddie King)
Tommy Shannon (Stevie Ray Vaughan)
Johnny B. Gayden (Albert Collins)

Also check out upright blues bassists like Willie Dixon and Ernest "Big" Crawford. These guys laid the foundation for those who came later.

 

[jerry]

For newer stuff check out Dave Smith out of Memphis, the guy is a stud!

 

[Mushroo]

williedixonwilliedixonwilliedixonwilliedixon

Did I mention Willie Dixon?

 

[ONYX]

Willie Dixon, Tommy Shannon ( SRV's bass player), and even Duck Dunn are good places to start.

 

[old spice]

Israel Crosby with Jimmy Yancey, Walter Page with Count Basie, Bugsy Maugh with Paul Butterfield, Jerry Jemmott with Champion Jack Dupree.

 

[Aberdumbie]

Tommy Shannon... Duck Dunn... And really key into Shannon. That man has some voodoo magic about him holding a perfect blues rhythm section down.

 

[el jeffe bass]

Keith Ferguson.

 

[Jhengsman]

Jerry Jemmott

 

[RockNRollRanter]

Wow. Thanks for all of the replies thus far! There's a lot of new material (or old material that I know now to pay attention to the bassists involved in) to explore here for sure. Keep 'em coming!

 

[BlueAliceOasis]

Jack Bruce

 

[Johnny StingRay]

Willie Kent

 

[therealting]

Roscoe Beck

 

[blastbass]

Tommy Shannon
Billy Cox
Tim Lefebvre
Allen Woody

 

[wmhill]

Man it's hard to beat Tommy Shannon when it comes to blues. He just weaves his lines so seamlessly.
YouTube Tommy Shannon - Bing video

 

[blastbass]

That live double disc totally rocks.

 

[radioface]

For recorded blues bassists, I like Johnny B. Gayden. For non recorded blues bassists, I like me.

 

[39-Bassist]

This may not seem like a Blues artist BUT Phil Lynott, has MANY blues bass parts thoughout Thin Lizzy's career....Listen to some earlier albums.....bass parts of course...you may be surprized.
ex: Dancin' in the Moonlight...

 

[Ric5]

BARRY OAKLEY

 

[Hamish MacCleod]

Duck Dunn is the first to pop into my mind.
Rondo