What bass lines influenced you the most?

[Billnc]

Paul McCartney - Silly Love Songs
The Who - Can You See the Real Me


Pretty varied taste... but it just goes to show that most times, I really am only listening to the bass.

I HATE everything about Silly Love Songs, But you have redeemed yourself with "The Real Me" man that is a great one.

 

[Muddslide]

I HATE everything about Silly Love Songs...

The song is beyond cheese, but it's a great bassline!

I just played and plunked around for a couple of years when I first switched from guitar to bass (around 1980.)

But a couple of years later I really got into a lot of punky and new-wavey stuff. A lof of it isn't even music I ever pull out to listen to and haven't in years, but I remember some of the first albumns I learned all the basslines to were by bands like Echo & The Bunnymen, Joy Division, The Fall, Birthday Party, Shriekback and Hunters & Collectors. And plenty of other assorted things.

 

[Leifericson923]

Megadeth- Five magics that's the song that made drove me to learn bass.

 

[PhiDeck]

Billy Cox from the Band Of Gypsys album. That album is the reason I play bass. Solid pentatonic pocket playing, almost zen like.

+1
Too bad one has to put up with Buddy Miles' "drumming", though.

 

[NikDea]

sean malone....and cynic after he left. everything he does is bass bass bass.

 

[Nick901]

No one likes Thick as a Brick or Aqualung?
Perhaps you didn't see them performed live.

 

[Schlyder]

"Continuum" by Jaco Pastorius... from the "Invitation" album. That whole album was the big game changer for me.

I was pretty much a strictly Rock and Roll/Heavy Metal/Prog Rock player up until then. I picked up "Invitation" shortly after it's release, on the recommendation from the fellow (Stan Dorsett...Thank you Stan).... at the music store where I got my gear back then. He told me the names of a few cats I should listen to.... Jaco, Stanley, Marcus...

After listening to that whole album for the first time, I was changed as a musician forever.... Jaco, the Word of Mouth Big Band, steel pans, Toots on harmonica, Peter Erskine on drums, Wow.
My head asploded.

 

[k2aggie07]

Another song I wanted to learn right away when I started was "Gimme Stitches" by the Foo Fighters.

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I love trying to emulate Nate Mendel because he has a great touch - you hear him when you need to, but he never seems to be struggling to cover the guitar or the vocals. And then songs like this, he just shines.

 

[Nick901]

barney miller intro/theme YouTube - ‪Barney Miller Intro‬‏

I had forgotten about that one.

 

[Post Mortal]

+1 for such a great thread.

But wow, I guess it changed up.

Les Claypool - Southbound Pachyderm(First song I learned on bass, I thought it was awesome )
Stevie Wonder - Sir Duke
Victor Wooten - Really anything from him inspired me.

Then I moved onto playing metal, but those influenced me at first in the beginning of my bass years.(which I'm still in anyway )

 

[fleabee]

Rush-Turn the page
Duran Duran-Rio
Big country-In a big country

 

[Essen]

Opeth - The Drapery Falls
Tool - The Pot
Muse - Bliss
Porcupine Tree - Blackest Eyes
Weather Report - Teen Town, never thought it would though, I'm not a jazz guy

 

[chef_tater]

For me anything the Justin chancellor of Tool or Timmy C of RATM has ever done. But especially:
Tool- 46 and 2
IMO, this is best bassline from Justin. And is a big influence on my playing.
Tool- H.
RATM- Know Your Enemy
Love the verus bassline where Timmy C is playing a walking line on the "and beat" I do this a lot and it drives my drummer crazy cause he always loses the beat. He is getting better at it though.
RATM- Fistful of steel
RATM- Bullet in the Head

 

[powmetalbassist]

Mine are mostly metal bassists, and a few guitarists and someera's that stood out for me

Gary Thain (Uriah Heap) - Bass

Billy Sheehan (Mr. Big, Solo, UFO, Niacin, etc.) - Bass on Mr. Big's Early stuff (1989-1996)

Steve Harris (Iron Maiden) - Bass All kinds of metal 1982-1991/2000-Present

Cliff Burton(Metallica) - Anethesia (Pulling Teeth)

Paul Gilbert (Mr. Big, Racer X, Solo) - Guitarist All the Mr.Big and Racer X solos

Steve Vai (UFO, STEVE VAI, Etc.) - Guitar just all kinds of Awesome

Marco Heitala (Nightwish, Tarot) - More for his vocal talent, but the bass playing is solid

Diccon Harper (Dragonforce) - Valley of the Damned

Adrian Lambert (Dragonforce) - 2003-2006

 

[Kimpini]

Radiohead (Colin Greenwood) - Airbag - OK Computer :
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As my college band evolved, I got out of the jam phase and more into indie music. Along with that progression came a respect for simpler bass lines. These 2, in particular, influenced my playing more than any for years. The airgbag bassline, in particular, taught me more about leaving space than any other. Years later I read that he had always planned on adding more to the part to connect the disjointed lines but never got around to it.

Haha, I was gonna say this one, Colin Greenwood is the MAN. But for the sake of saying something different I'll go with Subterranean Homesick Alien. He just can really weave through the dense song and not step on anyones toes.

 

[chaosMK]

I'm from the 90's... I still jam a lot of these lines to test my sound/warm up sometimes.

Greenday - When I Come Around (first bass line I learned)
Rage Against the Machine - Bulls on Parade
Metallica - My Friend of Misery
Fear Factory - Securitron
Korn - Chi
Tool - 46&2 (Aenema/Lateralus are great)

I probably ended up stealing a lot of thought from these players- bright tone, attempts musical lines, machine gun rhythms, slapping the B string for some chunk. This is the type of stuff I ended up recording about 10 years later - YouTube - ‪Left Brain - Solipsism - (2) Kali /Emanations‬‏

 

[SonourBrum]

As long as we are talking about basslines that had an influence on me... I had to mention Silly Love Songs! It was the first song that truly nailed the concept of stopping or muting a note. Many people play that song, but not very well. If you listen to it, each of the first few bass lines is muted precisely in time with the song. Not very easy... Also, I forgot to mention:
Red Hot Chili Peppers: Higher Ground - got me started slapping. But I'll bet that's true for a lot of folks.

 

[Mayers]

I learn bass with these albums:

Blood sugar sex magik - RHCP
One hot minute - RHCP
Californication - RHCP
Ride the lighning - Metallica
Black album - Metallica
...And justice for all - Metallica
Korn - Korn
Octavarium - Dream Theater
Metropolis part2 - Dream Theater
Invitation - Jaco
CAB - CAB
Line by Line - John Patitucci
A show of hands - Victor Wooten
Live at Mtl - Alain Caron
Conversation - Alain Caron

 

[jet_king]

hysteria and Hyper Music by muse: chris Wholstenholme
3's and 7's and No one knows by queens of the stone age: Nick Oliveri
limelight & passage to bangkok by rush: Geddy lee
Shallow and Fear of a Blank planet by porcupine tree: Colin Edwin