Jump to content
Why become a member? ×

Best Bass Players of the 70's


Born 2B Mild
 Share

Recommended Posts

[quote name='OldGit' post='156391' date='Mar 12 2008, 11:05 PM']ha ha I'll tell Burke next time I see him. He'll be tickled I think :)[/quote]

Please do! :huh:

I loved basss players that really kicked along the song with great lines and took a leading role (Andy Fraser made the list for the only bass solo I've ever heard that really works on a purely musical level). I spent many, many hours trying to work out his bass lines when I started out. Great pass player IMO, and sadly overlooked.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I almost forgot the one 70's bass player that had me glued to the telly whenever top of the pops was on. Drove the music along at a thumping pace and ROCKED!!! Looked fantastic in her leather jumpsuit too. - Suzi Quattro of course (and still rocking).

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Chris Squire - Yes
Geddy Lee - Rush
John Entwistle - The Who
Jaco Pastorius - Weather Report
Jim Fielder - Blood, Sweat & Tears

The only non-obvious choice out of that 5, or the choice that may need some qualification might be Jim Fielder.

To explain, try to get a listen to Lucretia MacEvil & Spinning Wheel, for example. I can't find any streaming version of either song. There are Youtube clips of both, but it looks like Jim isn't playing on them - they're modern clips.

Trust me when I say that Blood, Sweat & Tears are very much worth checking out for great bass playing and, IMO, just great jazzy-rock sounds.

Mark

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Where are all the jazzers??

Electric

1. Steve Swallow - electric bass innovation with Gary Burton and others
2. Percy Jones - Jaco wrote the book, Jones tore it up and started again
3. Anthony Jackson - 'For The Love Of Money' quietly introduced some new sounds to the instrument
4. Mark Egan - not the greatest player ever but a clear voice on early Pat Metheny Group LPs
5. Alphonso Johnson - grooves just as hard as Jaco and often overlooked.

Acoustic

1. Marc Johnson - earliest recordings with Bill Evans in 1978. One of the best sounds in bass history if my ears are worth anything
2. Dave Holland - 1972's 'Conference Of The Birds' was, in my view, seminal
3. Stanley Clarke - 1972's Light As A Feather gave us at least 3 jazz standards if not 6/6 and all this before he started slapping
4. Ron Carter - a great decade for him even if the media wasn't looking
5. Eddie Gomez - got a Grammy for Chick Corea's 'Friends' in 1979.

Edited by bilbo230763
Link to comment
Share on other sites

A few guys who I saw and listened to, really made a difference to bass playing in the seventies ,in uk.

Felix Krish .............SFX/bad company
John Mackenzie.............. Morrisey mullen etc
John reed .............. SOX
Alan Spenner ......... Kokomo /grease band
Percy Jones
glen hughes ................... Trapeze

Edited by jhk
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Really pleased to see Jim Lea get several mentions as without Slade entering in to my teenage life I don't know where my musical direction would have gone.

Always remember the story ( after they had fallen from favour ) when they turned up as a late replacement at Reading to play low down the bill carrying their own guitars from the car park and went on to win over the sceptical rock audience and blew all the "top" bands of the day of the stage.

Anybody there that day ??

Link to comment
Share on other sites

[quote name='tonybassplayer' post='157687' date='Mar 14 2008, 08:10 PM']Really pleased to see Jim Lea get several mentions as without Slade entering in to my teenage life I don't know where my musical direction would have gone.

Always remember the story ( after they had fallen from favour ) when they turned up as a late replacement at Reading to play low down the bill carrying their own guitars from the car park and went on to win over the sceptical rock audience and blew all the "top" bands of the day of the stage.

Anybody there that day ??[/quote]

I was at that one! I remember everyone expecting them to be bottled off stage - instead they went down really, really well. That gig was probably responsible for their 80's comeback.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

[quote name='Treeb' post='158621' date='Mar 16 2008, 09:44 PM']Martin Turner (Wishbone Ash)[/quote]

Oh yes!

Can't imagine life without playing Argus through loud once every 2 months (going to see the Ash live)
Brilliant bass, fab vocals and most excellent guitar.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Here's mine (the order changes daily):

1. Russell Jackson (BB King)
2. Joseph "Lucky" Scott (Curtis Mayfield)
3. Lequient "Duke" Jobe (Rose Royce)
4. Aston "Family Man" Barrett (Bob Marley)
5. Willie Weeks (Donny Hathaway)

And of course, Mr James Jamerson, who was still recording some good stuff in this decade. He goes without saying, in my opinion.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Just thought, what about "Twang" from Animal Kwackers? Rory the Lion was one scary blue dude.

I was a bit young for this, but my older brother had a record they'd done and I seem to remember playing it non-stop and then scribbling all over it in pen. Anyway, enough about last year :)

In case I get done for copyright, I borrowed the picture from this site : [url="http://www.thechestnut.com/kwackers.htm"]http://www.thechestnut.com/kwackers.htm[/url]

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I really like Jerry Jemmott but my favorite work of his is from the 1969 BB King album "Completely Well".

so my punt is

John Entwhistle
Willie Weeks (check "Young Americans")
Stanley Clarke ("School Days" is still the sh*t)
Chuck Rainey for both Aretha and Steely Dan
and Anthony Jackson 'cos he always sounds great...be it Steely Dan, Chaka Khan, Al de Meola, Paul Simon etc.

there is a lot more I'd like to add but if 5 is the number...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Restore formatting

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

 Share

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...