Which Bassists were your inspiration when you started playing?

[Haroldo]

At the time I started playing in my teens, I thought that my biggest inspirations were probably John Paul Jones, Roger Waters and Sting. But in retrospect, I think I was actually more influenced by the many nameless, faceless bass players that I had listened to on AM radio long before I ever started playing. Those folks turned out to be bassists like Bob Babbitt, Ronnie Baker, Wilton Felder, James Jamerson, Carol Kaye, Joe Osborn, Carl Radle, Chuck Rainey, Willie Weeks and Klaus Voormann.

I want to add all of James Brown's bassists, Duck Dunn, most of Paul Butterfield's bassists (esp. Bugsy Maugh), Tommy Cogbill, David Hood, Rick Danko.

There was a great bassist in NE Wisconsin when I was growing up, Mike Larscheid, who was my real guiding star.

ETA Though I was a fool for soul and R&B, two pick players in different universes caught my ears also: Phil Lesh and Steve Swallow.

 

[Artman]

Entwistle, Entwistle, and Entwistle. Did I mention Entwistle?

 

[vvvmmm]

JPJ, because Zep songs came first and easiest;
Mike Mills, because I should be so tasty and driving;
Keef, because "Sympathy" and "Live with Me".

Shout out to Larry Graham, Jack Bruce, Phil Lynott, Lemmy, Jaco, Peter Hook, Jonas Hellborg.

 

[ArtechnikA]

Roger Glover
John McVie
Mark Egan
Tommy Shannon

 

[Kipp Harrington]

I'm generally curious to see which bassists inspired everyone when they were first starting out

For me I grew up with Ride the Lightning and Master Of Puppets playing through my Stereo 24/7 and when I first picked up my Mother's Yamaha RBX170 Red and Black Sunburst in September of 2015 I immediately looked up how to play Fade to Black, my favorite Metallica song, and spent the next month learning the song back to front and down to every Fill

There were a few... Dee Murray, Tom Scholz, JPJ, Boz Burell, Bob Babbit, JJ. So many that influenced me and made me want to pick up the instrument!

 

[Carl Hillman]

I'm generally curious to see which bassists inspired everyone when they were first starting out

For me I grew up with Ride the Lightning and Master Of Puppets playing through my Stereo 24/7 and when I first picked up my Mother's Yamaha RBX170 Red and Black Sunburst in September of 2015 I immediately looked up how to play Fade to Black, my favorite Metallica song, and spent the next month learning the song back to front and down to every Fill

Ralphe Armstrong


...and some guys named Stanley Clarke and Jaco.

 

[Mikey F]

John Paul Jones
Jack Bruce
Michael Anthony

 

[keithbroussard]

Steve Harris

 

[Nephilymbass]

I'm generally curious to see which bassists inspired everyone when they were first starting out

For me I grew up with Ride the Lightning and Master Of Puppets playing through my Stereo 24/7 and when I first picked up my Mother's Yamaha RBX170 Red and Black Sunburst in September of 2015 I immediately looked up how to play Fade to Black, my favorite Metallica song, and spent the next month learning the song back to front and down to every Fill

Tim from RATM, flea, and Roger Waters at first. Got really into 311 in the early days as well. First Metallica record I owned was and justice for all and while those songs are great live the mix sucked on that album lol.

 

[JPaulGeddy]

Wanted to play like Billy Sheehan, sound like Geddy Lee (on bass), and look like John Taylor. How much more 1985 can you get?

 

[vvvmmm]

Hmmm, somebody's gotta say, that's better than playing like Taylor, sounding like Sheehan and looking like Lee.

 

[BOOG]

I'm generally curious to see which bassists inspired everyone when they were first starting out

For me I grew up with Ride the Lightning and Master Of Puppets playing through my Stereo 24/7 and when I first picked up my Mother's Yamaha RBX170 Red and Black Sunburst in September of 2015 I immediately looked up how to play Fade to Black, my favorite Metallica song, and spent the next month learning the song back to front and down to every Fill

Too many to list...
A few...Robert Trujillo, John Paul Jones, Mike Dirnt, etc...

 

[bikeplate]

David Margen

 

[Killed_by_Death]

Early on I was intrigued by Cliff Burton's Anesthesia, but then Born Again came out.
Geddy was cool, but I disliked his vocal & the whole prog rock thing, so I came around to:

 

[ptensioned]

John Paul Jones. A soul bassist in a rock band. Still a huge influence, actually. I dig pretty much everything he touches, including Them Crooked Vultures, the record with Diamanda Galas, the arty stuff with Supersilent, the rootsy stuff with the Dave Rawlings Machine and (most of) his solo stuff.

As a kid, add Jack Bruce and Noel Redding to the list I was aware of and focused on.

Later came appreciation for the soul players via JPJ, particularly when he cited Jamerson as his biggest influence. That brought awareness of Motown (including Babbitt), and then the Stax and Atlantic session guys, then the West Coast session folks like Joe Osborne and Carol Kaye. Also, my rock horizons got broadened to include Tim Bogert, Geezer Butler, Martin Turner, Cliff Burton, Al Cisneros, Steve Harris, John McVie, Andy Fraser and many others.

 

[REV]

There was this guy in a band called the Rezzillos. His name was Mysterious. He was a great bass player. He also got me into flat wounds.

 

[dBChad]

Mike Dirnt and Justin Chancellor when I was just starting to learn songs.

I lean more towards technical players now (Marcus Miller, Doug Wimbish, Gabe Nelson) but still think Dirnt and Chancellor are a huge part of their bands' signature sounds.

 

[Usidore T Blue]

There is only on:

 

[fourstringburn]

2 local guys at first, Carlos Cordova and Casey Hill (I wonder what they're doing these days),

Then Geezer, Geddy, JPJ, and Steve.

 

[Hover-Rich]

Quite a few that were mentioned. Especially John Entwistle and Greg Lake. But my first big influence was Berry Oakley with the early Allman Brothers.