[40footwolf]

Bassists don't get enough love. Let's switch that around!

Name your 20 favorites and, if you'd care to, what you think makes them special.

In no order:

1. John Wetton(King Crimson)-Fripp may have been the mastermind, but for his tenure in the group Wetton was the driving force of the music itself. Aggressive and anchoring without being overbearing and with a big consideration for musical chemistry, John Wetton has to be one of the most underrated bassists of all time.
2. Larry Graham(Sly and the Family Stone)-Influenced Bootsy Collins. 'Nuff said.
3. Bootsy Collins(Parliament/Funkadelic/Bootsy's Rubber Band)
4. David Ellefson(Megadeth)
5. Nick Oliveri(Queens of the Stone Age, Kyuss)
6. Geezer Butler(Black Sabbath)-Dude defined the term "heavy" for generations to come. Tony Iommi's guitar may have invented metal but it wouldn't have been half the force it was without Butler's crushing, groovy licks.
7. Frank Bello(Anthrax)-Most underrated metal bassist EVER!
8. Mike Rutherford(Genesis)
9. Paul McCartney-Folks know him for his singing and songwriting, but listen to "I'm So Tired" and just tell me the guy couldn't write a bassline like nobody's business, too.
10. Takeshi(Boris)
11. Klaus Flouride(Dead Kennedys)
12. Lemmy(Motorhead)
13. Billy Gould(Faith No More)-Took funk and metal influences equally and actually made the combination appealing. No small feat!
14. Roger Waters(Pink Floyd)
15. Phil Lynott(Thin Lizzy)
16. Tie between Tool's two bassists: Justin Chancellor and Paul D'amour
17. Blacky(Voivod)
18. Chris Squire(Yes)
19. Matt Freeman(Operation Ivy, Rancid)
20. John Entwhistle(The Who)
_________________
I love all music. It makes you feel like living. Silence is death.

-John Cassavettes

[Kiki]

<-------Nicky Wire

[thomas697]

Peter Steel .. Just cause he died .. Listened to a couple of albums .. He's really good!
_________________
Having a family is the kind of thing that could be held against a person

[RFNAPLES]

Avishai Cohen
Charles Mingus
Charlie Haden
Christian McBride
Eugene Wright
Jaco Pastorius
Jimmy Blanton
Paul Chambers
Ray Brown
Ron Carter
Stanley Clarke
Wilbur Ware
_________________
Top 100 Greatest Music Albums by RFNAPLES
Bubbling Under The Top 100 Greatest Mus...y RFNAPLES

[Mr. Shankly]

A few that come to include:

Paul McCartney (you can really hear how great he was/ is on the Beatles remasters)
John Entwistle (The Who)
Mike Mills (R.E.M.)
Mani- (The Stone Roses)
Bernard Odum and Charles Sherell- (James Brown's band)

[purple]

Mike Watt- The Minutemen
Jah Wobble- Public Image Ltc.
Peter Hook- Joy Division
Dave Allen- Gang of Four
Tim Commerford- Rage Against the Machine

(not in any order, Peter Hook or Tim Commerford are real favorites though)

[SquishypuffDave]

Wow. Is no-one going to mention Victor Wooten?

[thomas697]

[luis]

Tony Levin is my pick: aside from his work in King Crimson, he plays some of my favourite basslines with Peter Gabriel.
Geezer Butler, Steve Harris and Cliff Burton are all great metal bassists. Their basslines in Paranoid, Clairvoyant and Master of Puppets are so good that make me miss the entire song so I can hear them properly.
And he may not be a virtuoso player, but Sting is still one of my favourite musicians.
_________________
And If a Double Decker Bus, Crashes into us...

[Applerill]

Matt Sharp rules over all in the bass realm. Yes, even Les Claypool.