Famous Bass Players - Best of The Best

Rock music and jazz would not be the same without an insistent bass line. They say that good bass players are hard to find. We take them for granted sometimes, while the lead guitarist or drummer shows off his solos, the bass just does its job. These guys, and sometimes women, are usually the quiet ones that stand at the back. As Mick Jagger cavorted around, Bill Wyman looked vaguely bored.

One of the most accomplished players is Paul McCartney, respected by other musicians as one of the most melodic famous bass players around. Sting is also respected and being the leader in The Police, their reggae inspired songs tended to be bass driven. He is also extremely accomplished on the double bass. Early rock and roll and rockabilly used the double bass before the electric bass began to take over. Bill Black was an expert player on this, performing on many early Elvis Presley hits. His old instrument came up for auction and McCartney bought it.

Drum 'n' Bass is a recent innovation, which puts the bass guitar at the forefront. Sampling and computer programming can relay the bass sound but good, live bass players can't be beaten. Another outstanding player was Noel Redding, who played in the Jimi Hendrix Experience.

Jack Bruce came from a jazz background and went on to fame and glory in the supergroup Cream. Bruce, guitar hero Eric Clapton and drummer Ginger Baker took live rock music to another level. Baker came from the world of jazz too and these jazz influences gave Cream another dimension from other rock bands at the time. Bass players are just as necessary to jazz, from the double bass in a trio to a full band. The classic combination of piano, bass and drums is very simple and it works, as shown by the Oscar Peterson Trio.

Charlie Mingus is the most influential double bass player to come from jazz. Unusually, he led his own band that meant extended bass solos. Modern rock and folk musicians have been inspired by him and recorded their own versions of his compositions. Covers have been done by Joni Mitchell, Elvis Costello, Jeff Beck and Pentangle's Danny Thompson. Bass players also draw inspiration from the work done by bassist, Jaco Pastorius. He was a member of jazz group, Weather Report and perfected a technique of playing fretless electric bass. The bass keeps everyone on track, we don't appreciate it as much as we should and we'd quickly notice if that bass line wasn't there.

It had to have been one of the most ridiculous things I had ever heard, but you have to consider that these folks were beyond deluded, and they helped me realize how some people just operate under a different set of rules altogether. When I was in college, my now-husband was in a band, and these people wanted to help him and his band. That was fine in itself, but it created a load of problems. The first clue I encountered was that they had cut all of the bass players out of the pictures of bands they had hanging on their wall. Weird right?

When I asked them about this, they told me that as far as they were concerned, bass players were worthless, and no band needed them. I was stunned when they said this, and wondered why they had come up with this stupid theory. My first guess was that they knew absolutely nothing about music. How could they say bass players were not needed if they knew anything about how a band creates a sound? Sadly, this wasn’t my only clue they were demented. They tried to talk my husband into insuring his hands, and one of their friends went on a rampage trying to break us apart. Over all, I felt like I had stumbled into some weird alternate universe.

They wouldn’t waver in their believe that bass players were not needed, and it got more bizarre from then on out. One night at two in the morning, there was a knock on my door. The male part of this ridiculous outfit was standing at my door claiming there was an emergency and he need to see my boyfriend right away. Half asleep and confused, we followed him down the hallway of our dorm apartment building thinking that if this had anything to do with bass players I was going to punch him in the face.

When we got to this guy’s apartment, he turned on his CD player and my boyfriend’s band’s CD started to play. My boyfriend and I looked at each other in confusion and I started to get really angry. Then he pushed play on his VCR and a video recording of the same song played. His emergency was what? He went on to inform us that the song on the CD is slower than how they play it live. I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. I said, “Are you insane or just utterly stupid?” and we left and went back to bed. They were soon out of our lives, and I didn’t have to worry about the fate of my husband’s bass player anymore. I was sure he was a target for their idiocy.

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