I just looked, against my better intuition, at the "Greatest 100 Rock Bassists" list, and, man, has that thing gone to hell! Flea at #8? Geddy at #12? And, I'm gonna get some **** for this, but, seriously Jamerson at #1?! Top 5, definitely, but not #1 . . . at least, not in my opinion. In fact, I never really understood why Jamerson was considered so great; I never liked his playing . . . whatever. I'm not even going to remark about the rest of the list . . .
I hate lists like this because I'm completely fascinated by them and drawn to read them, yet I always become frustrated because I *never* agree with them.
100 Greatest Rock Bass Performances
Moderators: rickenbrother, ajish4
It's all subjective....
If you want to talk about where bass fits into a song format then Jamerson, in his genre has no equal. He improvised a lot of the lines that were wrote for him, and had that knack of just knowing what was right for the wonderful stuff that was coming out of Motown at the time.
If you don't listen to a lot of old school R/B, soul and funk, (and I would imagine the majority of those posting here don't) then you miss out on some truly wonderful creative bass.
For a rock bassist it gets a little more difficult depending on who you like musically. Entwistle, JPJ, Squire and Lee all have an individual style, it depends on the music that they play with. I always am drawn to melodic playing and that means Squire, JPJ and to a slightly lesser degree Entwistle are the ones I listen too the most.
Entwistle is "the" rock bassist imo though when it comes to driving a band, but a lot of that comes from Moon's playing as does Bonham complimenting JPJ...
Technical ability is very subjective, but Jaco probably is the yardstick for everyone in terms of what fingers and a mind could do with four strings.
Actually any general bass list compiling true greatness from the last century would probably have Mingus, Jaco, and Jamerson in the top five, and quite possibly, for many, the actual top three....
If you want to talk about where bass fits into a song format then Jamerson, in his genre has no equal. He improvised a lot of the lines that were wrote for him, and had that knack of just knowing what was right for the wonderful stuff that was coming out of Motown at the time.
If you don't listen to a lot of old school R/B, soul and funk, (and I would imagine the majority of those posting here don't) then you miss out on some truly wonderful creative bass.
For a rock bassist it gets a little more difficult depending on who you like musically. Entwistle, JPJ, Squire and Lee all have an individual style, it depends on the music that they play with. I always am drawn to melodic playing and that means Squire, JPJ and to a slightly lesser degree Entwistle are the ones I listen too the most.
Entwistle is "the" rock bassist imo though when it comes to driving a band, but a lot of that comes from Moon's playing as does Bonham complimenting JPJ...
Technical ability is very subjective, but Jaco probably is the yardstick for everyone in terms of what fingers and a mind could do with four strings.
Actually any general bass list compiling true greatness from the last century would probably have Mingus, Jaco, and Jamerson in the top five, and quite possibly, for many, the actual top three....
Jaco and Charles Mingus are definitely jazz bassists, though I would say that Jaco crosses over a tiny bit into the jazz-fusion area of prog rock.
Yeah, a lot of people don't like Rush, though you're the first person to cite a reason other than, "They're so pretentious!" or "Geddy's voice sucks!" I can definitely understand where it would feel too "removed", I guess. Personally, I love stuff like that. I guess it's just an aquired taste.
I do listen to funk, but mostly it's Parliament Funkadelic and Sly and the Family Stone. I'm not a huge R&B/Soul kinda guy, so I guess it's a little harder for me to appreciate Jamerson. Also, I don't really consider those genres to be "rock" (at least, rock like The Who or Queen or Cream), so maybe my problem is more with an R&B bassist being on a rock chart. I dunno . . .
Oh, and I guess, just for the hell of it, here are my personal bass faves, in no particular order: Geddy Lee, Chris Squire, Dave Meros, Juan Alderete, Paul McCartney, Jonas Reingold, John Wetton, Greg Lake, John Entwistle, Roger Glover, Tony Levin, John Myung, Colin Greenwood (of Radiohead), Chris Wolstenholme, Colin Edwin (of Porcupine Tree), and Phil Lesh.
Yeah, a lot of people don't like Rush, though you're the first person to cite a reason other than, "They're so pretentious!" or "Geddy's voice sucks!" I can definitely understand where it would feel too "removed", I guess. Personally, I love stuff like that. I guess it's just an aquired taste.
I do listen to funk, but mostly it's Parliament Funkadelic and Sly and the Family Stone. I'm not a huge R&B/Soul kinda guy, so I guess it's a little harder for me to appreciate Jamerson. Also, I don't really consider those genres to be "rock" (at least, rock like The Who or Queen or Cream), so maybe my problem is more with an R&B bassist being on a rock chart. I dunno . . .
