*<RESPECT>*The late Keith Ferguson of The Fabulous Thunderbirds.
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Who Was Your First...
- Thread starter theFixer
- Start date
Well, first bassist I heard properly was probably Geezer Butler but seeing as 12-year old me was a complete imbecile and didn't know what a bass sounded like and thought it was a distorted guitar, so I'd have to say Cliff Burton. He's the whole reason I plugged my bass into my distortion pedal.
I would have to say that Flea was the first bassist that I knew I wanted to sound like.
But right now Michael League really catches my attention.
But right now Michael League really catches my attention.
I didn't really start listening for the bass until I picked up the bass. For me it was always about listening to the drums. I guess Flea changed that. BSSM was such a brilliant album. Then I started listening to old Rush and Maiden with different ears.
I was born in '83 so came into my own in the '90s. Started out playing drums (still do.) A buddy of mine brought over a copy of this one day:
....Once I heard "Hamburger Train" and "My Name is Mud" and realized that was a bass I was hearing, I HAD to be able to do that. Haven't looked back in the 20 years since. Les is the friggin man!
....Once I heard "Hamburger Train" and "My Name is Mud" and realized that was a bass I was hearing, I HAD to be able to do that. Haven't looked back in the 20 years since. Les is the friggin man!
I used to be a meathead and all I cared was the music and playing the bass. Didn't care or even know who the bass player of a certain band was.
Then I started to listen to different genres and started paying attention to bass players and the technique. I remember listening to Victor Wooten for the first time and thought that guy is from a different universe (I still do btw).
Probably my most favorite bassist of all times is weirdly an upright bass player because I only play electric (at least for now). He's name is Ali Friend and his band is called Red Snapper. Rock.
Then I started to listen to different genres and started paying attention to bass players and the technique. I remember listening to Victor Wooten for the first time and thought that guy is from a different universe (I still do btw).
Probably my most favorite bassist of all times is weirdly an upright bass player because I only play electric (at least for now). He's name is Ali Friend and his band is called Red Snapper. Rock.
After checking them out again, I gotta ask. Did Pete use a "P" bass into an Acoustic 360 rig?
I've seen him use an EB-0 and a P in various live footage, but don't know about his rig.
Well... either one of those basses would surely create that huge room filling warmth! Humble Pie is my all time favorite band. Greg Ridley always played P's, and when they got into the 1970's, he was using the Acoustic 360 rig (Check out the "Smokin'" album). With all due respect to the mighty SVT... the sound that came outa that rig, filled ALL the space! Everything else had to ride on top (if THAT makes any sense)! That's what that CTA album sounded like to me. I will go to my grave, wondering how in the hell Jaco got hooked up with a rig like that... and the BIGGER mystery, is how he got his staccato style to come out of it like it did. The 361 cabinet is nothing more than a rear-facing 1x18 bass spin! A mud bucket (albeit and AWESOME one)!
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Ya know... I hafta give Mars Cowling an honorable mention. Something about the Pat Travers band, is kinda like getting' a sniff of Mom's Apple Pie. It takes you home.
Here's a good workout...
Here's a good workout...
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ever seen ghostbusters II?
There is definitely a shred of bass player inside Bill Murray!
Perhaps that was the inspiration for Jack Black's "Cello, you got yourself a bass!" Line from school of rock.
This is hard for me to answer simply...
First time I remember noticing the bass as not just another guitar, was strictly a visual thing, 11 in 1986 on my Hitachi 13" (not much bass coming out of the 2.5" speaker), a music video show (not MTV) played a band called the outfield, and since the guy singing was playing a bigger guitar with 4 fat strings, it was the first time I noticed the bass. Somehow I wanted to know more.
A few months later def leppards hysteria came out, and rick Savage's hamer scarab really popped visually, and when side 2 opened with that basslines for gods of war, I had my inspiration. Not much, but I was 12 and I am owning it. But I did not get a bass for 5 more years. When I was 15 I borrowed a guitar, and I inquired about turning it into a bass. 16 came and I was finally getting my own, but the gift giver thought bass did not sound very good on its own while learning, and that I should start on guitar, so a squier strat it was. I was successfully sidetracked to guitar, and when I had a chance at 17 to buy a classmates squier II slab, I bought it.
Although by then I was starting to really like Rush, it was Les Claypool that inspired me to rip the frets out of that bass shortly afterwards. I still had not made the switch, and had started a band on guitar, and just noodled on the bass.
