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OT- Best Bass players of all time

supafreak84
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Having a debate with my girlfriend about music and bass players. She's a huge Beatles fan and I saw a Rolling Stones poll that had Paul McCartney as the 3rd greatest bass player ever. I told her I've always thought of him as an amazing song writer, but never as a great instrumentalist necessarily. She thought his ranking was spot on. 

Anyways I've started learning to play bass which sparked our conversation. Just curious to hear others take on the best bass players of all time. These would be mine and I base it on me just being blown away by watching them play:

1. Les Claypool (Seeing Primus again in April)
2. Geddy Lee
3. Flea
4. John Paul Jones
5. Geezer Butler 

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#1 · Jan 7, 5:35 PM
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Don't forget John Entwistle from The Who. The Ox.

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#2 · Jan 7, 5:41 PM
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@"StickyBun" said: Don't forget John Entwistle from The Who. The Ox.


There are a lot that think he is the greatest. Was #1 on the Rolling Stone poll

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#3 · Jan 7, 5:53 PM
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Was always a big fan of Cliff Burton. 
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#4 · Jan 7, 6:05 PM
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@"El_Padre" said:
Was always a big fan of Cliff Burton. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lRArbRr-61E



Same here. I had him at #6

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#5 · Jan 7, 6:11 PM
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Chris Squire 
Derek Forbes
Steve Harris

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#6 · Jan 7, 6:26 PM
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Stanley Clarke

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#7 · Jan 7, 7:41 PM
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This reminds me of something I have been thinking about.  I have an acquaintance (our daughters are in dance class together) who is a rock band photographer (and drummer) and Vikings fan.   (https://www.robshanahan.art/).  He has some Viking photos but they are not on his site for some reason.  But I was wondering whether people would be interested with him coming here for an Ask Me Anything thread.  Would be a music/Viking cross over.  I thought it might be interesting given the music enthusiast here.  He owes me a favor and I bet he would love to promote his photographs also.  Thoughts for an off-season AMA session?

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#8 · Jan 7, 7:45 PM
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cliff burton

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#9 · Jan 7, 10:24 PM
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Carol Kaye-the wrecking crew. Not really a group, a loose group of session musicians in LA.

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#10 · Jan 7, 10:27 PM
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@"JustinTime18™" said: Stanley Clarke
THIS

Have studied / played music my entire life.  The minute I read the thread title “Stanley Clarke” automatically popped in my head. 

Folks not familiar with his work, do yourself a favor and give him a listen.  I’m almost envious for your discovery.

Drummer / Percussionist ?

Billy Cobham 

Sad in a way that Rock has neglected their R&B and Jazz influences.

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#11 · Jan 7, 11:09 PM
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@"Vanguard83" said:
@"JustinTime18™" said: Stanley Clarke
THIS

Have studied / played music my entire life.  The minute I read the thread title “Stanley Clarke” automatically popped in my head. 

Folks not familiar with his work, do yourself a favor and give him a listen.  I’m almost envious for your discovery.

Drummer / Percussionist ?

Billy Cobham 

Sad in a way that Rock has neglected their R&B and Jazz influences.



Only concert I've ever had front row tickets for. Amazing performance.

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#12 · Jan 8, 5:34 AM
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@"El_Padre" said:
Was always a big fan of Cliff Burton. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lRArbRr-61E



Bass solo take one....

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#13 · Jan 8, 6:31 AM
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#14 · Jan 8, 7:17 AM
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Good list. Jaco Pastorius. I'm not a huge jazz fan, but he's probably the best player I've heard.  I tend to prefer space over speed in my music, so my favorite is probably Sting. If you're a music lover, check out Rick Beato's stuff on Youtube. I can watch it all day. 

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#15 · Jan 8, 7:23 AM
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If we're staying in the realm of rock, not a bad list. Some underrated options that are worthy of mention:

  • Doug Wimbish- Dude is an animal. His work with Living Colour was amazing.
  •  Steve Harris- Pretty legendary bassist for Iron Maiden.
  • Justin Chancellor- Tool bassist. Has incredible time, and the polymeters they play make it insane that he keeps time the way he does.
  • Trey Spruance- Mr. Bungle. You likely haven't heard them (they are Mike Patton's high school band. The music is not for everyone, but his bass playing is incredible.
  • Jon Stockman- My favorite bass tone ever. His bass sounds massive! Going to be something like the Chancellor pick, but he plays with his fingers and just has incredible tone. Check out the song Goliath... 27/4 time signature!

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#16 · Jan 8, 7:25 AM
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