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someone_else 
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 Posted: June 30 2015 at 03:47 |
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Option #2 or #3. I go for #2. His unique and recognizable sound places him somewhere on top of the ranking of prog bassists.
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friso
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Posted: June 30 2015 at 04:26 |
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To me he doesn't realy sound like a bassplayer. His playing was very technical, but his effect on the Yes sound - which already had a guitar player and keyboardist in the mid-spectrum of the music - wasn't very effective in my opinion. Great singer and good composer though. Please don't expell me from the archives :P.
Edited by friso - June 30 2015 at 04:26
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Imperial Zeppelin
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Posted: June 30 2015 at 04:46 |
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I haven't made a top 3 list but he would've definitely be up there if I made one.
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"Hey there, Dog Man, now I drink from your bowl."
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PrognosticMind
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Posted: June 30 2015 at 05:39 |
 The.Crimson.King wrote:
I went "Top 3 of all time" ranking him between Paul McCartney and John Wetton. I'm not into jazz or fusion so I'm really coming from a traditional rock/prog point of view. For me, at the height of their careers I believe all 3 took the bass to places it hadn't gone before in both tone and melodic approach. Macca for bringing the bass out of the thump-thump-thump-tonic-to-5th-to-tonic shadows exploiting it's possibilities as a melodic instrument. Squire who built upon Macca's melodic approach and brought the intensity up several notches with a tone that could not be ignored (partly thanks to his implementation of Rickenbackers "Rick-O-Sound" stereo output feature) and an advanced understanding of music theory which took the bass center stage and in a very bright spotlight. Wetton; both for what Fripp used to call his "muscular" approach (a product of volume and distortion) and his improvisational abilities. Wetton really earned his spot at #3 for me in a very short timeframe of his Crimso work which just hit my sweet spot dead center.
I'm with SteveG in that I'm inclined to rank Squire #1 of all time because of today's announcement but I've tempered my opinion and put him top 3 instead 
In honor of the day, it's ALL YES ALL DAY in my house! So here's another shot I got, this one from the Drama tour at the SF Cow Palace sometime in the fall of 1980.
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Nailed it 
Squire is undoubtedly in the top 3 of all time for me. It was very, very hard not to just rationalize him as the best ever - but like you, I tempered my choice with a bit more reason
However, Squire is THE reason I picked up the bass guitar. He inspires me to innovate and write in my own unique way, and truly push my creativity to the limits. Gear, approach, playing style, etc.
You pretty much covered it all in this post. Bravo!
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"A squid eating dough in a polyethylene bag is fast and bulbous. Got me?"
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sleeper
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Posted: June 30 2015 at 06:03 |
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One of the best without doubt, though personally I wouldn't put him top 10.
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Spending more than I should on Prog since 2005 
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Manuel
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Posted: June 30 2015 at 07:10 |
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Certainly among the top 10 in skills, and among the top 5 in being influential.
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Formentera Lady
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Posted: June 30 2015 at 09:18 |
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Voted top 10. But the question of the OP is difficult to answer... place in all of electric bass history? Not a ranking of personal favourites? The first I cannot answer. My personal top 3 would be Greg Lake, John Wetton and Stanley Clarke.
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Flight123
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Posted: June 30 2015 at 09:24 |
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It seems a little churlish to reduce Squire's contribution to a poll. He was a leading innovator in bass playing and undoubtedly belongs to a small elite group of players. Aside from the bass playing, he also made a huge contribution to the development of the whole prog genre.
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tszirmay
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Posted: June 30 2015 at 10:42 |
Mick Karn, Entwhistle, Pastorius and Squire are lighting it up in heaven , rumbling thunder together. Listening to the lines in Hold Out Your Hand and Parallels. Devastating!  |
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I never post anything anywhere without doing more than basic research, often in depth.
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Michael678
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Posted: June 30 2015 at 11:36 |
to me he's the most innovative in the world of prog; there's still a huge argument for the general world of music too!! Geddy and John (Entwistle AND Wetton to a certain extent) are also huge contenders for me. i probably should've chose the Top 3 choice but oh well!!
UPDATE: nvm that actually; NOW one of the Top 3 if you ask me!!
Edited by Michael678 - July 03 2015 at 08:08
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Progrockdude
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cemego
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Posted: June 30 2015 at 17:24 |
in no order. my favorites are:
chris squire percy jones john wetton ron carter tony levin alan spenner geddy lee colin edwin jaco pastorius jah wobble
i think thats all :)
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listen to streaming stuff! no commercials!
http://wmom.servemp3.com:8000/listen.pls
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verslibre
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Posted: June 30 2015 at 17:28 |
progmatic wrote:
Perhaps McCartney is more influential, but my brain has a hard time accepting anyone's argument that Sir Paul's bass playing outshines Mr. Squire. |
Squire smokes that guy. I guess most everybody here will be shocked, but I've never thought of Paul as some kind of mindblowing bass player, certainly not compared to the likes of Squire, Clarke, Pastorius, Lee, Bogert, Graham, and on and on and on.
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Hercules
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Posted: June 30 2015 at 17:37 |
I asked my stepson, who is a really exceptional bass player who drives me nuts by playing Roundabout and YYZ all the time:
"He isn't technically quite as good as Geddy Lee, who I rate the best af all, and possibly not quite as good as John Entwistle or Tony Levin. Amongst non-prog bassists, Victor Wootton is possibly as good as anyone and Flea is excellent. But no-one is much above Chris Squire technically and his greatest achievement was that he revolutionised the way the bass was played as an instrument. Listening to Close to the Edge or Roundabout, he's not just playing a rhythm like everyone else did before, but a complex melody. I can also do that in my bands, but he set the precedent."
So he's possibly not the very best prog bass player of all time (though close), but he is the most innovative of all. So no choice quite fits.
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A TVR is not a car. It's a way of life.
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Triceratopsoil
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Posted: July 01 2015 at 00:07 |
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One of the top 10 prog rock bassists of all time, not one of the top 10 electric bassists of all time
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irrelevant
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Posted: July 01 2015 at 10:25 |
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Top 10
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Komandant Shamal
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Posted: July 01 2015 at 20:31 |
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i voted for "One of the Top 10 of All Time".
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sublime220
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Posted: July 01 2015 at 21:43 |
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Top 3
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There is no dark side in the moon, really... Matter of fact, it's all dark...
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fudgenuts64
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Posted: July 02 2015 at 02:52 |
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Second only to Jon Camp but even then Chris pretty much influenced his style.
Edited by fudgenuts64 - July 02 2015 at 02:52
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NutterAlert
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Posted: July 02 2015 at 03:08 |
wow, harsh judge person who placed him average...anything but i'd have thought. Shame he was not part of the Amon Duul commune in 70s as he would have added something to their early epics.
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Libor10
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Posted: July 02 2015 at 07:15 |
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CHS is in my rank among 3 best players of all time. He, Entwistle and Wetton (well, Geddy Lee could be there too). But Chris playing bass in those old days (especially in 70's) was extraordinal and different to other bass players. In fact and to be true I love his playing the most... Don't even mention his contributing to Yes songs and vocals... I couldn't get up from that sad message about his passing... :-((
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Chris Squire's Place in Electric Bass History
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