That band never got off the ground and when it imploded I joined a more established band, and it wasn't till that band broke up when I was 20 and I took a couple years off to focus on school, that I decided to get a new bass with frets in it, and switch to bass. I played along with Rush albums as best as I could (not that good back then) and by the time I was 22 I was on my way to auditions for bands on bass and was gigging by 23 and have only played bass in bands since, aside from some jams on guitar here and there.
That is the long way of saying:
Rick Savage (noticed basslines)
Les Claypool (ripped frets out of first bass)
Geddy Lee (really decided to become a bass player)
Other honorable mentions from my post awareness/pre bass playing-early guitar learning days were Steve Harris, Frank Bello (anthrax, got the time cover specifically), flea (I did slap a lot), Robert Trujillo (ST/infectious grooves), cliff Burton/Jason newsted, Dave ellefson, norwood Fisher, tony kanal, Karl Alvarez (descendants), jerry only etc...
After I was up and running playing bass in the late 90s, throw in Dirk Lance (incubus) tye zamora (alien ant farm) Ben osmundson (zebrahead) to name a few, to keep me motivated. This was when a Warwick joined the jazz bass, because of dirk and norwood. All the while I never stopped listening to rush and I always came back to rush and got every album since roll the bones as soon as it came out, and went to every tour since test for echo.
In 1996/97 one of my alternate ultrazone buttons had the alias "geddy fleapool" (yes I was a laser tag geek since 1986/photon as well). Geddy Fleapool pretty much sums up who I wanted to be when I was shedding to make the bass switch in 1996.
Ubernator, king of tldr, nobody reads these. I should have been a writer...
First time I remember noticing the bass as not just another guitar, was strictly a visual thing, 11 in 1986 on my Hitachi 13" (not much bass coming out of the 2.5" speaker), a music video show (not MTV) played a band called the outfield, and since the guy singing was playing a bigger guitar with 4 fat strings, it was the first time I noticed the bass. Somehow I wanted to know more.
A few months later def leppards hysteria came out, and rick Savage's hamer scarab really popped visually, and when side 2 opened with that basslines for gods of war, I had my inspiration. Not much, but I was 12 and I am owning it. But I did not get a bass for 5 more years. When I was 15 I borrowed a guitar, and I inquired about turning it into a bass. 16 came and I was finally getting my own, but the gift giver thought bass did not sound very good on its own while learning, and that I should start on guitar, so a squier strat it was. I was successfully sidetracked to guitar, and when I had a chance at 17 to buy a classmates squier II slab, I bought it.
Although by then I was starting to really like Rush, it was Les Claypool that inspired me to rip the frets out of that bass shortly afterwards. I still had not made the switch, and had started a band on guitar, and just noodled on the bass.
That band never got off the ground and when it imploded I joined a more established band, and it wasn't till that band broke up when I was 20 and I took a couple years off to focus on school, that I decided to get a new bass with frets in it, and switch to bass. I played along with Rush albums as best as I could (not that good back then) and by the time I was 22 I was on my way to auditions for bands on bass and was gigging by 23 and have only played bass in bands since, aside from some jams on guitar here and there.
That is the long way of saying:
Rick Savage (noticed basslines)
Les Claypool (ripped frets out of first bass)
Geddy Lee (really decided to become a bass player)
Other honorable mentions from my post awareness/pre bass playing-early guitar learning days were Steve Harris, Frank Bello (anthrax, got the time cover specifically), flea (I did slap a lot), Robert Trujillo (ST/infectious grooves), cliff Burton/Jason newsted, Dave ellefson, norwood Fisher, tony kanal, Karl Alvarez (descendants), jerry only etc...
After I was up and running playing bass in the late 90s, throw in Dirk Lance (incubus) tye zamora (alien ant farm) Ben osmundson (zebrahead) to name a few, to keep me motivated. This was when a Warwick joined the jazz bass, because of dirk and norwood. All the while I never stopped listening to rush and I always came back to rush and got every album since roll the bones as soon as it came out, and went to every tour since test for echo.
In 1996/97 one of my alternate ultrazone buttons had the alias "geddy fleapool" (yes I was a laser tag geek since 1986/photon as well). Geddy Fleapool pretty much sums up who I wanted to be when I was shedding to make the bass switch in 1996.
Ubernator, king of tldr, nobody reads these. I should have been a writer...
