Your fave bass player of all time, numero uno, the mutts nuts with a YT vid showing why

[lowlandtrees]

NORMAN

[SumOne]

Bernard Edwards is a good call but my favorite music is Reggae and Dub with Robbie Shakespeare probably my favourite bass player, but it's not a style of playing that lends itself well to the 'here's a YouTube video of some virtuoso playing' as it's all about timing, feel, tone, making a bassline that is integral to the rhythm while also often being the hook. It's a cliché but less is more (not less volume/mix of bass though!) and that's the way I like Basslines. 

[ezbass]

5 minutes ago, SumOne said:

Bernard Edwards is a good call but my favorite music is Reggae and Dub with Robbie Shakespeare probably my favourite bass player, but it's not a style of playing that lends itself well to the 'here's a YouTube video of some virtuoso playing' as it's all about timing, feel, tone, making a bassline that is integral to the rhythm while also often being the hook. It's a cliché but less is more (not less volume/mix of bass though!) and that's the way I like Basslines. 

Groove over chops every time for me and Robbie was great at that. His playing on Grace Jones’ recordings with him and Sly, is worth the price of admission alone.

[silverfoxnik]

What a great thread! Really gets you thinking... 

 

For me, it's Dennis Dunaway, bass player in the original Alice Cooper band from the late '60s to mid '70s.

 

His style and sound still resonate strongly with me today, 50 years after first hearing him play .. 

 

So many Alice Cooper songs on their first few albums were built around his bass lines.

 

Here's one song from the School's Out album, 1972 which demonstrates exactly that:

 

 

Obviously, there are many other bass players who's playing I love and who have influenced me over the years too ( Macca, Trevor Bolder, Leigh Gorman, John Gustafson, James Jamerson and Bernard Edwards to name but a few)..

 

But on reflection, I think Dunaway's the guy who most strongly impacted the way I approached bass playing when I first started out as a 14 year old kid. 

 

So, it's all his fault! 😂

[thedontcarebear]

Dirk Lance or Timmy C for me, I’ll for with Dirk for a video.  Massive influences on me, when a lot of bassists in bands were just playing the root of whatever the guitarist did.

 

 

[bnt]

If we’re talking bassists who always put the song first, and do it with impeccable taste, my go-to name is Jim Glennie of James. It’s hard to find a video with more than a few seconds of his playing, since the cameras seek out the singer (Tim) first, then maybe the others. What he does can be hard to explain: sometimes it’s lead bass that drives the song from the back without being up front in the mix, like in Lullaby or this:

 

 

Other times, Jim might seem more “conventional”, with a subby tone that could become synth-like but doesn’t. I don’t know how much his choice of bass (EBMM Sterling) has to do with that. If you listen to a song like Say Something, it’s kind-of tough to pinpoint just what he’s doing differently, but you’re glad he’s doing it. To me it's about knowing exactly what will make a song better, and delivering that.

Edited July 17, 2022 by bnt

[SurlyJoe]

John Wetton for me. But hats off to the guy from Black Midi atm.

 

 

[Gray C]

Geddy Lee for me, the man must have 3 brains to sing, play bass and do keyboards and bass foot pedals at the same time. Oh, and he makes it look easy too. 👏

[pst62]

John Deacon, Geddy, Pete Way, Gerry McAvoy, Ronnie Lane, Rutger Gunnarsson (ABBA), John McCoy, Algy Ward, Paul Gray (Eddie and the Hot Rods, The Damned, UFO), JJ Burnel, Bruce Foxton, Mick Karn, Colin Edwin (Porcupine Tree), Paul Webb, Nick Seymour, to name a few.

 

As for Cronos, he actually is a decent player. I recall sometime around 1983/84, Venom met Rush, and being all star struck and such Connie say's to Geddy, "You are my biggest inspiration, I learned the whole Hemispheres album, from beginning to end!"  Geddy replied "I hope I didn't cramp your style!" 

[Daz39]

8 hours ago, SurlyJoe said:

John Wetton for me. But hats off to the guy from Black Midi atm.

 

 

JW was a whole Sound of his own: Bass and Voice both so powerful. 

[Lord Sausage]

I'm gonna nominate one of the players who has had most influence on me it's hard to say which one the most but I'm gonna go with Neil Murray. Probably overlooked for the un-trendy band he main work was with.

 

 

Tasty playing on this.

Edited July 19, 2022 by Lord Sausage

[vbance]

John Rees

[Cosmo Valdemar]

I've had a think about this. My biggest influence is John Entwistle, without a doubt. He's the reason I started playing, and the reason I had wanted to play since the age of 8 after seeing this clip:

 

 

Of course the camera completely ignores John throughout, but his playing and tone is just shattering, particularly for the era. A howling, distorted grind. He absolutely dominates here.

It's easy to forget just what a gamechanger John Entwistle was - this clip shows why he was.

[Muzz]

That clip reminds me of the best thing I've read about the Who (nicked from David Hepworth): "Lots of bands have a lead singer and a lead guitarist, but the Who had a lead singer, a lead guitarist, a lead bassist and a lead drummer..." 😁

[Killerfridge]

I know it's cheating to post two, but Francis Rocco Prestia had such an influence on my playing I can't not post it:

 

 

 

[WinterMute]

20 minutes ago, Killerfridge said:

I know it's cheating to post two, but Francis Rocco Prestia had such an influence on my playing I can't not post it:

I'm always impressed by this kind of playing, and this crew are as tight as a gnats chuff, but I can't listen to more than a minute at a time, which is better than Jazz, which gets around 15 seconds...

 

Excellent work.

 

Also, as posting 2 now has a precedent, Mr. Karn, one of the most innovative bass players around, still holds up 35 years later, no-one sounds like Japan.

 

 

Edited July 20, 2022 by WinterMute

[Frank Blank]

9 minutes ago, WinterMute said:

Also, as posting 2 now has a precedent, Mr. Karn, one of the most innovative bass players around, still holds up 35 years later, no-one sounds like Japan.

 

Amen, what a loss. Mick Karn, absolutely unique.

 

 

[WinterMute]

3 minutes ago, Frank Blank said:

 

Amen, what a loss. Mick Karn, absolutely unique.

 

While we're at it, a tip of the hat to Jansen, what drummer he is.

[Frank Blank]

7 minutes ago, WinterMute said:

While we're at it, a tip of the hat to Jansen, what drummer he is.

 

I was about to say that, solid, no poncing about, interesting fills, but first and foremost he serves the song. There is no higher praise in my book, superb drummist.

Edited July 20, 2022 by Frank Blank

[4000]

Chris Squire:

 

With a nod to Enwistle as well, and Leigh Gorman of Bow Wow Wow:

 

 

There are loads of others of course, and I’ll always have a soft spot for this bloke 😉:

 

 

[Japhet]

Must be a space in here for Juan Nelson

 

'Where did all the funk go?' 

'Juan Nelso stole it all'

 

RIP Juan you absolute monster.

 

 

[Musicman666]

sting needs a mention...he wasn't the virtuoso bass player as such but what he does is spot on for the track every time.

 

 

[Leonard Smalls]

19 hours ago, Japhet said:

'Where did all the funk go?' 

'Juan Nelso stole it all'

Apart from the large chunk Big Tony Fisher's got!

 

 

[ezbass]

What, we’re having two now? Right then - Pino.

 

Endless groove:

 

 

Chops:

 

[Sardonicus]

 

I had trouble picking one but, in the end I had to go for the first bass player that got me into bass, the mighty Sir Horace Gentleman of The Specials.

 

I would also like to thank everyone that's posted on here and reminded me of the talent of Mick Karn.