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JPJ was a very trained musician and arranger. Did session work in his teens and studied music at college (organist and choir director when he was 14 or 15). Also plays a slew of instruments besides bass - mandolin, sitar, organ/piano, lap steel, violin, cello ... etc. If you listen to Valhalla, the ascending scale runs on the B section of the verse .. not Jaco complex .. but not "simple" .. and the signature unison line with Page on Black Dog and the rhythmically crazy second part of the phrase ... not simple .. just very cool.
Yes, I wouldn't call JPJ a simple player who plays lines that anyone can play at all. A lot of his lines are/were complex and/or very fast. I think he is a technically excellent player who belongs up in the upper echelon of electric bassists. He is one of those guys that I've listened to and thought, wow, that guy can play.
Pete Quaife, The Kinks
Pete Shannon Harris.......... OK give up? He was the bass player in The Nashville Teens and had the best bass sound in the world bar none on the tune Tobacco Road from 1964.
Chas Chandler The Animals. Also had a great bass sound.
Duck Dunn
Carol Kaye
Joe Osborn
and many great 60's session bass players.
Pete Shannon Harris.......... OK give up? He was the bass player in The Nashville Teens and had the best bass sound in the world bar none on the tune Tobacco Road from 1964.
Chas Chandler The Animals. Also had a great bass sound.
Duck Dunn
Carol Kaye
Joe Osborn
and many great 60's session bass players.
True. I was thinking of the way he knew when the simplest part would drive the rhythm like a freight train.
Most players that came to mind have already been mentioned .
Tina Weymouth
Aston Barrett
Sting
Richard Finch
John Deacon
Paul S Denman
Michael Anthony
George Porter
Phil Lynott
But I also think about bassist like
Janice Marie Johnson ( Taste of Honey)
Meshelle Ndegeocello
Joseph Lucky Scott ( Curtis Mayfield)
Marshall Rock Jones ( Ohio Players)
Bobby ( Rock with You) Watson
Hub ( The original Roots bassist )
Willie Weeks
Tina Weymouth
Aston Barrett
Sting
Richard Finch
John Deacon
Paul S Denman
Michael Anthony
George Porter
Phil Lynott
But I also think about bassist like
Janice Marie Johnson ( Taste of Honey)
Meshelle Ndegeocello
Joseph Lucky Scott ( Curtis Mayfield)
Marshall Rock Jones ( Ohio Players)
Bobby ( Rock with You) Watson
Hub ( The original Roots bassist )
Willie Weeks
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I think what the OP is looking for (having only read the posts up to page three, so forgive me if this has already been brought up) are guys who are musically uneducated yet still managed to make careers for themselves. I read an interview with Steve Harris of Iron Maiden once where he claimed not to know what scales are. Now Harris is responsible for inspiring untold numbers of players to pick up a bass, myself included. Guys like Geezer Butler openly admit to not knowing what they're doing musically, but have still managed to inspire legions of players. I just read an interview with Bob Daisley who said he's been playing since he was 14 and has been in bands almost as long. No mention of formal training, knowledge of music theory or any such thing. I'm curious to know about this kind of thing as it always amazes me that success without training is common, at least among known rock musicians.
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In response to this thread, someone said that non-technical, non-virtuoso bassists aren't worth a damn.
But you know, a good bassist, just as a good plumber or a good electrician, does their job well.
That means driving the beat, holding up the tune and be heard doing it.
And yes, I fantasized about these 2 bands as a young teen. In a bassist kind of way. (I said it was a guilty pleasure.)
But you know, a good bassist, just as a good plumber or a good electrician, does their job well.
That means driving the beat, holding up the tune and be heard doing it.
And yes, I fantasized about these 2 bands as a young teen. In a bassist kind of way. (I said it was a guilty pleasure.)
This very lengthy Facebook/YouTUbe interview with Porcupine Trees main man Steven Wilson took place in August, and was aired live. You have to turn it up loud, because it is rather silently recorded. At around just before 13:00 minutes in he gets the question if he had any formal music training, and what he thinks about musicians in rock who has had a formal training, which pretty sums up most people mentioned in this thread. Interesting and food for thought:
Listen up, to his very first statement after that question...
EDIT: And yet... he just have to make full use of those formally trained guys, anyway: Marco Minneman, Guthrie Govan, and especially Adam Holzman. So, in the end, so much for that statement...
Listen up, to his very first statement after that question...
EDIT: And yet... he just have to make full use of those formally trained guys, anyway: Marco Minneman, Guthrie Govan, and especially Adam Holzman. So, in the end, so much for that statement...
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