Who were/are you main influences on bass?

lshaia · Post by **lshaia** » Tue Jul 15, 2003 9:04 am

Gentlemen, I meant no disrespect to the late Mr. Ramone. Indeed, one of the crowning achievements of my junior year in college was to cut class for three days so as to wait in line for "festival" seating for the Ramones. I'll never forget it, as a photographer for the Daily Illini caught us in the act, PBR, cigarettes and all, and published his shot in the paper. My dad was a subscriber and just left it open to that page for me to find when I got home for break. Oops! But I digress.

robj · Post by **robj** » Tue Jul 15, 2003 10:24 am

Thanks for the great story Bob. I never got to see Ox play live I'm sure it was a great experience, his right hand technique was amazing for sure.

Regarding the Who going on tour immediately after John died, yeah I thought that was very bad form and taste.

Yes, Trace Elliot is the correct spelling and is the brand of amplifier I recently switched to.

Hey Lindsay, funny story.

bear · Post by **bear** » Tue Jul 15, 2003 10:52 am

Jamerson, Dunn, Rainey, McCartney, Bogart, Lesh, Casady, Entwistle, Squire, Lake, Camp, Glover, Lee, King, Jackson, Johnson, Graham, Maby, Jones, O'Hearn, Manring, Lawson, Kahn, Brooks, Karn, Carter, Clarke, Wetton, Wray, Wyman.
Okay that's just off the top and I'm sure if I go stand in front of the music collection there will be a whole bunch more that just pop out and make me groan for not including.

rickengrowl · Post by **rickengrowl** » Tue Jul 15, 2003 10:53 am

My main influence was Chris Squire, no doubt about that. Plus many others, such as Paul McCartney, Geddy Lee, Mike Rutherford, Gary Thain, etc.

ricnvolved · Post by **ricnvolved** » Tue Jul 15, 2003 10:57 am

For me, #1 now and forever is Jack Bruce. Listening to his basslines while he was in Cream was a life changing experience that's still being felt today. I can't say enough about the man's tone and style of play as an influence.

However, there were others, and one in particular that has escaped mention so far: Jack Casady! His tone with the early Jefferson Airplane was exceptionally unique and instantly recognizable. The sound he got out of that heavily modified Guild Starfire could give me goosebumps.

Tim Bogert was another. It was amazing what he could do with just a plain ol' Fender P-bass. Paul McCartney, of course. And a bass player from the '60s that has been unfairly overlooked is Glenn Cornick who played on a few of the earlier Jethro Tull albums (I think they were "Stand Up" and "Benefit".)

Believe it or not, I wasn't much of a Stones fan in my early days, so I never paid any real attention to Wyman's bass playing. Rest assured that I've worked extremely hard in the past 15 years to make up for those 2 oversights.

John Entwistle was another big favorite, and later came Geddy Lee.

No offense at all to the Chris Squire fans here, but his bass playing just never clicked with me for some reason, even now. I really can't explain it, though I certainly have all the respect in the world for the man's talent & success.

Two other bass players that deserve special mention here are Rushton Morave and Nick St. Nicholas. Rushton was the bassist on the very first Steppenwolf album, and I didn't realize this fact until just a few years ago. The story goes that he became deathly afraid of the earthquake danger out in California and left, never to return. Apparently he moved back to Canada but there was no indication that anyone could verify this or even had any idea of his whereabouts since then. Anyway, Nick St. Nicholas stepped in and picked up right where Morave left off. Obviously I'm also one of the world's biggest Steppenwolf fans.

Has everyone forgotten Berry Oakley? A Fender P-bass guru who played with unbelieveable dynamics. The Allman Brothers Band never had a better bass player.

Finally, let us not overlook the invaluable contributions John Paul Jones made with Led Zeppelin. Another wizard with a Fender Precision; some of his basslines are highly innovative.

bear · Post by **bear** » Tue Jul 15, 2003 11:17 am

Thanks Jeff,

See I didn't even have to go to the music room and already some that I left out pop up.
Guilty I left out the J.P. in my listing of just Jones. BTW pretty sure that he was a Stacked Knob Jazz Wizard more than the P.
Jack Bruce. Carried in his gear, helped set it up, watched the entire concert and then got to hang with Cream when they "broke kit". Late 60's in support of the Top 40 Hit "Sunshine of Your Love" at the local U.W. for the "Winter Fest" finale Concert. They opened with "Tales of Brave Ulysses" and Jack used the infamous 2x100 watt heads, daisy chained by a "curly" cord, and 4 (4x12) cabs. The P.A. was 4 W.E.M. 4x12 columns on each side and a Marshall head, Clapton had the same rig config and the drums weren't miked up, just stage bleed of which there was plenty.
All tracks from "D.G." and "F.C." plus were performed. Sound check? They were two and a half hours late due to a snowstorm. Boomp Boomp, Crunch, Cry, Thud, Thud and back off the reverb on the vocals. Click, click, click, click and the concert started. Magnifico!

