Greatest Bass Players


About a year ago I postulated the best drummer was Ginger Baker. Many disagreed and proclaimed Neil Peart to be the best drummer of all. I claim now the temerity to list the best bass players extant (electric bass, that is):

1. Les Claypool (Primus)
2. Jack Bruce (Cream)
3. Felix Pappalardi (Mountain)
4. Chris Squire (Yes)
5. Geddy Lee (Rush)
6. Jaco Pastorius (Weather Report)
7. Bill Laswell (Material)
8. Sir Paul McCartney (The Beatles)
9. Jonas Hellborg (jazz)
10. Stanley Clarke (jazz)
11. Percy Jones (Brand X)
12. Leland Sklar (The Section
13. John Wetton (King Crimson)
14. Geezer Butler (Black Sabbath)
15. Jack Casady (Hot Tuna)

These are in no particular order, by the way, except position #1. Your thoughts?

BZ

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15 thoughts on “Greatest Bass Players

  1. 03 06 07
    heheheheh I havta agree about the guy from Primus. I never knew his name but have been loving his particular style for many years! hehehehehehe You certainly have a wide variety of musical taste! heheh:)

  2. BWH: Sheehan, yeah, kinda — but dammit, you’re right, Tim Bogert — good pick! Greg Lake was overrated but had a nice voice.

    BEST bass player on CD and/or in concert is DEFINITELY Les Claypool. The man is incredible!

    BZ

  3. Gunny: in a way Cliff reminds me of Geezer Butler: a lot of notes picked in a remarkably rapid fashion. With a long neck and distant frets, you’ve got to have your act together in any account if you want to add the low end to speed metal.

    BZ

  4. All of you forgot, or somehow don’t know, about Victor Wooten! He, in my opinion, is far better than Claypool! Don’t get me wrong, Claypool is great, but Wooten has more style. He doesn’t have an annoying voice like Claypool, either! LOL Sorry, not a fan of his singing!

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