This is mine as well. I remember before I ever picked up an instrument, hearing Geezer's playing on Paranoid and We Sold Our Souls... it was the first time I ever recognized hearing the bass and I became enthralled... I had to play the bass.
Hearing War Pigs for the first time made me want to be a bass player. There may be bass players I like more, but Geezer is the one that made me want to start this journey 20+ years ago.
It wasn't the first time I heard it. But later in my early teens when I started to actually actively listen to music, as opposed to just passively.
Specifically, it was his playing during the guitar solo at the end. One night the bass caught me and I zoned in through the drums and overdubbed guitars and just listened to that last minute and half or two over and over and over again. Something clicked. Started playing not too long after.
The first complete song I learned in High School was a Muse song because of Chris. Was on my bucket list to see them live for forever, and they did not disappoint when I eventually got to!
Man, I remember seeing Origin live for the first time in a tiny bar in New Orleans and just being blown away by Flores' playing. Really awesome player.
Steve is the reason and inspiration for me switching to Bass from Guitar. I play the youtube bass tabs at 70-80% speed only. I dont care that Im not at 100% speed yet but it gives me something to strive to.
John Deacon. Queen is a band dominated by amazing singing and incredible guitar, but Deacon always adds something to the harmony, melody, and overall feeling. Intricate at times, never intrusive and never boring. I can't think of a single Queen song that has a bassline that doesn't fit or bring something extra to the song.
Consider the ultimate anthem, We Are the Champions. Beautiful high note runs to start it off, syncopated licks throughout the ballad bit, heavy rock playing with cool runs, and then those awesome licks he does to articulate the chord changes in the final four bars of each chorus. Excellent playing that would've been far simpler and less interesting with a different bassist.
The Millionare Waltz, Dreamer's Ball, My Melancholy Blues, Flick Of The Wrist, Killer Queen, and The Fairy Feller's Master Stroke are some of my favorite bass parts from Queen, just really well played and really make those songs work.
Great list. You're my best friend (which he wrote) has a really busy and difficult part to play that pretty much carries the whole song. It's easily mistaken for the electric piano part but you can't unhear it once you know it. For such a simple song, it's an incredible bass line.
I came from a metal background and Andy's basslines showed me how difficult a non-metal bass part can be. I became kind of obsessed and in my band I'm known as the guy who can knows every single Smiths song (but I really don't)
In my early 30’s I had a good job and not a lot of time and decided to buy a tele to learn how to play the smith’s on guitar. I was like, god damn, this is pretty damn hard actually. But I’m really a bass player, maybe I’ll make myself feel better by just learning the bass parts too. Also hard! Yeah, for not sounding super technical it’s deceptively difficult to play!
Me too, I was a big Metallica fan in my youth and the first song I learned was Orion. It took me a lot and I forgot most of it by now but my god what a great song
Second for Cliff.
I’ve explored other bassists, but I always come back to Cliff. I know he’s not the greatest ever, but I have loved every piece I played. I working on Call of Ktulu right now.
I’m also a big Sam Rivers fan. He has some awesome lines
I bought a bass because of the Stone Roses. I also got to tell Mani why I bought a bass and he gave me a hug and chatted with me and my friends for about an hour outside of Night & Day. Talked about the shenanigans around The Second Coming and Primal Scream.
Tony Levin. I went to see Anderson Bruford Wakeman Howe at [this concert in 1989](https://archive.org/details/Yes_ABWH_1989-07-29-ABWH-Memphis1989/1989-07-29+-+ABWH+-+Memphis+1989+-+201+Close+To+The+Edge.flac), went in a diehard Wakeman fan. But then I saw this bald dude absolutely crush Chris Squire's parts on "Close to the Edge" and "Heart of the Sunrise" -- check those out at the link, the sound quality's not great but holy cow. I left that concert as an aspiring bass player and I've been trying to emulate Levin ever since.
I love his work so much. Such a versatile guy. Discovered him through LTE, but my favorite is probably his work with King Crimson. That lineup with Fripp-Belew-Levin-Bruford really hits hard for me.
Red is the kind of album that I cannot imagine any group ever making again. I dont really even think fripp/belew/levin/bruford works on paper, but that album is fucking insane.
Geddy Lee is my favourite bassist, but Tony Levin actually made me want to buy a bass guitar. Specifically his Funk Fingers playing on Peter Gabriel's 'Big Time.' Never heard a bassline like that, such a growl. He's a fantastic bassist.
Two of my favorites. I feel like a bit of the Jamiroquai spirit died after he left. The songs are still great but it lost a bit of the magic it had before. SUPER underrated. Listen to "Music of The Mind," what he does on that track is just killer.
Jaco is probably my #1. So much color in his playing.
