I picked JP Jones, but Geddy was a close 2nd. We know bass players aren't as exciting as guitarists and drummers, but bass players help lay down the foundation. Where would we be without 'em?
I voted for Steve Harris (because I missed the option for "other").
My favorite bass player, though, is Scott Shiflett from a punk/rock band called Face to Face, who I doubt anyone here has heard of (his brother, Chris, plays guitar for Foo Fighters, and they have a band together called Jackson United). His playing style is very influential to my own, though I can't touch him in terms of talent. Holds down the melody rock solid, with lots of perfectly placed fills (his live adlibbing was amazing to watch).
Surprised Lemmy and Geezer weren't included on the list.
John Entwistle was the one I selected. I also like Grand Funk's bassist Mel Schacher. A couple I like that don't get the publicity are Dave Ranson from Sonny Landreth's band and Yoshihiro Ogasahara from the Band Bluestone Co., a band Chris Duarte has toured and recorded with.
Call me crazy, but I think Wolfgang Van Halen is gonna be a great bassist in the not too distant future.
"My opinions and feelings are mine and shall not be influenced by anyone....especially liberals."
James Lee Jamerson (January 29, 1936 - August 2, 1983) was an American bassist. He was the uncredited bassist on most of Motown Records' hits in the 1960s and early 1970s (Motown did not list session musician credits on their releases until 1971), and he has become regarded as one of the most influential bass players in modern music history. He was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2000.
Jamerson is noted for expanding the role of the bass in popular music, which until that time largely consisted of root notes, fifths and simple repetitive patterns. By contrast, many of Jamerson's bass lines for Motown were more melodic, more syncopated, and more improvisational than had been heard before. His bass playing was considered an integral part of the "Motown Sound". He transcended the standard "bass line" and created a duet with the singer. Prominent bassists who have claimed Jamerson as a primary influence include James Brown's Bernard Odum, Rick Danko, Anthony Jackson, Jack Bruce, John Entwistle, Bernard Edwards, Jason Newsted, Jaco Pastorius, John Patitucci, John Paul Jones, Robert DeLeo, Mike Watt, Billy Sheehan, Geddy Lee, Victor Wooten, Paul McCartney and Matt Rubano.
Entwistle is the benchmark that all others wish to be compared to.
There will be no playoffs. Can’t play with who we have out there and compounding it with garbage playcalling and worse execution. We don’t have good skill players on offense period. Browns 20 - Bears 17.
John Entwhistle by far. He took the electric bass to the level it is today. By copying him, and to a lesser extent Mel Shacher, Geddy Lee and Chris Squire.... I was able to get quite good. I have Entwhistle's autograph on my bass. We caught him at a solo show at Harpo's in Detroit, and were able to BS with him after the show out by his bus. He's more talkative than you'd think. That was a good selection you put together. The only others I'd put on there would be Jaco Pastorious (RIP) and Stanley Clarke. Is McCartney on there?
And into the forest I go, to lose my mind and find my soul. - John Muir
Quote: The only others I'd put on there would be Jaco Pastorious (RIP) and Stanley Clarke. Is McCartney on there?
Never thought of Jaco and Clarke as "true" rock bassists (yeah I know... "whatever that means"). I have a book on Jaco's life and heard some of his stuff. He was unreal in many senses of the word. Hell if Jaco was a rock bassist, there wouldn't be a need for this poll. Also, never considered McCartney a top-shelf player, but obviously that's JMHO. Oh and BTW to you and others: hadn't heard of Les Claypool until this thread.
Having playing bass on and off since 1990...I always liked Terry "Geezer" Butler of Black Sabbath. Too bad he gets overshadowed by Jonsey and Enthwistle. His work on the 1st 3 Sab albums is really rounds out their sound. Planet Caravan, NIB,Faires Wear Boots....great examples...... I like Gene Simmons early stuff with KISS pre Love Gun.
Quote: John Entwistle was the one I selected. I also like Grand Funk's bassist Mel Schacher. A couple I like that don't get the publicity are Dave Ranson from Sonny Landreth's band and Yoshihiro Ogasahara from the Band Bluestone Co., a band Chris Duarte has toured and recorded with.
Call me crazy, but I think Wolfgang Van Halen is gonna be a great bassist in the not too distant future.
You just said that to see if I'd chime in on Grand Funk,...didn'tcha ?
I "voted" for Geddy, but always liked Mel. Plus, being a drummer, you have got to be in-line with your bass player,...
None of you would know my real favorite, a guy I served with in Barstow back in '88. As a young horn player growing up in The Windy City, Milton could play ANYTHING, and was one of the last few auditionists to fail the cut in 1967 when CHICAGO was putting itself together, so he joined The Corps and went to Vietnam....great story. We used to jam together in the old Base Theatre. We called it "making noise." He plays in the New Orleans Symphonic Band now. Miss hanging it out with him. Was even a better Marine.
Jones and Entwistle had a lot to do with "making" their drummers too. That's one of the things that keeps them top of the list,...the guy from Deep Purple too,...Roger Glover.
Some gals are goupies for drummers or singers or guitarists...give me a bassist anyday (good thing my hubby, when he played was a bassist)
Wanna come over and see my Fender P-Bass??
