Poll

Who is your Bottom Stave hero?

John Entwhistle
6 (11.3%)
Victor Wootten
0 (0%)
Paul Mccartney
1 (1.9%)
Tony Levin
0 (0%)
Roger Waters
0 (0%)
Flea
1 (1.9%)
Mark King
3 (5.7%)
Jack Bruce
2 (3.8%)
Someone else (specify)
40 (75.5%)

Total Members Voted: 45

Author Topic: Best Bassist of all time  (Read 13225 times)

Gus

  • Loosing weight stone by stone
    • We will return
Re: Best Bassist of all time
« Reply #25 on: 16 April, 2009, 09:27:08 pm »
Les Claypool or Jaco Pastorius

If you mean Contrabass then I'll be nationalistic and say  NHØP

Chris S

Re: Best Bassist of all time
« Reply #26 on: 16 April, 2009, 09:29:12 pm »
Damn, he's right as well.  This is tricky...

As demonstrated by the poll distribution it would seem.

I love the way it's gone "John Entwhistle" and "Anyone else not on the list"  :)

Re: Best Bassist of all time
« Reply #27 on: 16 April, 2009, 09:30:51 pm »
Like someone else says upthread, I don't do "best of/best ever" polls, but if I did, then my nomination for the best bassist of all time would probably be Charlie Mingus.

Re: Best Bassist of all time
« Reply #28 on: 16 April, 2009, 09:31:43 pm »

Good point, good point.

What ? That I'm nearly agreeing with you again ?  ;)


clarion

  • Tyke
Re: Best Bassist of all time
« Reply #29 on: 16 April, 2009, 09:37:55 pm »
Bootsy

Norman Watt-Roy

Noel Redding

Willie Dixon (if we're allowing stand-up bass)

Hard to choose between them.

Though, for entertainment value (and definitely not musicianship), maybe Sid Vicious? ;)
Getting there...

Spinners

Re: Best Bassist of all time
« Reply #30 on: 16 April, 2009, 09:47:30 pm »
Macca!

Love the Sgt. Pepper / MMT basslines and also "Goodnight Tonight" (Wings).

Re: Best Bassist of all time
« Reply #31 on: 16 April, 2009, 09:54:33 pm »
Stanley Clarke.

Those wonderful norks are never far from my thoughts, oh yeah!

rogerzilla

  • When n+1 gets out of hand
Re: Best Bassist of all time
« Reply #32 on: 16 April, 2009, 09:57:02 pm »
John Paul Jones?

Stanley Clarke (damn - clashed with bobb)?

Andy Rourke (listen to "Barbarism Begins At Home")?
Hard work sometimes pays off in the end, but laziness ALWAYS pays off NOW.

Rhys W

  • I'm single, bilingual
    • Cardiff Ajax
Re: Best Bassist of all time
« Reply #33 on: 16 April, 2009, 10:23:02 pm »
Good old Cardiff boy Pino Palladino.

Re: Best Bassist of all time
« Reply #34 on: 17 April, 2009, 12:41:05 am »
Norman Watt-Roy
Absolutely, hugely underated.
Entwistle, Jack Bruce, Nile Rodgers and Bootsy would complete my faves list....
OK, in order!
Entwistle
Watt-Roy
Bruce
Rodgers
Bootsy

Jakob

Re: Best Bassist of all time
« Reply #35 on: 17 April, 2009, 12:56:41 am »
Heretics (most of you anyway)

Jaco, followed by NHØP
Honourable mention to Flea from Red Hot Chili Peppers.

simonp

Re: Best Bassist of all time
« Reply #36 on: 17 April, 2009, 01:42:10 am »
Guy Pratt.

Much better than Roger Waters.  :P

Edit:

Quote
“M: Was Roger an effective bassist back then?
G: He had developed his own limited, or very simple style. He was never very keen on improving himself as a bass player and half the time I would play the bass on the records because I would tend to do it quicker. Right back to those early records; I mean, at least half the bass on all the recorded output is me anyway.
M: This is not a widely acknowledged fact.
G: Well, I think it's been said, but it's certainly not something we go around advertising. Rog used to come in and say "Thank you very much" to me once in a while for winning him bass-playing polls.
M: Did you play the fretless bass on "Hey You"?
G: Yeah. Hmm. Roger playing fretless bass? Please! [laughs]”
Musician, August 1992.

