What bass player inspired you to start playing?

[notduane]

I with Mr. T and `Beetle...Geddy. Up to Fly By Night, Caress of Steel,
etc., I liked bass a lot. Couldn't he'p likin' it what with Pop's Klipschorns
blastin' away . But up till then, it was more like "blacking out during
a ballad". Mr. Lee was out front and busy .

 

[cammojoe]

Cliff Burton

I first began taking double bass lessons(aside from violin) in orchestra because I loved the instrument. From that point with inspiration from Cliff Burton, as well as friends and many other professionals, I said "what the hell" and bought a my Jackson C5A and I love it.

 

[Erlendur Már]

The guys that inspired me to start playing were Flea and Les Claypool.

 

[Chris J]

For me it was Mike Dirnt from Green Day. Sure he's not the best. But when I got Dookie I heard what playing bass was like for the first time. It was Longview that made me want to learn. After a while I figured I'd have to practice lots. So I though "Bah! Listening to it is good enough." I was so wrong. That was 3-4 years ago. My friend got a bass last year and when I tried it, that was it. I went and got my first bass a month later.

 

[CaracasBass]

Duff Mackagan (Guns n´roses) and Jason Newsted (Metallica)
Then came others but this two where the first ones.

 

[Sedge]

Timmy C from Rage Against The Machine.

 

[Bigfeet]

My Grandpa, RIP.

 

[Hategear]

Beefcake, the Mighty.

 

[Lazy]

Robert Deleo,Eric Avery,Jack Casady.
They just kind of grabbed my attention out of nowhere!!

 

[Mark Steel]

I was a huge Led Zep fan when I was a teen, but it was always Page's guitar and not JPJ's bass that caught my attention. I always wondered if the bass was purposely buried into the mix...now that I listen to the bass, there's some amazing stuff going on in there.
For me it was Chris Squire of Yes; once I heard "Roundabout" that was it; had to get a Rick.
For fretless, hearing Phil Maggini of Shadowfax was the big moment.
For double bass, it was PC on Miles' "So What."

 

[Gandolf Bassist]

Mike Dirnt was my reason for learning how to play bass. His line in longview is just so catchy I love it!

 

[PunkerTrav]

mike dirnt

 

[MetallicadetH]

Cliff Burton made it look so easy!!

 

[downward spiral]

twiggy ramirez of marilyn manson... now that I have a bass I see that twiggy's bass lines suck, but he makes it look good.

 

[Stangg]

eric wilson of sublime. I didn't even know what a bass was until i heard "New Song"
ooooohh, that's a bass. I thought that was a keyboard.

 

[Son of Spam]

Eric Wilson of sublime cause of April 26th 1992....I thought it was the hardest song to play on earth, cause everyone talked about it....

Now that I play bass, it isn't that hard...

Also Mike Dirnt because of Longview... lol... I love playing that song...

And finally the bassist for Offspring...althought not that good, I loved the sound of Have You Ever.

 

[the mack]

jermaine jackson
verdine white
and my favorate..."thunder tumbs" louis johnson

 

[Dave Siff]

Originally posted by john turner
geddy lee - when i saw the moving pictures tour, i knew i had to try it. it took me about 3 years, but i finally got one.

Geddy for me on 'Moving Pictures' also. I was 13 when I heard it, knew right then I wanted to play bass. Took me 7 more years to actually get a bass, and a couple more after that to start seriously trying to play it. And one of these days, I'll get it right!

 

[Bassline1414]

Couldn't tell ya, I'm a guitar player (dodges thrown objects) and I just felt that I had to play bass. Just an urge I guess.

 

[Blackbird]

Renato Rocha from Legião Urbana & Neto from Finis Africae.

Additional names that would be recognizable by TalkBassists:

Andy Rourke from The Smiths & Paul McCartney.