Why the hate?

[SpondonBassed]

[quote name='Geek99' timestamp='1470908450' post='3109248']
I must be (almost) alone in not hating [i]any [/i]bass player really.
[/quote]

Nope. Some I don't "get" but I can learn from anyone.

I'm quite sure that there is a large silent part of the membership that agree with you. The title of this thread uses the word "hate" but like a lot of words its meaning had been devalued by overuse in teen chatter.

[Coilte]

[quote name='Geek99' timestamp='1470908450' post='3109248']

Would they have liked it more if I had woven some intricate pattern of harmonics around the simple tunes? I suspect not.[/quote]

I agree with your sentiments on Jaco and Wooton. Neither light my candle either. However, they can groove when the song requires it.

[EssentialTension]

[quote name='blue' timestamp='1470771242' post='3108371']
No hate, however when your my age, these guys are not relevant to me. The guys I like and have influenced, me cone out of the 60s & 70s.

Blue
[/quote]

It's got nothing to do with your age.

If you want to say somethign about your own very narrow grasp of music and its history then that's fair enough. Own it for yourself.

But I'm in the same age group as you (I'm 64) but have totally different attitudes to music. So don't blame your narrow mindedness on your age group.

[EssentialTension]

[quote name='Big_Stu' timestamp='1470862253' post='3109080']
...
What tickles me is I know a handful of fully pro players and had extended conversations with a few others and I've never once heard anyone of any note say anything derogatory about a fellow pro. There must be some kind of glass ceiling that you get through where you just live and let live.
[/quote]

Old story about saxophonist Charlie Parker which i recall reading ...

Apparently he took a bandmate out for a drink. They went to a bar where a band was playing; Parker saying to the other guy 'You gotta see this band, I've heard them a few times now'.

In the bar, Parker's friend says 'Charlie, they are awful'.

Parker says, 'Yes, but they've really improved, you should have seen them last week, they keep getting better'.

[funkgod]

Alot of snobbery goin on,
even with the thought that players who play single note lines are pants.
shame on yall...

The bottom line is this,.......
as players you, me, them, everybody, everybody here gets better, its easy to see/hear the simplicity of players/ bass lines
and say "they are not very good".
think about for a min ! ! !
compared to who?

yep, your getting there.......yourself....
Your opinion

as you was starting out did you not learn those lines also ? inspired ?
so made up when you had learnt them ?
those simlpe lines are what helped you, me, them, everybody.... EVERYBODY......want to play.
And they sound great.
could you imagine........
Dakota.. phonics
everybody want to rule the world...tears 4 fears
somewhere in my heart... aztec camera
New sensation...

With out them ? great to play aren't they ?
and i would trade places with any of them if i could of had gigs like them.

Edited August 11, 2016 by funkgod

[funkgod]

[quote name='EssentialTension' timestamp='1470911656' post='3109279']
Old story about saxophonist Charlie Parker which i recall reading ...

Apparently he took a bandmate out for a drink. They went to a bar where a band was playing; Parker saying to the other guy 'You gotta see this band, I've heard them a few times now'.

In the bar, Parker's friend says 'Charlie, they are awful'.

Parker says, 'Yes, but they've really improved, you should have seen them last week, they keep getting better'.
[/quote]

Thats great...... the whole thing in a nutshell

[EssentialTension]

[quote name='barneyg42' timestamp='1470733482' post='3107943']
Adam Clayton.........apparently talentless?

[/quote]

Not so talentless that he couldn't hold down the job for close on forty years.

[quote name='barneyg42' timestamp='1470733482' post='3107943']
Mark King.......sounds like a bag of spanners?

[/quote]

Not my cup of tea but the idea that he is no more talented than a bag of spanners is ridiculous.

[quote name='barneyg42' timestamp='1470733482' post='3107943']
Matt Bellamy......nods his head funny!!

[/quote]

Is that the highly talented guitarist etc from Muse?

[barneyg42]

[quote name='EssentialTension' timestamp='1470915749' post='3109317']


Not so talentless that he couldn't hold down the job for close on forty years.



Not my cup of tea but the idea that he is no more talented than a bag of spanners is ridiculous.



Is that the highly talented guitarist etc from Muse?
[/quote]

My mistake.......I meant bassist Chris Wolstenholme......I read comments such as, he's an ok bass player but I hate the way he nods his head. Personally I think he's an excellent player and I don't see how he looks should influence my opinion. No I don't have links, these are comments I've noticed over the years, Clayton in particular seems to extract the ire from a lot of people, personally I think it's petty jealousy! As I read the tinterweb Bono wrote the lyrics and U2 the music, therefore it seems he (Clayton) has been involved in writing some of the biggest single and album hits over the past 3-4 decades! So many one note 8 to a bar players in famous bands and he gets it in the neck most on here.............strange!

Edited August 11, 2016 by barneyg42

[martthebass]

My mother, a down to Earth Yorkshire lass, used to say ' everyone has talents and abilities, in some it is more apparent than others, in no-one is it buried so deep that it can't be coaxed out with gentile persuasion'.