bear · Post by **bear** » Tue Jul 15, 2003 11:19 am

... and yes it was the Gibson.

rictified · Post by **rictified** » Tue Jul 15, 2003 11:38 am

Great story, I never saw The Cream, they were also huge in my life. I've always seen Jones with a Jazz, and Bogart had a Tele bass pickup in his bridge position. His bass has always puzzled me, the neck was either a Telecaster neck or an early P neck, but it had a split P pickup along with the tele pickup, maybe combined them, I had a P bass with a jazz neck on it. Cassidy was great too, I love the LP. After Bathing at Baxters, and all the rest. Chuck Rainey definitely. all those guys you guys mentioned were great.

rickengrowl · Post by **rickengrowl** » Tue Jul 15, 2003 11:59 am

Oh, in the list of my biggest influences, I shamefully forgot to mention John Wetton...
May he forgive me...

bear · Post by **bear** » Tue Jul 15, 2003 12:08 pm

Bogart's bass. A puzzle for me as well for many a year. Even went so far as to attach a maple skunk stripe Tele neck to a '68 P. Put a Badd *** I on instead of the second PUP though. Later on I replaced the P-PUP with a first year EMG. Man... that was awhile ago, in a bass galaxy far away.

jps · Post by **jps** » Tue Jul 15, 2003 12:32 pm

Early influences:
Geezer Butler, Mel Shacher(sp), JPJ, Mike Rutherford, Roger Waters, Chris Squire, Jon Camp, Roger Glover, Ray Shulman, Percy Jones.

Later influences:
Jaco Pastorius, Mark Egan, John Patitucci, Victor Bailey, Gary Willis, Jimmy Johnson.

Anybody see a pattern here?

shamustwin · Post by **shamustwin** » Tue Jul 15, 2003 1:48 pm

I saw Steppenwolf in concert, late '60's (it was good having an older hippie sister I could tag along with being I was only 2 (not really)always liked his playing. I saw the Who around the same time, a bit later perhaps. The Ox astounded. Saw the fabs much earlier. Like his bass playing. Squire got me playing, and I was all proud of myself, getting a Rick like his and playing in a prog rock jazz type thing (we were way into the Mahavishnu Orchestra, whom I've seen). Rush always made me barf, sorry Rushoholics. Then one night I went to the Troubador with a freind to see a new band. Scatman Crothers opened. We were sitting right at the stage, my arm resting on it. A band came on and altered my bass perceptions. On keys, Chick Corea; guitar, Al DiMeola; drums, Lenny White and ladies and gentlemen whithin touching distance, Mr. Stanley Clark. My friend whispered to me "see his bass? It cost $1800!" (Alembic) But I was floored by his playing. More than once he looked down at me and chuckled, 'cause there I was, staring at his fingers, my mouth agape as it could get! I bet he remembers my face to this day and chuckles. Wait, that happens alot.

big_g · Post by **big_g** » Tue Jul 15, 2003 1:58 pm

Every bass player from avery band I've ever liked as made a difference in my playing. In no particular order; James Jamerson, Bootsy Collins, Donald "Duck" Dunn, Paul Jackson, Willie Dixon, Carol Kaye, Charlie Mingus, Jaco Pastorius, Percy Jones, Paul McCartney, Geddy Lee, Chris Squire, Victor Wooten, Louis Johnson, Stanley Clark,Tommy Shannon, Bruce Thomas, Bruce Foxton, Chuck Rainey, Flea, P-Nut, Jack Bruce, and Aston "Family Man" Barrett.

I feel that I've learned something from all of these great players, just to name a few, the list goes on quite a way.

wints · Post by **wints** » Tue Jul 15, 2003 2:21 pm

Mr Stanley Clarke happens to be in town on friday in a real small venue...I,ll be as close to the front as possible...with a big grin on my face...just like every other time I,ve seen him...Everyone who loves bass needs to see this man once in their lifetime....

lshaia · Post by **lshaia** » Tue Jul 15, 2003 2:46 pm

Although I'm exceeding my two post per topic limit, this is such a great subject that I want to chip in again. Although Jack Bruce, John Wetton (thanks, Jean), and the assembled Weather Report bassists (Jaco, Alphonso Johnson, et al) should have been on my original list, I completely forgot Tom Petersson, whose sound and playing was my air bass staple for years. Great topic!