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Nah man... I've been really enjoying reading peoples' stories. I mean no offense to anyone... but I was actually disappointed when people would just post a name or two & bail out. I love seeing who all the different influences were, the when & how it all happened for them, looking for parallels between the lives of others and my own... all that stuff (but then... I've been told I should be a writer too)!
The Outfield's album "Play Deep" is a kinda sentimental favorite of mine. They knew how to wright solid, catchy pop tunes that would worm their way into your brain & latch on like a parasite! There was another notable band in music history that was capable of doing that. They were called "the Beatles". Perhaps you've heard of them
I'm impressed by your ability to remember your specific ages at the times of your various landmarks! I struggle to approximate what DECADE a given event occurred!
As for Norwood Fisher... I got to see him at the State Theater in Kalamazoo, MI on Fishbone's "Truth and Soul" tour (if ya don't own it... GET IT). It's a sad/happy story. I was going to the concert with a buddy. His car broke down before the show & we were late getting there. By the time we actually got inside the venue... we only got to hear a couple of the finishing notes of a song you may know called "Jerry Was a Race Car Driver", and it was "Thank you! Goodnight!". SO bummed! The night was definitely NOT a waist though. Fishbone did their best to rip the roof off the place! Fish's funk & soul came from a different place. VERY cool! With all due respect to Curtis Mayfield... "Freddy's Dead" will always be a Fishbone song, to me!
Oh... and THIS is how to play "Got the Time"...
Nah man... I've been really enjoying reading peoples' stories. I mean no offense to anyone... but I was actually disappointed when people would just post a name or two & bail out. I love seeing who all the different influences were, the when & how it all happened for them, looking for parallels between the lives of others and my own... all that stuff (but then... I've been told I should be a writer too)!
The Outfield's album "Play Deep" is a kinda sentimental favorite of mine. They knew how to wright solid, catchy pop tunes that would worm their way into your brain & latch on like a parasite! There was another notable band in music history that was capable of doing that. They were called "the Beatles". Perhaps you've heard of them
I'm impressed by your ability to remember your specific ages at the times of your various landmarks! I struggle to approximate what DECADE a given event occurred!
As for Norwood Fisher... I got to see him at the State Theater in Kalamazoo, MI on Fishbone's "Truth and Soul" tour (if ya don't own it... GET IT). It's a sad/happy story. I was going to the concert with a buddy. His car broke down before the show & we were late getting there. By the time we actually got inside the venue... we only got to hear a couple of the finishing notes of a song you may know called "Jerry Was a Race Car Driver", and it was "Thank you! Goodnight!". SO bummed! The night was definitely NOT a waist though. Fishbone did their best to rip the roof off the place! Fish's funk & soul came from a different place. VERY cool! With all due respect to Curtis Mayfield... "Freddy's Dead" will always be a Fishbone song, to me!
Oh... and THIS is how to play "Got the Time"...
Just like Freddy's dead, got the time will always be an anthrax song for me. My first concert, 1991 long beach arena, anthrax opening for maiden, persistence of time/no prayer for the dying tours, the bass on got the time really stood out. The first rock concert sounds I heard were notes through Bello's rig, probably a roadie backstage. A bass note to test it and the crowd cheers.
I had won tickets on KNAC to see pantera/white zombie/trouble at Irvine meadows back in 92, turned out they came with backstage passes. I gave them to my friend because it was when I was already booked for my summer visit to dad in upstate NY. On a whim my step cousin and I decided to go see the U2 concert (zoo TV outside broadcast) at Saratoga racetrack. I had just discovered primus, and was telling my cousin about them (he was a fishbone fan) but could not play them for him because my discman broke and I was out of blank tapes to make a dub before I left.
On the way to the concert I.heard les being interviewed on the radio. Turned out primus was opening! There was much traffic so.we missed some songs, but could hear the show start while we were walking. 90% of the crowd was like dubya tee eff?? And did not dig it. We were digging it. It was a good consolation for missing that pantera/zombie show. I saw them a bunch back then anyway. Then later on in the mid-late 90s I saw both primus and fishbone several times in smaller venues. And norwood was at pretty much every primus show, we would play a game, who can spot norwood first
I saw many future big bands open for primus, including limp bizkit, powerman5000, incubus, buckethead, pod etc... The incubus one was especially cool because I was a huge incubus fan back then, the science album had some sick bass on it!
I missed the primus/rush tour, a.big regret of mine... And the rush/voivod tour is another one I wish I could have seen.