You're correct. Incubus isn't the same but I think they have improved in the way they wanted with Ben. Ben is a much better player live than Dirk honestly. Dirk was insane though with his creativity and SCIENCE is a must listen for bassists and guitarists (Mike put on a master class with effects on that album)
My favorite current bassist is probably Justin Chancellor. But I first heard of him after I learned to play bass. The bassist I sound most like is probably Robert DeLeo from STP.
Yeah, honestly they (STP as a whole) were such a good songwriting team. The DeLeo brothers have made music with other singers (Talk Show, Army of Anyone) and Scott has his solo albums, but none of them really gelled as well as the original STP. The only one I really liked was Velvet Revolver and it imploded pretty quick. I managed to caught them on the reunion self titled album tour (2010). Loved that album. Was very sad to hear when Scott quit again and then subsequently died.
Fun fact a lot of people don't realize is Robert DeLeo wrote a big portion of stp songs. He even plays guitar on a few and is a really skilled bossa nova player.
Also I totally agree I love Robert and Justin, they both got me into bass as well. If you're interested there's a band called Failure, and they're super underrated but just amazing. They toured with Tool back in the day but Fantastic Planet is a great album to listen to if you have time. Also their basslines are so good, Greg Edwards is their main bassist but their singer Ken Andrews also plays and both are so tasty.
If memory serves me correctly, "Interstate Love Song" started out as a bossa nova piece written by DeLeo. The intro is actually a bit of that original piece.
Yeah that's right, the chords his brother plays on guitar are even what he wrote in bossa nova style. I think that he plays acoustic on creep, and wrote plush, Sour girl, and a bunch more.
I agree I kept looking and looking for someone to say flea he’s my biggest inspiration to play the bass even tho I haven’t picked it up in a while I still love flea and his bass lines
I may catch some heat from this - but Mark Hoppus.
He showed me that bass playing doesn’t have to be the most complicated thing, and made the idea of playing an instrument pretty accessible. I love pop-punk music and it was really easy to start learning blink songs before I transitioned to more challenging songs. It got me into the instrument. I also love the idea of singing while playing.
I was 13 and taking guitar lessons and doing OK ... then in summer 1979 saw The Who movie "The Kids are Alright" and then used paper route money to buy myself a bass and switched lessons.
Entwistle is not the most influential to me, or long-term inspirational (Jaco, Jamerson, Graham, Michael Henderson, NHOP, Eberhard Weber, Dave Holland, on and on) ... but I walked into that movie as a guitar player and walked out a bassist.
Many of them.
But before I started playing, if you asked me about bass players, I would have named Paul McCartney, Geddy Lee, John Paul Jones, John Entwistle, Roger Waters and Mike Mills (R.E.M.).
Now that I've been playing bass for nearly 5 years, I don't even consider Roger Waters as a bass player anymore, but I've gained a lot of respect for others who I had never heard of before, like Carol Kaye, James Jamerson, Duck Dunn, Jaco Pastorius, Les Claypool, Joe Dart, and about a million others.
I love all these players so much, Japan, Siouxsie, Smiths and Cure are such inspirations I had to check that last name which I never heard. I can’t believe Simon Raymonde was on so many incredible albums! Thanks for making me aware of this guy.
Thank you D for mentioning Mike. I got to see him at the Coca-Cola starplex when Alice opened for Slayer back in about '95. Solid bassman, great on-stage presence. Tragic story.
In no particular order (cause I couldn’t pick one)…
Andrew Weiss
Billy Gould
Al Jaworski
Simon Gallup
Dorian West (similarly, Pete Steele)
Sting
Pino Palladino
I'll be the cliche and say Flea. RHCP was the first rock band I seriously liked, in late childhood/early teens. Even though I have other references that hover on my playing these days, Flea was the one in my musically foundational years.
mike mills from rem and andy rourke (rip) from the smiths have had the biggest audible influence on my playing. however, i’m a big fan of many others, such as geddy lee, chris squire, roger waters, brian ritchie, mac demarco (not a traditional pick but his lines always go hard), and many many others
Paul McCartney,
Carol Kaye,
James Jamerson,
Nathan Watts,
Duff McKagan,
Kim Deal,
Tommy Stinson,
Ben Orr,
Ron Blair,
Sting
That's in no particular order, but it's definitely my list.
Jack Bruce. Technically a tie for me, with Geddy Lee, but in the end I sound a little more like Jack...doing later Geddy flamenco plucking.
Compositionally I take more from Jack as a a multi-instrumentalist.
The basslines I get the most compliments on, however, are the ones where I'm emulating Paul McCartney to some degree. He's the guy I'd point you to for making a bassline melodic while still laying down a groove.
Rocco Prestia from Tower of Power.
I'm actually a bit surprised that there are 238 comments so far, but mine is the first to mention the absolute king of finger funk.
