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Most influential bassist(s)

Who is (are) the most influential bassists?

  • Total voters
    122
  • Poll closed .
#63
Positive: Some other cats are doing well in the poll who influenced me but I cannot figure why Geddy Lee is not higher. He probably has more mag/rag covers than Jaco and has a TON of Bassist of the Year awards. I mean Geddy made it cool to play complex, creative bass lines and have it still be Rock. (Squire too of course.)
:bassist:

Negative: Oh, and IMO Anthony Jackson mostly contributed arrogant circulo-quasi-logical opinions. :hiding:
 
#65
slombovia said:
Negative: Oh, and IMO Anthony Jackson mostly contributed arrogant circulo-quasi-logical opinions. :hiding:
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Hi Tom, I hope all's well! I agree that AJ has strong opinions on a lot of things, always backed up by some sort of rationale. But if we judge the players on what they say with a bass rather than what they say about the bass, then AJ stands up with the best of them. I would much rather listen to AJ with Gadd and Petrucciani than Rush. But that's perhaps just my personal taste. Technically AJ is more advanced than Lee, I think that's pretty much indisputable.

Jim
 
#66
bluesdogblues said:
I vote for almost all in the list. I'll add some (for me at least) : Ray Brown, Sting, Jack Bruce, Carol Kaye, Joe Osborn, Bill Wyman, Roger Waters, Bob Babbit
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I hope you're kidding about Waters. I LOVE Pink Floyd but Gilmour did half the bass lines and even if they were Waters, they just are not much of an influence with the exception of Money I suppose.
 
#67
LOL, I don't really know about that.. All I know is just that I often humming Pink Floyd's bass line since I was a kid. And indeed some of them are excellent bass lines and I only know that the bassist is Roger Waters. TY for the info.
 
#68
slombovia said:
I hope you're kidding about Waters. I LOVE Pink Floyd but Gilmour did half the bass lines and even if they were Waters, they just are not much of an influence with the exception of Money I suppose.
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As far as composition goes, heck yes, waters. But I agree with you, waters wasn't anywhere near a lot of the guys being named in this thread. It's like he took the role of the bassist as a root player. He did some more intricate things here and there, but overall, he's one of the last guys that comes to mind as far as being influential on my playing. If at all.
 
#69
Like I said, I just often find myself humming Pink Floyd bass lines since I was a kid without knowing who play them. It is influencing me. So let's just take it as my personal choice if you don't think he should be in the list :)
 
#70
jsbarber said:
Hi Tom, I hope all's well! I agree that AJ has strong opinions on a lot of things, always backed up by some sort of rationale. But if we judge the players on what they say with a bass rather than what they say about the bass, then AJ stands up with the best of them. I would much rather listen to AJ with Gadd and Petrucciani than Rush. But that's perhaps just my personal taste. Technically AJ is more advanced than Lee, I think that's pretty much indisputable.

Jim
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Jim, you were supposed to overlook that post, dang it! :D Anyway, this thread is more about influence than instrument mastery. Even talking Jazz I could think of dozens of bassists with more historical influence than AJ's overall even if they use ketchup ha ha... BTW, my favorite Ritenour album is an OOP called On the Line where they played live in the studio all at once. Nathan East did half and AJ the other. The playing was really good. And AJ influenced me to want lower than E. OTOH, I have a CD with Steve Khan ...can't even remember the name because it was so bland and lacking compositionally that it is buried somewhere.

Oh, if you like Petrucciani, I have an OOP concert DVD of him with Wayne Shorter and Jim Hall called Power of Three. Let me know if you're interested.

Anyway, I think Geddy's influence is very high. BIG influence on most bassists I know. I didn't listen to Rush from 1984 for a decade and a half but Permanent Waves, Moving Pictures (especially), and Signals influence, wow. Up there with Jaco, Stanley, Squire, Miller. Influence? I can't deny it.
 
#72
gregmon79 said:
As far as composition goes, heck yes, waters. But I agree with you, waters wasn't anywhere near a lot of the guys being named in this thread. It's like he took the role of the bassist as a root player. He did some more intricate things here and there, but overall, he's one of the last guys that comes to mind as far as being influential on my playing. If at all.
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Yeah, man. When Waters and Gilmour were together, they made some of the greatest Rock ever.
 
#76
I voted for several. One of the others (write-ins) would be Chas Chandler with The Animals. Maybe not influential to most, but he was to me. Those basslines with The Animals just always jumped out at me and helped me develop a love of the bottom end.
 

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