JPJ vs Geddy Lee

[OldDirtyBassist]

Man, I don't know now. I just listened to Led Zeppelin II again. JPJ is pretty slick.

 

[Parzival]

JPJ wears Geddy Lee pajamas.

 

[mellowinman]

Man, I don't know now. I just listened to Led Zeppelin II again. JPJ is pretty slick.

There's just this certain level of rock bassist that a few guys have gotten known for. Geddy, JPJ, Chris Squire, some younger guys I don't listen to as much, and probably a few other cats, where it doesn't much matter who's "better," because everybody at that level is so darned good.

These, to me, are masters of their instrument. I don't necessarily like them better than a bunch of great pro rock bassists, from Tom Petersson to John Deacon, or John McVie. I would say a lot of these types of players could pull of a lot of what Squire, JPJ or Geddy play if they worked toward that end, but they are rock solid rhythmic players, who serve the song, and do it with plenty of chops to spare.

Fact is, there are a lot of really great rock bass players.

And thanks to them, by playing in cover bands, I get to be a part of all that, myself, even if only a slice at a time.

 

[sunfighter]

For me its JPJ, but yhats more because I like what Zep do better. But I certainly dig Rush too. I myself prefer Tim Bogert and Geezer

 

[basslifter]

I'm not satisfied being the greatest rock bassist alive. Oh no! I have to play keys, pedals, and sing lead all at the same time.

 

[xUptheIronsx]

It is not really fair to compare the two other than their influence
I am a huge fan of each band and both Geddy and JPJ
Both are incredible musicians in legendary bands but each were different in style feel and tone

Geddy is much more aggressive in both style and tone and it fit the Progressive genre Rush played
Zep played many different styles and JPJ fit into each of them like a glove
When I play at home I want to sound/ play like Geddy but when I play with a band I want to sound/ play like JPJ

Each would likely be able play/copy anything that the other did at least technically, but that doesn't mean that Geddy would sound like JPJ ( or vise versa) in doing it.

lots of good nuggets in this answer!

I agree for sure with the bolded statement, and think that if either one of these guys was reading the thread, they would be saying "Eh, we are slackers, ___________ was actually the best bass player". ____________ being there influences.

Could they play each others lines? Probably. Could they play in each others bands? that would be a different story. Obviously, either band would have been a very different animal if the roles were switched.

Makes me think...It would be interesting to put this group together:

Jimmy Page
Geddy
Bill Bruford
Ozzy
John Lord

and have them all play a couple songs from their own bands just to see what it would sound like...