Best bass player in all of rock, all-time

Always thought of him as a keyboard player...


As young bass player, it was generally accepted that Stanley Clarke and Jaco Pastorius were the 'best' but that didn't necessarily mean you liked their music.

If you treat bass as a solo instrument then you come up with one answer but if you think of it as part of the 'orchestra' of a song then it's contribution is difficult to measure with out considering the song. I think Jamerson (Didn't a woman claim to have played many of his licks on recordings) and McCartney's work (with the beatles at least) is such an integral part the songs without being the loudest voice in the song - and that's a skill.

I guess you could nominate based (no pun) on uniqueness of sound - so lets turn the question around a little:

What bass players are unmistakeable - easily recognised whoever they play with and whatever song.

With little thought I'd straight away say Pastorius, Les Claypool and Pino Pallidino. But that doesn't reflect what I would actually choose to listen to.

Oh yeah, nominating Roger (I can play octaves) Waters and Bill Wyman is probably because you like the songs they play on and the bands they're in rather than they're bass playing per se. - Admittedly if they were rubbish players you might hate the songs.

So let's get serious what criteria would you judge a bass player on ( I will not accept 'his fingers look like spiders on the fretboard' as it does not contribute to the aural sensation - or does showmanship, looks and white teeth play a part). PS Flea is an ozzy.

yea! BOOTSY! ha ha

Actually there are a lot of my favorites listed in here. I didn't notice anyone say Justin Chancellor from Tool yet so I'll add him to the list. Yea I know, they are way huge now but I think they earned it.

Les is amazing though. I still listen to Frizzle Fry often and have a hard time not laughing at just how ridiculously awesome some of his work is.

Mark Sandman from Morphine was another one that I love.

Cool thread though. I think the bass position is very under appreciated in general. I'll tell you this, if you play guitar and are having a hard time finding people to jam with, borrow a bass and see if you like it. It can make you a better guitarist (in my opinion) and there always seems to be less bassists than guitarists so you'll have a lot more opportunities to make something happen.

Barry Sparks.

Carol Kaye....
which reminds me...is she overlooked because she's a woman?
I mean she was on every 45 outta the West Coast during the 60's...and Motown too

Good question, Panzade. I am going to guess that it has more to do with the position being overlooked more than anything but considering the times you might be spot on. That is unfortunate though if true. Checking out her career on Wiki is pretty damn staggering and that doesn't seem to say.

With all the names she worked with she must have been very well known to the music scene though. There is always the possibility she was spotlight hostile and just avoided it. Can't say I'd blame her.

Hey Hamal - Thanks for mentioning Mark Sandman - he's in a whole 'nother category - I just like Morphine so much I hadn't considered him separately as bass player - definitely the best unitar, basitar, tri-tar and guitbass player the world has seen.

Yea I completely agree, Hingehead. Mark sandman was so much more than just a bassist. In fact he produced much of the recording as well.

I am sure I am leaving some stuff out but when you consider producer, singer, song writer, bassist including the instruments you mentioned most of which he pretty much fashioned the details himself, you get the picture of a real working musician.

They were fantastic live! I feel lucky I got to see them once. It was actually the reason I got into them.

I'd bought 'Cure For Pain' and saw them a a year or two later at the ANU Bar - still the best gig I've seen.

Yea, they were just killer live. Like baritone ocean waves of groove. I think my favorite album of theirs was Like Swimming but it's hard to pick one. I just love how that album starts!

"Why can't love be blind?
Instead of just a blind man crying.
Why can't love be
Why can't love be blind."

How's about Larry Graham (Sly and the Family Stone).

x

I'll vote for Les Claypool, but I think the guy in Morphine and Chili Peppers... And Zepplin's guy was really good, too.

Jaco Pastorius

Who the hell's that?

x

http://www.jacopastorius.com/ Looks like someone we should all check out!

Steve Harris
David Ellefson from Megadeth
Justin Chancellor from Tool

Aha! WOOHOO!!!

ANOTHER METAL-HEAD!!! Welcome to A2K!

I put up Steve Harris before, but I completely forgot about TOOL!

Everyone forgot the King of Bass:

Geddy Lee of Rush! 30 years of rock excellence...
That Primus guy is very good, but still... no match.






I think BPB is gonna crush my tush now....

Mark King of Level 42 wasn't a hack either

Dunno about technical best but I love a bit of Larry Graham.