# Top 10 Bass Players of all time



## GuitarsCanada (Dec 30, 2005)

According to Rolling Stone this month

10) Victor Wooten
9) Cliff Burton (Metallica)
8) Jack Bruce (Cream)
7) Jaco Pastorius
6) John Paul Jones 
5) Les Claypool
4) Geddy Lee
3) Paul McCartney
2) Flea

1) John Entwistle


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## bw66 (Dec 17, 2009)

GuitarsCanada said:


> 1) John Entwistle


Seriously?


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## GuitarsCanada (Dec 30, 2005)

bw66 said:


> Seriously?


Thats what they are saying... not sure I would personally agree with several of them on the list.


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## bw66 (Dec 17, 2009)

Obviously they just publish these things to get people talking about their magazine and they choose from a pretty limited short list, but as much as I love The Who (probably in my top ten rock bands of all time - maybe top five) John Entwistle wouldn't make my top _fifty_ bass players. And yeah, there are lots of bass players who I would have in there ahead of several on that list. (Though, admittedly I probably couldn't actually _name_ them - it would be "the guy from [_insert band here_].")


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## Kenmac (Jan 24, 2007)

It's ironic that you post this as earlier today I was checking out the Gibson website and they've posted their list of what they consider to be the top 10 bassists of all time. http://www.gibson.com/en-us/Lifestyle/Features/top-bassists-0328-2011/#


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## GuitarsCanada (Dec 30, 2005)

Although I respect McCartney I can't see him on either list and he topped the Gibson list. Geddy made both lists in a respectable position


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## bw66 (Dec 17, 2009)

Interesting that neither list has anyone who plays R&B/Funk.


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## The Grin (May 5, 2009)

My Personal Picks in no order.

Alex Webster
Lemmy Kilmister
Matt Freeman, 
Les Claypool
Michael "Flea" Balzary
Geezer Butler
Steve Harris
Victor Wooten
Geddy Lee
Ryan Martinie


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## snacker (Jun 26, 2008)

that list must have been compiled by a monkey


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## The Grin (May 5, 2009)




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## zontar (Oct 25, 2007)

My personal list would include Stuart Hamm, Roger Glover and Roy Montroy as well.

Most of you probably don't know who Roy Montroy is, but he wrote some cool riffs.


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## Chito (Feb 17, 2006)

These guys are pretty much all rockers. What happened to the rest of the bass players in jazz, funk, etc... No Charlie Haden for a list of Top 10 bass players??? How about Miroslav Vitous, Stanley Clarke, Marcus Miller...


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## Mooh (Mar 7, 2007)

Chito said:


> These guys are pretty much all rockers. What happened to the rest of the bass players in jazz, funk, etc... No Charlie Haden for a list of Top 10 bass players??? How about Miroslav Vitous, Stanley Clarke, Marcus Miller...


Agreed. Never mind that some of the best bass lines were written by J. S. Bach. Seriously, I love most of the players on the list, but the premise is shallow and the selection limited. Imho, of course.

Peace, Mooh.


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## Bevo (Nov 24, 2006)

This is not a good list, as said there is way better lessor and more well know players out there.

Ideally this list needs to be broken down by each type of music. The best guitar player is almost always related to the type of music that the magazine revolves around. Guitar World is always rock and metal players as an example.


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## avalancheMM (Jan 21, 2009)

Another notch in my ' how the frick did Rolling Stone get to be an authority on music' scale of things that I don't get. They pretty much lost their credibility with me when they claimed Coldplay to be the end all and be all for anything in music, past and present. And, love him or hate him, Billy Sheehan deserves some recognition, he pretty much turned the bass world upside down like Eddie did with guitar. IMHO.

Regards


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## ed2000 (Feb 16, 2007)

I play guitar but have realized that in many songs the bass part held it together or made the song even greater.

-James Jamerson of Motown
-Bob Babbit
-the bass line in Penny Lane


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## Robert1950 (Jan 21, 2006)

bw66 said:


> Interesting that neither list has anyone who plays R&B/Funk.


James Jamerson is No. 2 on the Gibson list.

... but Sir Pauly #1 ????? *I DON'T THINK SO !!!!*


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## bw66 (Dec 17, 2009)

bw66 said:


> Interesting that neither list has anyone who plays R&B/Funk.





Robert1950 said:


> James Jamerson is No. 2 on the Gibson list.


I stand corrected. Thank you. 

If they had just listed him as "The guy from the Funk Brothers", I would have known.


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## Bobby (May 27, 2010)

i love the idea of wooten,claypool and pastorius well below mcartney.

its like making a list of guitarists and putting townshend way above hendrix,van halen and gallagher(with they might well have,i dont know,rolling stone lists are shiite).

just imagine the genius minds at work:"yeah jaco was great but i mean......come on....paul wrote _happy birthday_ and just _listen_ to that bass on 'she loves you'.....pure low end gold!!"

commence flaming in 3....2.....

Bobby


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## GuitarT (Nov 23, 2010)

Off the top of my head I can think of at least four other bass players who should be on that list, Jeff Berlin, Stanley Clarke, Alain Caron and Mark King.


