Top 25 Favorite Bassists countdown thread! (ON HOLD!!)

[Stadler]

Maybe.  Sometimes having a cool tone might be enough, even if they're playing little more than roots and doubling.  We've touched on this in each of these so far, but I do tend to think that if you listen to and love a band enough, there can be a glow that can make certain elements seem better than they otherwise might be.

I guess we all have our own legit reasons for picking who we do. I personally can’t see choosing a bassist just because his presence adds a little bit of low frequency. I need a bassist to have personality. If not in their playing, then in their other additions to a band.

Then I know your Number One.  I've got a guy that I was sort of debating on whether he belongs or not, and your paragraph seals the deal.   

(Though to be fair, he might not end up at number one.)

EDIT:  Most lists so far, with I think only one or two exceptions, I knew my number one going in and it wasn't up for discussion.  Here... might be another exception.   Certainly my top five are pretty much going to be interchangeable.

[hefdaddy42]

Mayo and peanut butter do NOT go together!

Sometimes.  For example, on a peanut butter and banana sandwich.

[Adami]

Maybe.  Sometimes having a cool tone might be enough, even if they're playing little more than roots and doubling.  We've touched on this in each of these so far, but I do tend to think that if you listen to and love a band enough, there can be a glow that can make certain elements seem better than they otherwise might be.

I guess we all have our own legit reasons for picking who we do. I personally can’t see choosing a bassist just because his presence adds a little bit of low frequency. I need a bassist to have personality. If not in their playing, then in their other additions to a band.

Then I know your Number One.  I've got a guy that I was sort of debating on whether he belongs or not, and your paragraph seals the deal.   

(Though to be fair, he might not end up at number one.)

EDIT:  Most lists so far, with I think only one or two exceptions, I knew my number one going in and it wasn't up for discussion.  Here... might be another exception.   Certainly my top five are pretty much going to be interchangeable.

I don't even know my number 1!

Did a quick list and ended up with 22 names. 3 more shouldn't be too hard.

[lonestar]

If you need 3 I got some Japanese bassist that could use some votes...

[Metro]

I figured Kev or somebody would get around to this countdown one day so I’ve had my list ready to go for a month or so.

Plenty of locks, but also plenty of people who will definitely only be on my list.

[pg1067]

I basically named 20 guys that I could think of. I'm going to have to throw 5 random dudes at the end.

There's always me!   

[Adami]

If you need 3 I got some Japanese bassist that could use some votes...

Can’t in good conscience do that. Not after Pearl Harbor.

[lonestar]

If you need 3 I got some Japanese bassist that could use some votes...

Can’t in good conscience do that. Not after Pearl Harbor.

One's from Hiroshima too..... I'd almost blame the radiation on her near inhuman ability to drop a sick bass line.

[King Postwhore]

I basically named 20 guys that I could think of. I'm going to have to throw 5 random dudes at the end.

Sound like every Saturday night for you Tim. 

[TAC]

I basically named 20 guys that I could think of. I'm going to have to throw 5 random dudes at the end.

Sound like every Saturday night for you Tim.

 

Well, it is Pride Month!

[Adami]

If you need 3 I got some Japanese bassist that could use some votes...

Can’t in good conscience do that. Not after Pearl Harbor.

One's from Hiroshima too..... I'd almost blame the radiation on her near inhuman ability to drop a sick bass line.

I'd assume one of them is the bassist in Band Maid? I checked out a few other bands but I can't remember their names off the top of my head (though I often forget my own name).

[lonestar]

If you need 3 I got some Japanese bassist that could use some votes...

Can’t in good conscience do that. Not after Pearl Harbor.

One's from Hiroshima too..... I'd almost blame the radiation on her near inhuman ability to drop a sick bass line.

I'd assume one of them is the bassist in Band Maid? I checked out a few other bands but I can't remember their names off the top of my head (though I often forget my own name).

Yup, Misa, aka the Barefoot Assasin....

[hefdaddy42]

If Bootsie Collins isn't in the Top 10, I will cry.

[King Postwhore]

If Bootsie Collins isn't in the Top 10, I will cry.

[LithoJazzoSphere]

One thing I was just pondering is that it's rare for bass to actually sound bad.  I tend to have all sorts of issues with vocal timbre, guitar tone, inauthentic keyboard sounds, drum production, but the worst thing about bass usually is just when it's mixed too low to hear. 

[hefdaddy42]

One thing I was just pondering is that it's rare for bass to actually sound bad.  I tend to have all sorts of issues with vocal timbre, guitar tone, inauthentic keyboard sounds, drum production, but the worst thing about bass usually is just when it's mixed too low to hear.

