100 Greatest Rock Bass Performances

henry5 · Post by **henry5** » Sun Oct 09, 2005 4:34 am

I love John's version of the Real Me on the Albert Hall DVD. Stick that on surround sound and rev her up.....lovely. Pretty much my take on what rock bass should be. Personally I always liked Entwistle's Alembic tone far more than his LAL tone, which is good, but a bit clunky for me. In fact after recently watching the Kids Are Alright DVD again (with all the extras) I may even go so far as to say its possibly my favourite tone of all time, although Glenn Hughes on Made in Europe is up there, as is CS of course....in terms of distorted tone I'd have to go with Squire or Lemmy. I love their tones. Or possibly JJ Burnel.....but there are so many tones I love, and all dependent on the setting.

green_us90 · Post by **green_us90** » Sun Oct 09, 2005 4:41 am

Second that Shaun on the Albert Hall gig

The Shepperton gig portion of The Kids are Alright (Wont get folled again and Baba O'Reilly_ has to be one of my favorite filmed performances of the Ox- especially the Ox Cam.

mgauction · Post by **mgauction** » Sun Oct 09, 2005 7:15 am

OK - If any of YOU were to vote for #1 Bass Performance on Record -- who would it be?

I'll go first and pick John Paul Jones (Led Zeppelin) The Lemon Song. I'm past the half century mark so I favor 60s & 70s.

kcole4001 · Post by **kcole4001** » Sun Oct 09, 2005 7:17 am

What about Freewill? Always been my favorite Rush bassline. And La Villa. And YYZ of course.

ilan · Post by **ilan** » Sun Oct 09, 2005 7:39 am

I'm just glad to see that Pictures of Home made it to #18!

And Bernadette... love that bass line, but I'm not sure whether the Carol Kaye/ James Jamerson dispute was settled this way or the other. She still claims to have played bass on that track.

sabbath_of_bass · Post by **sabbath_of_bass** » Sun Oct 09, 2005 8:50 am

I love Freewill. Its just amazing.
But La Villa i could listn to over and over again. Theres one line in there that just drives me crazy. And then he does that little solo coming out of it. Just sends chills down my spine.

But are we still just sticking to rock on the #1bass performance on a record? Because picking between Jaco and Geddy wouldnt be a fun thing to do. I dont think i could do it.

jnbass · Post by **jnbass** » Sun Oct 09, 2005 9:58 am

Hey Don,

have ya found any hamburger joint there yet?

mgauction · Post by **mgauction** » Sun Oct 09, 2005 11:43 am

Ilan - Carol and James were both really great contributions to 60s R&R. I think my next pick would be Jamerson -- for everything he played on Motown, especially "I Was Made To Love Her."

Jacob - I don't think Jaco is on this list because he is considered jazz. I'll have to check. I would like to see a list of All Bass Performances.

bobcat · Post by **bobcat** » Sun Oct 09, 2005 11:48 am

Yeah, Nate, Geddy is pretty much why I play bass at all, but seriously, you haven't heard bass until you've heard "The Real Me". "Quadrophenia" is definitely a great showcase for the entire band's talents. Really catchy too.

Personally, from a "favorites" standpoint, it's hard for me to pick a favorite Rush bassline. I really love all of them, whether he's playing lead bass or grooving or doing whatever (though there's more of the former than the latter), I take it all. I always did love "Freewill". "La Villa Strangiato" is one of my favorite songs ever, and probably actually a better instrumental overall than "YYZ", but "YYZ" has a better bassline in terms of 'holy-****-whoa!' terms.

If I remember correctly, "Digital Man" was at like #40 when I last saw the chart, which I was very gladdened by, until I saw that "Rocket Queen" by Guns'N'Roses had beaten it. No offense to Guns'N'Roses or Duff McKagan, because I love them too, but really, "Rocket Queen" is not a better bassline than "Digital Man". At all.

wints · Post by **wints** » Sun Oct 09, 2005 11:53 am

Go here for possibly the definitive Jamerson performances.

http://www.bassland.net/jamerson.html

"What's Going On" is to to these ears the finest example of bass playing. Jamerson's syncopation underlines the whole song, from the greatest soul album ever made.

That's the nearest thing to a "spiritual" experience I get...

mgauction · Post by **mgauction** » Sun Oct 09, 2005 12:00 pm

Wints - What a great site. Thank you for that insight. Carol Kaye played some really nice basslines but there is no way, to me, that she played on "I Was Made To Love Her" as she states. There is only one strangly syncopated bass player that played that way in Motown and that was Jamerson. I'll fight her on that one.

ken_swearingen · Post by **ken_swearingen** » Sun Oct 09, 2005 12:07 pm

No doubt there was and is some fine talent that we all are inspired by,

I honestly don't think anybody jazz rock fusion Motown or funk could come close to the raw talent of Geddy,
I was never a huge Rush fan ,until I was asked to play Rush,Geddys pure amazing speed and talent made me like him.
Ive seen them in concert 5 times and the ease Geddy plays intricate bass lines is amazing.

I met the three of them at Venamen music when I worked there,
Ted Veneman used to hook them up with equipment ... when they were in town to play at the Capital Center.

If your not a huge Rush fan I understand I like all music too,
But Geddy cant be denied as one of the, if not he best out there.

loendmaestro · Post by **loendmaestro** » Sun Oct 09, 2005 12:18 pm

"although Glenn Hughes on Made in Europe is up there"

SHAUN ELLIOTT...I OWE YOU A BEER SOMETIME!!!

...as you speak gospel most aren't aware of.

nattiep · Post by **nattiep** » Sun Oct 09, 2005 1:33 pm

Ok I'll buy that album.. Geddy wasn't the reason I play bass.. that was McCartney's fault.. but Geddy's the reason that I'm better than most people my age. Also Ged's the reason I can sing/scream like I do.. hehe. Ged's the reason I bought a jetglo 4001.

"La Villa Strangiato" is one of my favorite songs ever, and probably actually a better instrumental overall than "YYZ", but "YYZ" has a better bassline in terms of 'holy-****-whoa!' terms."

I totally agree! YYZ is kick *** but La Villa is WAY more impressive.

I think Duff is a Gene Simmons clone.. if you listen to Sweet Child 'O Mine... it's totally ripping off Gene. The Eb tuning.. and I few others I can think of but not put into words.. heh.

Ged's ability to play the lines so easily AND sing is just insane.. I saw a video for Circumstances.. he didn't even look down to the fretboard during some of the complex parts.

Favorite Geddy bassline.. hmmm.. hard to do. I love Ceiling Unlimited. That song with the super fast one finger strum.. that's sick. I heard a live bootleg of them doin that on the VT tour.. Ged struggles to hit the notes but the bass does not falter. That song is near the top.

ken_swearingen · Post by **ken_swearingen** » Sun Oct 09, 2005 1:51 pm

If you have never really listened to Geddy,
I suggest doing so even though he can overwhelm most anyone thats not a good reason to dislike him or his ability,
most of us can and will be only a fraction of his talent,some are born with that gift appreciate it for what it is.

He IS that good where you would rather pretend he doesnt exist.