The Beach Boys are one of my very favorite bands and I'm a huge Brian Wilson fan as well. "Surfin USA"...their hit from 1963 which was ultimately co-credited to Chuck Berry due to it's similarity to Berrys "Sweet Little 16". Question is that Brian is credited with all the bass parts on the album...but I believe that was around the time he was interacting with a lot of L.A. session musicians including Carol Kaye who went on to perform on many Brian Wilson projects. I think it's a terrific bassline, and sounds perhaps a bit to clean and complex too have been played by Brian. Just wondering if it was actually Kaye on "Surfin USA"?

this list is horrible number 1 is a ripoff good times bassline and thats dubbed the greatest bassline of all time wow, and there isnt enough james jamerson on here, lets kick all those grunge, 90s prog guys off and add more jamerson.

Or how about we just kick you out?

originality, complexity, influence, and lasting appeal.

thats the criteria right

however another one bites the dust was aping good times

its not that complex

it was INFLUENCED by good times

and I am not sure if it was bigger song that good times

yet another one bites the dust is number 1 and good times is not ,interesting, can someone explain the criteria or justify that for me , I am confused.

I copied and pasted this from another thread, but this is my ideal Top 5:

1. Good Times - Chic (Bernard Edwards)
2. Thank You Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin - Sly and the Family Stone (Larry Graham)
3. Money - Pink Floyd (Roger Waters)
4. Roundabout - Yes (Chris Squire)
5. Another One Bites the Dust - Queen (John Deacon)


I'll type up my reasoning later when I'm not completely out of it.


EDIT: Here's my reasoning.

Good Times is one of those basslines that defines the song it was used in and is instantly recognizable to pretty much everyone in the Western World. It also is responsible for the rise of hip-hop. It's also relatively complex, but still simple enough to be memorable.

Thank You Falenttinme Be Mice Elf Agin is the first slap bassline, which carries very high influence on bass playing in general. It's also one of the first funk basslines in general.

Money has pretty much everything Good Times has, but without the spawning a genre thing.

Everyone else has already discussed Roundabout, so I'll STFU.

Another One Bites the Dust, again, has the memorability factor, even if it was significantly influenced by Good Times.

Shouldn't AOBtD get next to zero originality because of Good Times? I'm pretty sure it does well everywhere else, but I would think bombing a criterion so completely nullifies any chance of it deserving to be number one.

I'm all for keeping you around. You make an awful lot of sense

I would also say that the top end of this list is devoid of early-mid 60's work from where more modern basslines evolved...guys like Jamerson, Osborne, Dunn, Rainey,Bruce, etc changed the course of bass. Perhaps it comes down to the musical generation of DDD posters...but we must not forget the forefathers who created a concept of basst from virtually nothing. They were the trailblazers who made everything else possible by taking all the risks and creating basslines for the ages.

I think you have a very valid point. I'm not sure if it's on this list (haven't checked) but either way a song like "Inner City Blues (Make Me Wanna Holler)" deserves, at the very least, a reasonably high spot here.

I could agree that it would fit in somewhere in the top fifty. Although, I really don't have much grasp on which basslines are influential at all.

Inner City Blues is a good example of Jamersons influence on Babbitt with a slightly different variation on Jamersons heavily ghost noted syncopation. Babbitt plays fewer notes but plays them all more solidly. Thats why Marvin used Babbitt on so much of the What's Going On Stuff, and Norman Whitfield preferred Babbitt on a lot of the Temptations Dennis Edwards songs. Norman didn't want the bass leading the track, preferring wah wah guitars and Babbitt fit nicely into that niche.

So, what do you think about Inner City Blues being on the list?

Works for me somewhere mid list. Excellent work in a genre I greatly appreciate.

I think we need a large amount of some james jamerson basslines as well

shit the whole thing can just turn into the top 200 jamerson basslines he is like steve gadd ,catchy and complex yet audibly pleasing anyhow,

here are some of his more worthy ones

i'd cry stevie wonder

darling dear (which smokes roundabout in my opinion) by the jackson 5

love bug leave my heart alone (also smokes roundabout) by martha and the vandellas

how long has that evening train been gone (also smokes roundabout) by diana ross

my guy by mary wells

for once in my life by stevie wonder

i second that emotion by the miracles

pride and joy by marvin gaye

my cherie amor by stevie wonder

7 rooms of glooms by the four tops

I cant get next you by temptations

thats some for now , if you guys want I can tell which basslines to remove to make for those songs too.

You're near and dear to my heart with those Jamerson lines...plus I could think of several more...BUT...I try to understand my progressive friends and am sure they feel strongly in the tunes and rhythm parts which they enjoy. Other than taking the debate to Julliard or The Eastman School Of Music...I must respect their musical preferences.