Had to go with 12 (sorry), and in no order: Jack Bruce, John Entwistle, Lemmy, Chris Squier, John Lodge, Paul McCartney, John Paul Jones, Kenny Gradney, Jack Cassidy, Geddy Lee, Tony Levin, and Jon Camp.
Great Rock Bassists your Top 10.Rock not Jazz. But Hey what about Reggae
My top 10.
- Chris Squire
- Jack Bruce
- Tina Weymouth
- Kim Deal
- Kim Gordon
- Peter Hook
- Rick Danko
- John Entwistle
- Jaco Pastorious
- Aston Barrett (Bob Marley and the Wailers)
120 responses Add your response
The problem is, all my favorite bass players in rock, are in prog and its various subgenres, and a great many of them, are also jazz-fusion players. Or at least, have the chops to play at that level. But I will list them anyway. I will start with Chris Squire, and obvious choice for his playing. Patrick Djivas from Italian prog band, PFM. He has also played jazz-fusion, so can hold his own with the best. Alessandro Porreca from another Italian band, Deus Ex Machina. Again, he has fusion level chops, so this may be cheating? Bernard Paganotti or Philippe Bussonnet are monster bassists for French prog band, Magma. Péter Pejtsik from brilliant Hungarian chamber-prog band, After Crying, He plays cello, also. Tom Hyatt from US prog band, Echolyn. Not a fusion player, but just a great prog-rock player. Jon Camp is a somewhat forgotten bass player, but his playing with underrated prog band Rennaisance, is pretty strong. He plays it like a lead instrument. Raymond Shulman from Gentle Giant has to be mentioned, not so much for his chops, but the intricate parts he had to play. Greg Lake, John Wetton, Mike Rutherford, are also obvious choices, and good players in their own right. |
| Post removed |
I know no one has mentioned Tommy Shannon,imo the greatest blues rock bassist of his Era. When he retired and left Johnny Winter and went back home to Texas,Stevie Ray Vaughn tracked him down and asked him to unretire and join Double Trouble. Tommy had soul,knew that sometimes less is more and he created a groove that got your feet a tappin. |
@cd318 - ever seen or heard Peter Hook's Light, with both Hooky and his son on bass, playing mostly JD but some NO stuff as well? |
The obvious ones for me, or the ones that I actually noticed are: 1 Bruce Thomas (Elvis Costello and the Attractions) especially on Get Happy!! 2 Paul McCartney, particularly on Revolver (Good Day Sunshine, Dr Robert etc). and of course 3 Peter Hook without whom Joy Division would not be Joy Division. |
Based on my influences as a bassist and drummer. I could add more - Rocco Prestia, John Pattitucci, Nathan East.... but you asked for 10. I decided to go with the ones I have studied over the years.
|
@tyray - saw Yes in '77 when Chris had a THREE neck bass. Probably take somebody as big as Chris to support that thing! |
sidog1460
I could ’a sworn Sly and The Family Stone were a rock band? Hence Larry Graham actually should be in this category? I’ve always considered Funkadelic a rock band, especially the early stuff with Eddie Hazel. So Bootsy fit right in. Flea!? Nah...I never understood how this guy gets so much acclaim at playing the bass when he sounds so much like others that came before him? Jaco, could do whatever the heck he wanted to do... My favorite 2 albums by Stanley Clarke were Stanley Clarke 1974 and Journey to Love 1975. On those albums Jeff Beck would just shine... I once saw Stanley by himself with nothing but his bass, an amp, a cigar, a stool and a mike. His band got stranded at the airport because of a snow storm. It was one of best shows I’ve ever seen. The entire audience was mesmerized... I’ll always will have a sweet spot for the Tower of Power bassist Francis Rocco Prestia. One of my first concerts seeing YES live, Chris Squire blew my mind on that double Rickenbacker bass... |
of course I have heard of Louis Johnson of the Bros. Johnson. When I was growing up, the two best known r@b guitarist were Louis Johnson and Larry Graham. My ex-brother in law actually was pretty good, but issues within the band broke them up and never quite reached his peak. @tylermunns you sound like you might know something about a band named Slave. His name was Mark Adams. Bros. Johnson, Strawberry Letter opening bass notes Unforgettable |
@sidog1460 Have you ever checked out Louis Johnson on these songs: ”Strawberry Letter 23,” “Stomp!” - Brothers Johnson ”Get On the Floor” - Michael Jackson ”The Dude” - Quincy Jones Just ridiculously great stuff. I personally don’t view popular music with such strict adherence to labels. Why would Flea be more “rock” than Larry Graham? What does it matter? Pretty much all popular music of the last 60-odd years is a result of the Rock and Roll Explosion of the mid-to-late 1950s. Sure, traditional bluegrass, for instance, continued into the Rock and Roll Era, but even that is arguably a building block of rock and roll, and rock and roll is essentially the universe we’ve been living in, popular-music-wise, for the 60-odd years. “Popular Music” and “Rock and Roll” are essentially synonymous to me. Reggae, hip-hop, metal, etc. Verse-chorus-repeat, middle section (solo or bridge or interlude) and that’s about it. It’s all the same s***, just different flavors. |
@stuartk The way described those kinds of guitar players is exactly the way I feel about them. |
@stuartk - there were a few mentions of Phil farther up the thread.... |
Thanks for the clarification. I feel the same way about “Sheer technical proficiency". The guitarists you mention and their ilk have never appealed to me because they fail to engage me emotionally. I find watching them more akin to witnessing an athletic competition than experiencing art. They do enjoy a very devoted following, though. Clarke was much more unambiguously Jazz-oriented early on in his career. For example, he was a member of the first (mostly) acoustic iteration of Return to Forever that released "Return to Forever" and "Light as a Feather". His playing in that group was much more supportive and does not display the extroverted Funk influenced "lead bass" approach for which he's best known. I have no idea whether you would enjoy these recordings and I'm not attempting to champion Clarke by any means-- simply pointing out that there is stylistic variation in his discography. |
@stuartk I’m rejecting any iteration of Stanley Clarke I’ve ever heard. If you have any suggestions, I’m all ears. I find that particular type of dentist’s-office-waiting-room smooth-jazz Muzak unendurable. It makes my soul hurt. I mentioned him by the self-evident merits of his technical proficiency. When addressing this thread, I tried to think of great non-classical, non-jazz bassists. I have a bass-playing friend who is extremely into the Jaco/Manhattan Transfer/Wooten/Clarke stuff. I perused those artists’ catalogs online again when trying to make my list, and I seemed to find Stanley’s output somehow slightly more unpalatable than people like Jaco, Wooten, and Flea. It’s difficult to reconcile an artists’ technical virtuosity with the disagreeableness of their music. I suppose when we say “best,” perhaps a qualification is necessary to define the terms. “Sheer technical proficiency,” or “makes you happy when listening,” or some combination of both. |
@gavman + 1 One of the most amazing shows I ever saw was Sly & Robbie and their dub/roots band play a set over 3 hours long here in San Francisco about 10 years or so ago. Reggae is great, yeah??!! |