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## freddybrass (Apr 3, 2011)

I'm dissapointed that Denis Dunnaway (original Alice Cooper Band) is once again overlooked! I also totally agree with Paul McCartney being at the top. He's one of the most melodic and creative bass players of all time.


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## Crossroads (Apr 23, 2006)

Dee Murray


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## Traivs (Aug 13, 2010)

Lee Sklar would've been on _my_ list. Maybe that's just me, though.

It's good to see Paul McCartney on there, but I don't really think of him as just a bassist. He's a multi-instrumentalist for sure.

I'm pretty sure I would've put Wooten closer to the top.

-Travis


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## Merlin (Feb 23, 2009)

And what about Carol Kaye?


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## Jocko (May 17, 2010)

Got to be Jack Bruce for me. He claimed to have taken his inspiration from J S Bach.


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## allthumbs56 (Jul 24, 2006)

To me a great bass player can make music sound huge - for that, I'd argue for a guy like Entwhistle. Listen to a song like Won't Get Fooled Again - the guitar on it's own sounds quite thin, the drums never stop but soemhow sit in the backround ..... yet the song sounds absolutely huge. Entwhistle has to have something to do with that. 

I'd make a similar arguement for McCartney and Lee. With the few tracks available for older Beatle stuff the music never sounds empty.......and I think that's largely because the bass is just always moving - in a very musical way.


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## Hublocker (May 14, 2009)

I boycott these popularity contests.


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## leftysg (Mar 29, 2008)

I'd challenge anyone to listen to Chris Squire's work with Yes or solo and leave him off this list!


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## mrmatt1972 (Apr 3, 2008)

My top 5 - but they're all pretty well tied for my favourite.

1. John Paul Jones
2. Geddy Lee
3. Flea
4. Jim Hughart (jazz bassist extrordinaire, Google him)
5. Paul McCartney


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## hardasmum (Apr 23, 2008)

While Macca isn't a traditional "bass player" hh changed the way bass guitar was played, recorded and mixed. His work post Rubber Soul was groundbreaking at the time.


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## Jeff B. (Feb 20, 2010)

My top 5 in no particular order:

Gerry McAvoy
Justin Meldal-Johnsen
Geddy Lee
Les Claypool
John Paul Jones


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## Robert1950 (Jan 21, 2006)

The first bass solo I ever heard was on My Generation. I was 15. It blew my mind. I don't have a problem with Entwistle being listed #1. But I do have a problem with McCartney being any top 10.


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## mhammer (Nov 30, 2007)

Some very good contributions here. I've had the pleasure of seeing live, over the years:
John Entwhistle (w/Who)
Jaco Pastorius (w/Weather Report)
Miroslav Vitous (w/his trio)
Lee Sklar (w/The Section)
Chris Squire (w/1971 version of Yes)
Marcus Miller (w/Miles Davis)
Alain Caron (w/Uzeb)

All hot hot players. The absence of of Jamerson, Larry Graham, and Bootsy Collins is a real travesty.

And, not to take anything away from Sir Paul, sometimes the impression we have of a bass player's skill and importance is a function of where they sit in the mix. Some bass players are allowed to get out front, while others are often largely relegated to the back of the mix. It was a central element of Beatles mixes that bass was placed way up front.


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## hardasmum (Apr 23, 2008)

Perhaps this deserves a new thread. I was listening to Revolver today and thought about this post. 



mhammer said:


> sometimes the impression we have of a bass player's skill and importance is a function of where they sit in the mix. Some bass players are allowed to get out front, while others are often largely relegated to the back of the mix. It was a central element of Beatles mixes that bass was placed way up front.


BUT his being featured as a central mix element is his doing, it wasn't by accident. He started playing his Rickenbacker bass because they thought it was more present in the mix than his Hofner, he played his parts with a capo and left an entire track free for the bass guitar. They bounced vocals, drums and guitars down but left that valuable real estate for Paul.

I think he was largely responsible for changing the way bass guitar was played and mixed. Before 1965 I don't hear much bass guitar action. Please cite examples if there are any. 

I am shocked that some don't think Macca deserves to be in the top 10. 

Perhaps it can be argued that "popularity" and not "skill" is more influential in music history, but I think this is a pretty swell bass line. Especially when he changes it up in the third verse.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gGHRrHMxORY&feature=youtube_gdata_player


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## Kenmac (Jan 24, 2007)

hardasmum said:


> Perhaps this deserves a new thread. I was listening to Revolver today and thought about this post.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


I agree with you on Paul. He was really an innovative and groundbreaking bass player and "Taxman" is a good example of some great bass playing. He also played the lead guitar on this song.


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## mhammer (Nov 30, 2007)

I was shocked to find out, years, nay....decades, later that many of my favourite Beatles guitar solos were Paul and not George. Not to diss George one little bit, but I always liked the "angular" quality of Paul's solos. They generally went in unexpected directions, and I kinda liked that.

And as for his bass playing, I can't fault it at all. My point was simply that a lot of very skillful players can get overlooked, simply because they either don't take solos, or don't provide the lead-in hook to a song that grabs our attention (as in Taxman), or aren't way out front in the mix. The players who DO have that enviable position are there for a good reason, but the folks who simply hold the song down absolutely rock solid, without any flash - for example, Duck Dunn - can easily get overlooked.


