Influential bass players

[Reggaebass]

  On 17/06/2021 at 10:24, stewblack said:

Bruce Thomas from his time in the Attractions. 

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Did he play Watching the detectives, that’s a great bassline, I’ve played it a few times 

[skb558]

Influenced me…

Martin Turner - Wishbone Ash

John Paul Jones 

Percy Jones

Chuck Rainey

Edited June 17, 2021 by skb558

[cetera]

My original influences who 'excited' me and got me to take up bass:

Gene Simmons

Steve Harris

Phil Lynott

 

Then joined by the following who influenced me in either sound/tone, feel, technique and/or just downright coolness!

Peter Cetera

Tiran Porter

Dee Murray

John Deacon

David Paton

Rutger Gunnarsson

Martin Tiefensee

Chuck Panozzo

Joe Puerta

Kip Winger

Eddie Jackson

Duff McKagan

Rachel Bolan

Chuck Wright

Ross Valory

Guy Pratt

Geddy Lee

Edited June 18, 2021 by cetera
spelling

[4000]

  On 16/06/2021 at 21:23, Sarah5string said:

There definitely needs to be more ladies in these lists, gents!

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I started playing in 1980. The only female bass players I was aware of at all were Suzy Quatro and Gaye Advert. It could be argued Gaye Advert influenced me though, as I saw a couple of pictures with an Azure 4001 and immediately wanted one; it’s still my favourite bass and colour. As a player though, not so much.😉

Subliminally as a kid, probably all the jazz guys on my dad’s records, particularly Ray Brown, then also McCartney and Rutger Gunnarsson; I’m sure all that moving, melodic bass was going in somewhere. 

Consciously, first Lemmy, Phil Lynott, Mike Rutherford, Geddy, Geezer, Glenn Hughes on Made in Europe, Roger Glover on Made in Japan, JPJ and JJBurnel. A bit later, John McVie, Stanley Clarke and Leigh Gorman. Later still, Chris Squire, John Entwistle and Joey DeMaio, then Stu Zender, Jon Camp and Matt Garrison. Some other players I really liked at various points, like Mick Karn, Bernard Edwards and Mark King, and I probably tried to cop some stuff, but I’ve never really played anything like them. 
 

 

 

[SumOne]

Top 3 for me are probably:

• Robbie Shakespeare
• Bernard Edwards
• Bootsy Collins

[MacDaddy]

Depends what is meant by 'influential'.

Sid Vicious probably inspired a lot of people to play bass.

[bassist_lewis]

I keep seeing more bass players I like and have been an influence on me 🤣

[stewblack]

On the topic of women bassists I loved, 

[4000]

  On 17/06/2021 at 14:05, stewblack said:

On the topic of women bassists I loved, 

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I have no idea who that is. 

[Barking Spiders]

  On 17/06/2021 at 14:10, 4000 said:

I have no idea who that is. 

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Lost me there too. Looks like a 60s Portakabin  there

[Crusoe]

3 pages in and no one has mentioned Peter Hook yet. Until now.

[Nail Soup]

  On 17/06/2021 at 14:10, 4000 said:

I have no idea who that is. 

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Au Pairs?

[Frank Blank]

  On 17/06/2021 at 14:53, Nail Soup said:

Au Pairs?

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It is indeed Jane Munro of the Au Pairs, Alexandra Palace 16th June 1980.

Edited June 17, 2021 by Frank Blank

[stewblack]

10 points to Frank, 5 to Nail. Well done chaps. 

[MacDaddy]

  On 17/06/2021 at 14:05, stewblack said:

On the topic of women bassists I loved, 

 

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Share Pederson - Vixen - could slap, pop, and tap with the best of them.

I had a recording of Vixen supporting The Scorpions at Hammy O in '89 and she does an awesome bass solo. 

Can't think of another bassist in a mainstream band who was doing that kind of thing at the time apart from Billy Sheehan?

The clip below is a bit later. 

 

[casapete]

  On 17/06/2021 at 10:10, TheGreek said:

Motown/ Stax and Atlantic were a big part of my childhood/ teen years so that would be Jamerson, Duck Dunn, Bob Babbitt and Carol Kaye, though I didn't know of them at the time.