Oh, and I guess, just for the hell of it, here are my personal bass faves, in no particular order: Geddy Lee, Chris Squire, Dave Meros, Juan Alderete, Paul McCartney, Jonas Reingold, John Wetton, Greg Lake, John Entwistle, Roger Glover, Tony Levin, John Myung, Colin Greenwood (of Radiohead), Chris Wolstenholme, Colin Edwin (of Porcupine Tree), and Phil Lesh.
Boy I thought I was going to get clobbered for the Rush remark. To me Rush plays players music and lacks the melodies that I look for. I know they are huge heroes for the generation behind me. It's good that people like all kinds of music as it is supposed to always change.
Dave Meros - good choice! I've seen him a couple of times with Eric Burdon. He has a great story about his 4001, which he bought from a pawn shop and modded it. Also thought about John Wetton & Greg Lake -- guys I saw several times in the 1970s. Incredible players!
Great post, Robert.
Dave Meros - good choice! I've seen him a couple of times with Eric Burdon. He has a great story about his 4001, which he bought from a pawn shop and modded it. Also thought about John Wetton & Greg Lake -- guys I saw several times in the 1970s. Incredible players!
Great post, Robert.
Leprosy is rare & scarce but nobody wants that!
Dane - Some really great players also! I thought about Duck Dunn, for his steady basslines and Michael Rutherford, especially for the "Foxtrot" album. I was sorry when he turned guitar player for Genesis. Pete Farndon is an interesting choice. Certainly a driving force in those early frantic Pretenders songs.
Leprosy is rare & scarce but nobody wants that!
Oh geez, I forgot to mention Rutherford! I can't believe I did that; he's one of my top faves/influences! I ADORE what he did on "The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway", though I pretty much love every bass line he ever played. Much like Geddy.
Yeah, Dave Meros' 4001 I think has the Ric pickups in it AND two J-bass pickups, so he can have it sound like both. I wanna see Spock's Beard in concert one day. That would be so awesome. Or Genesis should get back together. That would be even better.
Yeah, Dave Meros' 4001 I think has the Ric pickups in it AND two J-bass pickups, so he can have it sound like both. I wanna see Spock's Beard in concert one day. That would be so awesome. Or Genesis should get back together. That would be even better.
I agree, though I must say, I did like Genesis' pop albums. Just, they're not Genesis. Like, they're great albums, but they're not Genesis albums. Genesis, for me, begins with Trespass and ends when Steve Hackett left. Afterwards, they made good albums, but they shouldn't have retained the name.
I do always make a point, however, of pointing out how brilliant a drummer Collins is whenever people complain about hit solo stuff. "Dancing With the Moonlit Knight" . . . enough said.
I do always make a point, however, of pointing out how brilliant a drummer Collins is whenever people complain about hit solo stuff. "Dancing With the Moonlit Knight" . . . enough said.
I loved And Then There Were 3, although I felt after that they went rapidly downhill; love Mike's playing on that album. And no argument about Phil's drumming from me! Phil has said that if they ever got back together for a gig he would only do it if he was allowed to just play the drums; he has no interest in being the singer anymore, so that should make a few of the die-hards happy. Although in his early years as a frontman, I thought he was great. I could've really done without the later Blues Brothers thing though...
Oh, and Chris Poteat; one day I may take you up on that beer, thanks!
Glenn's playing and tone on that album are just fabulous....I love when he comes in on "You Fool No one"; one of my favourite bass moments ever.
BTW, much as I enjoy these kind of discussions, I think that in real terms comparisons are a bit odd, as you'd have to hear each bass player's interpretation of each individual piece of music to truly compare (and even that would be pointless really, as some would shine on some tracks and ruin others): as I've said before, Jaco or Jamerson would sound terrible in Motorhead, but Lemmy would doubtless sound horrible playing Birdland or Tears of a Clown (now there's an interesting mental image).....
Oh, and Chris Poteat; one day I may take you up on that beer, thanks!
Glenn's playing and tone on that album are just fabulous....I love when he comes in on "You Fool No one"; one of my favourite bass moments ever. BTW, much as I enjoy these kind of discussions, I think that in real terms comparisons are a bit odd, as you'd have to hear each bass player's interpretation of each individual piece of music to truly compare (and even that would be pointless really, as some would shine on some tracks and ruin others): as I've said before, Jaco or Jamerson would sound terrible in Motorhead, but Lemmy would doubtless sound horrible playing Birdland or Tears of a Clown (now there's an interesting mental image).....
"Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle."