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Rock bands with no bassists

#141
BassistNATE said:
How about rock bands with bass but no guitar? What do we think about them? ;) ..... Apart from Death From Above 1979 I can't think of any other bands that do that.. but still!
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You're missin' out. :smug:

These two kick arse live!


Bass Bari-Sax Drums


Jay2U said:
A band with only bass players doesn't work. ...
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Yeah, clearly that's a flawed concept. :thumbsup:;)









But wait, there's more...



"... But ... but ... THAT'S NOT ROCK! " :rage:

Meh. Cry me a river :crying:

:woot:
 
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#144
gnarlyWarlock said:
You mention baritone guitars. Would you consider the Bass VI a bass or a downtuned guitar?
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The Fender Bass VI is indeed a bass, albeit one with two additional higher pitched strings(technically tuned one octave below standard guitar pitch). Although, yes, you can play "baritone guitar" parts on it, it's more often used in the standard bass role; just check out Jack Bruce in Cream's early days, Steve Kilbey of The Church, Roy Babbington of Soft Machine, Eric Haydock of The Hollies, Bill Laswell, oh, and John or George when Paul was too busy playing piano.
No bass=not Rock'n'Roll? Consider this...the one tune that generally has the consensus for being the first true Rock and Roll song, "Rocket 88" by Jackie Brenston from 1951, features a distorted guitar playing what I would call 'bass lines', with no discernible upright bass underneath.

Unless someone has deeper knowledge concerning that session(Ike Turner played piano and it was his band doing the backing)this would be quite a paradox. Whether "Rocket 88" was indeed the first is an endless bar room argument, or scholarly debate, take your pick, but the record was definitely a turning point.
 
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#145
Michedelic said:
No bass=not Rock'n'Roll? Consider this...the one tune that generally has the consensus for being the first true Rock and Roll song, "Rocket 88" by Jackie Brenston from 1951, features a distorted guitar playing what I would call 'bass lines', with no discernible upright bass underneath.

Unless someone has deeper knowledge concerning that session(Ike Turner played piano and it was his band doing the backing)this would be quite a paradox. Whether "Rocket 88" was indeed the first is an endless bar room argument, or scholarly debate, take your pick, but the record was definitely a turning point.
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Cool post with the Brenston info. I never heard that before.

As an aside, your listed hometown may be the most beautiful place I've even been to inside the US!
 
#147
Some bands' styles don't "need" a bassist, many do. The great thing about rock and roll is how many different ways there are to approach it.

Saw Jon Spencer Blues Explosion last year, 3-player band, no bassist, didn't feel it was lacking.

On the other hand, someone mentioned the Cramps upthread, and while their early period did not have bass, when I saw them (now 25 years ago, argh), they did have a bassist.
 
#151
mwbassace said:
It's known how excited Jim was about Jerry Sheff (Elvis's bassist) playing on L.A. Woman.
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It would seem we've listened to the same radio documentary. I'd never heard that story before just last year. Maybe it aired in the wake of the death of Ray Manzarek...R.I.P. (Now he seemed like the kind of guy who would turn it into an EPIC hang! :))
 

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