Bass, Bass, and More Bass

MUSIC COMMENTARY by The Mong

NEW

Purling Hiss – “Water on Mars” = 3.5

A great channeling of early-Nirvana by way of Sebadoh meets '70s Rock Post-Psychedlia Fusion. Very catchy and badass stuff although a bit much; if each track was about half as long the songs and thereby the album would have been all the better for it.  

Wyldlife – “The Time Has Come to Rock & Roll” = 2.5

A lot of good bar-band tunes that get way too repetitive all bunched together.

OLD

Megadeth – “Risk” = 2

Seemingly without irony or even an ounce of self-awareness, its oh-so-evil assertions and on-the-nose narratives have become even more laughable with age.

Gary Moore – “Corridors of Power” = 2.5

I remember me and my fledgling musician friends heard this on WHCN back in the day and immediately decided to walk to the Meriden Square to buy the album. We listened to “End of the World” about a million times and the rest of the album only a few times start-to-finish. So, nostalgia aside, that track remains the standout and the rest, solid as it is, is mostly filler.

G’HITS and TOPIC

“Bass in Your Face” Mix

QUESTION:

Suggestions for additions and other lively hubbub . . .

CONCLUSIONS:

My list was accused of being “expansive” but, in my defense, if this was a best guitarist compilation, it would have been by the decade starting with the '50s and each collection would probably have been as expansive. Yes, that means there are far fewer exceptional bass players than there are guitarists in Rock & Roll because, clearly, a lot of bass players are lame, failed guitarists who fill space on stage and in the mix by plucking root notes. The other niggle was a somewhat understandable lack of understanding of what a bass player does or should do, which brings us full circle since my goal was to try to educate on this very solvable mystery. Sure, like all things, some of this comes down to preferences, prejudices and predilections, but any serious bass player (as well as most music geeks) understand that bass is its own medium, not something lesser to guitar, with almost as many approaches and styles as there are nuances and attitudes within each variation. Yeah, just like guitarists and drummers, dudes. So, what’s a bass player supposed to do? Well, one universally embraced concept is that, first and foremost, a bass player is the foundation of the rhythm section. In my experience and interactions with other musicians this concept is more of a philosophy than a rule since the exceptions [often] prove the rule. And my list has many exceptions but I also endeavored to spotlight many bass players who are indeed rhythm players yet so far beyond basic root note fundamentals with consistently excellent basslines and sounds that, thus, they’re among the greatest of all time. But I know my tastes and knowledge-base wouldn't cover every possible candidate for greatness so here’s a list of your suggestions and my responses (so far):

Chris Ballew / Presidents of the United States of America

No. Good but not great. Even Ballew admits: "I’m technically not really a bass player.”

Lou Barlow / Dinosaur Jr., Sebadoh, etc.

Yes. It is I who is “somewhat silly” to have dissed him in my original companion text. Recently seeing him live set me straight.

Michael Been / The Call

No. Kind of defines root note lame, actually. Also, he always seems to be about a half-step out of time.

Tony Butler / Big Country, etc.

Yes, definitely. Anyone who is the go-to sans Entwistle, well, duh!

Peter Cetera / Chicago, etc.

Okay, sure. Great chops with imaginative flourishes but he is essentially a Jazz bassist.  

Tim Commerford / Rage Against the Machine, etc.

Yes, definitely. He would have been on my original list under “Metal & Math” but Henry Bogdan edged him out due to the CD’s runtime.

John Deacon / Queen

Yes. Simple but great, standout, hooky basslines.

Mike Dirnt / Green Day

Probably not. As much as I love his playing, he’s really only written a few truly exceptional basslines. He’d be on my personal list of favorites but I’d have a hard time putting him on a greatest list.

Donald “Duck” Dunn / Booker T. & the M.G.'s / Stax Records, etc.

Agreed. Perhaps the definition of laying down a groovy, solid root foundation for everything else around it. Not overly flashy but far from merely functional, Dunn is the definition of what a “real” bass player should do/be.

Glenn Hughes / Deep Purple, etc.

Yup. Clearly an oversight.

Berry Oakley / Allman Brothers

He didn't even own a bass when he joined the band. Functional, yes...great, no.

Spencer Page / The Heavy

Sure. Solid and inventive! I’d put him in my “Often Overlooked” section. Nice addition.

Mark Sandman / Morphine, etc.

No. Two-string slide bass sounds pretty rad but this gimmick doesn't make him one of the greatest bass players of all time.

Billy Sheehan / Talas, etc.

Nope. The self-indulgent Whitney Houston of bass players: the definition of ability not equaling talent.

Pete Way / UFO, etc.

Yes, definitely: especially early-Pete Way.

Bill Wyman

No. Good but not great. Sorry.

---------------------------------

Addendum (8/10/13)

Graham Maby / Joe Jackson, etc.
Tight, tight and tight: a definite all-time great.

Rob Grange / Ted Nugent, etc.
He has chops for sure and wrote one “essential” bassline (“Stranglehold”) but is any of it anything another sold bassist couldn’t have done…not really.

Tom Hamilton / Aerosmith
One of the most overlooked and under-appreciated bass players ever (that even I forgot to put him on my original list), Hamilton is easily top ten for straight up Rock & Roll bass players.

---------------------------------

That’s the list so far. I can do this all day so any other proposals...? I will likely do a third disc from the results. 

And remember, this is all just my opinion so if you disagree, start your own damn list.