For the love of the bass

[Fracktured]

I feel as though not enough love is given to bassists on here. Sure Chris Squire, Geddy Lee, Paul McCartney, John Entwistle are mentioned a lot for good reasons, but give me some more in depth discussion about these guys and girls. A discussion needs to be made about what they bring to our favorite music. All genres, who are the favorites, who deserves more attention etc. What are the favorite bass lines in songs? Everything that concerns bass players. I know there are musicians on here that know a lot more about this instrument than I do.

The bass gives music something to stand on.


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[Sputnik]

The first name that pops into my mind is Ares Tavolazzi, the ridiculously, insanely good bass player for Area. My favorite song of his is "L'Elaphante Bianco," where his fretless work just kills. But there are so many great moments for him. He brings a jazz sensibility, equally adept on fretted, fretless, and standup bass, but he also rocks out when necessary and integrates the bass into Area's unique musical brew in a seamless way. A truly unsung bass hero, who is technically far better than many names that get a ton more attention.

I may come up with more players later, but Ares is at the top of my personal list of players who don't get enough love.

Bill

[Vic2012]

Mel Shacher...of Grand Funk. Those early power trio GFR albums had some serious bottom end.

[dropforge]

One of my top bassists for the last forty years: Fabio Pignatelli of Goblin/Goblin Rebirth fame. His tone & touch are punchy and quite funky and integral to the Goblin sound. They're going to tour without him (and without Agostino) soon, and I can't imagine it being the same.

Everyone no doubt knows "Profondo Rosso," "Suspiria" and "Roller," so I'll link two different tracks that I love just as much.

[veteranof1000psychicwars]

One just off the top of my is Joe Puerta, bassist for Ambrosia. His playing on the debut album and Somewhere l Never Travelled is fantastic, McCartney-worthy melodicism.

[Boceephus]

Mick Karn. He played other instruments too, but his slinky style is just unique and creative. I believe he was self taught, but I may be wrong. Polytown, with David Torn & Terry Bozzio is a clinic for bass as the lead instrument.


Jonas Hellborg. Chops galore. A CV a mile long.

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[Progbear]

One of my top bassists for the last forty years: Fabio Pignatelli of Goblin/Goblin Rebirth fame. His tone & touch are punchy and quite funky and integral to the Goblin sound. They're going to tour without him (and without Agostino) soon, and I can't imagine it being the same.

Came to mention him. One of the few players to get me to actually listen to the bass. He's a bit slavish to the Chris Squire sound on the Cherry Five album, but quickly developed his own style. The Roller album is where he truly comes into his own. Love his playing on "Aquaman" in particular.

Obviously I must mention Pekka Pohjola here. So much more than just a bass player, but his bass parts always were tasty and intriguing. If you ever dread the bass solo, you need to hear some P.P., where you'll be looking forward to them!

[interbellum]

Mick Karn. He played other instruments too, but his slinky style is just unique and creative. I believe he was self taught, but I may be wrong. Polytown, with David Torn & Terry Bozzio is a clinic for bass as the lead instrument.

(see also signature below )

I'd like to mention John Giblin. His work with Simon Phillips on the albums by Metro and Duncan Browne is so melodic with unexpected moves. When I first heard the new Kate Bush-single Babooshka on the radio I knew it was Giblin, such a unique sound (which he lost more or less when he joined Simple Minds). Of course his albums with Brand X are great too.

[wiz_d_kidd]

Lately I've been on a Colin Edwin kick. Although he performed with Porcupine Tree (which I don't particularly care for), his work with Jon Duran in Burnt Belief and Stephan Thelen in Fractal Sextet is top-notch. I really appreciate when the folks doing the mixing/arranging decide to pull the bass line forward to participate equally amongst the guitars and keys, as they did on those projects.

[Pekka]

(see also signature below )

I'd like to mention John Giblin. His work with Simon Phillips on the albums by Metro and Duncan Browne is so melodic with unexpected moves. When I first heard the new Kate Bush-single Babooshka on the radio I knew it was Giblin, such a unique sound (which he lost more or less when he joined Simple Minds). Of course his albums with Brand X are great too.

