Most bass players are regulated to the back of the stage, thumping out rhythm bass lines that move the music we love forward. Problem is, bassists are overlooked, big time. We remember the guitarist, or singer, or sometimes even the drummer, before we actually think about who’s playin’ the bass.
But we owe a lot of what we love about music to bass players. The soul of blues, the thunder of rock, the movement of jazz, the stank of funk, would be nowhere without the unsung legends. The following represents ten of the bass players that are arguably some of the biggest influences on music. They have created or been part of course changes in music, and without their influence, our musical landscape today would just not be the same. They are not in any particular order, and to be honest, there are thousands of names that could go on this list, but the comments are open for your .02 cents pleasure.
James Jamerson
If you listen to any hit song from 60’s era Motown, you’re probably listening to Funk Brother #1 Mr. James Jamerson, playing his legendary funk machine, a 62 Fender Bass. James Jamersons’ bass lines are some of the most famous in the world, but his name is relatively unknown. To say that Jamerson helped define what bass playing is, is like saying Einstein figured out some stuff about energy. Most bass players strum or thump the bass with two fingers, but Jamerson played some of the most melodic and rhythmic masterpieces with only his index, just to mess up your day. His playing is considered by many to be the standard that set the bar of bass virtuosity.
Les Claypool
Dood, it’s Les frickin’ Claypool for Jebus sakes. In jazz, the bass has a certain freedom to take center stage, but in Rock, bass players traditionally needed to pull guitar “esque” solo’s to get noticed. Not Les Claypool. He plays the bass balls out with a musical creativity and preciseness that usually leaves you screaming variations of “Holy Shit!”, and without guitar type trickery. It’s the bass, straight up, being played by a cyborg alien freak of nature genius.
Stanley Clark
To know and love Stanley Clark’s music is to know and love the bass instrument itself. Stanleys’ modus operandi was always “now watch this shit.” Thankfully, everyone did. Professional is too small of a term for someone one plays the bass with as much badassness as he does. He plays the upright bass with bow or fingers, and then as if walking to the other side of the room, picks up and electric bass and thumps into your ears beautiful low end beauty.
Flea
Who says that you can’t have fun and be a bad ass bass player? With reckless abandonment backed up with the chops of a Bethoven, Michael “Flea” Balzary and the RHCP have made delirious fans shit in their pants time and again. Cmon’ dude, he’s played the tightest bass lines in music with a flame shooting off his head for Pete’s sake. Flea is far more than just a bass player, he’s an entertainer as well. To quote the man himself, “Plenty of bass players have fancy chops, but they don’t make you feel any emotions. You don’t feel anger, fear, or love. That’s what I call ‘all flash and no smash’.” Fleas’ emotional bass playing has made people want to have sex on the spot. That’s playin’.
Victor Wooten
What do you get when you start teaching a 3 year old in a musical family how to play bass? You get Victor frickin’ Wooten, that’s what. His name first started appearing in musical circles as a rumor, a story told amongst musicians of some far flung magic man with the power to turn your pants into cheese. Wooten just doesn’t play the bass, he explores it. He can slap it, strum it, tap it and play Paganini runs while doing a complete back flip onstage (true story). He’s played Jazz, Rock, R&B, Country and Blue Grass, sometimes all on the same night.
John Entwistle
Have you ever watched a daredevil stuntman calmly climb into a box of dynamite, blow himself up, and then calmly walk away like James Bond having a Martini? Yeah, well, now you know how John Entwistle played the bass. Thunderous sound with surgical precision, Entwistle was the master of pentatonic lines that would make a lot of bassists pee in their pants. While Pete Townsend and Roger Daltrey burst on the stage like dynamite, Entwistle calmly and deliberately pumped out astounding, jaw dropping earthquakes of bass that sounded like a 600 pound bumble bee having sex with a Gatling Gun.
Jaco Pastorius
Seriously, why is everybody so freaking impressed with Jaco? It’s not like his bass playing was emotional, or technically advanced, or a soul searching exploration of what a man with a fretless bass can do. It’s not like he created one of the best jazz albums of the 20th century, right? Or that every musician worth his salt was clamoring to just to do one tune with him right? I mean, he didn’t really make his bass sing, did he? Oh he did. …Right. My bad. Jaco Rules. I’ll shut up now.
Larry Graham
To say that bass playing today owes Larry Graham recognition is like saying art owes a debt of gratitude to paint. The originator of slap bass, many of the bass players on this very list would not be around today without his innovations. Les Claypool, Flea and Victor Wooten would be on some other list, probably as thumb wrestlers or something. Larry took us higher with Sly and The Family Stone, which as spectacularly awesome as they where, was only a precursor to the music that followed. Thank you Mr. Graham.
Geddy Lee
Out of the wilds of Canada came a rock god a callin. Mention the word “Rush” in a room full of rock fans brings sudden and silent reflection, followed shortly after by loud hollers of “YYZ!” or “TOM SAWYER DUDE” and the rock lovefest begins. To Rush fans, Geddy Lee is none other than the Norse god Thor, who has chosen a human vessel in the guise of a musician, and his all powerful hammer the guise of a bass. It’s appropriate too. Rush’s brand of the technically advanced melodic thunder opus…with killer hooks, is hard to ignore, and the center that holds it together is the bass playing of Lee. Everybody, and I mean EVERYBODY, has had to try their hand at a Lee bass line.
John Paul Jones
Shhh. When we speak of the LD, we must speak in the hushed reverence of a zen student under the watchful eyes of his master. You don’t fuck around with the music of Led Zeppelin, and you certainly don’t fuck around with the bass playing of JPJ. A contrast to the other bass players on this list, John Paul Jones did not make his name by slapping, plucking, thumping, or any other …ing you can do with the bass. In fact, he went the opposite way. As the bassist and keyboard player for Led Zeppelin, you hardly ever saw Jones on stage. However, there he was, creating a sound that is the epitome of 60’s and 70’s rock; solid, soulful and sweet. JPJ turned the treble way the hell down, and pumped out these sexy, low and mid-range saturated bass lines that stand out not for there flash, but for their utter sweetness. His bass playing was not center stage, it was the stage that Jimmy Page, Robert Plant and John Bonham needed to play on. If rock was Zen Buddhism, Jones would be the watchful master.
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This list, although far from definitive, is a great compilation of bass players throughout the years. One name that is a standout missing, is Berry Oakley, former bass player for the Allman Brothers Band. Oakley was rock and roll’s first true laison player that created a bridge between the sound of guitars and the rhythm of the percussion section. Of course, all the greatest bassists couldn’t be included in a list of ten, but I wanted whoever watches this compilation that is not familiar with the early Allmans, to check out his work.
Duck Dunn should be in the list too
Love ya work with Roland and choice of music. You are a super power-house instrument in the music industry. Keep up doing the great work you’re already doing. Don’t stop till you get enough.
The Bass rocks!!!!!!!!!!!