Thoughts on Roger Waters as a Bass Player

[Pow R Tosh]

I've been a fan of Pink Floyd for over 30 years, I'm a guitar player for the same period of time. Always appreciated Syd Barrett and David Gilmour (and countless others). I've always dabbled with bass, graduating from a cheap one to a Squier Jaco, to a Fender Jaco and now at last a Wal Mk1. So, I appreciate bass (not a great player!). What are peoples thoughts on Roger Waters bass playing? From Piper to now? Apologies if this has been done already, but I'm new to posting. I think he's pretty good on reflection!

 

[bassicmike]

Gets the job done.

 

[Pow R Tosh]

He does. That's a good summary. Since listening to his bass deeper (I'd always focused on Barrett / Gilmour / Wright / Mason) I've noticed or thought he's really good, not virtuoso or anything, but couldn't imagine anyone else filling in. I also wonder what Gilmour especially thought of his bass playing, whether he appreciated it or longed for something better.

 

[Pow R Tosh]

Actually, more specifically, I do wonder if he generated the baselines himself or if Gilmour (or even Barrett) gave him any pointers early on. Been listening to Animals remaster lately and I've just re-appraised his playing.

 

[alack]

I think Dark Side of the Moon has some of the best bass parts and playing on a rock album. The P bass tone throughout is one of the best recorded bass tones on a rock album. What tracks are David and what tracks are Roger? Don't know! Don't care! It's just all great!

 

[Pow R Tosh]

Agreed. The bass is great, simple but great on Dark Side. Something about Any Colour You Like does it for me, love that track, excellent!

 

[Pow R Tosh]

I've got to admit that Piper at the Gates of Dawn is my favourite album of all time, I like the frenetic playing from all the members, Roger's bass is great on that album too. As the albums roll on though I think that he really gets better, just wanted to know if anyone else appreciated his bass skills as well as his obvious songwriting skills

 

[hbarcat]

I consider Waters' bass playing on the "Live in Pompeii" video to be representative of his best work. He has a style all his own and I really like it.

Technically, he's nothing to rave about, but I think his playing is imaginative and fits the vibe of the band extremely well.

One thing to note is that Roger has stated in interviews that he actually doesn't like playing the bass and considers it a lesser instrument to the guitar or keys. He said that the only "instrument" lower than bass is the drums.

I've heard numerous bootleg recordings of live Pink Floyd shows from the 70s and Waters tended to play very sloppy with lots of bad notes, and he sometimes even drops out entirely, especially when he's singing.

I'm guessing it has to do with his apathy toward the bass. It's like he doesn't care to put in the effort for live shows. At least it seems that way to me.

I believe he mostly plays acoustic guitar during live shows for his solo work and he's quite sharp doing that with no sign of apathy at all.

 

[DeliriumTremens]

Actually, more specifically, I do wonder if he generated the baselines himself or if Gilmour (or even Barrett) gave him any pointers early on. Been listening to Animals remaster lately and I've just re-appraised his playing.

The only song Roger plays bass on "Animals" is Dogs. Gilmour plays on Pigs and Sheep.

 

[Grinderman]

A thought

 

[Bpb]

He serves the song about as well as you could want. His tone and approach are spot on for what they were doing which makes him the perfect man for the role he was in. I've always held Pink Floyd on a pretty high pedestal. It's like every note every member played was just perfect. Never too much or too little. There's a video floating around out there of Dream Theater covering dark side of the moon in its entirety with zero embellishment. Played absolutely true to form. Some people may shrug but to me that kinda says something when players with a tendency to shred so much saw no need to modify the material as it was written

 

[Blazer]

Compared to fellow bass players from the Prog Genre, like Mike Rutherford (Genesis), Chris Squire (Yes), Greg Lake (King Crimson, ELP) and Cyriel Havermans (Focus). His playing is conservative.

But he could get complex too. ("Money" is in 7/8 and is very hard to get right.)

 

[Yools]

I've read numerous bios and other books on Pink Floyd, and Roger Waters is quite open about the fact that Gilmour played the overwhelming majority of the bass parts on their recordings. In addition to his comments about bass being a lesser instrument that is not important, Waters was quoted as saying something like (I'm paraphrasing here), "I'm the greatest rock songwriter in history, why should I spend my time recording bass parts in the studio?" I wish we still had those books, as I'd like to be able to cite an actual reference here.

-Y

 

[Killing Floor]

That cat's something I can't explain

 

[LiptonJigglers]

Played in Pink Floyd cover band for over 10 years. Still playing bits here and there regularly.
He's not very technical or intrinsic but I guess he didn't need to be. He played enough to get the message and feel through to the audience.
I'd say his role was simply to provide the road for the rest of the band to drive upon.

 

[Paul New]

PF's basslines sound rather utilitarian to me. I don't think Roger Waters takes any special pride in playing bass. I'm no big fan of that philosophy.

 

[2112]

He may not be the most technical bassist, but he's capable, conservative, and tasteful. His lines fit the music and provide a solid foundation and counterpoint to the melody parts.

 

[Hot Rats]

He's a fine bass player and plays some very cool stuff live.

 

[Chrisk-K]

Roger is the Ringo Starr of the bass. He played what was necessary to best support PF's music. A busy bass player would have not worked well for PF's music.

 

[Ric5]

I've been a fan of Pink Floyd for over 30 years, I'm a guitar player for the same period of time. Always appreciated Syd Barrett and David Gilmour (and countless others). I've always dabbled with bass, graduating from a cheap one to a Squier Jaco, to a Fender Jaco and now at last a Wal Mk1. So, I appreciate bass (not a great player!). What are peoples thoughts on Roger Waters bass playing? From Piper to now? Apologies if this has been done already, but I'm new to posting. I think he's pretty good on reflection!

Roger was the 2nd best bass player in Pink Floyd ... right behind David Gilmour.