[EssentialTension]

[quote name='barneyg42' timestamp='1470917962' post='3109327']

... the way he nods his head ...

[/quote]

An audience member once said to me: 'I like the way you nod your head. Have you considered joining a reggae band?'

[EssentialTension]

... and on another occasion: 'You're not really tall enough to play bass'.

[I am 5' 10", if that even matters.]

Edited August 11, 2016 by EssentialTension

[blue]

[quote name='BigRedX' timestamp='1470899131' post='3109175']


So why do you seem to be so belligerently uninterested in musicians who weren't creating music when you were growing up?
[/quote]

I look at the bass heroes of my generation as the masters. I'm still studying mist of them.

There are some fantastic new guys, I just don't have the time or like you say the interest.

To be honest I don't know why I have little interest in them.I t might be that I'm not hearing anything that sounds new.

Blue

[blue]

[quote name='EssentialTension' timestamp='1470911175' post='3109276']


It's got nothing to do with your age.

If you want to say somethign about your own very narrow grasp of music and its history then that's fair enough. Own it for yourself.

But I'm in the same age group as you (I'm 64) but have totally different attitudes to music. So don't blame your narrow mindedness on your age group.
[/quote]

Probably nothing to blame on my age group, but more me and my age.

I'm constantly learning new things that are helping improve my stage performance.

I guess we're all different and doing different things with music.

Blue

[JTUK]

[quote name='blue' timestamp='1470929906' post='3109434']
I look at the bass heroes of my generation as the masters. I'm still studying mist of them.

There are some fantastic new guys, I just don't have the time or like you say the interest.

[b]To be honest I don't know why I have little interest in them.I t might be that I'm not hearing anything that sounds new.[/b]

Blue
[/quote]

The bass is moving on at a frightening pace, IMO... guys who were vanguard 30 yrs ago probably can't keep up. That is not to say those guys don't still have valid and great careers but there are loads of new things of interest.
Strangely, ..considering another thread, one of the most timeless, IMO, is Jaco. That to me marks a true giant or great.

I'd add Larry Graham to that as well... he still sounds as funky as f*** and you just can't ignore him. IMO, of course.
And no, by today's standards, they aren't that technical, but what they have went beyond that anyway. Both DEFINED a style, I'd say.

[skankdelvar]

It is strange that so much narrow-minded belligerence is directed at Blue simply because he has a more selective date range of influences and dares to admit as much. For his behaviour is unexceptional and in line with most normal peoples' experiences.

Research conclusively demonstrates that in Western society one's personal tastes begin to solidify in one's teens, accrete through one's 20's (as do the layers around a pearl) and tend to be firmly set by the age of about 35. Thereafter there is no innate, physiological, psychological or legal requirement that one continue to evolve one's palate beyond this point. It is simply a matter of choice or availability. ([i]Note to self: Whatever happened to Spangles?[/i])

Some (like Blue, me and many, [i]many[/i] others) are happy to continue to engage with that which we already know. A minority may follow the path of eclecticism; I would heartily encourage them in their search, particularly if it is a means of coping with old age and imminent mortality.

It would however be nice if the 'adventurous' few could extend their broad-mindedness to incorporate the more commonly-held acceptance that other peoples views, tastes and choices may differ from one's own yet be in no way inferior.
[color=#f0fff0].[/color]

Edited August 11, 2016 by skankdelvar

[machinehead]

[quote name='Barking Spiders' timestamp='1470902508' post='3109193']
For me Mark King's the mutts nuts basswise. Adam Clayton's no worse than a million other root note merchants like the blokes in The Cult, Judas Priest, AC/DC, Status Quo, Manics, Saxon, Coldplay etc. The problem for them is to come up with interesting lines when the music they play is undemanding. And as for AC' s band mates none of them are any great shakes.
[/quote]

Ah but.. the Edge came up with a playing style that no one else was doing or had done before. Back in the 80s most guitarists were imitating him and his style is instantly recognisable. How many players can claim that? Very few, I'd suggest.

Frank.

[merlin]

Have a larf at this thinking I got most things covered,hehe simple root, nodding head ect ect.....I listened a lot over the years and now do just whats needed,and have been influenced by all styles,and it shows.. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8KJi2X1XkEI no hate here,just very miffed that I had not practiced hard enough

M

Edited August 11, 2016 by merlin

[skankdelvar]

[quote name='machinehead' timestamp='1470932705' post='3109463']
Ah but.. the Edge came up with a playing style that no one else was doing or had done before. Back in the 80s most guitarists were imitating him and his style is instantly recognisable. How many players can claim that? Very few, I'd suggest.
[/quote]

Quite so. The very nature of Mr Edge's innovative approach practically [i]demands[/i] a solid and sober foundation. When one considers in turn Mr Bono's deliberately loose vocalisations one begins to understand why the rhythm section more or less 'sits on it' while the guitarist and singer wander off all over the place.

