Topic: Best bass player EVER (Read 35146 times)

lb969 · « **on:** 01 Feb 2005, 14:27 »

Ok who do you think is the best bass player ever, living or dead.

My vote goes to:

Jaco Pastorius

blindsuperhero · « **Reply #1 on:** 01 Feb 2005, 14:33 »

Mingus

czar0406 · « **Reply #2 on:** 01 Feb 2005, 14:35 »

Kira Roessler

will: wanton sex god · « **Reply #3 on:** 01 Feb 2005, 14:39 »

you always hear wooten and pastoriousousous

it really depends on what youre looking for. some bass players are great becuase they play...great bass.

to me wooten and pastorious play other parts, they just happen to use a bass to do it.

AndSheeWas · « **Reply #4 on:** 01 Feb 2005, 14:41 »

Tina Weymouth

Kai · « **Reply #5 on:** 01 Feb 2005, 15:06 »

Les Claypool, hands down.

EDIT: Picture.

nothingwitty · « **Reply #6 on:** 01 Feb 2005, 18:39 »

My friend Shellie.

KharBevNor · « **Reply #7 on:** 01 Feb 2005, 18:58 »

will makes an important point: are we talking bass as a solo instrument or implemented well into the overall structure of a band?

If as a solo instrument, I would say Victor Wooten. If not, I honestly have no idea. As a guitarist/singer I tend to concentrate on the guitar and vocal parts in songs, and only really notice bass if it goes wrong. :/

Kai · « **Reply #8 on:** 01 Feb 2005, 19:21 »

Quote from: Awkward Silence

No offense, but I think Claypool's really overrated.

Hey, you're opinion.

I just happen to really like Primus/Les Claypool, so.

-sam · « **Reply #9 on:** 01 Feb 2005, 20:32 »

Quote from: KharBevNor

will makes an important point: are we talking bass as a solo instrument or implemented well into the overall structure of a band?

If as a solo instrument, I would say Victor Wooten.

On this we agree, but then again I'm a huge Flecktones fanboy

. I guess other "politically correct" answers would be John Entwhistle and Cliff Burton, but for me I just enjoy what Stefan Lessard(DMB) brings to the table. He's not a flashy guy, but he holds it down and what-not. Not like I really know what I'm talking about but when has that ever stopped anybody on the Internet?

-sam

mAlice aforeThought · « **Reply #10 on:** 01 Feb 2005, 20:36 »

craig adams.

Johnny C · « **Reply #11 on:** 01 Feb 2005, 21:07 »

Lars Friedriksen. I know it is a choice out of left field, but he is a fucking awesome bassist, especially considering that he is in a punk band.

Also, Carlos D is pretty solid.

jeph · « **Reply #12 on:** 01 Feb 2005, 23:28 »

James Jamerson.

Everyone who plays the instrument owes a debt to him whether they realize it or not.

Somewhat off-topic: I don't think the bass makes a very good "lead" instrument. People like Jaco and Wooten (and to a lesser extent Claypool) bore the shit out of me, technical skills or no. Full disclosure- I've played bass for over 10 years now.

RaideR · « **Reply #13 on:** 02 Feb 2005, 00:41 »

Steven Ude from the german band Guano Apes. that guy is awesome

muffy · « **Reply #14 on:** 02 Feb 2005, 01:57 »

further proof of the might of the bass is in Death From Above 1979 - ace band, no guitarist...

rynne · « **Reply #15 on:** 02 Feb 2005, 06:50 »

While I don't know if he'd be the absolute best bass player, I think Cliff Burton should be high on the list. It's widely understood that he was the guy in Metallica who actually knew his music theory, and the drop-off in quality of the music after his death points to how much he brought to the table.

Rika mm' from Melt-Banana is impressive to watch, if for nothing else than seeing such a tiny woman belt out such insanely high-speed riffs.

That being said, for the most part, I like bassists that aren't necessarily showy, but who understand how the bass should anchor songs. Folks like Alex James or Justin Chancellor.