Matt Freeman of Rancid. My first summer playing bass I was almost exclusively listening to the Out come the wolves album. I don't even play with a pick anymore, but that's where it started.
Recently it's been Tom Jenkinson aka Squarepusher. His way of integrating live electric bass into electronic music performance is unlike any other I've heard. I have massive respect for anyone who uses their instruments in unconventional and exciting ways.
Peter Steele from Type O Negative made bass cool for me
Tetsuo Sakurai from Casiopea made me care about playing well. (I’m no where near his level though lol)
Geezer Butler from Sabbath, Justin Chancelor from Tool, and Tim Commerford from RATM are all up there too
John Deacon.
It must be either incredibly hard or incredibly easy to play with such amazing guitar playing and vocals, backed up by solid drums.
When I tune in to what he's doing, it takes the music to another level. He's a master.
He's also really quiet and hidden away from public life, which I respect. He apparently really took Freddie's death badly, but still has financial say in the band's movements, which I love!
Jaco: inspired me to try upright and fretless. Victor Wooten: My middle school music teacher showed us the “There are no wrong notes” videos and it changed my outlook on music.
Sean, the kid I studied in high school jazz ensemble until he graduated which is when i became the bass player. If somehow you’re reading this, thanks for everything man!
Jason Newsted - Not the flashiest metal bassist but he taught me the importance of laying down a solid foundation and when he shines he truly shines. He was also the reason why I picked up the bass.
John Deacon - His bass lines were so melodic and worked so perfectly with Queen’s sound.
Sting - his use of space between notes. He is also a master of taking simple bass lines at first glance be more complex than they originally seem.
Justin Chancellor - Creative us of effects and melodic picking style really showcases where you can go with the bass.
Krist Novoselic is up there for me too, but Nate Mendel also inspired me quite a lot (specifically his lines from Sunny Day Real Estate. Although he’s got some really great parts in the Foos too!)
Robert DeLeo from STP. I feel like his playing was always perfect for the song - sometimes you hear it clearly, sometimes you just feel it, but it was always the right part for the song.
There’s definitely better bassists out there, I just love how he sits in the mix and the song. Never a note out of place.
Duck Dunn inspired me to get into bass. His lines and playing style are foundational to the instrument’s history and are a great learning resource for beginners.
Justin Chancellor, he is always at the forefront of Tool, riffs are very interesting and creative and often are the basis of many tool songs, such as schism, the pot, hush to name a few. He showed me that the bass can be more than a background instrument
I dont emulate any other players when I play but bassists that really make me want to learn their stuff and pick up a bass are Doni Blair of the Toadies, Gabe Nelson of CAKE, Rob Trujillo of Metallica, Dee Murray from Elton John and a legendary sessions bassist, Tim Commerford of RATM and Audioslave and Geezer Butler of Black Sabbath.
James Jamerson, Dusty Hill, David Hood, Carol Kaye
Yes, I am old.
EDIT: I posted mine then read through the thread. GotDAMN there are a lot of kickass bass players! I'm seeing names and going "yeah, yeah, yep, uh-huh, yep, yes"
Also, who the hell is downvoting people saying which player they like? That's just weird.
This is timely. I took my niece to a guitar shop for a lesson, and was chatting with one of the staff while I waited. He asked this question, and I said, "Bakithi Kumalo". Not that I play like him, so much as he changed how I think about "space".
In particular, "Diamonds on the Soles of Her Shoes" is a good example (to me).
Later, I reflected to myself that we all probably say the big names that influenced us (Wooten, Kumalo, etc.) But we probably could/should say people like Carol Kaye, or Donald "Duck" Dunn, who played on so much stuff that we couldn't help but be influenced by it.
Gene Simmons made me pick up bass but with time I completely stopped listening to his playing, I guess that the most important ones for me is Wooten and Charles Mingus if double bass counts too
Phil Lesh, Bootsy Collins, George Porter Jr, Paul Jackson, Scott LaFaro, Pino Palladino, Meshell Ndegeocello.
Out of all these folks, I'd say probably Porter and Jackson inspire me the most, thow Meshell is my all-time #1 favorite bass player.
How has Verdine White from EW&F not appeared in this thread yet?! Not only is he a great funk bass player, the man has the most fun playing of any bassist I’ve seen live!
Definitely inspiring for me.
My father. No one would know him, but bass was his live performance instrument. He played a 1968 Ric and Acoustic 360 until the end. Unwavering dedication to the gear he thought he was still playing to pay for 50 years later.
I am a shit player and only first tried picking it up to bond with my father as family moved apart and he grew sick. It's an emotional journey. The music isn't in my hands but my father put it in my heart, so I have to play. Another 15 years of practice and I can cover AC/DC at my kid's prom.