One of those great 'What If's' is what if U2 had been a five-piece with a rhythm guitarist? Let us call him Flann O'Brien. Would Flann have gone the Rick Parfitt route and simply whacked out block chords on the four, thereby permitting Mr Clayton to drift around in a Phil Lesh stylee? Or would Flann have espoused a looser, more exotic, even funky approach and drawn black looks from Mr Edge?

We shall never know. All we may conclude is that U2 are a fairly unique sounding band and that the bass player is (probably) doing exactly what is necessary in that context. This is the problem when we try to evaluate bass players in isolation or stack them up against others. Comparison is not only odious but fruitless.
[color=#f0fff0].[/color]

Edited August 11, 2016 by skankdelvar

[timhiggins]

just about all the best musicians i have known without exception had one thing in common and that was that they generally found something positive and kept an open mind to just about any player/music they came across.

[12stringbassist]

[quote name='barneyg42' timestamp='1470733482' post='3107943']
Adam Clayton.........apparently talentless?
Mark King.......sounds like a bag of spanners?
Matt Bellamy......nods his head funny!!

[/quote]

Adam Clayton - plays what is required. Bang on. I imagine there is some jealousy going on.
Mark King - Plays what he wants to. I imagine there is some jealousy going on.
Matt Bellamy - I imagine there is some jealousy going on.

[SpondonBassed]

[quote name='skankdelvar' timestamp='1470933975' post='3109476']
Quite so. The very nature of Mr Edge's innovative approach practically [i]demands[/i] a solid and sober foundation. When one considers in turn Mr Bono's deliberately loose vocalisations one begins to understand why the rhythm section more or less 'sits on it' while the guitarist and singer wander off all over the place.

One of those great 'What If's' is what if U2 had been a five-piece with a rhythm guitarist? Let us call him Flann O'Brien. Would Flann have gone the Rick Parfitt route and simply whacked out block chords on the four, thereby permitting Mr Clayton to drift around in a Phil Lesh stylee? Or would Flann have espoused a looser, more exotic, even funky approach and drawn black looks from Mr Edge?

We shall never know. All we may conclude is that U2 are a fairly unique sounding band and that the bass player is (probably) doing exactly what is necessary in that context. This is the problem when we try to evaluate bass players in isolation or stack them up against others. Comparison is not only odious but fruitless.
[color=#f0fff0].[/color]
[/quote]

If there HAS to be a fifth member, I'd like him/her to play the washboard.

[stingrayPete1977]

[quote name='12stringbassist' timestamp='1470934727' post='3109483']
Adam Clayton - plays what is required. Bang on. I imagine there is some jealousy going on.
Mark King - Plays what he wants to. I imagine there is some jealousy going on.
Matt Bellamy - I imagine there is some jealousy going on.
[/quote]

I am not really a fan of any of them and I do not feel jealous so where does that leave me?

[Muzz]

[quote name='SpondonBassed' timestamp='1470939660' post='3109528']
If there HAS to be a fifth member, I'd like him/her to play the washboard.
[/quote]

I'd have liked to see a theremin player, who went 'woooooOOOOoooooo' every time Bono approached the mic...

[EssentialTension]

[quote name='skankdelvar' timestamp='1470932304' post='3109459']
It is strange that so much narrow-minded belligerence is directed at Blue simply because he has a more selective date range of influences and dares to admit as much. For his behaviour is unexceptional and in line with most normal peoples' experiences.

Research conclusively demonstrates that in Western society one's personal tastes begin to solidify in one's teens, accrete through one's 20's (as do the layers around a pearl) and tend to be firmly set by the age of about 35. Thereafter there is no innate, physiological, psychological or legal requirement that one continue to evolve one's palate beyond this point. It is simply a matter of choice or availability. ([i]Note to self: Whatever happened to Spangles?[/i])

Some (like Blue, me and many, [i]many[/i] others) are happy to continue to engage with that which we already know. A minority may follow the path of eclecticism; I would heartily encourage them in their search, particularly if it is a means of coping with old age and imminent mortality.

It would however be nice if the 'adventurous' few could extend their broad-mindedness to incorporate the more commonly-held acceptance that other peoples views, tastes and choices may differ from one's own yet be in no way inferior.
[color=honeydew].[/color]
[/quote]

In my view, Blue's problem is not his limited range of influences but his expectation that anyone of his age will have a similar limited range of influences. However, he's unavoidably at liberty to hold his view, as are you or indeed is anyone, but the price of expressing said position is that others may disagree or disapprove. Shocking maybe, but that's life. Please feel free to disagree or disapprove if you feel that my view is in any way inferior.

[ivansc]

[quote name='JTUK' timestamp='1470930755' post='3109443']
The bass is moving on at a frightening pace, IMO... guys who were vanguard 30 yrs ago probably can't keep up.
[/quote]

I hadnt noticed.