Apathy · « **Reply #16 on:** 02 Feb 2005, 07:47 »

I wouldn't be able to say who I think is the 'best' in whatever manner of the word, but as far as the instrument goes, I love it. Never played properly, would love to learn, & I love the sound of decent bass in a song whether it's carrying or simply following.

catflea · « **Reply #17 on:** 02 Feb 2005, 07:54 »

Jim Reynolds from The Open. He is the second coming!

He even looks like jesus.

Spencer · « **Reply #18 on:** 02 Feb 2005, 08:03 »

Quote from: Johnny C

Lars Friedriksen.

What you meant to say was Matt Freeman, and I must admit, he was the first name that came to mind for me as well. He's definitly one of the, if not the, best punk bassists (Lars is Rancids lead guitarist).

Jeordie White (aka Twiggy Ramirez) probably has/had one of the most interesting and fun stage presences of any bassists I've seen, but then again, everyone that has been in Marilyn Manson has got stage prescence.

While Im not proclaiming this guy to be the best or anything, whomever plays Bass for Franz Ferdinand gets a nod as one of my favorites. I love the basslines in most of the franz tunes. It just makes me want to jump around and shake my ass.

Apathy · « **Reply #19 on:** 02 Feb 2005, 09:45 »

I'm going to nod to Carlos D (Interpol, see avatar). The bass lines in that are seriously cool. Especially on tracks such as Narc, or Slow Hands, where I feel it really makes the song. Also, out of the entire band, he most definitely has the biggest stage presence.

blindsuperhero · « **Reply #20 on:** 02 Feb 2005, 10:10 »

Quote from: Spencer

What you meant to say was Matt Freeman, and I must admit, he was the first name that came to mind for me as well.

He was the first name that came to my mind as well, but probably only because he wins every single 'best bass player' thread I've seen (I mis-spent my youth in more punk-rock orientated forums). Actually, no, the first name that came to my mind was Mingus, which was my insta-reply, but I guess that wasn't the kind of bass player they were looking for. Matt Freeman is good, but because of the very limited style of music Rancid play I don't think he could be the best bass player. Colin from Radiohead is pretty good, musically, as opposed to technicality-y, one thing that I always noticed about Radiohead was how prominent the bass is, far more so than any similar bands (not that there really are similar bands, but anyway) and Colin's bass playing is really unique, one of the most important factors in the unique Radiohead sound

Count_Zero · « **Reply #21 on:** 02 Feb 2005, 12:55 »

Another vote for Carlos D. He just seemed to hold the whole group together when I saw them live a few weeks ago.

Count

Finding Emo · « **Reply #22 on:** 02 Feb 2005, 13:18 »

Yu~ki from Malice Mizer is pretty friggin' awesome.

Banana_Hammock · « **Reply #23 on:** 02 Feb 2005, 16:04 »

Leon "The Mad Hatter" Wilkeson - Lynyrd Skynyrd
Hands down the greates ever!

MilkmanDan · « **Reply #24 on:** 03 Feb 2005, 03:19 »

Squarepusher.
Actually, I have no idea, as Squarepusher is the only person I've ever seen play the bass as a solo instrument, so he kinda wins automatically.
Though I did see Amp Fiddler at Dedbeat last year and their bassist was fully seventies and played awesome funky basslines with the bass behind his head.

Burninated Peasant · « **Reply #25 on:** 03 Feb 2005, 11:37 »

If you guys had seen Orgasmo, you would know that the best bassist ever is Geddy Lee from Rush!

Seriously though, I rarely focus on bass unless the band intentionally showcases it, i.e. Les Claypool or Death From Above 1979. While I enjoy it in those two examples I would hardly call either the best bassist ever.

Time to go through my music collection... Who knows, maybe it is Geddy Lee. ;p "Fly by night to Mountain Dew..."