I was about to mention John Giblin when I saw this thread and especially those Duncan Browne albums. I had known his work with Brand X and it's good but he was a bit overshadowed by Percy Jones on them or at least I thought he was. But his playing with Phillips' on those Browne's albums and Metro too not only with the fretless Wal but also with a fretted P-Bass is just sublime. Great music on them too.

Speaking of Simple Minds, I've been lately listening a lot of their early stuff and Derek Forbes' playing and basslines are just fabulous.

[Progbear]

Speaking of players using a custom Wal bass, John G. Perry is too little lauded. His work with Caravan, Quantum Jump, Anthony Phillips, Aviator, etc. etc. is without peer.

[Pekka]

Indeed. And Johnny Gustafson too, I love his dense dark plectrum work with Roxy Music, Shawn Phillips, Ian Gillan Band and Quatermass to mention a few. Early Wal player too, JG series were named after him.
This album features John and Simon Phillips and also John G. Perry:

[TheH]

Killer Bass all way through the song by Misa the barefoot Asassin

[Conti]

The first name that pops into my mind is Ares Tavolazzi, the ridiculously, insanely good bass player for Area. My favorite song of his is "L'Elaphante Bianco," where his fretless work just kills. But there are so many great moments for him. He brings a jazz sensibility, equally adept on fretted, fretless, and standup bass, but he also rocks out when necessary and integrates the bass into Area's unique musical brew in a seamless way. A truly unsung bass hero, who is technically far better than many names that get a ton more attention.

I may come up with more players later, but Ares is at the top of my personal list of players who don't get enough love.

Bill

Excellent call. He is one of my unsung heroes too.

I would like to add to this thread the names of a few zeuhl alumni such as Bernard Paganotti, who masters the fretted, fretless and stick basses, and who always made his instrument growls or sings whenever necessary either in Magma, Weidorje or with his own band Paga.

Phillipe Bussonet, from Magma and One Shot, is an insanely gifted player with incredible, agressive tone and relentless imagination and endurance. He stepped into huge shoes when he joined Magma after the band's comeback in the 90s. His absence is still missed (by me, at least) in the current band's line-up.

And, of course, Jannick Top. He is actually the father of the zeuhl bass, not one of the alumni. His playing with Magma, Speed Limit and others is otherwordly, for the lack of better term. Even if his participation in one of the DVDs Magma recorded at Le Triton was a bit underwhelming, as if he had somehow lost his mojo, this does not change his stature and importance when creating a whole approach and style to the instrument. One of a kind player.

[Garden Dreamer]

While I appreciated Squire, Geddy, Jaco, Stanley Clarke, etc. growing up, I knew I could never play like them nor did I want to. I got much inspiration from Greg Ridley of Humble Pie and Peter Cetera on the early Chicago albums. Always interesting bass lines but staying in the pocket and holding the song together.

Later I was blown away by Bruce Thomas' work on the early Elvis Costello albums, specifically "This Year's Model". That is a bass tour de force. Some of the most inventive and expressive lines you'll hear outside of a prog band.

In recent years I've been enjoying Al Cisneros on the Rickenbacker in Sleep and OM. Always comes up with memorable riffs and while they are often repetitive there are subtle variations and embellisments that make a difference. The lines may look simple if written out in music notation but Al is great at playing the "rests" between the notes; that's where the real expressiveness comes in.

[rapidfirerob]

So many great bass players over the decades. I have to mention Berry Oakley from The Allman Brothers as he remains a huge influence on my playing and I have an Allman Brothers tribute band. So melodic and creative. He came up with some incredible lines in his day.


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[dropforge]

Came to mention him. One of the few players to get me to actually listen to the bass. He's a bit slavish to the Chris Squire sound on the Cherry Five album, but quickly developed his own style. The Roller album is where he truly comes into his own. Love his playing on "Aquaman" in particular.

[dropforge]

Mick Karn. He played other instruments too, but his slinky style is just unique and creative. I believe he was self taught, but I may be wrong. Polytown, with David Torn & Terry Bozzio is a clinic for bass as the lead instrument.

The title from Bestial Cluster is so beautiful, it makes my eyes spit.



