100 Greatest Rock Bass Guitarists

D.J. · **Joined:** Tue Oct 12, 2010 10:33 am **Posts:** 730

Ariel wrote:

D.J. wrote:

One last thing about this, maybe Deacon and Hamm could switch and we really need more opinions about Burton's ranking, I don't see many people agreeing with it.

Reg. Burton, this is one of those rare cases where many of the opinions on this subforum actually don't seem to mesh with the general opinion. I've seen many threads on Burton on talkbass and a lot of reverence for him there. Not to mention the Bass Player mag cover story from 2005 (2006?), high ranking in the "Bassist of the Millennium" reader's poll (he was in the top 10 I think), the musicradar.com best rock bassists readers poll, etc. Granted probably 70% of the voters on these readers polls for non bass centric magazines/websites don't know shit (as evinced by Myung's embarrassing #1 spot on the musicradar poll), but still, it shows people, from the general public (readers polls) to bass players/enthusiasts (Bass Player magazine, lots of people on talkbass), think he's really something. Add to that the enormous respect and acclaim he gets from the top metal bassists since his time. And also the allmusic writeup on him which is also very complimentary. He's really a revered player and if you polled metalheads and metal bassists on the topic of great/talented metal bassists he'd be a near shoe in for #1.

Also Neg at least gets him, heh. Ssoyd's admitted his issue with him is in part a distaste for the use of bass effects, which is totally fair but a subjective thing that doesn't mean there's anything wrong with Burton.

Nice info about Burton, I'm not also a big fan of distorted bass but I can't deny Burton's greatness in the rock bass world, I was just sceptical with his so high ranking in an ALL TIME greatest rock bass players list; top 20 for such a short career seems a bit exaggerated to me, I think a spot in the 30-40 field would be more fair and comfortable to him.

PS. There's no Burton in the bassist of the millenium list...I mean this list:
http://www.johnentwistle.com/images/bass2kscans.html

Negative Creep · **Joined:** Tue Oct 12, 2010 5:21 pm **Posts:** 11816

*Reposting these for the new page*

Ariel,
I have to disagree. I really don't think Lesh takes Casady in creativity. Imo, its not even close.
Lesh has an awesome jazzy improv style that fits great with the Dead's music, but he doesn't really step out of his comfort zone too often.
That live Casady solo I posted is monstrous, far more daring and imaginative than anything I've heard from Phil.
Casady is clearly more skilled as well, and I really think he should be above Lesh, even though they should obviously be listed right next to each other.

Here's another one for Jack's creativity...

Negative Creep · **Joined:** Tue Oct 12, 2010 5:21 pm **Posts:** 11816

Ariel wrote:

I don't know Queen well enough to assess Deaky's versatility

Well I do know that Queen flirted with just about every stylistic element you could think of. Check out this resume, I included not only the different styles, but different sounds and techniques as well:

Metal/hard rock (Gimme The Prize, Dead On Time, Let Me Entertain You, etc.)
R&B (Cool Cat, One Year Of Love)
Jazz (My Melancholy Blues)
Pop (My Best Friend)
Vaudeville (Lazing On A Suday Afternoon)
Middle Eastern melodies (Mustapha, Innuendo)
Long epics (The Prophet's Song, Bo Rhap)
Short anthems (We Will Rock You/WatC)
Blues Rock (See What A Fool I've Been, Sleeping On The Sidewalk)
60's British Invasion style (Funny How Love Is)
Folk (The Night Comes Down)
Symphonic/orchestrated power ballads (Who Wants To Live Forever)

Plus there's a ton of other weird things that can't even be categorized, like All God's People, March Of The Black Queen, etc.
Now, I'm not sure how much Deacon changed his style around to fit all of those, but it's definitely worth looking into.
Queen were absolutely fearless when it comes to experimenting with different styles and sounds. They might even surpass the Beatles in this area, imo...

D.J. · **Joined:** Tue Oct 12, 2010 10:33 am **Posts:** 730

I'm not sure if versatility is referred to the instrumental variety more than the different music styles.