(Bonus points to anyone who gets the Mountain Dew reference.)

c1utch · « **Reply #26 on:** 03 Feb 2005, 16:05 »

John Paul Jones - Led Zepplin
Flea - RHCP
Tim Commerford - RATM
and yes Jaco Pastorious and Les Claypool are very good as well

BehringerBoy · « **Reply #27 on:** 04 Feb 2005, 08:15 »

i have seen Flea of the chili peppers jam some amazing in some fotage i have from a concert... hes the greatest i know of...

DeathrockZombie · « **Reply #28 on:** 04 Feb 2005, 09:41 »

Quote from: jeph

James Jamerson.

Everyone who plays the instrument owes a debt to him whether they realize it or not.

Damn right! Also.. BOOTSY!

~ basim

RaideR · « **Reply #29 on:** 05 Feb 2005, 02:15 »

Quote from: c1utch

John Paul Jones - Led Zepplin
Flea - RHCP
Tim Commerford - RATM
and yes Jaco Pastorious and Les Claypool are very good as well

i agree, but add Stefan Ude from Guano Apes to the list and it's perfect

Stefan Ude

est · « **Reply #30 on:** 05 Feb 2005, 05:33 »

gg everyone. thanks for playing.

Sturge · « **Reply #31 on:** 05 Feb 2005, 05:44 »

Quote from: rynne

Rika mm' from Melt-Banana is impressive to watch, if for nothing else than seeing such a tiny woman belt out such insanely high-speed riffs.

yes! you will also notice if you've seen 'em live, that the bass is about the same size as her.

Kai · « **Reply #32 on:** 05 Feb 2005, 09:11 »

Quote from: Burninated Peasant

(Bonus points to anyone who gets the Mountain Dew reference.)

"It's nightblade the halfling theif and he's carrying a 12 pack of Mountain Dew."
"No way! His character is carrying mountain dew too?!"
"If I roll a ten or above then yes.... Eleven."

blooflame · « **Reply #33 on:** 05 Feb 2005, 16:26 »

Mary Huff - Bassist for Southern Culture On The Skids (if you haven't seen this band, check them out next time they're in your area)

Entwhistle of The Who? countless great bass lines

Ron Carter who has spanned decades from playing jazz to playing with hip-hop fusion folks?

Larry Taylor - Canned Heat and various John Mayall projects? Well, I'm not surprised, he's not well known in current music circles.

On another note - I met Jaco Pastorius once, not because of music, but I played "pee wee" football with his little brother

Conatonc · « **Reply #34 on:** 05 Feb 2005, 20:19 »

Jeph's pick of James Jamerson was a good nod to an often-ignored player. Standing in the Shadows of Motown is a great movie about all of the Motown backing musicians that any music fan should check out.

I tend to lean towards Claypool myself. He can run the show or just sit back and play a support role, depending on the band.

If we're talking punk bass, I feel that Karl Alvarez of The Descendents and ALL deserves a mention. He's been doing really creative basslines for 2 decades now.

Burninated Peasant · « **Reply #35 on:** 05 Feb 2005, 22:49 »

Quote from: Kai

"It's nightblade the halfling theif and he's carrying a 12 pack of Mountain Dew."
"No way! His character is carrying mountain dew too?!"
"If I roll a ten or above then yes.... Eleven."

Hehehe, you got it, Kai. I think my favourite sketch was the first roleplaying one, though:

"Ogres? Hey, I have a +9 Ogre slaying dagger!"
"You're not there! You're at the tavern getting drunk!"
"Well okay then, but if there's any girls there, I wanna DO THEM!"

badbum61 · « **Reply #36 on:** 06 Feb 2005, 06:44 »

I'm an old bastard (and bassist) who grew up on early '70s rock, so my three favourite bassists are McCartney (c'mon, you can't deny it...), Gene Simmons (he may be an asshole, but he sure knew how to rock that thing back in the day), and Dennis Dunaway, from the original Alice Cooper band. It's not that any of them are virtuoso players, but they know what's required, and their basslines are interesting and TASTEFUL, dammit!

I agree with conatonc, too.....from the more recent crop, Karl Alvarez deserves major props. Damn, that boy knows melody!