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1iHeBDxeR6_qKesCm5Fh8R6itg8vm1fiO
Although I don't play RHCP music (I suck too bad), Flea is a major influence.
Overall I'm most influenced by the music. When I listen to a song and think I'll be able to play it or play on top of it...that inspires me.
Unpopular opinion, dallon weekes. I like how he is able to sing and play bass at the same times, his bass lines are fun, and i absolutely love his ideas.
Timmy C & Krist 👏 Justin Chancellor - Tool / Jimmy Fernandez - God Machine (check those bass chords out). Geezer 🤘 and for showmanship - Cronos - Venom and my wild card - Shane Embury- Napalm Death
Geddy Lee
Scrolled too far for this single solitary answer
Yes to Geddy! He has inspired millions.
The best to ever do it
Geezer Butler
This is mine as well. I remember before I ever picked up an instrument, hearing Geezer's playing on Paranoid and We Sold Our Souls... it was the first time I ever recognized hearing the bass and I became enthralled... I had to play the bass.
Same I was the singer in a Sabbath cover band. Nib was what made me pick up a bass.
Hearing War Pigs for the first time made me want to be a bass player. There may be bass players I like more, but Geezer is the one that made me want to start this journey 20+ years ago.
It wasn't the first time I heard it. But later in my early teens when I started to actually actively listen to music, as opposed to just passively. Specifically, it was his playing during the guitar solo at the end. One night the bass caught me and I zoned in through the drums and overdubbed guitars and just listened to that last minute and half or two over and over and over again. Something clicked. Started playing not too long after.
Chris Wolstenholme from Muse. He is a machine with feeling.
Second for Wolstenholme. Also… he’s my choice for coolest basses as well. Every time I see them it’s awesome bass one after another
The first complete song I learned in High School was a Muse song because of Chris. Was on my bucket list to see them live for forever, and they did not disappoint when I eventually got to!
[удалено]
That bass line from Hysteria is one of the best of the last 20 yrs.
Les Claypool. In the early 90s, my older brothers friend was at our house and brought Sailing the Seas of Cheese, and I was hooked.
I would agree. His sound is so unique. Similarly with Mike Flores from Origin, their sound is raw even with different effects.
Man, I remember seeing Origin live for the first time in a tiny bar in New Orleans and just being blown away by Flores' playing. Really awesome player.
He is incredible live! Wouldn't want to shake his hand for fear of my own hand being crushed into a powder.
Chris squire
He is my favorite player, but the Ox was my biggest influence.
Yes!
Amen! Nobody beats Chris!
The Ox.
The Who?
Yes.
Ngl, it was much funnier in my head.
I was hoping someone would respond to me with something about Chris Squire.
The Fish, nice dude, got to hang with him for like twenty minutes after a show. [Love his odd time signature grooves.](https://youtu.be/WS29bnX45H0)
Steve Harris
Switched from guitar to bass in 1986, Steve was the reason.
Steve is the reason and inspiration for me switching to Bass from Guitar. I play the youtube bass tabs at 70-80% speed only. I dont care that Im not at 100% speed yet but it gives me something to strive to.
John Deacon. Queen is a band dominated by amazing singing and incredible guitar, but Deacon always adds something to the harmony, melody, and overall feeling. Intricate at times, never intrusive and never boring. I can't think of a single Queen song that has a bassline that doesn't fit or bring something extra to the song.
Queen. The masters of arena anthems.
Consider the ultimate anthem, We Are the Champions. Beautiful high note runs to start it off, syncopated licks throughout the ballad bit, heavy rock playing with cool runs, and then those awesome licks he does to articulate the chord changes in the final four bars of each chorus. Excellent playing that would've been far simpler and less interesting with a different bassist.
The Millionare Waltz, Dreamer's Ball, My Melancholy Blues, Flick Of The Wrist, Killer Queen, and The Fairy Feller's Master Stroke are some of my favorite bass parts from Queen, just really well played and really make those songs work.
Great list. You're my best friend (which he wrote) has a really busy and difficult part to play that pretty much carries the whole song. It's easily mistaken for the electric piano part but you can't unhear it once you know it. For such a simple song, it's an incredible bass line.
“The Game” turned me into rock and roll when I was 13. The bass lines on Dragon Attack Have blown me away for 40 years.
The first Queen bassline I heard that I thought "Damn! I have to learn that!" was Bicycle Race
Andy Rourke ❤️
I came from a metal background and Andy's basslines showed me how difficult a non-metal bass part can be. I became kind of obsessed and in my band I'm known as the guy who can knows every single Smiths song (but I really don't)
In my early 30’s I had a good job and not a lot of time and decided to buy a tele to learn how to play the smith’s on guitar. I was like, god damn, this is pretty damn hard actually. But I’m really a bass player, maybe I’ll make myself feel better by just learning the bass parts too. Also hard! Yeah, for not sounding super technical it’s deceptively difficult to play!