Miaow :)

Re: Best Bassist of all time
« Reply #37 on: 17 April, 2009, 03:21:44 am »
It seems that nobody here remembers the best player. Mingus was a close 2nd.
"100% PURE FREAKING AWESOME"

Re: Best Bassist of all time
« Reply #38 on: 17 April, 2009, 04:29:12 am »
Growing up and learning to play bass I was always reading about folk like Jaco Pastorius, Victor Wooten, Stanley Clarke, Stu Hamm, Marcus Miller etc. These were the guys all bass players were meant to aspire to. All talented musicians obviously but their music just never did it for me. It either sounds like some freeform jazz nonsense, or the soundtrack to Seinfeld.

My favourites would have to be:
Cliff Burton
Matt Freeman
Geddy Lee
Les Claypool
Flea
Stuart Zender
and this guy. Don't even know his name but saw him busking on Princes Street a few years ago during the Edinburgh Festival, and he's something else.

Jakob

Re: Best Bassist of all time
« Reply #39 on: 17 April, 2009, 05:11:46 am »
Oh, forgot Mark King. He usually gets dissed for selling out (and selling out he did), but I still rate him.

Re: Best Bassist of all time
« Reply #40 on: 17 April, 2009, 08:28:59 am »
Steve Harris?
Frenchie - Train à Grande Vitesse

clarion

  • Tyke
Re: Best Bassist of all time
« Reply #41 on: 17 April, 2009, 09:29:49 am »
Oh - two I've worked with who you'll never have heard of:

Fred Baker

Single Bass (Jennifer, er, er, thing).
Getting there...

Re: Best Bassist of all time
« Reply #42 on: 17 April, 2009, 09:32:37 am »
John Paul Jones.

tiermat

  • According to Jane, I'm a Unisex SpaceAdmin
Re: Best Bassist of all time
« Reply #43 on: 17 April, 2009, 09:44:33 am »
There is only three worth listening to:

Cliff Burton (check out "Orion" from "Sanatorium, Live at Nassau Colosseum"), Metallica were never the same after his death.
Les Claypool (His best work? "Tommy The Cat")
Flea (Too many funky basslines to mention, but the one that springs to mind is the one on "Love Rollercoaster", I know it's a cover but it's a damn fine one....)
I feel like Captain Kirk, on a brand new planet every day, a little like King Kong on top of the Empire State

Re: Best Bassist of all time
« Reply #44 on: 17 April, 2009, 09:50:18 am »

Flying_Monkey

Re: Best Bassist of all time
« Reply #45 on: 17 April, 2009, 10:05:15 am »
Single Bass (Jennifer, er, er, thing).

Not heard of her? I saw her live in... the early nineties I think. She was quite funny and obviously talented but an hour of bass and poetry gets a bit wearing...

Oh yes, and Squarepusher, of course - quite possibly the most talented and unusual bassist around right now.

clarion

  • Tyke
Re: Best Bassist of all time
« Reply #46 on: 17 April, 2009, 10:08:55 am »
OK, so someone else has seen her (she didn't do much poetry when i worked with her in the 80s).  She's not going out gigging at the moment though :(
Getting there...

vorsprung

  • Opposites Attract
    • Audaxing
Re: Best Bassist of all time
« Reply #47 on: 17 April, 2009, 10:11:51 am »
My sister


(shes in a punk rock band)
RABIES BABIES BLURB PAGE....

Woofage

  • Tofu-eating Wokerati
  • Ain't no hooves on my bike.
Re: Best Bassist of all time
« Reply #48 on: 17 April, 2009, 10:19:14 am »
Bootsy.

Totally.  All others are as nothing in comparison to the Bootzilla.

Station W.E.F.U.N.K., baby   :D

Indeed.

But an honourable mention must go to Victor Bailey. I saw him live with Weather Report (Glastonbury 1984) and during the performance he broke a string. His ability to just carry on as if nothing had happened shows his mastery of the instrument.
Pen Pusher

Re: Best Bassist of all time
« Reply #49 on: 17 April, 2009, 10:20:50 am »
Danny Thompson - if we allow upright base

Bootsy Collins

Roger Glover - just for the base line to "Smoke on the Water" :)
I think you'll find it's a bit more complicated than that.