Best bass players...
Well we have had lists of favourite guitarists and just last week we looked at favourite drummers (for at least the second time in the life of this blog thus far) so I guess we had to - at some point - look at the glue: the bass player.
Some of the world's noted "best bass players" work in genres of music that are not always listened to (Marcus Miller) or not always enjoyed (Les Claypool). And, as with any list of "best" or "favourite" instrumentalists there is a divide between choosing the entertainers and the technicians; between opting for flashy showmanship or head-down dynamics/mechanics.
Obviously it depends what music you listen to. Last week when I was looking at my latest favourite drummer (Keith Carlock) I mentioned Tal Wilkenfeld - specifically her album Transformation (and here I am mentioning it again). Wilkenfeld's playing is, to me, extraordinary. Yes she's a young woman, yes she has chops galore. Yes, it's pretty incredible that she started playing the guitar at 14, then moved to bass after making the decision to dip out of school and be a professional musician; she's only been on that instrument for five or six years. And yes it is also amazing to think she has already played with Chick Corea, Jeff Beck, Herbie Hancock and many others. But the thing I like about her playing is she can play the melodic lines, lead bass if you like - see here where Jeff Beck gives her one of his signature solos - but she also has a mean groove; she can swing and sway and strut playing solo bass and she can lock down a groove with the drummer.
I guess as much as Carlock is my new favourite drummer, Wilkenfeld would be one of my new favourite bass players.
There was a time when I was very interested in the lead-style of bass playing. From the probing, driving search of Jack Bruce in Cream through to "The Ox", John Entwistle in The Who and of course the master - and clear influence on Wilkenfeld and so many others - Jaco Pastorious (watch this).
This took me down the path of finding players like Jamaaladeen Tacuma - an extraordinary talent. But that busy style of bass playing doesn't always do it for me. You can appreciate the talent and technique but you do
n't always need a sledgehammer to crack a nut, right?
I love the bass playing of John McVie from Fleetwood Mac. As his long-time crony Mick Fleetwood said, "John tends to play in front of the beat, I tend to play slightly behind and we meet somewhere in the middle." It's a style you cannot teach - and maybe some would never want to learn it - but it has served the pair well, working with Peter Green to present a direct descendent of the Chicago blues, taking on soft-rock with Bob Welch and supporting the million-selling breakup pop and rock of Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham.
Like McVie, Roger Glover of Deep Purple knows how to drive, playing thick chunks of sound, doubling the guitar when required, offering a standalone bass motif now and then. Neither McVie nor Glover has the harmonic grace of Pastorious but both were just right (and continue to be) for the bands they play in. You would not want Jaco (if he were still alive) working in and around Fleetwood or Iain Paice.
Larry Graham deserves a mention from me - for his work with Sly & The Family Stone and for being one of the pioneers of the slap sound in bass playing. It can be ghastly but Graham, who apparently came up with the idea because he was playing in a band without a drummer and wanted to try to replicate a snare sound, had the Midas touch.
Obviously Bootsy Collins is one of the showman-style bass players - doesn't mean he couldn't play well in his own right.
He would be one of the inspirations for Flea, and even people who now hate the Red Hot Chili Peppers love to talk about Flea being a virtuoso bass player. I am not so sure about that now but back when I was a fan of the band I did like his sound on some of the band's songs, other times I found his overplaying rather annoying.
Give me someone like Donald "Duck" Dunn instead. When I played in a blues band years back the bass player used to always talk about Dunn, calling him the world's greatest bass player. At the time I knew the name from The Blues Brothers movie - and knew he was good, but as he was one of the workhorses of the Stax label I later heard him in his role with Booker T & The MG's and then on some of my favourite recordings - including Albert King's Born Under a Bad Sign (love that album!) and the brilliant Hold On (I'm Coming) by Sam & Dave.
From that school too - James Jamerson needs mentioning. He played on so many of the Motown classics.
Paul McCartney is definitely one of my favourite bass players - his work on Something is just one, obvious, example. Here's a songwriter and guitarist approaching the bass as a melodic instrument at times, but still using it to convey the rhythmic line and playing for the song, always.
To talk about the compositional aspect of being a bass player leads to Charles Mingus - his ferocious personality, musical dexterity, beehive mind of ideas and all-around hugeness hung within and outside of so much that he played and created. I could dive off in to a separate post about Mingus - so many of his albums are essential but I love the raw edges that are heard on Money Jungle - a Duke Ellington album featuring the all-star trio of Ellington on piano, drummer Max Roach, with Mingus sawing, plucking, pulling, bowing, prodding, poking and yanking at the bass.