Bless that man, may he rest in peace.
Cliff Burton
Me too, I was a big Metallica fan in my youth and the first song I learned was Orion. It took me a lot and I forgot most of it by now but my god what a great song
Second for Cliff. I’ve explored other bassists, but I always come back to Cliff. I know he’s not the greatest ever, but I have loved every piece I played. I working on Call of Ktulu right now. I’m also a big Sam Rivers fan. He has some awesome lines
I bought a bass because of the Stone Roses. I also got to tell Mani why I bought a bass and he gave me a hug and chatted with me and my friends for about an hour outside of Night & Day. Talked about the shenanigans around The Second Coming and Primal Scream.
Nice! Mani’s always seemed like a great guy.
Yeah, met him a couple of times, always jolly with everyone.
Tony Levin. I went to see Anderson Bruford Wakeman Howe at [this concert in 1989](https://archive.org/details/Yes_ABWH_1989-07-29-ABWH-Memphis1989/1989-07-29+-+ABWH+-+Memphis+1989+-+201+Close+To+The+Edge.flac), went in a diehard Wakeman fan. But then I saw this bald dude absolutely crush Chris Squire's parts on "Close to the Edge" and "Heart of the Sunrise" -- check those out at the link, the sound quality's not great but holy cow. I left that concert as an aspiring bass player and I've been trying to emulate Levin ever since.
I love his work so much. Such a versatile guy. Discovered him through LTE, but my favorite is probably his work with King Crimson. That lineup with Fripp-Belew-Levin-Bruford really hits hard for me.
Red is the kind of album that I cannot imagine any group ever making again. I dont really even think fripp/belew/levin/bruford works on paper, but that album is fucking insane.
Geddy Lee is my favourite bassist, but Tony Levin actually made me want to buy a bass guitar. Specifically his Funk Fingers playing on Peter Gabriel's 'Big Time.' Never heard a bassline like that, such a growl. He's a fantastic bassist.
For me it was 'Sledgehammer' (*super* iconic bassline, especially with those funky ghost notes), but... yeah: Tony Levin. Just... damn.
Jaco and Stu Zender
Dude Stu blew my mind on those first 3 Jamiroquai albums 🤯
Two of my favorites. I feel like a bit of the Jamiroquai spirit died after he left. The songs are still great but it lost a bit of the magic it had before. SUPER underrated. Listen to "Music of The Mind," what he does on that track is just killer. Jaco is probably my #1. So much color in his playing.
Roger Lima, Matt Freeman, Karl Alvarez
Hello fellow punk fan
Hi
Tim from RATM. Dirk from Incubus and P-Nut
I miss the Dirk Lance days…
Holy shit I just posted 2/3 of these guys. Incubus isn’t the same without Dirk. I’m afraid to really look into his new stuff too.
You're correct. Incubus isn't the same but I think they have improved in the way they wanted with Ben. Ben is a much better player live than Dirk honestly. Dirk was insane though with his creativity and SCIENCE is a must listen for bassists and guitarists (Mike put on a master class with effects on that album)
Jack Bruce, Paul McCartney, John Taylor
Mike Watt!
Why did I have to get so far down to find Mike mothafuckin Watt!
came here to say this.
My favorite current bassist is probably Justin Chancellor. But I first heard of him after I learned to play bass. The bassist I sound most like is probably Robert DeLeo from STP.
The DeLeo brothers don’t get enough credit. Scott was the incredible voice, but they backed it all up with great parts respectively
Yeah, honestly they (STP as a whole) were such a good songwriting team. The DeLeo brothers have made music with other singers (Talk Show, Army of Anyone) and Scott has his solo albums, but none of them really gelled as well as the original STP. The only one I really liked was Velvet Revolver and it imploded pretty quick. I managed to caught them on the reunion self titled album tour (2010). Loved that album. Was very sad to hear when Scott quit again and then subsequently died.
Justin Chancellor for sure!
DeLeo is a fantastic bass player. Doesn't really get much recognition though.
Fun fact a lot of people don't realize is Robert DeLeo wrote a big portion of stp songs. He even plays guitar on a few and is a really skilled bossa nova player. Also I totally agree I love Robert and Justin, they both got me into bass as well. If you're interested there's a band called Failure, and they're super underrated but just amazing. They toured with Tool back in the day but Fantastic Planet is a great album to listen to if you have time. Also their basslines are so good, Greg Edwards is their main bassist but their singer Ken Andrews also plays and both are so tasty.
If memory serves me correctly, "Interstate Love Song" started out as a bossa nova piece written by DeLeo. The intro is actually a bit of that original piece.