Most of the time, yes.  However, there are definitely some songs by, say, DT where Myung is playing with an overdriven sound, and would benefit by a cleaner sound (IMO).  He's not alone, of course.

[Adami]

Yea, off the top of my head, Myung has sounded horrible on certain albums. I'm sure others have but I can't recall off the top of my head. Often the thinness and low mix makes it hard to know if they have good tone or not.

I'm noticing my list is not going to be super popular or representative. There are TONS of amazing bassists not making my list, simply because I don't listen to them much. Tons of amazing jazz, latin, funk, soul, prog, pop, etc bassists. So I hope we don't see exclusions to be indicative that we don't appreciate talent, just that there's too many amazing bassists and them being amazing doesn't mean we listen to them a ton. I have a ton of respect for Les Claypool, but he's not on my list, you know?

[TAC]

It would be indicative of me not listening to those kinds of music.

[King Postwhore]

It would be indicative of me not listening to those kinds of music.

This is understood about you, Tim. No need to explain.   

[TAC]

It would be indicative of me not listening to those kinds of music.

This is understood about you, Tim. No need to explain.   

Good, because I literally had to google who Bootsy Collins was.

[King Postwhore]

 

How can you not know the Mothership?!

[TAC]

I only saw the first Star Wars.

[King Postwhore]

I only saw the first Star Wars.

This is the most absurd sentence ever. 

[pg1067]

If Bootsie Collins isn't in the Top 10, I will cry.

One thing I was just pondering is that it's rare for bass to actually sound bad.  I tend to have all sorts of issues with vocal timbre, guitar tone, inauthentic keyboard sounds, drum production, but the worst thing about bass usually is just when it's mixed too low to hear.

Most of the time, yes.  However, there are definitely some songs by, say, DT where Myung is playing with an overdriven sound, and would benefit by a cleaner sound (IMO).  He's not alone, of course.

Agree.  Also, at the opposite end of the spectrum, some guys (John Paul Jones comes to mind) have a VERY flat sound.

[lonestar]

If Bootsie Collins isn't in the Top 10, I will cry.

Who?

[coz]

I've Only got 45 names to rank for this one (vs. 60 drummers)!

[LithoJazzoSphere]

Complaining about Bootsie missing the list would be like complaining about Elvis not making the vocalist list. 

[King Postwhore]

It was tongue in check a little bit by Hef. He knows what site he's on. He's just pointing out that there's so many great bassists from other genres that 70% will not vote for.


Like Tim!

[LithoJazzoSphere]

Maybe, but I would have thought Stadler knew what site he was on too.   

[King Postwhore]

 

He's old school. You are what your musical environment is.

[KevShmev]

FYI, I may extend this and push it out a month.  There is another countdown I am wanting to do in the middle of summer first.  Stay tuned.

[hefdaddy42]

Complaining about Bootsie missing the list would be like complaining about Elvis not making the vocalist list.

I know, right?

[Stadler]

Complaining about Bootsie missing the list would be like complaining about Elvis not making the vocalist list.

I know, right?

No.  They're not at all the same.  I get it, you don't listen to either and so they're both a mystery, but based on something I noted in the singer thread:  John Lennon, Paul McCartney, Freddie Mercury, Robert Plant, Elton John, some of the greatest singers of the rock genre from the 70's ALL had stories about wanting to meet Elvis (or actually doing so).  He was a PRIME influence in some of those guys.   You could see it, clear as day, in the mannerisms, the movements, the inflections...   Freddie and Robert both copped moves DIRECTLY from Elvis, unashamedly.   

Add to that Elvis' popularity in his own right, and you've got an icon for the ages. 

Bootsy is awesome, he's influential, but not at that level.   Not even close.  Hell, TAC even knows who Elvis is.

[TAC]

Hey man, don’t be cruel.

[hefdaddy42]

Complaining about Bootsie missing the list would be like complaining about Elvis not making the vocalist list.

I know, right?

No.  They're not at all the same.  I get it, you don't listen to either and so they're both a mystery, but based on something I noted in the singer thread:  John Lennon, Paul McCartney, Freddie Mercury, Robert Plant, Elton John, some of the greatest singers of the rock genre from the 70's ALL had stories about wanting to meet Elvis (or actually doing so).  He was a PRIME influence in some of those guys.   You could see it, clear as day, in the mannerisms, the movements, the inflections...   Freddie and Robert both copped moves DIRECTLY from Elvis, unashamedly.   

Add to that Elvis' popularity in his own right, and you've got an icon for the ages. 

Bootsy is awesome, he's influential, but not at that level.   Not even close.  Hell, TAC even knows who Elvis is.

Stads, this may be difficult for you to understand, but this was a joke.