SanTropez · **Posted:** Mon May 14, 2012 9:07 am

StuBass wrote:

while Lesh turned what could have been boring into interesting interpretations... especially those "deadheads" who needed a significant bottom end throb to free the hallucinegenic impulses beating on their brain.

What the hell, come on...

SanTropez · **Posted:** Mon May 14, 2012 9:11 am

Ssoyd wrote:

Lesh was born to be a Jazz player but instead got sidetracked into Rock.

Actually, Lesh was an accomplished violin player trained in classical composition before he joined the band. When he joined, he had never even played bass before.

Negative Creep · **Joined:** Tue Oct 12, 2010 5:21 pm **Posts:** 11816

So he learned as he went along...that's pretty amazing.

The bass in that version of Dark Star from 71 is just.....impeccable. A 23 minute jam, and it just never gets boring, despite being slow and 'atmospheric'. Incredible stuff.

But I still think Casady is better/greater. :biggrin:

SanTropez · **Posted:** Mon May 14, 2012 9:43 am

I just got recommended this version of "The Other One" for exceptional bass playing:

http://archive.org/details/gd1972-08-22 ... 27780.shnf

Track 17

Negative Creep · **Joined:** Tue Oct 12, 2010 5:21 pm **Posts:** 11816

SanTropez wrote:

I just got recommended this version of "The Other One" for exceptional bass playing:

http://archive.org/details/gd1972-08-22 ... 27780.shnf

Track 17

God DAMN he's so smooth. Jazzy and melodic, he just never runs out of ideas and great basslines.
That solo at 15:25 on "The Other One" was just awesome.

I think Ariel will love these.

*Edit - why did you delete the second performance? That first 5 minutes was just great.*

SanTropez · **Posted:** Mon May 14, 2012 10:59 am

Negative Creep wrote:

SanTropez wrote:

I just got recommended this version of "The Other One" for exceptional bass playing:

http://archive.org/details/gd1972-08-22 ... 27780.shnf

Track 17

God DAMN he's so smooth. Jazzy and melodic, he just never runs out of ideas and great basslines.
That solo at 15:25 on "The Other One" was just awesome.

I think Ariel will love these.

*Edit - why did you delete the second performance? That first 5 minutes was just great.*

Haha, the first few minutes are spectacular, but the end devolves into some less than stellar vocals that might turn some people off. I figured I better hold off on that kind of stuff for newbies.

Sampson · **Joined:** Thu Oct 14, 2010 2:35 pm **Posts:** 969

For Duck. R.I.P.

Nick · **Posted:** Mon May 14, 2012 11:21 am

RIP indeed, great vid, Sampson!

Negative Creep · **Joined:** Tue Oct 12, 2010 5:21 pm **Posts:** 11816

Yeah that was pretty sweet.
Seems like interracial bands, in rock music anyway, are usually some of the most awesome musicians around: Santana, Sly Stone, Chicago, Paul Butterfield Blues Band, Mahavishnu Orchestra...so many great ones.

StuBass · **Joined:** Mon Oct 11, 2010 7:06 pm **Posts:** 794

SanTropez wrote:

StuBass wrote:

while Lesh turned what could have been boring into interesting interpretations... especially those "deadheads" who needed a significant bottom end throb to free the hallucinegenic impulses beating on their brain.

What the hell, come on...

What I submitted...admittedly a bit tongue in cheek, appears to ring quite true based on the narrative contained within your avitar profile LOL.

SanTropez · **Posted:** Mon May 14, 2012 12:30 pm

StuBass wrote:

SanTropez wrote:

StuBass wrote:

while Lesh turned what could have been boring into interesting interpretations... especially those "deadheads" who needed a significant bottom end throb to free the hallucinegenic impulses beating on their brain.

What the hell, come on...

What I submitted...admittedly a bit tongue in cheek, appears to ring quite true based on the narrative contained within your avitar profile LOL.

It's a funny quote from Dreww. I've never said anything like that. I can see why you'd misinterprate it though.

Still, it doesn't mean what you said wasn't ignorant, tongue in cheek or not.

edit: although you may have inspired me to remove it, as the period for recognizing the quote is long over.

100 Greatest Rock Bass Guitarists

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