The greatest exponent of...the bass guitar

Has to be Cliff Burton for me. Not known anyone to get the sound he got out of a bass. He was just a little bit different.

pap got in first… I’m just saying!

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Mr Les Claypool from Primus must be in with a shout.

Fuck the rules - I live on the edge

Fatso is now Bletch’s bitch :lou_is_a_flirt:

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Ah but I didnt give a second or third choice. I just had two first choices! And following from Gay’s lead (and nicking a quote from Lord of the Flies) “Bollocks to the rules!”

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Steve Harris is the correct answer. The bass is the core of their music whereas most use it simply to support the rhythm guitar or the drums. It carries a lot of the melody and his playing is sublime.

surprised in the cliff burton you didn’t post ‘anaesthesia’

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The only song I’ve ever played bass on in a band was this. Not exactly hard but a great example of how powerful a bass can be when not confined to the background. Still love this song.

off topic but any excuse

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You were in The Sisters of Mercy, suspectsex?

Some good (if obvious) choices here. For something different I’m going to offer up Brian Gibson of Lightning Bolt.

And to pre-empt the ‘best drummer’ thread you can have Brian Chippendale from Lightning Bolt too. The noise these two make (especially live) his fucking shuddering. Skip to 5 mins in for bass stuff:

Their best album, IMO:

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I’m older than all you runny-nosed kids.

Sit down and I’ll tell you who’s the best, sit down with all the other bassists you’ve nominated and they will all tell you…to a man…the greatest was Jaco Pastorius.

If you want to be impressed…listen to the first 2 minutes…if you want to be amazed listen to the first 5…if you want to be totally convinced…all the way through. :lou_sunglasses:

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Colin Hodgkinson of Back Door. Here are some reasons why:

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I have to say, I’m quite partial to The Flyd Owl’s back door.

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Great album, but the live version that I posted is just amazing for me and also a great tune. Agree with Maiden Mr Harris the centre piece of the music for sure.

Great thread.

Agree that the answer has to be Jaco Pastorious - a virtuoso seldom seen on any instrument, let alone bass.

Faves mentioned above - Entwistle and Colin Hodgkinson.

Worthy of mention - Larry Graham, who invented the slapping style when with Sly Stone, also James Jamerson from the Motown house band (listen to the line on ‘Reach Out, I’ll Be There’)

And listen to this guy - Ron Carter, genius bassist in Miles Davis’s 1960s quintet (others were Herbie Hancock, Wayne Shorter & Tony Williams). Here playing with French rapper MC Solaar, looking like Jeremy Corbyn, but still sounding great.

So cannot I not post anymore bass tunes? As this is a classic!

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Correct answer.

Also one of the genuinely nicest guys in music. I met him last year at a hotel in Cookham Dean I was staying in, that happened to be owned by of Iron Maidens managers (funnily enough I didn’t know when I booked it), and the bar area is covered in Maiden memorabilia. Was completely in my element, and then Steve walked in with Andy Taylor. I was pretty starstruck as always been a big Maiden fan, but he was just quality. Bought him a few pints of Trooper and chatted for an hour or so.

Brilliant, brilliant day.

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Another example…

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Love this intro. I think we are all agreed on the number 1!

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Oh one more. Love this band. Here is my favourite song of theirs.

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Not one vote for Sid Vicious then?

Just because. The Ox.

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