James Jamerson and Phil Lesh by a long shot: Listening to the amazing string of records put out by the Grateful Dead between '68 and '70 is an endless school of bass playing. Lesh had this incomprehensible understanding of counterpoint that set up most of his parts as perfect compliments to the chaos around the bass while being intriguing in their own right. Anything Jamerson ever did on a Motown record was perfect. Both should be studied deeply as far as I am concerned.
... Followed by Paul McCartney, who wrote the book on controlling and entire rhythm with staccato versus fluid legato playing, and who used melodic and harmonic adventure to colour an entire song. I have heard many, many put it this way: Bass is all about creating and releasing tension, and McCartney's playing was masterful at that.
If I just want to hear a virtuoso bassist, then I think Jaco Pastorius is the be-all-and-end-all for bass players. He is the Eddie Van Halen of bassists; where players' styles are often told as being "pre-" or "post-" that person, so innovative was his style, ans so incomparable was his technical ability (and his willingness to display it!)
I also remember reading an interview with a prominent bassist in Bass Player magazine some 20 years ago. I forget who it was, but he listed Danny Bonaduce as one of his influences (tongue firmly in cheek). He said that when he was young and watching The Partridge Family, that Bonaduce's fingering was so economical and smooth -- HE RARELY EVEN HAD TO MOVE HIS FRETTING HAND!
Quote:
Paul McCartney usually added his bass lines afterwards, to the recorded music.
As opposed to what? Almost all rock and pop music made in the last 40 or 50 years, since multitrack recording became available, have been put together piece-by-piece.
