Our Favorite Rock Bass Players – The Unsung Heroes Of Rock? Who’s Your Favorite?

*Image of Paul McCartney and his iconic Hofner bass guitar and what appears to be a real tank, taken from the internet & likely copyrighted

In my pre-rock n roll life – before I got serious about listening to music and started collecting albums – I doubt I would have known a bass guitar if John Entwistle would have landed on me… which I imagine would have been quite painful, I feel like he was a big guy and I was a pretty skinny kid. When I’d see a concert or a video on TV, I’d think, “Wow there are three guys on stage playing guitar, this must be a real rock band,” when actually it was two guitarists and a bass guitar. Somewhere along the line I noticed one of those guitars was not like the others. There were only four strings on that instrument instead of six and typically the dude playing the “different” guitar was standing in back, in the shadows, near the drum kit. It was probably my younger brother, who was way ahead of me in terms of collecting music, who probably sorted me out on this issue. It was either that or me scouring liner notes (once I started collecting records) with a ferocity of a religious convert that helped me figure out there was such a thing as a “bass.” Although, if I saw, “Billy Wyman, bass guitar” on a liner note I can’t imagine I didn’t somewhere along the line go ask my brother, “What is a bass guitar?” He did play an acoustic so I figured he probably could solve this mystery.

Since that rather embarrassing beginning I have come to love the bass guitar and those who play it. Of course I’m lucky enough to have lived in the age of Flea. The bass guitar is what you feel when you listen to music, physically. It hits you in the crotch and moves up through your guts to the heart. It’s what makes your clothes vibrate when you’re at the show. While I appreciate the bass guitar, I’m not sure bass guitarists the world over get their due. Typically, at the average concert, the guitar player (if he’s a good one) will get an extended guitar solo (think Eddie Van Halen or Angus Young of AC/DC), and certainly the drummer will get an extended solo (think Neal Peart of Rush or Tommy Lee of Motley Crue) but it’s few and far between that a band turns the stage over to the bass player. I remember VH would turn Michael Anthony loose every show. He’d kick that Jack Daniels bass all over the stage… although some say that was prerecorded and it was all theater. Typically the bass player is confined to that area I first noticed them – the shadows at the back or side of the stage, often near the drummer. Many aren’t flashy, they just help keep time and provide that sweet bottom sound.

It was only a few months ago, on a rainy afternoon weekend that I was up in the B&V Labs with the Rock Chick watching music videos on YouTube, when she asked, “Do you have a list of the greatest bass players?” I really only take requests from close friends, and the Rock Chick is the closest of those so I was all ears. As we went back and forth trading names like McCartney and Flea, it suddenly made me realize, this might be something I need to write about. If their own bands won’t give them center stage, it seems like it’s the least I could do. Now, I realize that ranking anything in life, especially guitarists or drummers or whatever is dicey so I never rank these folks when I do a lists, like say my List of Favorite Rhythm Guitarists from a while back. I just post my favorites, some of whom I’ve actually seen/heard play live. And I must acknowledge that the bass guitar is an important part of what is known as “the rhythm” section of any band. That’s a fancy way of describing bass/drums as the engine of the band. And of course, the chemistry between the drummer and the bass player is a critical part of any band, just ask Keith Richards about Wyman and Charlie Watts.

Without further rambling, here are our favorites, again no ranking implied and as David Letterman used to say, “Please kids, no wagering at home…” If you have a favorite that I don’t mention, by all means, put it in the comments section. I’m talking strictly rock n roll here, so there won’t be any of the great, certainly worthy Jazz players we all know and love (like Mingus or Pastorius) on this list. We need to give rock bass players all the love they deserve:

