100 Greatest Rock Bass Guitarists

Ariel · **Joined:** Sun Oct 10, 2010 12:19 am **Posts:** 1392

Oh and you guys want an underrated/unfairly obscure classic rock era band?

http://www.myspace.com/seventyfivemusic/

D.J. · **Joined:** Tue Oct 12, 2010 10:33 am **Posts:** 718

Ariel wrote:

D.J. wrote:

Ariel, what's wrong with Deacon at 18/19? we are talking about one of the greatest bassline creators and a wonderful bassist indeed while his playing in an enourmos band like Queen give him a lot of influence too.
About Lesh vs Casady I tend to prefer Jack's work and playing, in terms of greatness they are really close though but again I don't think they are greater of the likes of Deacon or Harris (I'm still not sure about Hamm too).

Deacon doesn't have enough influence on his own, or innovation quite, despite his out of this world creativity and very respectable versatility. Lesh and Casady are both more innovative and influential, and both are also very creative. They're also both more important as individuals in the history of rock bass.

I suspect I'll put Lesh one spot before Casady as a temporary thing pending learning more about the two, if only because I suspect the Dead's much bigger listenership and reach/popularity than the Airplane probably means more influence for Phil (but I could be totally wrong)

FWIW if this were a talent/creativity list Deacon would be top 10 in rock.

I'm sorry Ariel but what made Lesh and Casady more innovative, influential and important in the history of rock bass of Deacon? Deacon's body of work could easily contain easily five or more great basslines in the top 50 rock greatest basslines ever, he's famous for his walking bass lines, his fast bass runs and and quick note changes which made his style playing so unique and recognizable.
Anyway I totally agree about the talent and creativity thing.

D.J. · **Joined:** Tue Oct 12, 2010 10:33 am **Posts:** 718

Any news about Saunders and Flowers embracing the top 100?

D.J. · **Joined:** Tue Oct 12, 2010 10:33 am **Posts:** 718

Ariel wrote:

D.J. wrote:

Negative Creep wrote:

Stu, I agree on James Brown.
There's an episode of The Cosby Show where Cliff puts on a live version of "I Got The Feeling".....and man the bass on there is just SMOKIN'! The groove he had going on was just indescribably fucking killer.
The only problem is I don't know who it was.... :oops:

Haha I remember that episode!

Haha you Brits watched the Cosby show too?

And man that's some smokin' bass indeed, word. I'm glad you mentioned this stuff Neg, first time I"ve really paid attention to Odum, man he's groovy, my my

I'm from Italy and the Cosby Show is still very popular on here.

Ssoyd · **Joined:** Sun Oct 17, 2010 3:06 pm **Posts:** 373

Negative Creep wrote:

Argus needs no explanation at all. I got the album years ago and have been hooked ever since.
The first two albums are damn near as good, especially the self-titled debut.

There's also Paul Newton, the original bassist for Uriah Heep:

Yes I was a big Heep fan but the late Gary Thain was IMO by far their best bassist with a style derived IMO from the great Tim Bogert. A few months ago I suggested he be considered for the list. Sure his death cut his career short but it doesn't stop Clifford Burton from being on the list and Thain was a whole order better bass player than Burton.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EP_y2ZG_gM4&feature=fvst

Ssoyd · **Joined:** Sun Oct 17, 2010 3:06 pm **Posts:** 373

Ariel wrote:

That's all for now, but I'd be happy to post more if anyone wants. Cheers. PS Burton's playing was also consistently incredibly expressive, rich and imaginative in Metallica's more 'normal' songs too (see Sanitarium, Fade to Black, Battery, Master of Puppets, The Four Horsemen for evidence!) Cheers

I'm sorry but I'm just not impressed. Use of distortion and effects cannot hide the fact that his bass playing was IMO good certainly but not exceptional. Maybe it's a matter of taste as I'm not into bass effects. IMO another bass player who died prematurely, Gary Thain of Uriah Heep, was a much better player. He let his playing and not electronics do the talking and deserves a spot on the list.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EP_y2ZG_gM4&feature=fvst
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vpA5XK2CQWE&feature=fvsr
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jhdIkhEq ... re=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fqLh3Ocw ... re=related

Negative Creep · **Joined:** Tue Oct 12, 2010 5:21 pm **Posts:** 11679

Ariel wrote:

Exhibit C: Orion (bass track boosted)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V4mb_BnKP1A

Oh man that was GREAT! I totally understand what you mean about these "remastered versions", it's so nice to be able to hear what Cliff was really doing. That is just some great melodic playing, and proof that he didn't always need the effects to sound good.
I also loved how Lars' bass drums were louder as well.

Ariel wrote:

And man that's some smokin' bass indeed, word. I'm glad you mentioned this stuff Neg, first time I"ve really paid attention to Odum, man he's groovy, my my

Yeah, Odum is a master of groove/rhythm. No doubt about it. I love that shit.
I agree on the drummer too, that's Clyde Stubblefield. I'd reckon he'd be a shoe-in for top 50 on the drummers thread.

Ariel wrote:

Haha go figure, just heard In A Gadda Da Vida earlier tonight on Pandora and went word this a creative bassist, wow. Between that and this one you're posting, gonna add him to the 'possibles' list next time I post it, word. Nice find

Gotta respect your encyclopedic knowledge & love of heavy psychedelia lol Neg...and my is that Iron Butterfly theme amazing, wow. First album?

