Who influenced you to pick up and start playing Bass.

[thebigyin]

I didn't start playing Bass until I was in my 40s was originally a Frontman/Singer but fancied learning an instrument so opted to play Bass after hearing James Jamerson I was hooked on his busy but melodic playing and phrasing spent hours trying to emulate his style over the years although I will never be as good I have now developed a style that I feel captures him in my own way, without doubt my Bass hero amongst a few others of that era and genre, but Jamerson will always be the one who made me think I want to learn Bass.

[paul_c2]

Geddy Lee

[Reggaebass]

Aston Barrett and Robbie Shakespeare have always been my main influences  from 1977, amazing timing and feel 🙂

 

 

[Lozz196]

Whoever played bass on Seasons in The Sun, though I didn’t realise it at the time, then punk in general. A few obvious contenders being Sid Vicious (yes he wasn’t a great bassist but played for the best punk band and looked great), and JJ Burnell & Bruce Foxton who made the bass almost a lead instrument.

[hooky_lowdown]

3 minutes ago, Lozz196 said:

Whoever played bass on Seasons in The Sun, though I didn’t realise it at the time, then punk in general. A few obvious contenders being Sid Vicious (yes he wasn’t a great bassist but played for the best punk band and looked great), and JJ Burnell & Bruce Foxton who made the bass almost a lead instrument.

You not a Clash fan Lozz?

 

[FinnDave]

Mostly Christian Tritsch and Mike Howlett (bass players with Gong at different times).

[mikel]

No one. The band needed a bass player as we had three guitarists. I only started listening to the bass in isolation when I needed to learn. After that it was Glen Cornick as his lines were so melodic and crucial to the form of the song.

[neilp]

1978. John Paul Jones' playing on Led Zeppelin 2 and 3. Still for me the finest all-round musician working in the popular music world.

[fretmeister]

Steve Harris.

But I've always played bass and guitar. When I've put together bands on several occasions I've advertised for both, not minding which one replies as I would play the other.

 

These days though, I prefer to stick to the bass.

[Bassfinger]

Mrs Bassfinger.  As aforementioned elsewhere, I started as a guitarist but an I jury has left me with no feeling in two fingers and only partial feeling in my thumb.  I was struggling with finger picking, and Mrs B suggested that a bass guitar might suit better due to having a 3rd less real estate to cover with my tight hand.  She was right.

However, now that I am a bassist I take my inspiration from Jeffrey Hammond-Hammond.  He also was not a bassist, or even a musician, but when asked to join Jethro Tull he rose to the occasion and effectively bluffed his way through 5 albums and several world tours.

[Ricky 4000]

Dave outta Chas & Dave. He's a really good bass player actually.

[Reggaebass]

4 minutes ago, Ricky 4000 said:

Dave outta Chas & Dave. He's a really good bass player actually.

I love a bit of chas & Dave , I remember them being played at family parties when I was a kid 🙂

[Ricky 4000]

The greatest 'break up' song ever:

And Dave's BVs weren't half bad, neither. 👍

[oldslapper]

As a 10-11 year old listening to my older brothers early Elton John LP’s, Dee Murray‘s playing made me want to play bass, then Kenny Passarelli (I still hear him in my playing today) got me into fretless.

Percy Jones influenced my technique and love of fretless a little further, although I wasn’t particularly into jazz rock. 

[Lozz196]

1 hour ago, hooky_lowdown said:

You not a Clash fan Lozz?

 

I liked them, did some good stuff that I thought was great but also some that I just can’t listen to.

[pst62]

John Deacon, Pete Way, Paul Gray, JJ Burnel, Bruce Foxton.

[Shaggy]

As an aspiring classical violinist; it was entirely down to seeing JJB in the Stranglers in 1977 when I was 16.   Still fiddle a bit 

[Crawford13]

Started with Mark Hoppus, then Flea, then Les Claypool...#born in the 80’s

[Bassassin]

Jean-Jacques Burnel, Dennis Dunaway & John Entwistle.

[Elfrasho]

Bass was pushed on me. When i was 15, my best mate changed from bass to guitar when their guitarist left, so he had a bass guitar and a void to fill. I played piano and a wee bit of guitar so he gave me the bass and told me to learn how to play it. I had no interest in it prior, so really my mate was pretty much the only influence! Still best mates with him 22 years later. Should buy him a pint.

[Dr.Dave]

Jim Lea from Slade. No way I'd ever have picked up a guitar if it wasn't for Slade and the fabulous bass lines.

[kevin_lindsay]

JJ Burnel from The Stranglers for me - got me enthused about playing bass when I was a 15 year old. 

Then, when I was 17, seeing an amazing bass player with Jools Holland (just after he had left Squeeze). Supporting The Police at Ingliston Exhibition Centre, Edinburgh, on New Year's Eve, 1981. The bass player blew my mind - so fluid, muscular, and inventive. I thought, "now, THAT is how I want to play"!! The bass player was Pino Palladino! (incidentally, I still remember the bass he played - red Fender P-Bass, no scratchplate, small curved chrome control plate, and a Jazz pickup in the bridge position). 

Edited October 20, 2019 by kevin_lindsay

[ezbass]

Pino's work with Paul Young. I was a fan of The Ox, Andy Fraser, Dee Murray and other players of that era, but when 'Hat' came out, it was a game (or more precisely instrument) changer.

[MacDaddy]

Nikki Sixx.

[tony_m]

Glenn Hughes, particularly on "Made In Europe". That said, it was about 20 years after that LP came out that I actually got my first bass and started playing, and I've never learnt how to play with a pick so can hardly call him a direct influence on my particular playing style.