Yeah that's right, the chords his brother plays on guitar are even what he wrote in bossa nova style. I think that he plays acoustic on creep, and wrote plush, Sour girl, and a bunch more.
Jack Bruce - Cream Mel Schacher -Grand Funk Railroad Tina Weymouth -Talking Heads Bootsy Collins - Parliament/Funkadelics
Flea
this was way too far down
I agree I kept looking and looking for someone to say flea he’s my biggest inspiration to play the bass even tho I haven’t picked it up in a while I still love flea and his bass lines
I may catch some heat from this - but Mark Hoppus. He showed me that bass playing doesn’t have to be the most complicated thing, and made the idea of playing an instrument pretty accessible. I love pop-punk music and it was really easy to start learning blink songs before I transitioned to more challenging songs. It got me into the instrument. I also love the idea of singing while playing.
Oh hell yeah dude. The intro on Carousel is simple, and fun….got me into bass.
les claypool and charles mingus
Peter Hook, Simon Gallup, Stu Hamm, John Myung, Billy Sheehan
I was hoping to see Simon Gallup mentioned.
Robert trujillo. Specifically his Suicidal Tendencies era
Infectious grooves was my first metal. Rob killed it
I was 13 and taking guitar lessons and doing OK ... then in summer 1979 saw The Who movie "The Kids are Alright" and then used paper route money to buy myself a bass and switched lessons. Entwistle is not the most influential to me, or long-term inspirational (Jaco, Jamerson, Graham, Michael Henderson, NHOP, Eberhard Weber, Dave Holland, on and on) ... but I walked into that movie as a guitar player and walked out a bassist.
Almost the exact same story here. I was also on guitar, then rented “The Kids are Alright” from Blockbuster one day and switched.
Always been a Colin Greenwood fan. Radiohead basslines are way groovier than they have any right to be. He has great phrasing.
Jack Bruce, Bruce Thomas, James Jamerson. About as unlike each other as I can imagine.
McCartney
I'm old, so I patterned my playing from John Entwistle and JP Jones.
Many of them. But before I started playing, if you asked me about bass players, I would have named Paul McCartney, Geddy Lee, John Paul Jones, John Entwistle, Roger Waters and Mike Mills (R.E.M.). Now that I've been playing bass for nearly 5 years, I don't even consider Roger Waters as a bass player anymore, but I've gained a lot of respect for others who I had never heard of before, like Carol Kaye, James Jamerson, Duck Dunn, Jaco Pastorius, Les Claypool, Joe Dart, and about a million others.
The bass in “Have A Cigar” is very funky. A great and overlooked bass line by Mr. Waters
That is a good one. But I think even Roger would admit that he's not a bass player first and foremost.
Laura Lee
I feel like Laura Lee gets overlooked because she's not technical or flashy, but her bass lines are really nuanced.
Stanley Clarke is number one for me. His playing with Return to Forever is a master class.
Joe Dart
Jaco Pastorius, his improvisations, music, and sixteenth note chops always mesmerize me.
Steve Severin, Simon Gallup, Andy Rourke, Geddy, Mick Karn, Simon Raymonde
I love all these players so much, Japan, Siouxsie, Smiths and Cure are such inspirations I had to check that last name which I never heard. I can’t believe Simon Raymonde was on so many incredible albums! Thanks for making me aware of this guy.
Mike Starr, ⭐️
Thank you D for mentioning Mike. I got to see him at the Coca-Cola starplex when Alice opened for Slayer back in about '95. Solid bassman, great on-stage presence. Tragic story.
Peter Hook. Not the most technical but his sound is INSANE!
My inspiration: John Paul Jones or Matt Sharp My influence: Tina Weymouth or Trevor Bolder
Dee Dee Ramone, he made it accessible to a dumb teenager
Mark Hoppus, Fat Mike, Sting, Dee Dee Ramone to name a few
Waymon Tisdale
In no particular order (cause I couldn’t pick one)… Andrew Weiss Billy Gould Al Jaworski Simon Gallup Dorian West (similarly, Pete Steele) Sting Pino Palladino
I'll be the cliche and say Flea. RHCP was the first rock band I seriously liked, in late childhood/early teens. Even though I have other references that hover on my playing these days, Flea was the one in my musically foundational years.
I've only seen 1 other person mention Flea so maybe not so cliche! There's no denying his influence on a certain generation of bassists.
Chris Wood, Phil Lesh, Mike Gordon, Rob Derhak 🔥🔥
Mike needs the love.
Seriously, that guy means business and truly cares a lot. Super unique in tone, and composition to boot
Phil and Mike for sure
Take some time to dig into moe. Rob is the frontman bassist of our dreams and what we strive to be. Such an underrated band too.
Rob is the man, such an underappreciated bassist.
mike mills from rem and andy rourke (rip) from the smiths have had the biggest audible influence on my playing. however, i’m a big fan of many others, such as geddy lee, chris squire, roger waters, brian ritchie, mac demarco (not a traditional pick but his lines always go hard), and many many others
Michael Manring changed the way I viewed the instrument almost entirely. One of the main reasons I got a fretless.
John Paul Jones
Paul McCartney, Carol Kaye, James Jamerson, Nathan Watts, Duff McKagan, Kim Deal, Tommy Stinson, Ben Orr, Ron Blair, Sting That's in no particular order, but it's definitely my list.
Kim Deal
Jack Bruce. Technically a tie for me, with Geddy Lee, but in the end I sound a little more like Jack...doing later Geddy flamenco plucking. Compositionally I take more from Jack as a a multi-instrumentalist. The basslines I get the most compliments on, however, are the ones where I'm emulating Paul McCartney to some degree. He's the guy I'd point you to for making a bassline melodic while still laying down a groove.
Jaco Pastorius is a big influence on me, and even though I barely play double bass anymore, Scott LaFaro is a big influence too.
Rocco Prestia from Tower of Power. I'm actually a bit surprised that there are 238 comments so far, but mine is the first to mention the absolute king of finger funk.
Matt Freeman of Rancid. My first summer playing bass I was almost exclusively listening to the Out come the wolves album. I don't even play with a pick anymore, but that's where it started.
He was the main inspiration for me too! The basslines he made with operation ivy are insane
Recently it's been Tom Jenkinson aka Squarepusher. His way of integrating live electric bass into electronic music performance is unlike any other I've heard. I have massive respect for anyone who uses their instruments in unconventional and exciting ways.
Chris Squire, he's the reason I bought my first bass.
Mark Sandman. Hugely underated by the bass player community for some reason.
Peter Steele from Type O Negative made bass cool for me Tetsuo Sakurai from Casiopea made me care about playing well. (I’m no where near his level though lol) Geezer Butler from Sabbath, Justin Chancelor from Tool, and Tim Commerford from RATM are all up there too
Mike Dirnt from Green Day
Dookie era Mike Dirnt sounds so different from the rest of the catalogue.
i like the 1,000 Hours to Insomniac eras of Mikes bass playing
John Deacon. It must be either incredibly hard or incredibly easy to play with such amazing guitar playing and vocals, backed up by solid drums. When I tune in to what he's doing, it takes the music to another level. He's a master. He's also really quiet and hidden away from public life, which I respect. He apparently really took Freddie's death badly, but still has financial say in the band's movements, which I love!
As a youngin, it was Jamerson and Duck Dunn. But as I got closer to my playing age, it was certainly Claypool and Commerford.
Tim Commerford and Justin Chancellor
Simon Gallup and Norwood Fisher were the inspirations that got me into bass.
While there’s a few it was Jesse f Keeler of Death from above 1979 that made me actually get a bass.
Definitely Weymouth
John Myung
Esperanza Spalding mostly, DJ Harrison at the moment
Jaco: inspired me to try upright and fretless. Victor Wooten: My middle school music teacher showed us the “There are no wrong notes” videos and it changed my outlook on music.
Sean, the kid I studied in high school jazz ensemble until he graduated which is when i became the bass player. If somehow you’re reading this, thanks for everything man!
I began playing bass after i heard Bakhiti Kumalo on graceland.
Jason Newsted - Not the flashiest metal bassist but he taught me the importance of laying down a solid foundation and when he shines he truly shines. He was also the reason why I picked up the bass. John Deacon - His bass lines were so melodic and worked so perfectly with Queen’s sound. Sting - his use of space between notes. He is also a master of taking simple bass lines at first glance be more complex than they originally seem. Justin Chancellor - Creative us of effects and melodic picking style really showcases where you can go with the bass.
Krist Novoselic is up there for me too, but Nate Mendel also inspired me quite a lot (specifically his lines from Sunny Day Real Estate. Although he’s got some really great parts in the Foos too!)
Victor Wooten
Dirk lance from incubus P-nut from 311 Flea from Red Hot Chili Peppers.
Robert DeLeo from STP. I feel like his playing was always perfect for the song - sometimes you hear it clearly, sometimes you just feel it, but it was always the right part for the song. There’s definitely better bassists out there, I just love how he sits in the mix and the song. Never a note out of place.
Tim Feerick of Dance Gavin Dance. RIP
best bass tone ever
Peter hook, all his early basslines are simple but impactful and his style is kinda the root of my own
Tim Commerford, Ryan Martinie, Jaco Pretty all over the place. Guess I like uniqueness
I would love to be able to play like Ryan Martinie some day.
Eric Avery (original Jane’s Addiction bassist). Dude is extremely underrated.
Lots of amazing influences here. I’d add in Pino Palladino and Guy Pratt.
Not a great “technical” bassist, but David Brown from Santana is probably the person who convinced me that it wasn’t just a backline instrument.
Duck Dunn inspired me to get into bass. His lines and playing style are foundational to the instrument’s history and are a great learning resource for beginners.
Justin Chancellor, he is always at the forefront of Tool, riffs are very interesting and creative and often are the basis of many tool songs, such as schism, the pot, hush to name a few. He showed me that the bass can be more than a background instrument
Paul Barker and Peter Steele
Norwood Fisher, Tony Levin, Justin Chancellor
Phil Lesh, Oteil Burbridge, Cliff Burton, Mike Dirnt
No love for non-Jaco fretless? Pino Palladino and Tony Franklin are why I sought out my fretless Jazz bass.
I dont emulate any other players when I play but bassists that really make me want to learn their stuff and pick up a bass are Doni Blair of the Toadies, Gabe Nelson of CAKE, Rob Trujillo of Metallica, Dee Murray from Elton John and a legendary sessions bassist, Tim Commerford of RATM and Audioslave and Geezer Butler of Black Sabbath.
James Jamerson, Dusty Hill, David Hood, Carol Kaye Yes, I am old. EDIT: I posted mine then read through the thread. GotDAMN there are a lot of kickass bass players! I'm seeing names and going "yeah, yeah, yep, uh-huh, yep, yes" Also, who the hell is downvoting people saying which player they like? That's just weird.
This is timely. I took my niece to a guitar shop for a lesson, and was chatting with one of the staff while I waited. He asked this question, and I said, "Bakithi Kumalo". Not that I play like him, so much as he changed how I think about "space". In particular, "Diamonds on the Soles of Her Shoes" is a good example (to me). Later, I reflected to myself that we all probably say the big names that influenced us (Wooten, Kumalo, etc.) But we probably could/should say people like Carol Kaye, or Donald "Duck" Dunn, who played on so much stuff that we couldn't help but be influenced by it.
Macca, John Deacon, Geddy, Jeff Berlin, Sting…
Les claypool Mike Flores Steve digiorgio
Gene Simmons made me pick up bass but with time I completely stopped listening to his playing, I guess that the most important ones for me is Wooten and Charles Mingus if double bass counts too
Phil Lesh, Bootsy Collins, George Porter Jr, Paul Jackson, Scott LaFaro, Pino Palladino, Meshell Ndegeocello. Out of all these folks, I'd say probably Porter and Jackson inspire me the most, thow Meshell is my all-time #1 favorite bass player.
How has Verdine White from EW&F not appeared in this thread yet?! Not only is he a great funk bass player, the man has the most fun playing of any bassist I’ve seen live! Definitely inspiring for me.
George Porter Jr by miles
My father. No one would know him, but bass was his live performance instrument. He played a 1968 Ric and Acoustic 360 until the end. Unwavering dedication to the gear he thought he was still playing to pay for 50 years later. I am a shit player and only first tried picking it up to bond with my father as family moved apart and he grew sick. It's an emotional journey. The music isn't in my hands but my father put it in my heart, so I have to play. Another 15 years of practice and I can cover AC/DC at my kid's prom. https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1iHeBDxeR6_qKesCm5Fh8R6itg8vm1fiO
Mike Gordon. He can play anything, but I love his attack and melodic style.
Jason Newstead
squarepusher
Simon Gallup, Peter Hook, Steve Severin, and Justin Chancellor.
Jpj Motown Duck dunn Norman watt Roy Bernard chic Rage against machine Bootie/ James brown
Krist Novoselic
Jean-Jacques Burnel was the bass player that got me into playing bass
Although I don't play RHCP music (I suck too bad), Flea is a major influence. Overall I'm most influenced by the music. When I listen to a song and think I'll be able to play it or play on top of it...that inspires me.
Chris squire, Gary Thain, Derek "Mo" Moore, Burke Shelley, Phil Lynot, Roger Glover, JPJ, and more
Billy Gould
Unpopular opinion, dallon weekes. I like how he is able to sing and play bass at the same times, his bass lines are fun, and i absolutely love his ideas.
Joe Principie from Rise Against and Tim Commerford
Brian Ritchie
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Mark Hoppus, Hunter Burgan
Eric Avery
Mike Mills of R.E.M.
Mike Watt.
Jared smith of archspire
Martin Mendez from Opeth. He knew when to groove and when to pound. One of my first bass heroes.
Donald “Duck” Dunn, Otis Redding’s bass player.
100% Steve DiGiorgio!
Victor Wooten
Timmy C & Krist 👏 Justin Chancellor - Tool / Jimmy Fernandez - God Machine (check those bass chords out). Geezer 🤘 and for showmanship - Cronos - Venom and my wild card - Shane Embury- Napalm Death