greatest bassists of all time

Me! look me up on youtube. Im also a really cool guy that gives really great interviews that can teach you lessons about more than just music.

Jaco

Mike Watt

Entwhistle

Les Claypool - even though I hate his music

Mingus, although, besides being a great bassist, a lot of his reputation rests on being a great composer and bandleader.

Larry Graham

Stanley Clarke

Charles Mingus

Marcus Miller

John Entwistle

Jaco Pastorious

Name more if you like, but they aren't better.

Older guy wrote:

Larry Graham

Stanley Clarke

Charles Mingus

Marcus Miller

John Entwistle

Jaco Pastorious

Name more if you like, but they aren't better.

Agree, but I'd throw Wooten in there too.

jaco pistorious

john "the ox" entwistle

john paul jones

Forgot, good clip here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mrav_MSMjNs

This is also incredible:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Py3jT0uaZw0

1. Geddy Lee

2. Cliff Burton

3. John Entwistle

4. Les Claypool

5. Victor Wooten

6. Flea

7. Geezer Butler

Out.

Agreed: Jaco, Clarke, Wooten, Mingus, Flea

Add: Anthony Jackson, John Pattitucci, Kai Eckhardt, and Tony Levin

Bernard Odum gets an honorable mention for being the bassist that recorded Cold Sweat with James Brown. The bass and drum track for Cold Sweat might be the most revolutionary instrumental accompanyment in pop music history.

Jamerson, the guy who played on a lot of Motown stuff, including Four Tops tunes.

And I'll add Meshell Ndegeocello. Women never get mentioned in these greatest of all time threads. Meshell is deserving.

Serge Kousevitsky

Gary Karr

Edgar Meyer

not that pop music garbage wrote:

Serge Kousevitsky

Gary Karr

Edgar Meyer

Excellent, I was going to add Koussevitsky as well. How about Francois Rabbath?

Mrs. M wrote:

not that pop music garbage wrote:

Serge Kousevitsky

Gary Karr

Edgar Meyer

Excellent, I was going to add Koussevitsky as well. How about Francois Rabbath?

Rabbath used to have his institute where I went to school before Barry Green got exhiled to San Francisco (not a bad exhile, but for losing a princpal chair in the orchestra). Having seen him play, as well as having heard some other great bass players play concerti and big solo parts in the orchestra, I can safely say that the debate over the best electric bass player is far more interesting and worth while than a debate over the best classical bass player. Classical bass is a horrible solo instrument. The upper register (when bowed) sounds like a dying animal. Anything fast or virtuosic just comes out sounding muddled and raspy. And debating who is the best section bass player is like debating who is the best pace maker for a marathon.

Ronnie Wood

James Jamerson

Bootsy (with James Brown)

John Paul Jones

Geezer

Bernard Edwards

John Deacon

Bill Wyman

David Brown

Same as for the "greatest guitarist" thread- are we talking Jazz, rock, fusion etc.

For Jazz the best are considered to be

Ray Brown

Ron Carter

Charles Mingus

Geddy Lee

Mike Watt

I wouldn't put Bill Wyman on a list of the best bass players. Some of the more intricate Stones bass lines, like on "Sympathy for the Devil," are actually by Keith Richards.

Logical Assumer wrote:

I wouldn't put Bill Wyman on a list of the best bass players. Some of the more intricate Stones bass lines, like on "Sympathy for the Devil," are actually by Keith Richards.

I wouldn't call Sympathy "intricate". Just because Keith played bass sometimes doesn't mean that Billy Wyman wasn't any good. Jimmy Miller played drums on Can't Always Get What You Want but that doesn't make Charlie Watts a bad drummer. That kind of stuff happens all the time in the studio. Maybe you've never cut a record. It could be that Keith came up with the bassline and so he just played it. Bill Wyman is an excellent musician and really has a knack for playing choice notes. His playing in Beast of Burden is awesomeand so is Miss You.