Underrated bass players

[Danny G]

Duff McKagan
Krist Novaselic

[Corey Y]

Paul van Schaik from Wallrus

I rarely hear anything about the band or him in particular, but his playing and tone are fantastic.

[Dr. Skeeter]

Joe Lally and me.

[bass sic]

Jason newsted. I never really thought much of his playing till I heard justice for Jason.

[Lumpy]

I see people rating Duff McKagen highly, all the time. He's certainly not bad, he is definitely a pro player, but what is there to like? Especially people who say they like his tone

Same goes for Jason Newstead. Yeah he is a good bass player, certainly. Nothing stands out though. I can't remember any of his basslines, or Duff's either. Both these guys play very well, and do nothing memorable. Nothing wrong with that, the bass is in a supportive role, it's ensemble playing, workmanlike, support the song, blah blah blah. I get all that. But of all the bass players to pick out for praise, I'm not sure why these guys would get mentioned. Unless you think that staying in the background is a desirable thing for bass players to do.

[Hemisaurus]

[Lumpy]

Sorry about the rant, here's a few underrated bass players I like. These guys are not underrated because nobody can tell they were good, they're underrated because their bands aren't arena-sized (unlike Duff or Jason, for fucks sake).

Old school:
JJ Burnel (The Stranglers)
Dave Riley (Big Black)
Bruce Foxton (The Jam)
Tufty (Toxic Reasons - Indiana punk band)

Current dudes:
Tim Dall (Child Abuse)
Steve Moore (Titan, Zombi)
Richard Hoffman (Sightings)

[Lumpy]

Krist Novaselic is underrated, he does have memorable bass lines ("Heart Shaped Box" stands out in my mind).

The new dudes in my other post will make you hang up your spurs in shame, or go home and practice your ass off.

[Instant Dan]

Old School:
Tim Bogert (Vanilla Fudge, Cactus)
Mel Schacher (Grand Funk Railroad)
Dennis Dunaway (Alice Cooper)
Lee Dorman (Iron Butterfly, Captain Beyond)
Dusty Hill (ZZ Top)

New School:
Bruce Falkinburg (The Hidden Hand)
Leo Smee (Cathedral)
Mark Abshire (Fu Manchu, Nebula)
Jeff Pinkus (Butthole Surfers, Honky)

[Danny G]

Go back and re-listen to "Appetite for Destruction". Duff's playing is in the pocket, and way more musical than the typical root-line bullshit prevalent in most 80's glam rock. One of the first bassists that made me start listening to the basslines, even before I even fathomed learning to play the damn thing.

And his tone is pretty damn good too.



Wow, did anyone catch that both guys I mentioned use a.... PICK?!? heh

[Chovie D]

new school:
Kevin Rutmanis

[giantchris]

Like someone mentioned before Mel Schacher is really underrated.

Always kinda felt Mike Starr was pretty underrated too.  I always felt Mike Dean from CoC should get mentioned more too.

[lordfinesse]

I'm gonna go with Leo Lyons from Ten Years After. Watch him in the Woodstock movie. That dude is feeling it. That's important to me.

[justJon]

Michael Anthony.

He was overshadowed by the VH Brothers and whatever massive ego was at the microphone, but he was solid, tasty, musical, and could sing his ass off.

[mortlock]

Old School:
Tim Bogert (Vanilla Fudge, Cactus)
Mel Schacher (Grand Funk Railroad)
Dennis Dunaway (Alice Cooper)
Lee Dorman (Iron Butterfly, Captain Beyond)
Dusty Hill (ZZ Top)

New School:
Bruce Falkinburg (The Hidden Hand)
Leo Smee (Cathedral)
Mark Abshire (Fu Manchu, Nebula)
Jeff Pinkus (Butthole Surfers, Honky)

i wouldnt exactly call tim bogert and lee dorman 'underrated'. these guys are considered legendary..

[RacerX]

Dale Peters: James Gang

Greg T. Walker: Blackfoot

[bass sic]

See lumpy, you just under rated Newsted. I'm just saying go listen to some justice for Jason and you'll see he's not just picking along with the kick. Pretty impressive baselines.

