10325

Last weekend we asked our readers to pick the top 10 bass players of all time. Coming in at Number 10 is Victor Wooten, of Bela Fleck and the Flecktones. In many ways,  Wooten picked up where Jaco Pastorius left off when he died in 1982. As the bassist in the Flecktones, Wooten has a […]

Metallica's early albums inspired generations of metal bands, and Cliff Burton's bass parts were studied by fans like they were the Talmud. His catalog is slim – just Kill 'Em All, Ride the Lightning and Master of Puppets – but that was more than enough to secure his legacy for decades to come. Burton tragically […]

Most musicians would have a very hard time distinguishing themselves if they wound up in a band with Eric Clapton and Ginger Baker, but Jack Bruce was so gifted on the bass that he did it with ease. Bruce began his career as jazz bassist, but he switched to rock in the early Sixties when […]

Jaco Pastorius isn't a household name, but ask any serious bass player and they'll cite him as a legend virtually without peer. Pastorius began his musical career as a drummer, but an early wrist injury forced him to switch to the bass. He quickly mastered the instrument, becoming obsessed with jazz fusion. In the Seventies […]

Before John Paul Jones even joined Led Zeppelin he was considered one of the best session bassists in all of England, playing on tracks by Donovan, Jeff Beck, Cat Stevens and many others. When he formed Zeppelin with singer Robert Plant, drummer Jon Bonham and Jones' fellow session ace Jimmy Page, they formed one of […]

Les Claypool is one of the all-time best slap bass players. One of his early heroes was Geddy Lee. "When I saw my first Rush concert, I spent the whole time watching Geddy's hands," Claypool told Bass Player Magazine. "There were so many things I didn't know; I didn't even know there were such things […]

If Geddy Lee's only role in Rush was to play the bass he'd be unbelievably accomplished. The fact that he does it while singing and playing keyboards proves that the man is almost a freak of nature. Few singers in the history of rock could have handled this triple duty.  The group has occasionally flirted […]

Paul McCartney gets so much attention for his brilliant songwriting in The Beatles that his stunning bass playing abilities are often overlooked. But listen to any Beatles songs and focus on his deeply melodic, flawless bass parts. He took on the role reluctantly after original bassist Stuart Sutcliffe left the group and nobody else wanted […]

Red Hot Chili Peppers bassist Flea was originally inspired by bassists in the early 1980s Los Angeles punk scene, but when he got into Bootsy Collins in the mid-Eighties and tried out his "slap" style he found a signature sound. Over the years he's adopted more of a melodic touch, but he frequently funks it […]

The clear winner in our poll was John Entwistle of The Who. Known as both Ox and Thunderfingers, Entwistle was trained on the piano and French horn before switching to the bass. He played it like a lead instrument, creating a powerful, booming sound that often overshadowed Pete Townshend's guitar playing. His solo on "My […]