Favorite Musicians

[naetog]

Growing up, my parents bombarded me with strange music that I did not understand until many years later.
Phil Lesh of the Grateful Dead was the first bass player I noticed standing out from the music.
I don't think he EVER played a simple bass line.
I know The Dead aren't everyone's idea of palatable music, but they are massively talented.
Phil plays incredibly melodic lines.

Then I was 14 and heard Primus. Oh, man.
It wasn't so much Claypool's bass but the drums that got me interested.
Tim Alexander playing drums makes me happy. Plain and simple.
Yeah, Les plays a mean ass bass and I love to play some of his songs, but those drums are something else.

Fast forward a decade and insert Jeff Beck.
Mind blowing. The amount of emotion that man can wring from his Strat is beyond description.
It's just good fun watching him play.

But, as far as favorites:
Adrian Belew is probably my favorite guitarist because he is so incredibly unique. No person has ever sounded remotely like him.

My favorite bass player is Jonas Hellborg. I liked his music until I saw him play almost 10 years ago, and then it was a quick leap to amazement and awe at the connection between man and instrument. Unlike anyone I've seen (wooten, claypool, flea, among others)

 

[BassPlyr Randy]

+1 naetog - I'm a huge Deadhead and had the pleasure to experience 13 of their shows. I believe that they are a very under-rated band musically. Unfortunately most people can't get past the "Hippie" image or the Drug image. I have even heard people call them devil worshipers because of of the line "a friend of the devil is a friend of mine." But the truth is, the dead was a extremely talented group of musicians with an unparrelled communication level between them. They listened to and knew where each other was going even in the most far out of their "Space Jams" Here the band was going several different directions at once, sounding like each person was going his own way and doing his own thing then suddenly they were all right back on the same track almost as tho someone had counted it off, but they didn't. It was all improvised and was always different. Simple amazing to see/hear.

and I Agree, Phil Lesh is an amazing bass player who wrote some of the most amazing lines that weaved their way through the deads music and in a way, was the thread that held everything together. Then again, it would have to take one helluva bass player to stand between Bob Weir & Jerry Gracia and still be able to stand out and express thier own personality. Not to overlook he also had a keyboard player to contend with. As a bass player I personally find playing with a keyboard player can at times be one of our biggest challanges; especially one with an active left hand.

Sounds to me like you have some very cool Parents naetog...

 

[Tom Thump]

There's a lot of bassists I like, but the ones that first influenced me, where Jack Casady, Glenn Cornick and Roger Waters.

 

[Grgzilla]

I once asked a drummer who his faveourite drummer was.His answer?Himself!:lol:

 

[Tom Thump]

I once asked a drummer who his faveourite drummer was.His answer?Himself!:lol:

This holds true for most guitards. This forever-noodling-between-songs species.

 

[Doc]

Bassists are Pete Way, Steve Harris, Boz Burrell, Geddy Lee. I respect the talent and the playing virtuosity of guys like Sheehan, Hellborg, Jaco, and the like, but just can't grasp the necessity. Musically, in general, I guess Devin Townsend, Michael Schenker, Jason Mraz.

 

[ubo]

Bass-wise; Doug Wimbish, Norwood Fisher, Jaco (esp on Joni Mitchell albums), Prince, Leonard Hubbard (The Roots), Simon Gallup (The Cure), Peter Hook, Scott Thunes / Arthur Barrow – Zappa, George Porter Jr, Flea (not so much his slappy stuff), Paul Webb (Talk Talk), Bill Laswell oh and Charlie Mingus (but more as a composer)… and unfortunately I can’t play like any of them.

Outside of bass; Zappa, Vernon Reid, more Prince, Miles Davis, DJ Shadow, Carl Craig, Robert Hood, John Coltrane, Brian Eno, Gil-Scott Heron, David Byrne, Martin Taylor, John Williams, The Smiths, Portishead, Tortoise, Air, Leith Le Blanc, Jack Dangers - Meat Beat Manifesto, Massive Attack, Thelonius Monk, Bill Frisell, and right now Juan Maclean…

 

[lasteffect]

I don't have time to make a long list.

So, I'll make it a short ten list.

Geddy Lee (I don't know anyone who can play bass, guitar, keyboards, and sing at the same time, except him.), John Paul Jones (Led Zed's Riff Master), John Entwistle (Need I say more?), Chris Squire (What tone. Man... What tone.), Chuck Schuldiner (He wrote everything in Death, even the drum tracks on a drum machine.), Steve DiGorgio (One of the most talented Metal Bassists on fretless), Jimi Hendrix (He was Entwistle on Guitar), Neil Peart (One of the Greatest Drummers Ever), Layne Staley (Man, what voice...), and Jaco (The perfectionist).

 

[Florian]

Hi there,

that is a tough question. I even can't tell the name of the player who made me first listen to a bass as an instrument in its own right. Anybody know the movie Hair by Milos Forman? Of course you do! That scene in the very beginning. That hillbilly standing at the street, waiting for the bus to take him to New York. And then, when he has entered and the bus leaves, a slap'n'pop groove starts. "The age of Aquarius". The next day I went to buy the soundtrack. I loved the bass lines, and I still do today. But I can't even tell the bassist. Not to mention that I will never be able to reproduce his lines ...

Watch the [video=youtube;r3qHfnJiqK4]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r3qHfnJiqK4[/video] and you will know what I mean!

I started of playin bass much later, but the influences are manifold. Entwistle, McCartney, STING!, later then Jaco and Wooten. And I even want Prince, Larry Graham and Bootsy to be mentioned here ... and of course Colin Hodgkinson, another greart southpaw out there.

 

[da-vonk]

Dave Grohl...8:

 

[Nachobassman]

I don´t know where to start, so I´ll name a few that come to my mind right now:

Mike Patton
Slash
Jason Newsted
Flea
Angus Young
Krist Novoselic
Zeta Bosio
Enrique Bunbury
Duff Mckagan
Marky Ramone
Andrés Calamaro
...

 

[Grgzilla]

Lady Gaga!!

 

[Florian]

lady gaga!!

*lol*

 

[BassPlyr Randy]

Wow Hair... Now that's going back a day or two. The score for it was written by composer Galt MacDermot and that sweet ass bass you were referring to was recorded by Wilbur Bascom. But I think the actual basslines were written by Galt.

But yea man, that was funky and I loved the way the bass played such a dominate part of the groove as is weaved it way through the entire show.