[The Shocker]

Andrew Weiss - Gone, Rollins Band, Ween.

[Instant Dan]

Old School:
Tim Bogert (Vanilla Fudge, Cactus)
Mel Schacher (Grand Funk Railroad)
Dennis Dunaway (Alice Cooper)
Lee Dorman (Iron Butterfly, Captain Beyond)
Dusty Hill (ZZ Top)

New School:
Bruce Falkinburg (The Hidden Hand)
Leo Smee (Cathedral)
Mark Abshire (Fu Manchu, Nebula)
Jeff Pinkus (Butthole Surfers, Honky)

i wouldnt exactly call tim bogert and lee dorman 'underrated'. these guys are considered legendary..

In my generation, or most of the bass players I worked with. The old school were Butler, Paul Jones, and Jack Bruce. No one else.

[MikeyT]

  Bogert is highly respected/ admired by some of the best musicians in the world; but I suppose he might not be that well known to the general public (especially these days)
  It's kind of the same for Jack Casady (Jefferson Airplane).
Mel Schacher, excellent for his genre.

I like Noel Redding's playing with Jimi. I don't think he deserved all the criticism he received, so yes, I think he was underrated in a sense, even though he was 'famous'. I liked him better on bass than guitar (his bands). Andy Fraser, with Free, was good; and Bob Mosley of Moby Grape was fantastic.

The Grateful Dead's bass player was alright. Fairly melodic. I liked what he (Phil Lesh) did with 'Playing In The Band' on the Skull & Roses live LP (it's actually just called GRATEFUL DEAD).

Whoever played bass on the Velvet Underground's LOADED album did a great job- very melodic, sometimes soaring lines. I'm thinking it was Doug Yule.
Loved some of George Alexander's playing with The Flamin' Groovies. Especially on SHAKE SOME ACTION.

I also liked the bass sound the Yardbirds had. I guess it was kind of primitive, but it sounded good. Really big sound.

Sorry, I can't think of any newer guys. I noticed a few, but have forgotten their names. I hear so much stuff that it more or less overwhelms me. I do like the cat for Cathedral.

[Lumpy]

Phil Lesh gets knocked for meandering pointlessness, but he's definitely doing his own thing. Underrated. Not really a fan, but huge points for originality.

Andy Fraser from Free: great stuff. Vaguely in the McCartney 'tuba' mold but not really. He bumps. If I listen to Free, I am listening to Andy Fraser.

Dennis Dunaway is a great pick, he has a great sense of drama, he can stay in the background when needed, but he can also unspool climbing, lyrical 'lead' type lines that build into the climactic parts of a song.

[SpaceTrucker]

Ares tavolazzi

[Lumpy]

See lumpy, you just under rated Newsted. I'm just saying go listen to some justice for Jason and you'll see he's not just picking along with the kick. Pretty impressive baselines.

It sounds like he is basically playing exactly what the guitar players are. I put a huge value on originality and creativity. If you are just going to reinforce what the guitar player is doing, that has it's place, but I wouldn't single that out for praise. Maybe it's a limitation of the genre (thrash metal). He can play the bass very well, but he doesn't ever stand out IMO, and doesn't have his own distinctive style IMO.

I don't find that interesting. Yeah, he can really motor. But ANY good metal bass player could have repeated the guitar parts. He doesn't have his own voice, in the song.

If you have better examples of a Jason killer bass line that isn't just mirroring the guitar, post a link (and a specific time too, if you want). But you can see Jason playing bass 'solo' on YouTube, and he plays bass like a rythym guitar player. There are so many great bass players who DONT do that, and that's why Jason Newstead doesn't get a lot of kudos. (It's not because he was mixed down on "...And Justice...") If there are any great Jason basslines that really make the song (example: Red Barchetta by Rush, or Roundabout by Yes) then lay it on me.

[Lumpy]

Heh, after listening to the solo Blackened video again, I guess I am being too critical.

[peyotepeddler]

respect