Even though I was learning guitar and bass at the same time, when I listened to music, I always paid attention to the bass line and would cop the licks. Good learning process.
I listened so much to The Beatles and their solo work that I internalized McCartney's style. I wasn't trying to "rip him off." I've been told more than once that they can hear McCartney in my playing. I can't lose that; it's part of what my bass playing became. It's intrinsic now. And almost as important was Leon Wilkerson of Skynyrd. Like a million other guys in the mid to late 70s, I played a lot of Skynyrd in bands (maybe that was just a Southern thing). Leon was an encyclopedia of country, boogie, rock, and R&B. Learning from Wilkerson opened new styles and genres for me.