Which Bassist "Made" a Band?

[cnltb]

They don't, i just got me the 2. Hyde Park gig, not the same feel from Darryl Jones.

If it was the same it wouldn't be better. Would it?

 

[Picton]

It's ironic that you write this, because in the case of the RHCP it would be much easier to replace the singer than the bass player, the drummer or the guitarist since he (the singer) is the least technical/unique of the bunch.You are pretty much taking for granted what an instrumentalist's technical and creative ingenuity brings to a band.

Yeah . . .that Van Halen dude is so easily replaceable, same goes for his brother Alex or that other drummer from that band called Led ... Zeppelin or something, you know the Bonham guy. Oh yeah, and those dudes that played with him, What are their names, again? Jimmy ... Jimmy Paige and John Paul Jones or something. Then there's this other guy called Jimmy Hendrix or something (and the list goes on). And what about that Stewart Copeland dude from the Police? So "easily replaceable", right? And the list goes on and on and on and on . . .

Okay.

We disagree. No biggie.

 

[cnltb]

Darryl Jones is unquestionably a better musician than Wyman ever was, but the Stones' sound (IMO) was defined by its members' individual limitations and personalities. Keif and Ronnie together can barely string together 8 bars of lead guitar, but that's their sound. Charlie makes up for lack of flash by staying deep in the groove. Replace any of those guys with virtuoso players, and it's just not the Stones anymore. Mick's arguably the best musician in the band, and that's honestly not saying much.

i think both guitarists are excellent musicians.
I agree that the individuals make up what comes out at the end do see that what Darryl jones is doing is not the same that Wyman did. I simply say that I prefer what Darryl Jones does. To me the band sounds better with him.

 

[Turbo Sparky]

Klaus is sooooo damn underrated! Monster player! Anyone that doubts this, you try playing "Winnebago Warrior"!! LOL

He's a monster yes, but no Jell-O, no Kennedy's.
IMO they're a tribute band now.
Again, 90% agree with you

 

[Pings Bass]

i think both guitarists are excellent musicians.
I agree that the individuals make up what comes out at the end I also see that what Darryl jones is doing is not the same that Wyman did. I simply say that I prefer the way Darryl Jones does it.

I can dig it... I'm not a big Stones fan, so it doesn't really matter to me. It's a little like when Tom Petty hired Steve Ferrone to replace Stan Lynch on drums in the Heartbreakers... Ferrone has monster chops, but Lynch's style, limited though it was, was core to the Heartbreakers' early sound. They remained a great band to the very end, but I always missed Stan Lynch, just a little.

 

[hintz]

He's a monster yes, but no Jell-O, no Kennedy's.
IMO they're a tribute band now.
Again, 90% agree with you

Definitely! Jello is one in a million. That band really needed all its parts to work(despite a few different drummers) IMO.

 

[MVE]

Danny Partridge is definitely the most under appreciated bassist of all time. Shaggy from Scooby Doo Rock Band is a close second, or maybe a tie with Valerie Brown from Josie and the Pussycats.

Don’t forget Applejack from the Equestria Girls/ My Little Ponies. She’s a favorite of my 4 year old daughter.

 

[hardtop]

Phil Lynnott and Felix Pappalardi. But then, both of them were also the lead singer.

I love Phil and Thin Lizzy, maybe my favorite band of all time, and Phil is a great bass player, vocalist, and song writer.. I idolize him, honestly. But Phil did not make that band as a bass player (as a song writer and vocalist maybe). The dual guitar attack of Gorham and Robertson (and later Moore) was way more imperative to that bands greatness than Phill's bass playing.

 

[chaosMK]

A few that pop into mind-

Martini- Mudvayne
Chancelor- Tool
Dengler - Interpol (a case where band really mediocre)
Harris - Iron Maiden

Underrated solid guys-

Dude from Live
Dude from REM

Honorable mention for being important to "sound"

Fieldy (sig clank)

 

[devnulljp]

Phil Lynott
Lemmy
Steve Harris
Geddy
Burke Shelley

I wouldn't listen to Sade without Paul Denman's basslines, or Jamiroquai without Stuart Zender

Cant imagine Ice House wouldn't be cringey without Guy Pratt

 

[Revolver]

Okay.

We disagree. No biggie.

Agreed . . .

 

[bass40hz]

Geezer Butler, not only did he provide the thunder for Sabbath, he wrote the lyrics.
Rock on.

 

[Need Gigs]

Paul Jackson with the Head Hunters. Iconic and irreplaceable.
Louis Johnson and Greg Phillinganes with Michael Jackson.
Joe Dart with Vulfpeck.

 

[ThaCoast]

Nikki Sixx - Motley Crue, bassist song writter. It's an off chance that the music might've been very different with another bass player. But He knew WHO had to take part in the Crue. Each brought their style & definately made it what it was. That's why i'm mentionning Sixx, without him, there probably wouldn't be a motley crue

Like many others have said: Phil Lynott - to me without him, Thin Lizzy is nothing much. Same as Motorhead & Lemmy - he was the band, no matter lineup changes. Lots of bass players are irreplaceable in the bands they brought to life.

NOTE: Although a guitarist - Johnny Ramone, no one plays or sounds like him & the Ramones wouldn't be them without his chainsaw playing

 

[BergerHead]

If it was the same it wouldn't be better. Would it?

No ... but somehow it's the same as Deep Purple without Blackmore or Yes without Wakeman.

 

[NOVAX]

David J- Bauhaus
Jah Wobble- PIL
John Wetton- Asia

 

[InhumanResource]

Having turned to bass only recently, and having been here just a short time, there are a lot of threads about who's your favorite, who's the most underrated (and probably who's the most overrated, but I haven't seen that one, yet). It got me to wondering:

Is there a bass player in your opinion who, without having been in a specific band, would have caused that band to be just mediocre?

Put another way, while there may be flashy guitar players and superstar singers, would there have been a band that wouldn't have succeeded without the solid playing of a talented bass player?

I haven't read all nine pages of answers but John Paul Jones better be in there.

 

[MattZilla]

Objectively false. The Dead's quintessential jam-band sound has a LOT to do with Phil Lesh, and the contrapuntal and brass player mindset he brought to bass, working and playing off what Garcia was doing.
No Phil Bombs, no Dead. Phil was a main ingredient.

You'd have to pick an act with a far less characteristic bassist to classify them as an optional component.

Kansas figured it out- free beer makes for a huge enough scene to get on a label. I think that they made more out of a smaller up front investment. Free LSD and assorted narcotics heavily distributed throughout every concert made The Dead The Dead. If Thelonious Monk thought of it and executed it first/instead then he and his choice of collaborators would've been the Jam Band sound of the 70s.

Gentle Giant did something that doesn't sound too far off from what Phil and the boys did on the Mozart to An@l €unt soundscape and composition spectrum, but... no free dope.

 

[lat]

Of course, there are acts like Esperanza Spalding, where they ARE the act. She always seems to play with a full ensemble, that I've seen at least...

 

[MDBass]

Possibly, but I think a lot of people followed for Flea as well. When I first started listening to RHCP it was because of Flea, and I wasn't a bass player at the time.

Same.

Also true of Rancid, Primus, Green Day and a few others bands as well.