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Pretty much the same here really. Add Willie Dixon, McCartney, Andy Fraser and that's probably it for me.

[TheGreek]

Though I've never tried to emulate him. Mick Karn was definitely a huge influence. I remember at the time nobody was playing like him - had a style of his own and played outside the mainstream.

[4000]

  On 17/06/2021 at 14:55, Frank Blank said:

It is indeed Jane Munro of the Au Pairs, Alexandra Palace 16th June 1980.

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Nope, never heard of her, sorry. 

Actually, there was Enid from Girlschool around the time I started (and later Tracey Lamb) but neither were an influence. 

Edited June 17, 2021 by 4000

[inthedoghouse]

Billy Cox, Geezer Bulter, John Entwistle, Phil Lynott and Roger Glover were the first to make me really notice bass. 

As far as lesser known or unknown players go, the first person I saw live who really made me go 'wow' was Gordon Rowley of 70s rock band Strife.  They were our local-ish 'big' band who almost made it.  I loved his playing and he was probably the first and biggest influence to a teenage me.  I still love his playing (especially live) all these years later although he has long retired and had poor health.  I'm pleased to still be in touch with the two other members of the band.

https://www.last.fm/music/Strife/+wiki

I'm going to also give a very honourable mention to Mel Schacher of Grand Funk and Pat Daugherty of Black Oak Arkansas, especially for their live work.

I've never heard of the vast majotiry of players mentioned in this thread.

Edited June 17, 2021 by inthedoghouse

[The fasting showman]

  On 17/06/2021 at 11:47, Reggaebass said:

Did he play Watching the detectives, that’s a great bassline, I’ve played it a few times 

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It's Andrew Bodnar (also a great player, Nick Lowe's Breaking glass for example) from the Rumour on bass on Watching the detectives, Bruce Thomas hadn't joined at that point. 

[Reggaebass]

  On 17/06/2021 at 16:37, The fasting showman said:

It's Andrew Bodnar (also a great player, Nick Lowe's Breaking glass for example) from the Rumour on bass on Watching the detectives, Bruce Thomas hadn't joined at that point. 

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Thanks for that showman 👍

[4000]

  On 17/06/2021 at 16:37, The fasting showman said:

It's Andrew Bodnar (also a great player, Nick Lowe's Breaking glass for example) from the Rumour on bass on Watching the detectives, Bruce Thomas hadn't joined at that point. 

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Didn’t know that, I just assumed it was BT (I was never really an EC fan, so probably didn’t pay enough attention at the time). 

[The fasting showman]

George Murray with Bowie, also the players with Bowie before him.

It's interesting to think back to your childhood prior to playing bass and think what caught your ears just hearing radio and TV in the (in my case) '70s and '80s. Obviously Motown, the Beatles, Disco, Ron Baker on TSOP, The Jam....I'm going to have to nominate Dave Richmond for the Ronnie Hazelhurst stuff always on BBC back then,  Only Fools and Horses, also on hits like Labi Siffre's it must be love, Elton John's your song etc. I wouldn't  have been aware as a kid of hip stuff like Gainsbourg's Melody Nelson back then that he was on which has been sampled a lot since. But yes, Dave Richmond probably helped make me aware of bass in a funny kind of way without seeking it out, what a great player.

[Nail Soup]

  On 17/06/2021 at 14:05, stewblack said:

On the topic of women bassists I loved, 

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Great player.

Unorthodox approach to string damping .

 

[Dad3353]

  On 17/06/2021 at 16:54, The fasting showman said:

...It's interesting to think back to your childhood prior to playing bass and think what caught your ears...

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An interesting tack. In my case, at infant school, we heard Saint-Saëns, Prokofiev and Liszt, and at home, Listen With Mother (Think 'Joyce Grenfell' - 'George... Don't do that..!') and 'South Pacific'. No 'pop music' until mid-teens (Yardbirds, Astrid Gilberto, Lonnie Donegan...). T'wasn't till I left education and stumbled across Jefferson Airplane that things 'took off'.