Enjoy the benefits of a premium membership!
Upgrade Account
-
TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
Join free Log in
Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.
Elton john's Dee Murray. More gold grooves and melodic playing.
PS: I'm not a dinosaur living in the past. This topic is just making me think deep.
PS: I'm not a dinosaur living in the past. This topic is just making me think deep.
Amen to that and while we are talking Dinosaurs I'll throw in John Lodge from the Moody Blues - Fender Jazz, Ampeg SVT4 etc.
Andy Rourke of the Smiths. Pick-playing gold.
Oft-sparse guitars and great vocal phrasing left much room for this outstanding bassist trained as a cellist to shine melodically and grooviliciously (well, as much as alternative music can "groove"). Check him out, you'll see what I mean.
Oft-sparse guitars and great vocal phrasing left much room for this outstanding bassist trained as a cellist to shine melodically and grooviliciously (well, as much as alternative music can "groove"). Check him out, you'll see what I mean.
For sure. Johnny Marr was great, but Andy made him and the band sound even better.
Raman: What is my prize for being the first to name not 1, not 2 but 3 awesome, platinum-album selling bass players (each essentially a member of "the band"- studio cats are too easy) 6 pages into the thread?
All y'all gotta dig into these guys.
All y'all gotta dig into these guys.
Last edited:
The way that bass drops in there in the intro to "Don't Let The Sun Go Down On Me" is one of my earliest "a-ha" bass moments. (Along with Tin Man, both from '74 coincidentally enough). My love affair with the look of the bass itself was from watching Dee with Elton on a TV special from around that time. The close up of that Fender headstock and four giant clover leaf tuners really made an impression, and I dreamed of having one.
Incidentally, on the live Smiths performance posted above, Rourke is playing one of those rare '66 slab Precisions.
I don't think I have ever judged any bassit if they are "technical" or not. If their bass lines are busy or simple is not the issue. If it's interesting and serves the song that's all I care about. I don't care if it's one note or twenty notes or if they played it with their toes, it's just good and that is all that matters IMO.
I would say all the bass players who ever worked with Toto band
David Hungate, Mike Porcaro, Nathan East, Leland Sklar.
Especially Mike Porcaro, the part after the song is groovy as hell!
David Hungate, Mike Porcaro, Nathan East, Leland Sklar.
Especially Mike Porcaro, the part after the song is groovy as hell!
I'm going all the way back to say Willie Dixon. He got an awful lot out of some very minimal playing.
Cliff Williams, Ian Hill, Tina Weymouth, Micki Steele, Gene Simmons, Tony Araya, Dee Dee Ramone, and probably like 75% of all the other market-successful bassists in history. People like simple grooves laid down as a solid part of the music.
That said, many of those "non-technical" bassists actually have much better chops and technical knowledge than they display in their work. Within the band, they play a role and rein themselves in and stick to that role. For example, Tina Weymouth is actually a talented multi-instrumental player with much stronger musical skills than she takes credit for. Joey Demaio often seems to be just laying it down or grinding notes on Manowar's albums, but he's actually got big chops that he shows off in concerts (you should hear him do Flight of the Bumblebee) and he has made original contributions to music (in the same mold as an academic thesis) with his piccolo bass and composition. So to draw a hard line between "technical" and "non technical" bassists is not only difficult, but I don't think gives a lot of those supposedly "non technical" bassists enough credit for what they actually know and do.
That said, many of those "non-technical" bassists actually have much better chops and technical knowledge than they display in their work. Within the band, they play a role and rein themselves in and stick to that role. For example, Tina Weymouth is actually a talented multi-instrumental player with much stronger musical skills than she takes credit for. Joey Demaio often seems to be just laying it down or grinding notes on Manowar's albums, but he's actually got big chops that he shows off in concerts (you should hear him do Flight of the Bumblebee) and he has made original contributions to music (in the same mold as an academic thesis) with his piccolo bass and composition. So to draw a hard line between "technical" and "non technical" bassists is not only difficult, but I don't think gives a lot of those supposedly "non technical" bassists enough credit for what they actually know and do.
I'm a big Stranglers fan, but I never heard this clip before. Thanks!
