Guardian readers discuss bass players

[SJA]

[url="http://blogs.guardian.co.uk/music/2008/08/will_byers_school_of_rock.html"]http://blogs.guardian.co.uk/music/2008/08/...ol_of_rock.html[/url]

[johnnylager]

[quote]So let's hear it for the sturdy ox at the back and salute those who give music some much needed backbone.[/quote]
Yeah

[yorks5stringer]

Yes, I stumbled across this earlier today but did not feel ars*d to either add to the debate or post it on here! Maybe I'm just tooo lazy.

[stingrayfan]

Nice to see the low end sensibly discussed in the mainstream press. Makes a change.

[crez5150]

Quote [i]'Well said Terry 73. Iron Maiden will never come top in a Guardian readers poll of best bands, but Steve Harris is one of the best bass players Britain has ever produced.[/i]'

HahahahahahahahahahahahaHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

[blamelouis]

[quote name='crez5150' post='271745' date='Aug 28 2008, 01:20 PM']Quote [i]'Well said Terry 73. Iron Maiden will never come top in a Guardian readers poll of best bands, but Steve Harris is one of the best bass players Britain has ever produced.[/i]'

HahahahahahahahahahahahaHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA![/quote]
His lines are a bollox to play with your right hand fingerstyle, never mind rocco !!!

[yorks5stringer]

I love the Guardian: " Channon in stable condition".....

[escholl]

"Give me a band without a decent bass player, and I'll give you a reason why they're not a good band."


+eleventy-billion

[bnt]

The article dismisses Oasis entirely, which is (I think) mostly right on the money. In the much-hyped BritPop War of 1995, I took the side of Blur against Oasis, partly because I was in London at the time, but mostly because Alex of Blur took bass more seriously. When I think of Oasis, I don't think of basslines, but there was one exception that caught me by surprise. [i]Go Let It Out[/i] was one of the between-bassist tracks where Noel Gallagher played bass himself, and he even plays a rare old Rickenbacker bass in the video:



I'm guessing they're Beatles fans... right?

Edited August 28, 2008 by bnt

[Dubs]

[quote name='bnt' post='271793' date='Aug 28 2008, 02:31 PM']The article dismisses Oasis entirely, which is (I think) mostly right on the money...[/quote]

I'd probably agree, but for the last few years Andy Bell has played some good bass lines on the more recent albums.

On the Brit-Pop thing - Blur are an alright band, but consist entirely of pretentious w***ers

On almost every show he appears, Alex James comes across as a bit of a nob IMO.

[bnt]

[quote name='benwhiteuk' post='271806' date='Aug 28 2008, 02:44 PM']On almost every show he appears, Alex James comes across as a bit of a nob IMO.[/quote]
Well, there's the problem: why's he doing all that Luvvie TV, then? I expect that TV viewers would think I was a nob if they saw me. TV's not for everyone.

[lowhand_mike]

[quote name='bnt' post='271793' date='Aug 28 2008, 02:31 PM']The article dismisses Oasis entirely, which is (I think) mostly right on the money.[/quote]
totally agree there, the most overated band of all time (IMO of course)
yeah blur has some real nice bass lines in there, not bothered about how alex comes across but how the lines come across.

[SteveK]

[quote]The article dismisses Oasis entirely, which is (I think) mostly right on the money.[/quote]
[quote]totally agree there, the most overated band of all time (IMO of course)
yeah blur has some real nice bass lines in there, not bothered about how alex comes across but how the lines come across.[/quote]
Not a fan of either band. But, at least (with my limited knowledge) with Blur I had the feeling that they were at least [b]trying[/b] to be original.
Oasis just seem to deal in clichés.

McCartney's contribution to the evolution of bass playing can't be rated highly enough...IMO, of course .


[quote]Yes, I stumbled across this earlier today but did not feel ars*d to either add to the debate or post it on here![/quote]But, you [i]could[/i] be ars*d to tell us that you [i]couldn't[/i] be ars*d

Steve

[WalMan]

I am sorely tempted to click the "Offensive" button on this one
[quote]nj16
Comment No. 1289260
August 27 10:47

ben shepherd played some intresting stuff.
there are some cool bands without bass out there - its not needed like it used to be.[/quote]

[Alastair]

[quote name='WalMan' post='271933' date='Aug 28 2008, 06:02 PM']I am sorely tempted to click the "Offensive" button on this one [/quote]
Same...unless you're talking about bass as a guitar

[yorks5stringer]

[quote name='SteveK' post='271914' date='Aug 28 2008, 05:16 PM']Not a fan of either band. But, at least (with my limited knowledge) with Blur I had the feeling that they were at least [b]trying[/b] to be original.
Oasis just seem to deal in clichés.

McCartney's contribution to the evolution of bass playing can't be rated highly enough...IMO, of course .


But, you [i]could[/i] be ars*d to tell us that you [i]couldn't[/i] be ars*d

Steve[/quote]

Fickle us bassists...?

Edited August 29, 2008 by yorks5stringer

[bassace]

For a minute I thought The Grauniad had taken over BC. Just two comments:- 1. Strange that whenever a discussion of 'who's the best bass player?' starts up, by the end everyone gets a mention including the guy down at the pub. Some appear more often than others of course. 2. No one ever considers the great contribution made by the upright players, probably because their knowledge is, er, finite? limited? tunelled? - fill in as appropriate.

This'll be dismissed as the wingeing of an old dinosour and no disrespect to the BG players, many of whom I'm in awe. But if you have a chance listen to some of the great lines and harmonies played by the likes of James Blanton, Paul Chambers, Ray Brown, Leroy Vinegar, Scott Lafaro (mispelt?) et al. They started it all.

I'll go and lie down now.

[SJA]

on these "who's the best at X" blogs you always get "I can't believe no one has mentioned Y- are you all deaf, dumb, blind and idiotic?" comments. bleh.

[Sean]

[quote name='SJA' post='272444' date='Aug 29 2008, 12:26 PM']on these "who's the best at X" blogs you always get "I can't believe no one has mentioned Y- are you all deaf, dumb, blind and idiotic?" comments. bleh.[/quote]

Tommy was three of those!

[SteveK]

[quote]For a minute I thought The Grauniad had taken over BC. Just two comments:- 1. Strange that whenever a discussion of 'who's the best bass player?' starts up, by the end everyone gets a mention including the guy down at the pub. Some appear more often than others of course. 2. No one ever considers the great contribution made by the upright players, probably because their knowledge is, er, finite? limited? tunelled? - fill in as appropriate.[/quote]
The article [i]was[/i] entitled "[b]School of rock[/b]: Who are the aces of bass?"

Guess if AC/DC had an upright bass player they would sound something like [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7mU2lJKkQ04"]THIS[/url]... Yeah, I know they use an electric bass, but you get my drift?!

Steve

[geilerbass]

[quote name='SJA' post='272444' date='Aug 29 2008, 12:26 PM']on these "who's the best at X" blogs you always get "I can't believe no one has mentioned Y- are you all deaf, dumb, blind and idiotic?" comments. bleh.[/quote]

Exactly what I was thinking. It does so wind me up. And then you get people trying to out-muso each other with their "how could everyone ignore .... " when it's someone really obscure. Such pointless discussion.

[SteveK]

[quote]Exactly what I was thinking. It does so wind me up. And then you get people trying to out-muso each other with their "how could everyone ignore .... " when it's someone really obscure. Such pointless discussion.[/quote]
Couldn't disagree more...

...I'll elaborate when I get back...got a flight to catch.

Steve