• Willie Dixon (Chess Records) – Willie wrote most of the iconic, old blues tunes you know like “Hoochie Coochie Man,” “Spoonful” and “I Just Want To Make Love To You.” Not only was he a prolific writer/producer/arranger, he was one hell of an upright bass player. The upright is that old, tall bass that you see in orchestras. Sting plays an upright in the video for “Every Breath You Take.”
• Jack Bruce (Cream) – Cream, who grew out of the John Mayall Bluesbreakers were all virtuosos and Bruce was no exception.
• Bill Wyman, (The Rolling Stones) – My first bass “crush.” He was truly the iconic, stand in the back bass player. With Charlie Watts they were the engine that drove the Stones.
• John Entwistle (The Who) – The Ox as he was nicknamed. He played a much more aggressive bass than most. I listen to some of his bass playing with utter amazement. He truly helped define the outer reaches of what the instrument could do.
• Paul McCartney, (Beatles, solo) – He wrote, played guitar/keyboards and sang so people forget how great he is on bass. I remember Ringo saying, when Paul played on one of his solo records, “I needed a bass player on the track and I realized I happen to know a pretty good one…” Indeed.
• Phil Lesh (Grateful Dead) – Friend of the blog Deadhead David would take me to task had I not added this guy. Luckily he deserves to be here.
• John Paul Jones (Led Zeppelin) – Look no further than the new doc Becoming Led Zeppelin to find the evidence of why JPJ belongs on this list!
• James Jamerson (Motown) – James is credited by many to be the greatest bass player, ever. Hard to argue listening to all those great Motown hits.
• Donald “Duck” Dunn (Booker T. & The MGs, the Blues Brothers) – Duck Dunn is a phenomenal bass player who played on all those great Stax records.
• John McVie (The Bluesbreakers, Fleetwood Mac) – Just listen to the bass line on “Dreams” and you’ll know all you need to know on this one. Not flashy just melodic playing.
• Rick Danko (The Band) – All those guys in the Band from Robbie Robertson to Garth Hudson could just brilliantly play their instruments (and occasionally other people’s instruments as well). Danko was no exception. Also had a sweet voice.
• Carol Kaye (The Wrecking Crew) – This woman is truly one of the unsung heroes of rock n roll. From Big Band to Jazz to Rock, it’s estimated she played bass on probably 10,000 songs. She became a part of the session group known as “The Wrecking Crew” who played on tons of records.
• Geezer Butler (Black Sabbath) – Along with Bill Ward (drums) those guys were a righteous and powerful rhythm section. Geezer also wrote a lot of Sabbath’s lyrics. Alas, we just lost Ozzy.
• Chris Squire (Yes) – I’ve been listening to “Long Distance Runaround” a lot lately and this guy played bass like it was a lead instrument… great harmony vocal as well.
• Phil Lynott (Thin Lizzy) – Since he was the lead singer and principal songwriter it’s easy to forget how great a bass player Phil was.
• Bootsy Collins (Parliament, Funkadelic) – Bootsy is fuuuunky. He’s played with so many other musicians as well. Flashy, audacious and yes, extraordinarily talented.
• John Deacon aka Deacon John, (Queen) – All the guys in Queen were super talented. John wrote “Another One Bites The Dust,” and oh, what bass on that one!
• Leland (Lee) Sklar (The Section) – Lee was a member of the famous LA session guys, The Section along with Russ Kunkel (drums), Danny Kortchmar (guitar) and Craig Doerge (keyboards). They played with everybody from Jackson Browne to newly inducted HoF member Warren Zevon. Dubbed the “Mellow Mafia,” they were still amazingly talented and played on so many hit records.
• Lemmy (Kilmister), (Motorhead) – I’m not a big Motorhead fan, but man you can’t have a list of bass players without the towering legend of Lemmy. He was a one name guy before that was even a thing.
• Ashton “Family Man” Barrett, (The Wailers) – Along with his brother Carlton (drums), he made up one of Reggae’s most bedrock, important rhythm sections. We just lost him last year.
• Geddy Lee (Rush) – Lee and Peart on bass and drums were so virtuoso they almost overshadow the great playing of guitarist Alex Lifeson. Geddy is one of several bass players on this list who sing the lead vocals as well. Mega talent.
• Tina Weymouth (Talking Heads, Tom Tom Club) – David Byrne tends to get all the glory but Tina was a helluva bass player. Just listen to the recent More Songs About Buildings And Food: Expanded Edition to hear the proof.
• Sting (The Police, solo) – I once heard Sting say that the reason he doesn’t use a pick when he plays (he uses his fingers) was because his father worked in a ship building yard and he considered the bass to be a working man’s instrument. He wanted the blisters. Check out his new live album, Sting 3.0 Live, to hear him practicing his craft.
• Tony Levin (session guy) – He played with everybody from John Lennon to Peter Gabriel. He’s an interesting guy but plays a helluva bass guitar. He’s played on hundreds of albums, just scan the liner notes in your LP collection and you’ll find him lurking in there.
• Pino Palladino (session guy) – Here’s another unsung session guy hero. He’s played with everybody from Paul Young & Gary Numan to Don Henley and now plays with the Who as an Entwistle replacement.
• Cliff Burton (Metallica) – I actually saw Cliff play on the Master Of Puppets tour when they were opening for Ozzy. His death left a huge hole in the bottom of Metallica’s sound. They started burying the bass in the mix…I’m not sure they truly came to terms with replacing him until Robert Trujillo joined the band.
• Flea (Red Hot Chili Peppers) – Flea is, without question, THE bassist of his generation. He plays with such ferocity it’s like the bass is the lead instrument. There’s no keeping Flea in the back or the side of the stage. He’s always dancing around up front, often naked, playing wild and crazy bass riffs. But he can bring it down – listen to his subtle playing on Johnny Cash’s cover of “Heart Of Gold” – he can do it all.

Those are my favorites. Some famous, some obscure but all super talented and so important to the sound of their respective bands/recordings. But as always with my lists of favorites it’s not meant to be exhaustive. There were so many others I considered – Barry Oakley (Allman Brothers) almost made the list. – Tony Kanal (No Doubt) and P-Nut (311) are guys I’ve seen and impressed me, truly underrated. If you’ve got a favorite player of the four-string please put it in the comments. I’m always looking for new players to check out or old players to re-evaluate. Thanks for joining us on this funky, heavy 4-stringed journey.

Cheers!