Results 1 to 13 of 13

Thread: Unsung bass heroes?

  1. #1
    Forum Member chuckocaster's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 2003
    Location
    spanish for lard.
    Posts
    8,605

    Unsung bass heroes?

    Curious who my fellow sub harmonic f(r)iends look up to. Lately I've been trying to channel my inner Adam Clayton and Cliff Williams. Tho I may not always try to play like my "heroes", I do try to glean and implement some of their ideas, approaches, and tones.
    "don't worry, i'm a professional!"

  2. #2
    Forum Member ch willie's Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2008
    Location
    Tennessee
    Posts
    8,163

    Re: Unsung bass heroes?

    Adam Clayton is certainly underrated. The last few albums have had some pretty good bass work on them.

    Dee Murray is rarely mentioned these days. He's my unsung bass hero. He played for the song, and his bass lines added something to the art of the song and album. Dee was out after Captain Fantastic until he rejoined a few years later, but his bass playing was never the same after that. He got into slapping and popping, and it was horrible to see him doing that live on songs like Love Lies Bleeding. Still, his playing has always influenced my playing.
    If we'd known we were going to be the Beatles, we'd have tried harder.--George Harrison

  3. #3
    Forum Member FrankJohnson's Avatar
    Join Date
    Aug 2003
    Location
    Bad JuJu Blues - Its Good for your Soul!
    Posts
    3,934

    Re: Unsung bass heroes?

    Boy - I wouldn't know where to begin - and truth is - the ones I hear - I would never be able to figure out who they were, are etc.
    Kenny Belmont
    >:^{I)>

  4. #4
    Gravity Jim
    Guest

    Re: Unsung bass heroes?

    Wow, Dee Murray is a great call. When it was just Elton, Dee and Nigel you couldn't freakin' believe what a powerhouse that band was. The guys in my band back then were huge admirers of that section.

    I'd give props to Walter Becker in the early Steely Dan... Mark Andes, for his smashmouth playing in JoJo Gunne (later of Firefall and Heart)... And a bunch of 70s funk players, Robert "Kool" Bell of Kool and the Gang among them.

  5. #5
    Forum Member jeru's Avatar
    Join Date
    Mar 2006
    Location
    Chicago
    Posts
    824

    Re: Unsung bass heroes?

    Quote Originally Posted by silent j. View Post
    Wow, Dee Murray is a great call. When it was just Elton, Dee and Nigel you couldn't freakin' believe what a powerhouse that band was.
    YES. Anyone who hasn't listened to the 17-11-70 recording is missing out. Dee just kills it.

    Jim and Willie --

  6. #6
    Forum Member chuckocaster's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 2003
    Location
    spanish for lard.
    Posts
    8,605

    Re: Unsung bass heroes?

    Mr Clayton, in my book, has an elegantly understated way of playing. He's a "class act" in my book. And talk about solid! So much so that I think people don't recognize it, much like George Harrison.
    "don't worry, i'm a professional!"

  7. #7
    Forum Member ch willie's Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2008
    Location
    Tennessee
    Posts
    8,163

    Re: Unsung bass heroes?

    Nice to see others who appreciate Dee Murray like I do. Even up through Capt. Fantastic, they kept Dee's bass forward in the mix, and he had the chops to make it work. I still am amazed at his work and how he rarely played bassist cliches. Some of his lines leave me going, how the hell did he think of that?
    If we'd known we were going to be the Beatles, we'd have tried harder.--George Harrison

  8. #8
    Forum Member
    Join Date
    Apr 2011
    Posts
    30

    Re: Unsung bass heroes?

    Jim Fielder

  9. #9
    Forum Member refin's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2005
    Posts
    4,753

    Re: Unsung bass heroes?

    Jim Fielder,good call.

    Some of these guys are known for the bands they were in,but underrated as players in common discussion (which may be/have been fine with them).


    Felix Pappalardi (Mountain)----deceased
    Gary Thain (Uriah Heep)----deceased
    Rocco Prestia (Tower Of Power)


    Thain was a great melodic player.....check out "Sweet Lorraine".
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RPOp_Lokm58

    Pappalardi on "Nantucket Sleighride".
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KqWqCuHR0Og

    I like players that can stick a line in that is supportive.
    "My flesh and my heart fail...but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever."
    PS. 73:26

    MY JAMS--
    http://www.soundclick.com/bands/defa...&content=music

  10. #10
    Forum Member concert410's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2003
    Location
    Northeast Ohio
    Posts
    788

    Re: Unsung bass heroes?

    How did I miss this thread? and a discussion about Elton's band to boot!!!! All I can say is that "That was an AMAZING band!!!!" Dee really under rated. I am a guitar player who plays bass and the bass player who always interested me were Chris Squire, and the guy from Bros. Johnson. But.......James Jamerson was the master
    A good, screaming Strat just might be the greatest guitar sound of all..... -Slash

  11. #11
    Forum Member phantomman's Avatar
    Join Date
    Aug 2007
    Location
    Ten miles from the Mexican Frontier, in Arizona
    Posts
    7,289

    Re: Unsung bass heroes?

    I don't think Tim Bogart ever got the recognition or respect that he deserved.
    "When injustice becomes law then rebellion becomes duty."

  12. #12
    Forum Member dez's Avatar
    Join Date
    Dec 2003
    Location
    new jersey
    Posts
    685

    Re: Unsung bass heroes?

    Billy Cox. Solid as a rock and massive tone and feel.

  13. #13
    Forum Member NTBluesGuitar's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2006
    Location
    North Texas
    Posts
    5,820

    Re: Unsung bass heroes?

    Quote Originally Posted by refin View Post
    Rocco Prestia (Tower Of Power)
    Hear, hear!!!

    Probably not very unsung, but how can you not mention this guy?

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IjS9Y-T589g
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z0SPttqD2JE

    Then there's Mark King from Level 42:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yioVmqlt2Fk
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TTOPOKqYnNM
    "...pray do not imagine that those who make the noise are the only inhabitants of the field;
    that, of course, they are many in number; or that, after all, they are other than the little,
    shriveled, meagre, hopping, though loud and troublesome, insects of the hour."

    -Edmund Burke

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •