Rolling Stone greatest bassists



AB22 Easy Tiger said:
Nice to see Bootsy up there

www.rollingstone.com

The 50 Greatest Bassists of All Time

From funk masters to prog prodigies and beyond, we count down the players who have shaped our idea of the low-end theory
www.rollingstone.com www.rollingstone.com
Click to expand...
Another pointless meaningless list.

Do you see bass players as a member of a rythym section or a "lead" player?

Is a complex bass line "better" than a tight groove?

Are great songs better than technical complexity?

Daft really

Any way its Geddy Lee who is the real number 1
 
Chatty83 said:
Geezer Butler and Les Claypool both way to low. Both take the absolute piss out of Flea yet he sits ahead because he's a more mainstream name

McCartney isn't a bad bassist but he's not exactly great either. He can probably write better songs and sing better than the majority on the list but he shouldn't be int he too 50 just on bass skills.
Click to expand...

I personally think Paul McCartney I’d an excellent bass player. I love his melodic style and tone and the way his playing kind of ‘swings’ always have.

I think he’s been a pretty influential bassist - maybe not for people like Lemmy or the bloke out of Metallica but for players like Andy Fraser.

Whoever it was that played on those Motown hits, is similarly, a style I enjoy.

...and others that off the top of my head I can’t think of ;)
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Butcher's Coat said:
Nee Sid Vicious simply because he couldn't play the Fecking thing.
Click to expand...
Aye the others are good choices though.
Foxton obviously one of my favourites and much more stylish than Weller too but since The Jam barely sold a record in America not surprising the yanks at Rolling Stone don’t know him or rate him. Problies similar for JJB - despite having a hit with ‘Big in America’ they never actually were!
 
Charmless Man said:
Paul McCartney ahead of the likes of Stanley Clarke :lol:
Click to expand...
He's wrote way better Bass lines to be fair .Couldnt hum any SC ones
Chatty83 said:
Geezer Butler and Les Claypool both way to low. Both take the absolute piss out of Flea yet he sits ahead because he's a more mainstream name

McCartney isn't a bad bassist but he's not exactly great either. He can probably write better songs and sing better than the majority on the list but he shouldn't be int he too 50 just on bass skills.
Click to expand...
It isnt the most skillful .Walking on the moon is a better bass line than some technically knacky 100 mile an hour speed metal song.
A Teenstone said:
"I don't play bass guitar, I play rhythm guitar on the bass"
Lemmy.
Click to expand...
Aye,he sits in the middle as you need to playing that stuff with 1 guitarist
Big Jeff said:
Another pointless meaningless list.

Do you see bass players as a member of a rythym section or a "lead" player?

Is a complex bass line "better" than a tight groove?

Are great songs better than technical complexity?

Daft really

Any way its Geddy Lee who is the real number 1
Click to expand...
i Think they covered all those lumps quite well .I love Geddy but I love Rush songs because of their individual musical brilliance gelled together in a piece not for their message or overall song vibe if that makes sense . I love all the flash players but to me the brief of a Bass player is holding it down for everyone to sound good around ,on a 4 string as well ;) .
I've spent a few quid going to see people like Claypool being absolutely mesmerising but also marvel at the bassline on something like Horse with no name or Psycho killer
 
Last edited:
Tex said:
Aye the others are good choices though.
Foxton obviously one of my favourites and much more stylish than Weller too but since The Jam barely sold a record in America not surprising the yanks at Rolling Stone don’t know him or rate him. Problies similar for JJB - despite having a hit with ‘Big in America’ they never actually were!
Click to expand...
Never saw him with The Jam (because I never saw them), but I did see him play a couple of times with SLF.
 
As mentioned ,its like no English person played bass after 1975 (except Sting )
The Punk,new wave ,new romantic ,NWOBHM,era had some cracking players
Jean jacques,Foxton,bruce Thomas , Norman watt roy,graham maby, Karn,derek forbes ,Harris , Wobble , John Taylor . ,bit later ,Mark king,Stuart Zender and that young lad on penthouse and pavement album :lol:
 
Chatty83 said:
Well yeah definitely then. But unfortunately this is just about bass players and he's not even close to top 50.

Then again I'd say lyrically Geezer Butler wrote a lot of songs better than a lot McCartney wrote but comparing them two is like apples and oranges. Genres just too far out to really compare the writing.
Click to expand...
Is this a fuckin joke?
 

Back
Top