Great Blues Bassists?

[Hamish MacCleod]

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

 

[macmanlou]

Carl Radle - played with Derek & the Dominos, Joe Cocker (Mad Dogs and Englishmen), Delaney & Bonnie, Buddy Guy & Junior Wells, Leon Russell, Dr. John, John Lee Hooker, etc. Invalid Link Removed

 

[devnulljp]

Willie Dixon
If you want more rock-blues I don't think you can do much better than Gerry McAvoy who played with Rory Gallagher for decades.

 

[bassplayer2014]

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?

For contemporary blues/rock please check out these modern blues/rock artists:

Too Slim & The Taildraggers
Little Charlie & The Nightcats
Tommy Castro
Roomful of Blues
Tab Benoit
Smokin' Joe Kubek
Jimmy Thackery
Bernard Allison
Joe Bonnomassa
Phillip Sayce
Mick Clarke
Chris Duarte
Gary Hoey
Blues Sacereno
Ronnie Earl
Billy Gibson
Many Many More....

All of these guys, except Smokin' Joe Kubek who died in 2015, are all putting out really high quality, modern, blues/rock and have strong and groovin' bassists.

 

[Tom Bomb]

​

 

[Jeff K]

Here's another vote for Jerry Jemmott. Listen to this classic from B.B. King with J.J. on bass!

 

[Fat Freddy]

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

+1 to all three of those

 

[Fat Freddy]

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

Yep!

 

[Lo-E]

For contemporary blues/rock please check out these modern blues/rock artists:

Too Slim & The Taildraggers
Little Charlie & The Nightcats
Tommy Castro
Roomful of Blues
Tab Benoit
Smokin' Joe Kubek
Jimmy Thackery
Bernard Allison
Joe Bonnomassa
Phillip Sayce
Mick Clarke
Chris Duarte
Gary Hoey
Blues Sacereno
Ronnie Earl
Billy Gibson
Many Many More....

All of these guys, except Smokin' Joe Kubek who died in 2015, are all putting out really high quality, modern, blues/rock and have strong and groovin' bassists.

This post makes an excellent point, the takeaway being this: while seeking out great blues bassists to listen to is important, you may gain more by seeking out great blues recordings, regardless of who played bass on them.

The people you list as your primary influences suggest that you've spent most of your time listening to rock. If you already have a decent command of playing bass, listening to classic blues recordings will help you get inside the style and feel of great blues (and there are a lot of sub-genres of blues). Spend some time absorbing BB King, Elmore James, Muddy Waters, Howlin' Wolf, Freddy King, Jimmy Reed, John Lee Hooker, early Johnny Guitar Watson and T-Bone Walker and just pay attention to the feel and to the movement of the bass. After that you can dig deeper and start dissecting the work of individual players.

 

[Lo-E]

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

And yeah... Here's where you start!

 

[Bimba]

John Paul Jones

 

[Fat Freddy]

And let's not forget Willie Weeks

 

[Camarillo]

Donald Dunn
Roscoe Beck

 

[40Hz]

Jim Mouradian (yes that Jim Mouradian) playing with Ronnie Earl and the Broadcasters current lineup.

 

[Jack Butler]

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

Knowing half of what either of these guys know is enough to build a career as a blues bassist.

 

[Jeff K]

Just in case some of you have never heard Ronnie Wood play bass, check out this old track ("Let Me Love You") from Jeff Beck's "Truth" album. (Rod Stewart on vocals.)

 

[zontar]

Roy Montroy of the Glenn Kaiser Band

 

[5StringBlues]

Wilbert Freeman

 

[brnco]

Just found another great:

Max Bennett with T-BOne Walker - funky as hell:

 

[brnco]

And nobody walks like Michael Doster:
Albums:
Blues on the Bayou
Let the Good Times Roll
Makin' Love Is Good for You