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Joined: February 09 2010
Location: The South of TX
Status: Offline
Points: 771
Posted: June 20 2010 at 15:46
cstack3 wrote:
Excellent points, especially Jeff Hammond-Hammond! Long unrecognized, thanks for mentioning him!
I agree about Lake, the man was amazing in his day.....listen intently to the bass on the song "In the Court of the Crimson King" for example, he was just a kid! His work with ELP was sublime!
I'm a Squire freak myself, and also a huge fan of Ray Bennett's work with Flash, and the late/great Gary Strator of Starcastle.....all of 'em united by the use of a plectrum and round-wound strings on the bass guitar!
The only way to fly in my opinion. However, my fretless work is fingers-only.
I agree. Yes, Squire is a great bassist and has the recognition he deserves.
Yes, Lake is a great bassist and does not have the recognition he deserves.
But what puzzles me is Hammond. I love his work on studio albums, and he had more boundless energy live than any other bassist that comes to mind. But Ian Anderson publicly discredited him and said "they" used to have to teach him his bass lines note for note. So, is this just a case of "sour grapes" because Hammond left Tull, or is he really not that talented of a bassist?
Joined: January 03 2010
Location: Lowell, MA
Status: Offline
Points: 3247
Posted: June 20 2010 at 17:05
So many great points. Any one who listens to music intently and with enthusiasm, as most of us do!, will have there personal favorites. There really is no greatest, just lots of "really great" bass players. Almost all of the players I love have been mentioned, but I'll add one more-Dave LaRue-who plays with Steve Morse and the latest incarnations of the Dixie Dregs.
Joined: March 15 2010
Location: Schnitzelland
Status: Offline
Points: 4675
Posted: June 20 2010 at 18:15
Ronnie Pilgrim wrote:
I agree. Yes, Squire is a great bassist and has the recognition he deserves.
Yes, Lake is a great bassist and does not have the recognition he deserves.
But what puzzles me is Hammond. I love his work on studio albums, and he had more boundless energy live than any other bassist that comes to mind. But Ian Anderson publicly discredited him and said "they" used to have to teach him his bass lines note for note. So, is this just a case of "sour grapes" because Hammond left Tull, or is he really not that talented of a bassist?
Agreed about the first two points. As far as Jeffrey is concerned, from what I could tell, he had a very good sense of rythm. Ian indeed said that they had to 'teach' him the bass lines, but at the same time admited the had a fantastic memory, and could learn his bits by heart in several hours. I would assume there would have been a lot of practice until he got it right both for the record and for playing it live in concert. That being said, although he played on what are considered to be Tull's greatest - Aqualung, TAAB, APP and even Minstrel, I still see him way behind the likes of Glenn Cornick or John Glasscock.
Joined: June 05 2010
Location: Atlanta
Status: Offline
Points: 99
Posted: June 21 2010 at 12:00
well though Greg Lake is a great bass player and not a bad guitarist either but in my opinion bassist like john weton or as you said chris squire in my opinion those two would be great canidetes for the best or maybe even john myung of dream theater even but i love elp two so maybe Lake would count
Jeffrey Hammond was a great bassist who did it for fun the quit to go back to painting.
One things' for sure there are NO crappy ones.
Glad to read that Gary Thain mention, his playing was killing!
Now does John paul Jones count as a multi intstrumentalist, composer, arranger, mandolinist (and I have seen him play this up close and personal), lap steel player... oh and a spot of bass.
Zooma. Now they don't come flying out of the tunnel more faster heavier and complex than this demonstration of how bass and drums is supposed to work.
Joined: August 18 2008
Location: Anna Calvi
Status: Offline
Points: 22989
Posted: June 23 2010 at 04:01
I agree that Top was very important for Magma from a creative point of view, and Bussonnet can't compare with that. But his bass doesn't sound that good on the few recordings with him that I've heard (like MDK). I probably need to hear more stuff with him. I've seen Bussonnet five times in three different bands and I can't get enough - he's amazing.
Joined: March 12 2007
Location: United States
Status: Offline
Points: 81
Posted: June 24 2010 at 12:33
Of course Lake is the sentimental favorite, but for sheer virtuosity, this guy currently with Eddie Jobson on the Ultimate Zero Project, I think his name is Billy Sheehan (?) is so good and agressive, it is scary.
Joined: May 22 2007
Location: Michigan, U.S.
Status: Offline
Points: 66264
Posted: June 24 2010 at 12:35
Billy Sheehan got his start as the bassist for Talas, and found fame as the bassist for David Lee Roth. He's dones some nice solo work and also an album with Terry Bozzio, and is the bassist in the great jazz/fusion band Niacin.
Joined: February 10 2010
Location: Barcelona Spain
Status: Offline
Points: 5154
Posted: June 24 2010 at 15:42
Billy Sheehan is indeed a great bassist, also worked with Steve Vai and Mr. Big.
Geddy Lee deserves mention too, and more in the fusion jazz-rock scene, obviously Jaco Pastorius.
Renaissance's Jon Camp is often forgotten because his bass was not very prominent in the band's music but he played great too.
Among the more modern ones I love Pete Trewawas and Dave Meros, and Dave La Rue from the Steve Morse Band is not bad either!
Among the classics, yes Greg Lake played lovely but it's hard to rank him against Chris Squire or Mike Rutherford. Similar to Jon Camp, Mike's playing was probably not so spectacular as Greg's or Chris's but he was a hell of a bassist too!
Joined: January 28 2010
Status: Offline
Points: 248
Posted: June 24 2010 at 21:38
Perhaps I'm being a little low-brow here in bringing in the bassist for a band classified as Proto-Prog, but what about John Entwistle? His playing on Quadrophenia was phenomenal, and any time I saw The Who live, there were times when I could barely see his fingers, they were moving so fast. Moreover, he was using his base as a lead instrument as early as the mid-60s.
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