KING
Don't do it, Babe. I heard it's more like a ukulele.
Hey,its not the size of the bass,its how you play with it
KING
Oh geez! LOL!
Asked the hubs who he thought was the best bassist. He said Sting, when he played bass for The Police. Not only did he play long-neck, he played fretless. I had forgotten that.
Quote: Having playing bass on and off since 1990...I always liked Terry "Geezer" Butler of Black Sabbath. Too bad he gets overshadowed by Jonsey and Enthwistle. His work on the 1st 3 Sab albums is really rounds out their sound. Planet Caravan, NIB,Faires Wear Boots....great examples...... I like Gene Simmons early stuff with KISS pre Love Gun.
I have always been a big fan of Geezer Butler, growing up as a huge Sabbath fan. He not only played a mean bass guitar, he wrote a lot of the lyics on most of those early Sabbath albums, a very kind person as well.
Greg Lake was always one of the best ......ELP was a great band and Lake had great vocals!
Jake Bruce of Cream was always a good bass player who played with Clapton and Ginger Baker in the days!
I voted for Greg Lake ..... mainly because I figured that most people would have no clue who Eemerson Lake and Palmer were .... or just how strange they were.
Micah 6:8; He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God.
John 14:19 Jesus said: Because I live, you also will live.
McCartney is my choice. If you listen to alot of the Beatles early stuff, his walking basslines are exquisite. His bass playing and Ringo's drumming (yes Ringo), are what made their early stuff so much better than their contemporaries. He could "walk" with the best of them. You can take Lennon's ridiculously hard rhythm part out of "All My Loving" and it still drives because of McCartney and Starr.
I'm probably biased as a Beatles fan, but as they say about opinions...
I agree about McCartney. You really have to look at the era and the groundbreaking done with the electric bass. I really think Entwhistle was the best of that era.
And into the forest I go, to lose my mind and find my soul. - John Muir
McCartney is my choice. If you listen to alot of the Beatles early stuff, his walking basslines are exquisite. His bass playing and Ringo's drumming (yes Ringo), are what made their early stuff so much better than their contemporaries. He could "walk" with the best of them. You can take Lennon's ridiculously hard rhythm part out of "All My Loving" and it still drives because of McCartney and Starr.
I'm probably biased as a Beatles fan, but as they say about opinions...
If you insist on this "best ever" to be a fully well-rounded lyricist and writer, then it would be hard to argue against Mac.
I say McCartney as well. It's hard to sing a melody line while playing a bass line, even if his bass line did follow the melody to a degree......but he is under rated as a bass player....."Something" is a tune with a great bass line.
If everybody had like minds, we would never learn.
When I first started playing bass I started with their early stuff. When I play guitar of any type I like to sing while playing. Their early stuff is fun to sing/play.
Playing the bassline to "All My Loving" was the first song I did on bass. That song for all it's "Poppiness" is deceptively hard. I challenge any guitarist to play Lennon's rhythm part as cleanly as he did.
Quote: John Entwhistle by far. He took the electric bass to the level it is today. By copying him, and to a lesser extent Mel Shacher, Geddy Lee and Chris Squire.... I was able to get quite good. I have Entwhistle's autograph on my bass. We caught him at a solo show at Harpo's in Detroit, and were able to BS with him after the show out by his bus. He's more talkative than you'd think. That was a good selection you put together. The only others I'd put on there would be Jaco Pastorious (RIP) and Stanley Clarke. Is McCartney on there?
Agree 100% with this. "The Ox", IMHO, should be the Gold Standard by which all others are judged.
I also met Entwistle also at a small bar in C-town. (Can't remember the name of the place) He was playing pubs with his solo band (The John Entwistle Band) on his "Left for Dead" tour. (Wasn't long after he was dead.) He signed my Quadrophenia LP cover. I got a couple of good pics during his sound check for that gig.
“Unemployment is low because everyone has two jobs. Unemployment is low because people are working 60, 70, 80 hours a week and can barely feed their family.” -AOC
Pete Quaife, a founding member of British Invasion icons the Kinks who played bass and sang vocals for the group from 1963-1969 and appeared on their classic albums Something Else By The Kinks and The Kinks Are the Village Green Preservation Society, has passed away at the age of 66, after a decade-long struggle with kidney problems. Quaife appeared on the band’s early hits, including “You Really Got Me,” “All Day and All of the Night,” “Waterloo Sunset” and “Dedicated Follower of Fashion,” but reportedly left the group after clashing with childhood friends turned bandmates Ray and Dave Davies; he was replaced by bassist John Dalton (who himself was later replaced by Jim Rodford, in 1978). Quaife went on to form the country-folk outfit Mapleoak, which failed to replicate the Kinks’ success, and ultimately earned his living as a graphic artist in Canada. He did, however, return to perform with the Kinks at their induction in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1990. Watch him bash out the proto-garage classic “All Day and All of the Night” in a 1965 television performance, after the jump:
by Leah Greenblatt
If everybody had like minds, we would never learn.
but bass players help lay down the foundation. Where would we be without 'em? 
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