There are so many bass virtuosos of course - many not named here - but I'll try to get to a few more that have meant something to me, in the listening I have done. The first one is Pino Palladino. You really have to take the bad with the good with this guy. He's currently doing the near-impossible, subbing for the late-Entwistle in the band that should be called The Two (but is still called The Who). But he was also a member of The John Mayer Trio - so a point off Pino there!
Tony Levin is another - best known perhaps for long-running work with Peter Gabriel and King Crimson but he has also racked up credits with Lou Reed, Buddy Rich, Pink Floyd and so many more.
I discovered Rob Wasserman playing on a Lou Reed concert video. I checked out his superb solo albums (Solo, Duets, Trios). I have not kept up with his work but still love his playing.
John Paul Jones played in one of my favourite bands ever - so deserves a mention just for that. But also he was the "quiet" one in a band of egos and musical extroverts. He had also (along with Jimmy Page) made something of a name for himself playing on all sorts of session well before the formation of Led Zeppelin.
Well - as with any list of favourites the ones I have named here remain relevant today and could probably change tomorrow.
But now I want to know about your favourites? What do you look for in great bass playing? Do you like the showy stuff or the rock-solid - never step out of line - approach? Are you a rock fan so you only listen to rock bass players? Do you notice the bass playing more in certain genres? Or does it always depend on the player? And most importantly who are your favourite bass players? And why?
Sponsored links
Newest First
Oldest First
Best bass player for me has to Doug Wimbish. From his pioneering work as part of the Sugarhill label’s house band in the late Seventies, through Dub/Reggae-orientated stuff with the On-U Sound label in the Eighties, right on through to his ongoing work with as part of the industrial funk collective Tackhead he has very few peers in music today. Bootsy was obviously a big influence on Wimbish but given the consistency of output over the past 20 years in a variety of guises, Wimbish commands huge respect in his own right.
John Myung, of Dream Theater. AMAZING bass player, much more explosive and showy than his quiet reserved persona. Never puts a foot wrong music wise, IMO.
Chris Hillman from the Byrds(and the Burritos,Manassas,Desert Rose Band etc):check out his work on "Draft Morning" from The Byrds "Notorious Byrd Brothers" album...yeeeah...
Seconding the Cliff Burton nomination. His Anesthesia bass solo puts him in the top 5 of all time.
Wow...so many to mention. I have always loved Pino Palladino as well. I loved his playing way back when he was with Paul Young. His playing on "Wherever I Lay My Hat" and "Gonna Tear Your Playhouse Down" was wonderful. But generally I go for the guys who play for the song. You have already mentioned Paul McCartney and John Paul Jones, and they defintely played what suited the song. "Rain", "Taxman", "Drive My Car", "The Lemon Song", "Bring It On Home"....they have both been incredible. Also Tim Commerford from "Rage Against the Machine", Mick Quinn from "Supergrass", both very melodic players as well. There are so many......as well as all the masters you have mentioned from Motown and Stax. And I don't want to cause offence to anyone, but I will scream if anyone mentions Gene Simmons or Adam Clayton!!!
Most of those guys are great, but perhaps the most distinctive bass player of all time would be Peter Hook. No one sounds like him.
Rick Danko from The Band. Effortless fusing of country, soul and rock style and he had a killer voice to boot. Mr Danko, together with Levon Helm were an incredible rhythm section.
Peter Hook from Joy Division/New Order. You can hear the influence of Peter Hooks playing spread across the last two and a half decades of pop and rock music. Solid, melodic and beautiful.
Prince. Prince is one of the greatest musicians of the 20th century. Full stop.
Duff McKagen - GNR's
Phil Lynott may not have been a "technically" great bass player but he gets my vote (along with the already mentioned JPJ and Jaco P).
SPCA steps in on injured dog standoff
Daily trivia quiz: February 10
'Very white' Australian rugby cops criticism
Eva Longoria in porn Tweet mishap
Principal accused of sunburn bribe
Fantastic panoramic of Taranaki
Baby elephant a natural show-off
SPCA steps in on injured dog standoff
Plan to claw back $1.7b by axing depreciation tax breaks
Stewart Island Maori v Pakeha rugby game
Key 'no GST rise' video emerges
Outrage as Key signals national park mining
Samoa tsunami: A therapeutic response
SPCA steps in on injured dog standoff
Key confirms GST increase being considered
A pass for Key, but much more to do
King Kong ship meets watery grave
Sanzar and Sky decide it's time to titillate the fans
The late Cliff Burton of Metallica. Just listen to (Anesthesia)- Pulling Teeth off their Kill Ém All album.