Got your bassist? Good. Pick a song that, in your opinion, best exemplifies what makes that bassist good. What is their "signature song", if you will, though it doesn't necessarily have to be written by them or a solo piece (though they probably will have had a significant part in writing it). You can repeat a bassist another person selected, but please, not songs.
My choices, bassist first and then song:
Cliff Burton - Orion. Best combines the three different approaches he took: following the rhythm guitar much of the time, two "lead bass" solos with his "lead sound", and a solid melodic under-line during the bridge (like in Fade to Black and Sanitarium).
Paul McCartney - Tough choice, but I choose Nowhere Man. His bass in that stands out specifically for its melodic quality: much of the rest of the instrumentation is an acoustic rhythm guitar and occasional electric, unison solo notwithstanding. It complements the song perfectly.
Steve Harris - The Trooper. Perfectly sums up both of the signatures of his style: following the main riff, and pegging a gallop that drives the song under the guitar riffs.
And that's all I can think of. Go!
My choices, bassist first and then song:
Cliff Burton - Orion. Best combines the three different approaches he took: following the rhythm guitar much of the time, two "lead bass" solos with his "lead sound", and a solid melodic under-line during the bridge (like in Fade to Black and Sanitarium).
Paul McCartney - Tough choice, but I choose Nowhere Man. His bass in that stands out specifically for its melodic quality: much of the rest of the instrumentation is an acoustic rhythm guitar and occasional electric, unison solo notwithstanding. It complements the song perfectly.
Steve Harris - The Trooper. Perfectly sums up both of the signatures of his style: following the main riff, and pegging a gallop that drives the song under the guitar riffs.
And that's all I can think of. Go!
