Um, Butler came LONG before Harris and Burton.....
Who's filling your head with all these lies?



Harris is probably my favorite metal bassist, but Geezer slays both him and Butler in influence and innovation.
As much as I love Harris and Burton, their playing wasn't the foundation for an entire genre. Butler's was.

I said "set the standard"...not invented the genre...

Like I said...Since I don't claim to be a metal "expert" (thank God lol), I went to the musical sources like BP magazine and Talk Bass Forum where those with much more knowledge than me on the topic habitate. The general consensus is that Harris & Burton are the premiere metal bassists...also Geezer. That said...I was esentially commenting on the Geezer/Macca question, and truth be told...Macca influenced a TON more bassists than Butler (partially due to the popularity of their specific genres), and Paul innovated and adapted the jamersonesque melodic and syncopated style to tons more bassists than Butler...or even more bassists than quite frankly ever even HEARD of Butler...once again, due to the overall popularity of McCartneys genre versus the relatively lesser known metal style than the rock/pop style of The Beatles which is vastly more well known, copied, and sold.

Macca v Geez is a slaughter. Macca destroys him in creativity (Macca is God tier creativity) and versatility, is WAY more influential and considerably more innovative, and I'd argue he's more skilled as well.

Glad to hear that they did a big segment on Bob on Rock Center. That's a big deal show. I would have tuned in but I was out that night.

I would say Harris and Burton are more creative than Geezer (especially Burton).

And dammit Stu some of us like metal

51-60 guys, taken from the current list...how about some ordering of these?

Nathan East
Freddie Washington
Andy Fraser
Phil Lynott (apparently a bigger deal than I thought, he was on the cover of Bass Player recently)
Gary "Mani" Mounfield
David Ellefson
Juan Alderete
Robert Trujillo
Dug Pinnick
Doug Wimbish
Bill Wyman

?

(yes, I know that's 11 people, lol)

And oh my...listening to it right now...Signed, Sealed, Delivered I'm Yours really is a hell of a bass performance. That guy made the thing sing like no other. Did he play flats on a P bass like James?

The Bassist's den in the Musician's Corner seems deserted, so i'll ask stuff here.

I'm probably an intermediate level guitar player wanting to play some bass cause i've been told to try to get some new hobbies.

Being a guitar player I already understand a lot of things and am aware of who the great players are. I was just wondering what the more expierienced players on here would recommend I should get first. I'm not going to get anything real expensive, if I had enough money to buy Fender i'd go buy a nice Tele guitar. Squier seems like a good brand with cheaper stuff, especially something like those packs that comes with an amp. I'm open to anything within a decent price range.

Welcome Jfauser

Squire is a pretty good choice for a starter bass. The Precision and Jazz bass knockoffs are pretty close to the real thing based on my stopping by a Guitar Center one day and playing around with them for a few minutes, although I haven't played seriously for some time. I suppose they might not hold tune as well as the real deal...but they both had decent feel and at about 60% of the price of a Fender would be a good initial investment in bass. My first electric bass by the way, before I got my Jazz bass and B-15 was a red Kent dual pickup with a Magnatone 12' speaker amp. Good luck...

Squier was actually going to be my first recommendation. What's your price range, like $200-$300? $500? Less than $200?

Nathan East
Freddie Washington
Andy Fraser
Phil Lynott (apparently a bigger deal than I thought, he was on the cover of Bass Player recently)
Gary "Mani" Mounfield
David Ellefson
Juan Alderete
Robert Trujillo
Dug Pinnick
Doug Wimbish
Bill Wyman

Okay, ordering these...

I reckon Wimbish, Pinnick and Fraser get some of the higher spots here.

Stu, mind filling us in in more depth on Freddie Washington? He's a first call contemporary LA session bassist right? That's pretty damn prestigious. Hand picked to do bass for the Dan. Played 'Forget Me Nots'. How long has he been in the biz? Any other tracks we should check out? Or other relevant info? Thanks.

Neg, mind tossing me some Lynott song rec's?

Any King's X fans here?

Probaby $300 and under, preferably around $200.

Ready Freddie Washington...yes all of that. Also remember that Freddie was chosen to play the award winning Motown 25 Special (with a near death Jamerson watching from the balcony). That's the show where Michael Jackson went beyond our world with his moonwalking, one gloved version of Billie Jean. In addition to his touring with Steely Dan...Freddie is currently on tour with Walter Becker (Steely Dan founder), Boz Scaggs, and Michael McDonald...and the show they're touring with. Freddie is the man around L.A for playing various styles and genres.

Oh yeah...not only played Forget Me Nots...but co-wrote it with Patrice Rushen as well. Had a long collaboration with Rushen.

Trujillo...yeah, also Cogbill, Hood, Burbridge, and possibly Watts miight fit here.

Sorry...It's Steely Dans Donald Fagen (not Walter Becker), along with Boz and McDonald et al that Freddie is currently touring with...

Anybody see the PBS show History's Detectives last night? One of the segments was about a bassist in L.A. who purchased a 1962 vintage Ampeg B-15 with the name James Jamerson stenciled on the amp. He wanted to know if it could actually have been Jamersons B-15 which it's known he used on club gigs in Detroit and some L.A sessions, but at Motown plugged direct into the board. There are plenty of pictures of Jamersons bass...but none could be found of his amp. The show travelled to Detroit and did a nice feature on just how important Jamerson was to bass...withb the bassist who bought the amp calling Jamerson the Jimi Hendrix of bass. They interviewed several prople in Detroit, along with James son, James Jr and Dennis Coffey who was close with JJ. Jamerson Jr thought the amp had too many knobs from what he remembered as a kid, but Dennis had almost identical stenciling on his amp from when he did sessions in L.A. and says the cartage company put the names on the equiptment. No definitive ultimate conclusion...but the guy who bought the amp is donating it to the Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame. Cool show though...

By the way, I heard from Marshall Crenshaw the other day...he's the guy who wrote the original obituary in Rolling Stone on Jamerson which garnered Allan Slutskys interest in Jamerson & Motown for the Standing In The Shadows Of Motown project. Marshall, who was a recording artist from Detroit (Someday Someway) and also acted in several films (played the part of Buddy Holly in La Bamba) has a radio show and he's doing a tribute to Babbitt on August 18th.

That is fucking awesome. Wow. I'd like to think that's the real thing.