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## erigod23 (May 20, 2007)

Any bassist list that doesn't include John Deacon can't be taken seriously.


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## Milkman (Feb 2, 2006)

Surprise, surprise.

Out of that top ten there only four players I would even put in the top 100.

Sorry to be a hater, but these top ten lists are generally way, way off in my opinion. They seem to be geared toward image and popularity as opposed to actual skill and talent.


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## punt (Jul 9, 2011)

2 bassists that should be on any MODERN list. Are
Dan Briggs of between the buried and me
Jeroen Paul Thesselling of obscura

Both are EXTREMELY educated and talented. Dan is one of my biggest inspirations. His lines are amazing.

If you play bass and dont know who these guys are. Get the **** on it!


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## Baconator (Feb 25, 2006)

Suffice it to say that the world is a better place musically with pretty much any of the bassists listed in this thread so far. McCartney wrote the coolest pop basslines of the 60's if not some of the alltime greatest and the fact that he sings while playing a number of them still blows me away. Geddy is even more mind-boggling in this regard. I'm sure with a little prodding I could come up with a dozen bassists that haven't been mentioned by anyone that would be in the running, but at the end of the day these lists are meaningless other than to sell magazines and spark debate - at least the latter goal succeeded. 

Jeff Berlin, George Porter, Juan Nelson, Michael Rhodes and countless others were overlooked - hopefully discussion of this list on this forum will spark a few of us to discover bassists we never heard or at least appreciated before.


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## Robert1950 (Jan 21, 2006)




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## Baconator (Feb 25, 2006)

Robert1950 said:


>


I just saw the biopic on him and it's definitely worth signing up for the free trial of netflix to watch. He's one of a kind in every way - bass playing included.


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## jmclaughlin (Nov 9, 2011)

Music isn't the olympics , ergo , the point is moot. On the other hand , anything that promotes bass is cool with me.


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## notme (Mar 23, 2006)

Top five of mine, no order (I'm sure if I give it more thought it may change)

Geddy Lee
Tim Commerford (rage against the machine)
Darryl Jones Sting/Rolling Stones
Jim Creeggan Barenaked Ladies
Flea

I'm surprised nobody mentioned Tim, have you ever seen the concert they played in Mexico City?
I also think Jim is under rated.

The bass player in Death Cab for Cutie is very good also (there's so many others).


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## savageblue (May 18, 2010)

How about Phil Lesh!!!


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## Milkman (Feb 2, 2006)

Rolling Stone.

What a waste of a good name.


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## Morkolo (Dec 9, 2010)

Baconator said:


> I just saw the biopic on him and it's definitely worth signing up for the free trial of netflix to watch. He's one of a kind in every way - bass playing included.


I keep forgetting to watch that, I saw it on the list a few times but keep watching something else.


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## Intrepid (Oct 9, 2008)

I cannot believe that no one has mentioned a gentleman who was the founder and driving bass force behind one of the British Bands who gave the Beatles a run for their money in the 60's, the Kinks. I knew him as Peter Kinnes while he lived quietly in Prince Edward/Hastings County as an artist and graphic designer. The world knew him as Peter Quaife. I believe I read an article somewhere that talked about how many of rock's great bass players were influenced by his style. I just thought I would throw his name into the mix as the 2nd anniversary of his passing comes slowly upon us this June. He was a decent man and should not be forgotten.


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## loudtubeamps (Feb 2, 2012)

"prodigy : a person, esp. a young one, endowed with exceptional qualities or abilities : • an impressive or outstanding example of a particular quality :"
A good article on Tal Wilkenfeld, Jeff Beck’s Young Aussie Bass Prodigy - Tal Wilkenfeld - Zimbio
Seeing her beside some of the greats and not only keeping up note for note, but shining!
Tal Wilkenfeld, Victor Wooten, Steve Bailey, Oteil Burbridge, J.D. Blair - YouTube
Top ten........maybe/ maybe not ,IMHO she's defintely numero 11 at least.
9kkhhd


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## RobQ (May 29, 2008)

That was a readers' poll and not the usual editors' or 'expert panel' picks.

Not surprising at all once you know that.


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## Robert1950 (Jan 21, 2006)

But they're bass players, does anyone really care?


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## loudtubeamps (Feb 2, 2012)

Robert1950 said:


> But they're bass players, does anyone really care?


They are good to have around when you need to re-tune after a string break or when you want to stop and light up!


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## david henman (Feb 3, 2006)

...the bass players i love are the ones that aren't very flashy, but nail the groove right to the floor. the new stones bassist, for one, and the guy in the hip - names escape me.


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## bluzfish (Mar 12, 2011)

GuitarsCanada said:


> According to Rolling Stone this month
> 
> 10) Victor Wooten
> 9) Cliff Burton (Metallica)
> ...


As usual, another lame list. But Victor Lamont Wooten number 10??? 10??? 10?????? Really? Does the author actually know what a bass is? Give me a break.


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