The Nordic Gawd Posted December 24, 2003 Report Share Posted December 24, 2003 Whatever happened to the whole Charles Mingus theory that bassists can be a lead instrument. That should definately be brought back in mainstream music. The bass is a beautiful sounding instrument with many organic great sounds. My personal favorite demonstration of the "charles mingus theory" is primus. Man oh man you guys should check them out. their head bassist is POSITIVLY amazing. Les can do anything with that bass. He combines heavy music with funk style slap. and hillbilly-esque stylings. i love every second if it. its just so true. In my band and our first CD "wet puppy" laugh if you must. is a jazz/funk cd that features me on guitar my friend luke on bass steven lowenthal a kid who knows his theory on piano and a shmuck named danny parrella who can be cool sometimes but we have him with us because we really dig him as a drummer. I play rythym sometimes and let luke do the lead work sometimes. And we essentially switch, I feel that bassists are not just someone to keep the beat and the melody. I think they are a valuable member of a band. Not just to the guitarist. remember that when your watching some of the instrumental players. It seems as though they're only worried about their guitar sounding great. WHAT ABOUT THE BASSISTS! there are bassists out there that could probably school vai. PEOPLE COME ON! WHERES THE LOVE FOR THE BASSES! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
westhemann Posted December 25, 2003 Report Share Posted December 25, 2003 i don't think anyone would disagree about les claypool.but he is more than just the bassist.he is the whole band,pretty much.all they use that guitarist for is background noise. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Nordic Gawd Posted December 25, 2003 Author Report Share Posted December 25, 2003 well, i wouldnt say that. teh drummer is pretty incredible. but the bassist makes the band. the guitarist is just sorta there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
westhemann Posted December 25, 2003 Report Share Posted December 25, 2003 i mean it is his band.he makes all the decisions Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
westhemann Posted December 25, 2003 Report Share Posted December 25, 2003 the bass driven philosophy is all him Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Nordic Gawd Posted December 25, 2003 Author Report Share Posted December 25, 2003 nice. personally i'm a huge charles mingus fan. the man is a genious with jazz invention and experimentation. Maybe not Davis/mclaughlin caliber but he sure kicks arse. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Southpa Posted December 27, 2003 Report Share Posted December 27, 2003 Too bad, my all-time favorite bass players are dead. Gary Thain of Uriah Heep dead at 27 yrs (damn drugs) back in 1975, John "The Ox" Entwistle aka "Thunder Fingers" died last year at 58 yrs. But hey, Jack Bruce (Cream) is still alive but don't know if hes still making music. All those guys were unique and worked very intricate fills into the bands music. If interested check out: Uriah Heep's "Magician's Birthday", kickass wahwah solo in the title song by Mick Box too. The Who "Live at Leeds" and of course, "Crossroads" by Cream I still can't figure out why the good ones have such a short lifespan. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reaper Posted December 27, 2003 Report Share Posted December 27, 2003 Personally, my fav is Tony Levin. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
canuckguitarist Posted December 27, 2003 Report Share Posted December 27, 2003 Geddy Lee!!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drak Posted December 28, 2003 Report Share Posted December 28, 2003 Tony Levin is a bad-ass. And I like Flea too, among others. On a lesser note, Les Claypool auditioned and got turned down for the Metallica bass spot opening. BWAHAAHAAHAAHAA!!!!!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaveMan Posted December 28, 2003 Report Share Posted December 28, 2003 Gary Thain was a great bass player. My first Rock and Roll album as a kid was Uriah Heep Live. Still one of my favorites. If you really want to hear some cool bass work, check out the old Keef Hartley Band stuff. Battle of the NorthWest Six is a great one. Thain really hits it on this album. (I think the other one he really nails is "Halfbreed") The best part of "Live at Leeds" IMHO is the second CD with the playing ot "Tommy" Entwistle is all over this one. Moon is drumming on the very edge of magic and madness. and Entwistle hangs in somehow, and makes it all fit together. Scary stuff to listen to even by today's standards. Moon's drumming on that album still puts my blood pressure up into the "Not safe for an old guy" zone. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
