Great Bass players.

[steveearlefan]

Lee Rocker from the Stray Cats...helluva rockabilly upright player...

The late Roy Husky, Jr.

my buddy Randy The Barber...

[Edcculus]

How could I forget Victor Wooten!!!!!!!!!!!!!

One of my good friends and a very accomplished bass player went to Victor Wooten's bass camp. I've seen his solo show, as well as performing with Bela Fleck. What a great guy. Reggie is a monster too, if you have ever seen Victor solo. He is a bit out there, but great nonetheless.

[ouch]

Thanks Ouch. How could I forget "The Judge"?

I was fortunate enough to see one of his last performances, when he was pushing 90.

[paydepst]

Must mention the oft overlooked but incredibly talented

Geddy Lee


of the finest export to come out of Canada since Moosehead Lager-


RUSH!!

[Viktor]

1) Aladar Pege

2) John Patitucci

3) maybe Mark King

Best regards,
Viktor

[Straight Arrow]

Let's not forget Paul McCartney. He was one of the first rock bassists to lift the instrument up from the role of thump-thump fundamental note anchor to a role of complex harmonic interplay and well-placed melodic lines. And he did this without showing off. A totally supportive bass player.

[kalle]

Robbie Shakespeare! (from the Sly and Robbie duo)

I've often been really impressed by his superhuman timing! For example on the record Sinsemilla by Black Uhuru. One of my favourite S&R songs is Boops ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D3wIXz_VxEE ), but that might not be the best example to observe his bass play.

[SmoovD]

Gotta love the votes NHOP, PC, Mingus and Lesh.

If I may:
Lemmy (legend made flesh)
Percy Jones (Brand X)
Allen Woody (Gov't Mule)
Mike Watt (Minutemen)
Kira (Black Flag- chick bassists are hot)
George Porter (Meters)
Steve Swallow
James Jamerson
Dave Holland
Lars Danielson (probably my current favorite player...awesome)

and what the heck Steve Harris, the ever present bassist for Iron Maiden!

[Mottern Man]

"Kira (Black Flag- chick bassists are hot)"

WHO"S GOT THE 10 AND 1/2

[SmoovD]

"Kira's got the 10 1/2!"

[paydepst]

Almost forgot the incomparable Aimee Mann!

[jazzman]

I came to this party too late to add many names (but how about Jimmy Blanton, who revolutionized bass playing with the Duke Ellington Orchestra for a couple of years before dying very young? or Rick Danko of The Band?), but Paul McCartney may be the most underrated rock bassist ever. I know, I know, he's made gazillions of bucks with his singing and songwriting, some of which was far too pop & sweet for my tastes, but if you listen closely to any Beatles record, particularly from Revolver on, you'll hear bass playing completely unlike anything that came before. He transformed the instrument into something much more melodic than it used to be. When I saw him on his last U.S. tour, he played the hell out of that thing, and at very high volume.

And +1 on Chambers, Carter, anyone who played with Zappa, Hinton, anyone who played with Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers, Jaco, Phil Lesh, etc., etc. (Anyone mention Jack Cassady (Hot Tuna & Jefferson Airplane?)

[TromboneGuy]

Man, you guys have already covered all my favorites - Mingus, Jaco, Bootsy, Flea, Wooten, Claypool... I'd be hard-pressed to think of many more I'd throw in there.

[SmoovD]

Good call on Danko. If you are into the jam scene and like bassists check out Gov't Mule's Deep End 1 and 2. After Allen Woody passed, they got his favorite bass players to play with the band. It is a who's who of rock bass:

Vol 1
Jack Bruce
Oteil Burbridge
Bootsy Collins
John Entwistle
Flea
Roger Glover
Mike Gordon
Larry Graham
Stefan Lesard
Mike Watt
Willie Weeks (Probably my fav solo of all time, from Donnie Hathaway "Live")
Chris Wood

Vol 2
Jack Casady
Les Claypool
Billy Cox
Alphonso Johnson
Phil Lesh
Tony Levin
Meshell Ndegeocello
Jason Newsted
George Porter
Rocco Prestia
Dave Schools
Chris Squire


All that, plus Warren and Matt. The Mule was tight. RIP Woody- You are missed.

[Mottern Man]

Amost forgot!

Steve Harris

[ScottS]

If you're including upright bass, Ray Brown.

[180gVinyl]

Bernard Edwards
James Jamerson
Duck Dunn
Bernard Odum
Bootsy Collins
Andy Fraser
Aston "Family Man" Barrett
Bruce Thomas
Garry Tallent

[ouch]

In terms of influence over a broad spectrum of music, an argument could be made for the late Bernard Edwards, whose style not only dominated the disco era (error?) but had significant impact on rock of the day (Queen, Bowie) and ushered in the hip hop generation.

[Holton181]

With all this talk about Paul, I'd thought I bring up two more bassist/singer/songwriters: Sting (I can't belive he's not here yet ) and Raphael Saddiq(spelling?). Their bass lines and chord changes were very inovative for their respective genres.

[Holton181]

And +1 on Chambers, Carter, anyone who played with Zappa, Hinton, anyone who played with Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers, Jaco, Phil Lesh, etc., etc. (Anyone mention Jack Cassady (Hot Tuna & Jefferson Airplane?)

You were a pretty bad cat if you could play with Blakey. This guy I went to high school with plays bass for Wynton, Carlos Henriquez. He's been pretty bad ass since I knew him in school, and I think a testament to his skills is who his band leader is.