You can't play bass.... underrated bass players

blobb

Ciarán Brennan

ICBM

fretmeister said:

Otherwise the worst player on earth who happens to be well known by non-musos would be 'rated'.

That’s Sid Vicious.

DannyP

Adam “MCA” Yauch, without a doubt.

Amazing lines, but seldom spoken about as a bassist.

Stuckfast

Squarepusher.

scrumhalf

Gerry McAvoy.

Good enough for Rory for who knows how many years. 

Leisceoir

Litterick said:

James Jamerson, bassist on most of the Motown hits of the 1960s and early 1970s.

This. I mean he's pretty widely known, but a lot of people don't realise how essential his bass parts were to the Motown sound. 

KKJale

Leroy Hodges.

One of three Hodges brothers in the Hi Records house band in Memphis, he played on most of the classic Ann Peebles and Al Green cuts plus hundreds of tracks by Otis Clay, OV Wright, Syl Johnson, Willie Mitchell, Little Milton, Jimmy McCracklin, Otis Rush, Rufus Thomas, Robert Cray, Sheryl Crow, Sam Moore, Paul Rodgers...

Wonderful soulful player, nearer the simplicity of Dunn than the overt cleverness of Jamerson. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9FBUgdhxe9M

richardhomer

Post-nose job (ie solo) Sting irritates me on virtually every level but listening to his wonderfully subtle bass line on ‘Brand New Day’ reminds me he’s a great musician…

jdgm

Ron Wood on the 1st 2 Jeff Beck LPs.

fretmeister

Leisceoir said:

Litterick said:

James Jamerson, bassist on most of the Motown hits of the 1960s and early 1970s.

This. I mean he's pretty widely known, but a lot of people don't realise how essential his bass parts were to the Motown sound. 

Bass players do - he literally comes within the top 3 of every single poll and has done for decades. Jaco being one of the others, and then the flavour of the week in the other slot, if it's not Geddy Lee / Claypool / Wooten / Sheehan etc.

idiotwindow

jdgm said:

Ron Wood on the 1st 2 Jeff Beck LPs.

He's not underrated as a bass player though. In fact, he's renowned as someone who can turn his hands to most guitar-like stringed instruments – including pedal steel – and play them to a very high standard. Wood played bass quite a lot early on in his career.

An example of an underrated bass player might be Noel Redding. Nowadays he is often seen as the chippy weak link in the Jimi Hendrix Experience and most fans of Jimi tend to favour Billy Cox but I think the criticism is way overdone. Hendrix was very driven and if he hadn't rated Redding, he wouldn't have kept him in the band for three albums and endless touring over three years. By 1969, Hendrix had been broadening his horizons and experimenting with other musicians but, as far as I know, Redding leaving the band was his own decision and not something Hendrix asked for. 

Gassage

Another couple-

The incredible Erdal Kizilcay and the amazing Armand Sabel-Lecco

stickyfiddle

Another huge vote for Sting here.

I saw him live on Friday. I'm not a massive fan by any means, but it was phenomenal. Utterly fabulous groove throughout while singing for 90+ minutes. Another one of those bassists who doesn't do anything flashy but everything he writes is just perfect for the song - if you change anything it completely changes the vibe. 

(and seriously - who here has mastered singing while playing bass? It's brutally hard!)

MagicPigDetective

Steve Queralt and Ben Shepherd 

DonnyMac

Another one that was a big influence on me and again probably appreciated by bass players rather than the wider musical community is Bruce Thomas of the Attractions. Terrific player.

racefaceec90

tina weymouth (talking heads)
 paul webb (talk talk)

DonnyMac

Yolanda Charles, Session player and past member of Paul Weller's band. I think she's playing with Squeeze currently.  

distressed

At least outside the boundaries of hardcore punk scene

scrumhalf

distressed said:

At least outside the boundaries of hardcore punk scene

I never knew Gazza played bass. 

EricTheWeary

DonnyMac said:

Yolanda Charles, Session player and past member of Paul Weller's band. I think she's playing with Squeeze currently.  

I suspect keen bassists will know of Yolanda but certainly not a well known name. If anyone doesn't know who she is go watch her interview with Andertons and have your jaw drop as she goes through her CV. 
I think just playing in her own project now and teaching, stopped being a side person. I did go to the short workshop she did at the Guitar Show a few years ago which was enlightening.