Top 5 Prog Bass players

The.Crimson.King wrote: Tom Ozric wrote: With all respect, I can't understand why folks consider McCartney as a top bass player - he plays 'for the song', but so does Geddy.................they both played Rickys, I know whose tone I prefer................ For me, Macca get's the recognition because he was the first bassist to step out from the role of just thump-thump-thumping the tonic note in the background.  Give Sgt Peppers a critical listen and notice how the bass parts are melodic and mixed way up front with the guitar and vocal parts.  Then compare that to the bass parts of other 1967 songs...the only other rock bassist I can think of that was doing anything else revolutionary at that time was Jack Bruce.  Between the two of them, they moved bass from the anonymous shadows to center stage and laid the groundwork for the other "Lead Bass" players to come (Squire, Geddy, etc).  Until then, you never really heard the bass and that might be because the bass just wasn't doing anything very interesting.

Since you put it that way, he is a pioneer of sorts, I get where you're coming from, but he never advanced himself - the most involved playing from Paul is on 'I Want You (She's So Heavy)' !!  For me, the bassists which stood out in that era were Jack Casady and Phil Lesh, even Roger Waters.  I always looked beyond the 'sound' - more at technique and skill - and Casady & Lesh surpass Macca's abilities.  I do love Macca's bass playing on Revolver the most. 

The.Crimson.King wrote: Hmmm...I guess you could say by the time of "I Want You" that Macca had progressed as far as he was going to.  Nothing he did solo or in Wings after really stands up to the inventiveness he showed with the Beatles.  I don't agree with you on Casady or Rogers but do agree on Phil Lesh.  He was very inventive but OMG I hate his tone, especially on the 60's recordings...always sounds too "twangy" and "midrangy" to me.

On some of the early Hot Tuna albums, Casady was outstanding !!  I suppose Waters was similar to Macca. I thought that 'twang' you talk of Phil Lesh's bass was distinctive - I always thought of it as 'woody' and 'hollow' (the bassist of Krautrockers 'Agitation Free' is a dead-ringer for Lesh, both in style and sound), but you're right on about his inventiveness. It just puzzled me how many regard Macca as a top bassist, but I suppose I can understand why - I was approaching this from a different angle and missing the context........ 

Geddy Lee
Chris Squire
Ray Shulman
Tony Levin
Roger Waters

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FNJqVW2L5is

'Paperback Writer' is another rip-snorter of a bass-line. Yes, Entwistle was truly gifted - he would've made for an extraordinary 'Prog' bassist (in the order of Squire, Lee etc. - not that he wasn't, but 'The Who' are not really my kind of Prog - as good a band as they were....).

No particluar order.....               

Justin Chancellor
Jaco Pastorius
Roger Waters
Mariusz Duda
Steve Harris

Geddy Lee

Richard Sinclair
Chris Squire
Jack Bruce
Hugh Hopper
Roger Waters


Edited by Einsetumadur - April 11 2013 at 15:52