The World's Very Best Bassists

[JakeK]

Winston, forgive me for this, but I haven't seen one of these here, so I thought I'd bite the bullet and make one.

There are a lot of great bass players out here in the world, especially in rock. Who do you think are the best?

1. John Entwistle
2. Paul McCartney
3. Chris Squire
4. Pete Quaife
5. Bill Wyman

While Wyman had the most unattractive playing position, he could nail down some solid rhythms, such as "Satisfaction", "Mother's Little Helper" or even "Miss You".

[jps]

Jon Camp
Chris Squire
Jaco Pastorius
Geddy Lee
John Patitucci
Stanley Clarke
François Rabbath
Mark Egan
Billy Sheehan
Dave Holland
Ray Brown


Want me to go on?

[kiramdear]

In Rock? Well, besides the obvious ones, some of my best are:

Carol Kaye
Larry Graham
Donald "Duck" Dunn
Carl Radle
Rick Danko
And Klaus Voorman is as good as Bill Wyman any day

will someone mention Jack Bruce, please?

[lennon211]

My top bassists (in no particular order):

Carol Kaye
John Entwistle
Paul McCartney
Donald "Duck" Dunn
James Jamerson
Bill Black
hon. mention: Chas Chandler

[rickenbrother]

Chris Squire
Geddy Lee
Geezer Butler
John Paul Jones
James Jamerson
Paul McCartney
John Entwistle
Jack Bruce
Carol Kaye
Carl Radle

Too many more to mention...Steve Harris...Doug Pinnick, Cliff Burton...Flea, etc.

And those are just the rock bassists I dig. Then there's the jazz bassists.

[leftybass]

Jon Camp
Chris Squire
Jaco Pastorius
Geddy Lee
John Patitucci
Stanley Clarke
François Rabbath
Mark Egan
Billy Sheehan
Dave Holland
Ray Brown


Want me to go on?

Victor Wooten, too......

[tennis_nick]

Jon Camp
Chris Squire
Jaco Pastorius
Geddy Lee
John Patitucci
Stanley Clarke
François Rabbath
Mark Egan
Billy Sheehan
Dave Holland
Ray Brown


Want me to go on?

Victor Wooten, too......

He's like the ONE bassist I'd NEVER want in band... One dissonant run and he'd be on the street in no time.

Plus, I don't find him to be a very "pocket" player.

[sloop_john_b]

Paul McCartney

Ray Brown

Carol Kaye
Rick Danko

James Jamerson

Ron Carter (Miles Davis), Bruce Thomas (The Attractions), Bruce Foxton (The Jam), and Andy Rourke (The Smiths) are favorites as well.

[antipodean]

Thanks for kicking this off Jake. We bass players never get any recognition... not that I'm bitter or anything..

Of those already named:

Jamerson
McCartney
Entwhistle
Rainey
Duck Dunn
Jack Bruce
Stanley Clarke
John Paul Jones
Jaco

New contributions:
Colin Moulding
Tony Levin
John Wetton
Paul Simonon
Roger Glover
Andy James (can anyone place him?)

[blueflamerick]

Geezer Butler

[fireglo]

First two that came to my mind are:

Paul McCartney
John McVie

[iamthebassman]

The late Dee Murray.

[rickenbrother]

Thanks for kicking this off Jake. We bass players never get any recognition.)

If and when we bassists do get any recognition, we're always last and have the least amount of time given to us.

I should give Sting a mention, for being the very best simple bassist.

[sowhat]

Strange, i always thought bass player was the most important guy in the band. The heart of the band, so to speak.
Has anybody mentioned Dee Dee Ramone yet? Not that he was a virtuoso, but still. He could add lots of fun to the "process".

[chuck_king]

Most of my faves have been mentioned---Colin Moulding, Andy Rourke, Geddy Lee, John McVie... I'll throw in Adam Clayton, who is not the flashiest but lays it down as solid as anyone. And I can't believe, on a Rick enthusiast board, that nobody has mentioned Mike Mills?

But one of my very favorite bassists, who is criminally under-known, is John Munson, from Trip Shakespeare and then Semisonic.

Also in that category is Bob Nyswonger, who I believe has posted on this very forum from time to time.