Thanks for the compliment brah. Yeah it's true, 'heavy psych'/'heavy prog' are certainly among my favorite styles of music in the world.
Glad you dug Iron Butterfly Theme....I've always thought that was the first real song that could be considered metal, I mean it sounds like Sabbath but it's two years before Sabbath's debut! So dark and unsettling, the guitar sounds like it's coming straight from the bowels of hell...I love this shit! And yeah it's their first album, aptly titled "Heavy".
HOWEVER, I forgot to mention that those are two different bassists. The bassist on "Heavy" was Jerry Penrod. The bassist on the "In A Gadda Da Vida" album is Lee Dorman. But both are amazing and sound so similar.

Ariel wrote:

Ahahahahahaha

hahahahahahahahahahhaah

This is ONE POST after you declared Steve this one of a kind creative genius hahahaha

I said he was unique, not necessarily creative. He's very distinct. I do think he has some creativity, but that Hamm performance really amazed me.

Negative Creep · **Joined:** Tue Oct 12, 2010 5:21 pm **Posts:** 11679

Ssoyd wrote:

Negative Creep wrote:

Argus needs no explanation at all. I got the album years ago and have been hooked ever since.
The first two albums are damn near as good, especially the self-titled debut.

There's also Paul Newton, the original bassist for Uriah Heep:

Yes I was a big Heep fan but the late Gary Thain was IMO by far their best bassist with a style derived IMO from the great Tim Bogert. A few months ago I suggested he be considered for the list. Sure his death cut his career short but it doesn't stop Clifford Burton from being on the list and Thain was a whole order better bass player than Burton.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EP_y2ZG_gM4&feature=fvst

Oh yes I know Thain and Heep very very well. I was, and still am, absolutely IN LOVE with those first five albums.
Members of Heep have said that Gary was the most talented musician in the band (though Byron was one incredible singer), and he does have a lot of great performances with them.

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

Quote:

Actually this is the first time I've heard any of this! Awesome, really awesome stuff though, probably the best of your stories so far (aside from seeing Jamerson in a club that is!). Man you ran into some cool people back in the day, Jamerson, Newton, the Pistons, word.

Did the demo tape ever get done acceptably? Lol[/quote]

Stu says...
Haha...actually yes. I was hired as morning news anchor at KMEN-KGGI in San Bernardino (Inland Empire). I stayed there for about a year until I got tired of relatively low wages and wanted to return to the Los Angeles area, which I did. Our FM KGGI 99.1 was the hottest station in the market and we used to kick Rick Dees ass regularly in the ratings with a double digit market share.

KeithMoonIsGod · **Posted:** Fri May 04, 2012 2:45 pm

Ariel wrote:

Impressed by Thomas Miller at this point, thanks for posting/mentioning noteworthy bass songs. How does Lepond compare?

Lepond's pretty great too but not as great as Miller.
Domination is a great performance:

Yngtchie Blacksteen · **Posted:** Fri May 04, 2012 7:08 pm

I'd say that LePond is just as capable as Miller was, the main difference is that Miller would be more upfront with his playing, flashier so to speak.

Ssoyd · **Joined:** Sun Oct 17, 2010 3:06 pm **Posts:** 373

Negative Creep wrote:

Oh yes I know Thain and Heep very very well. I was, and still am, absolutely IN LOVE with those first five albums.
Members of Heep have said that Gary was the most talented musician in the band (though Byron was one incredible singer), and he does have a lot of great performances with them.

Great another person who appreciates Heep. Here's another live recording of Heep I discovered from a concert in Thain's native New Zealand.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aiSGLdCo ... re=related

Heep is under appreciated because they got lost in the shuffle with all the great Hard Rock/Metal bands that were around back then. I saw so many great bands live in the 70's that I barely remember them all but 3 concerts stand out as the best, Uriah Heep in 1973, Deep Purple around 1972 and Jethro Tull in 1973.

Ssoyd · **Joined:** Sun Oct 17, 2010 3:06 pm **Posts:** 373

More Uriah Heep with great Bass by Gary Thain. Tell me he doesn't deserve a spot in the top 50 at least.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xqszsnt2FTU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TLCq9X1j ... =fvwp&NR=1

I'm sick of lesser players being recognized while Thain is ignored. The same is true of Heep, one of the best bands of the 70's.

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

Lloyd Brevett passed away Thursday at the age of 80. Brevett was a founding member of the Skatalites and is considered the Godfather of Jamaican bassists and Jamaican music in general...comparable to Louis Armstrongs influence on American Jazz. He has received numerous awards and honors in his native country. He was Phil Chens early primary influence.

D.J. · **Joined:** Tue Oct 12, 2010 10:33 am **Posts:** 718

Ssoyd wrote:

More Uriah Heep with great Bass by Gary Thain. Tell me he doesn't deserve a spot in the top 50 at least.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xqszsnt2FTU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TLCq9X1j ... =fvwp&NR=1

I'm sick of lesser players being recognized while Thain is ignored. The same is true of Heep, one of the best bands of the 70's.

I agree and I think the drummer Lee Kerslake is very underrated as well.

100 Greatest Rock Bass Guitarists

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