This is an excellent tribute from pdbass (Paul Thompson), with no fewer than demonstrations of five of MK's basslines.

Jonas Hellborg. Chops galore. A CV a mile long.

Anders Johansson posted a few clips of this set, but I'd like to have the entire video. Jonas' solo in this one is, shall we say, sick!

[Gizmotron]

Excellent thread. The reality is that there are an amazing amount of very talented basses, and bass often is far more important to a track than most listeners know.

And there are some crazy-good bass players that aren’t even thought of for playing bass. Rob Reed, the musical brain of Magenta,Cyan and Kompendium is such a musician. Listen to his bass on this. The album is chock full of insane players (um…Gavin Harrison for instance), so you’d think there would be a star bassist (ok, Nick Beggs gets in a bit of bass along with his Chapman Stick work), but no, it is Robert who kills it on bass.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xW5BkVHtNtU

[Sturgeon's Lawyer]

Peter Cetera, glad someone mentioned him; his work on live Chicago material during the Kath era is just unbelivagable.

Let's also mention: Bootsy Collins. Noel Redding. Carole Kaye. Billy Cox. Leland Sklar. Willy Dixon. Gail Ann Dorsey. Dave Pegg. Esperanza Spaulding. Louis Johnson. Aston Barrett. John Wetton. Verdine White. James Jamerson (of the Funk Brothers). Joseph Makwela. Donald "Duck Dunn. John McVie. Les Claypool. Tina Weymouth. Cliff Burton. Geezer Butler. John Glascock. Bundy Cenac.

If any of the above are unfamiliar to you... I envy you. You have some great new music ahead of you.

And how has this thread gotten this far without mention of Tony Muthafucking Levin?

[Fracktured]

Peter Cetera was surprisingly good to my ears when I started listening back to the early Chicago albums. I hadn’t t noticed him for years when I was young. Tony Levin to me is perfection. I think most everyone has been mentioning bassists that aren’t as well known up to now. I’ll have to check out some of this music. One of my earliest times when a bass player stood out for me was back in 1973 or 4 when I bought Uriah Heep Live the double album and Gary Thains bass was jumping out at me. I always thought his bass work was great.


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[Gizmotron]

Peter Cetera, glad someone mentioned him; his work on live Chicago material during the Kath era is just unbelivagable.

Let's also mention: Bootsy Collins. Noel Redding. Carole Kaye. Billy Cox. Leland Sklar. Willy Dixon. Gail Ann Dorsey. Dave Pegg. Esperanza Spaulding. Louis Johnson. Aston Barrett. John Wetton. Verdine White. James Jamerson (of the Funk Brothers). Joseph Makwela. Donald "Duck Dunn. John McVie. Les Claypool. Tina Weymouth. Cliff Burton. Geezer Butler. John Glascock. Bundy Cenac.

If any of the above are unfamiliar to you... I envy you. You have some great new music ahead of you.

And how has this thread gotten this far without mention of Tony Muthafucking Levin?

Levin? Crazy, off the scale melodic, yet powerful. The complete bassist. Having just seen him with BEAT I am biased, but felt the same way the first time I saw him—1981 Discipline tour.

Ralphe Armstrong. Man, another monster. There are many heavy hitters that were not necessarily as known as the obvious greats.

Steve Stills. Oh yeah…a bassist. He is so clever on 4 strings (esp, “Suite: JBE”). CSN/Y seemed pretty “progressive” to me, but that is another discussion.

Anyway, there are so many fine players.

[Dave (in MA)]

Ralphe Armstrong. Man, another monster. There are many heavy hitters that were not necessarily as known as the obvious greats.

A lot of great bass talent passed through the Ponty band over the years, even that famous guy who's on TV.

[Gizmotron]

A lot of great bass talent passed through the Ponty band over the years, even that famous guy who's on TV.

Ponty…to me, one of the finest musicians, and yes, so many great players such as Steve Smith and J Lievano. I have seen him a number of times, from 1977 on. He always had great bass players. And I know…that guy on the TeeVee…whaaat??

[Pekka]

Field Music always has some excellent bass on their albums. Melodic, punchy and with a good tone. Usually played by David Brewis.