westhemann Posted December 28, 2003 Report Share Posted December 28, 2003 Tony Levin is a bad-ass. And I like Flea too, among others. On a lesser note, Les Claypool auditioned and got turned down for the Metallica bass spot opening. BWAHAAHAAHAAHAA!!!!!!!! i heard that one too...i don't know how true it is...i heard they didn't want such a stand out bassist...might walk on james' ego Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bowser Posted December 28, 2003 Report Share Posted December 28, 2003 Geddy Lee!!!!! dont forget him woo hoo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reaper Posted December 28, 2003 Report Share Posted December 28, 2003 Tony Levin is a bad-ass. And I like Flea too, among others. On a lesser note, Les Claypool auditioned and got turned down for the Metallica bass spot opening. BWAHAAHAAHAAHAA!!!!!!!! i heard that one too...i don't know how true it is...i heard they didn't want such a stand out bassist...might walk on james' ego It was mentioned in a few interviews with Les, so it's definately true. There are some bootleg versions of Master of Puppets (covered by Primus) out there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bluespresence Posted December 28, 2003 Report Share Posted December 28, 2003 Thain, Geddy Lee, Flea, yep all great! Don't forget Leon Wilkeson from Skynyrd. I never realized how much he carried the music for Skynyrd until I started playing bass. The guitars just seem to follow him and add some wild stuff in between his wild stuff. A great unsung bass player IMO. Master of the blues bass - check out "The Ballad of Curtis Lowe" for one of his best bass lines. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lovekraft Posted December 29, 2003 Report Share Posted December 29, 2003 Also,...Rocco Prestia, Chris Squire, John Paul Jones, Pete Trevawas, Eddie Jackson, James Jamerson, Nathan East, Dennis Dunaway, Victor Wooten, Larry Graham, John Wetton, Billy Sheehan, "Duck" Dunn, ... and those are just the guys I consciously stole licks from. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
darren wilson Posted December 29, 2003 Report Share Posted December 29, 2003 John Taylor (don't laugh... take away the bass lines from classic Duran Duran songs, and most of them are pretty forgettable pop tunes) Alain Caron (must be seen to be believed) Pino Palladino Jaco Pastorius just to name a few... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
basey Posted December 29, 2003 Report Share Posted December 29, 2003 Getty Is one of my Bass heros, along with Geezer, Ox, and McCartney. Another fantastic bassist that never gets any credit is Bruce Thomas from Elvis Costello and the Attractions. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Posted December 29, 2003 Report Share Posted December 29, 2003 I've seen Chris Squire play lead on a Bass plenty of times...... Actually he's known for playing a Bass more like a guitar most of the time he plays. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IWishICouldShred Posted December 29, 2003 Report Share Posted December 29, 2003 my band is gonna put some bass solos on our next disc. as for my for my favorite bassist... the one from cryptopsy has some chops... so did cliff burton. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
9of7 X 3of2 Posted December 30, 2003 Report Share Posted December 30, 2003 ALEX WEBSTER.......'nuff said! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jbkim Posted December 30, 2003 Report Share Posted December 30, 2003 Danny Partridge! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
9of7 X 3of2 Posted December 30, 2003 Report Share Posted December 30, 2003 Danny Partridge! I stand corrected,...now enough has been said! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DividedByJames Posted December 31, 2003 Report Share Posted December 31, 2003 Tony Levin is a bad-ass. And I like Flea too, among others. On a lesser note, Les Claypool auditioned and got turned down for the Metallica bass spot opening. BWAHAAHAAHAAHAA!!!!!!!! i heard that one too...i don't know how true it is...i heard they didn't want such a stand out bassist...might walk on james' ego It was mentioned in a few interviews with Les, so it's definately true. There are some bootleg versions of Master of Puppets (covered by Primus) out there. It was also mentioned in a few Metallica interviews with James Hetfield regarding Cliff Burton's replacement. I guess Kirk Hammett was buddies with Les so he got the audition that way, but style-wise Les and James didn't click. But Primus actually does a cover of The Thing that Should Not Be. The bassist in Spacehog holds his own too. Their hit "In the Meantime" has a cool bassline and the bassist is also singing while playing. Spacehog is another great band I recommend if you want something a little less Tenacious D and more rock. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reaper Posted December 31, 2003 Report Share Posted December 31, 2003 But Primus actually does a cover of The Thing that Should Not Be. Ahyes, I remember that one. Off the Brown Album, wasn't it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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