And Andrew Weiss, the Bassosaurus.

mAlice aforeThought · « **Reply #37 on:** 06 Feb 2005, 07:50 »

from what band was weiss? i ask because i only know him from pigface, but we all know that noöne is 'from' pigface.

badbum61 · « **Reply #38 on:** 06 Feb 2005, 17:50 »

Weiss was originally with Greg Ginn in Gone, then moved on to the Rollins Band. Also (and most memorably, for mine) played with and produced Ween.

Johnny C · « **Reply #39 on:** 06 Feb 2005, 22:05 »

Quote from: Spencer

What you meant to say was Matt Freeman, and I must admit, he was the first name that came to mind for me as well. He's definitly one of the, if not the, best punk bassists (Lars is Rancids lead guitarist).

*swearing*

I do not know how I always mix those two up but I do.

Also, what the hell is this D&D stuff because it makes me laugh.

Cpt.Fantastic · « **Reply #40 on:** 07 Feb 2005, 11:32 »

mmm-k

John Entwhistle - The Who (you MUST watch live footage)
Jack Bruce - Cream
Greg Lake - Emerson, Lake and Palmer

sounds good to me...

Kai · « **Reply #41 on:** 07 Feb 2005, 15:56 »

Quote from: Johnny C

Also, what the hell is this D&D stuff because it makes me laugh.

Got to your favorite filesharing program and look up "The Deadale Wives".

Burninated Peasant · « **Reply #42 on:** 07 Feb 2005, 17:12 »

Actually, the group's name is Dead Alewives, not Deadale Wives. I think they're Canadian, but I'm not 100% sure. Their first D&D spoof was popularized by appearing on Dr. Demento's radio show and at least one of his albums. You can find the pieces Kai and myself quoted at http://www.planetadnd.com/humor/misc_humor/index.php. They are called "Dr. Demento D&D & Satanism" and "The Dead Alewives AD&D part 2". and are near the bottom of the page. The next file, "Always the First to Die," is a funny song about the often disastrous choice of deciding to play a low level mage.

Yes, I'm a geek. And proud of it.

Kai · « **Reply #43 on:** 07 Feb 2005, 17:15 »

Aah. I've seen their name spelt Dead Ale Wives, Deadale Wives, Dead Alewives, and some other variations, so pardon me.

Jolouie · « **Reply #44 on:** 08 Feb 2005, 22:06 »

Brian Gibson from Lightning Bolt would probably be my favorite, because as we all know, there is no best anything.

CidHighwind · « **Reply #45 on:** 09 Feb 2005, 14:44 »

I agree with the above guy. There is no best. My favorite is Cliff Burton-Metallica. Because well, I've been into the metal scene since I started buying CDs.

RaideR · « **Reply #46 on:** 21 Feb 2005, 12:27 »

Fieldy is a really good bassplayer

Jooooosh · « **Reply #47 on:** 21 Feb 2005, 12:32 »

I want to steal my sisters bass, but i think she'll notice.

Johnny C · « **Reply #48 on:** 21 Feb 2005, 12:34 »

My bassist friend says David Ellefson of Megadeth is pretty good. Having paid little attention to their bassist in the past, I am in no position to disagree.

blindsuperhero · « **Reply #49 on:** 21 Feb 2005, 12:47 »

Quote from: RaideR

Fieldy is a really good bassplayer

roffle.

THESE FORUMS NOW CLOSED (read only)

Author Topic: Best bass player EVER (Read 35146 times)

lb969

blindsuperhero

czar0406

AndSheeWas

nothingwitty

-sam

mAlice aforeThought

RaideR

Apathy

catflea

Spencer

Apathy

blindsuperhero

Count_Zero

Finding Emo

Banana_Hammock

MilkmanDan

Burninated Peasant

c1utch

BehringerBoy

DeathrockZombie

RaideR

Sturge

blooflame

Conatonc

Burninated Peasant

mAlice aforeThought

Cpt.Fantastic

Burninated Peasant

Jolouie

CidHighwind

RaideR

blindsuperhero