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"Top 10 bass players who handle lead vocals"


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This thread on the Gib site is over a year old, and I got the link from Greg Lake's web site. I'm hard-pressed to find anything to disagree with on both the list as well as the responses---a rare occurrence, since all too many internet users are self-appointed experts/historians/know-it-alls:

http://www2.gibson.com/News-Lifestyle/Features/en-us/Top-10-Bass-Players-Who-Handle-Lead-Vocals.aspx

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A couple for me personally

- Les Claypool (Primus)

- Fat Mike (Nofx)

- Chris Murphy (Sloan)

- Brian Wilson

..and a couple that I'm not really fans of but they are pretty good at it..

- Tom Araya (Slayer)

- Bryan Adams (mostly plays bass now)

- Cheryl Crow (Mixes it up)

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Can't argue with the list, but in terms of notable bass players who handle lead vox, I'd give the following honorable mention:

Justin Currie (Del Amitri)

Richard Page (Mr Mister)

-

Austin

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I would be indignant that Jack Blades of Night Ranger/Damn Yankees isn't on the list...

...except that from the videos I've seen, it looks like he doesn't actually play the bass much, just lets the synth handle the bass line while he's jumping around.

(although the bass lines on the albums are usually very good).

And no Kip Winger? For shame!

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Cool article, but the Geddy Lee quote, "“In the past, I wrote bass patterns that were connected to the vocals in a way that allowed me to do it live without killing myself or tying my brain into a pretzel," makes me think he must be especially brilliant if he believes those bass lines are easy on the thought process. Well, unless "in the past" only applied to their time period I never really listen to and may be different.

Edit - But I'd probably replace Simmons with Suzi Quattro just for the fact that I think she's better at wearing leather pants.

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No dUg?

I know it's easy to read these sorts of things and come up with a half dozen omissions, but seriously, no dUg?

One of my favorite vocalists, bass or not, and killer bassist, vocals or not.

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That list is a pure joke without Bootsy Collins and Larry Graham on it.

Gene Simmons on a top 10 list like this, you gotta be kidding me.

Not one of the player on that list, and I love Phil Lynott, could top this groove;

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Sh9cezHNec

And this guy too, should be ON the list;

And THIS guy plays bass too, invented some of the most drastic bass playing styles of today. And he's been in one of the best bands ever to come out of the US, Sly & the Family Stone. Lead singer in Graham Central Station:

[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3e7EF7rRA9M

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another vote for Kip Winger. Cheezy 80s image notwithstanding, talent is talent.

Seventeen is the only cheezy song. If you see Winger live this fall, all those old songs are going to stand out better than you remember them.

When this thread started earlier this afternoon it was odd how no one mentioned Glenn Hughes right from the start.

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My three favorite bands of all time had a bass playing lead singing, so I must like melodies and songs that evolve around the bass with melody and sync to the vocals.

Rush

The Church

Type O Negative

I love my metal, but too many of my favorites had short life spans.

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another vote for Kip Winger. Cheezy 80s image notwithstanding, talent is talent.

Seventeen is the only cheezy song. If you see Winger live this fall, all those old songs are going to stand out better than you remember them.

When this thread started earlier this afternoon it was odd how no one mentioned Glenn Hughes right from the start.

I'm going to have to try to see them. And I like the song Seventeen - I've tried to learn the solo and it's beyond me.

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That list is a pure joke without Bootsy Collins and Larry Graham on it.

Gene Simmons on a top 10 list like this, you gotta be kidding me.

Not one of the player on that list, and I love Phil Lynott, could top this groove;

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Sh9cezHNec

And this guy too, should be ON the list;

And THIS guy plays bass too, invented some of the most drastic bass playing styles of today. And he's been in one of the best bands ever to come out of the US, Sly & the Family Stone. Lead singer in Graham Central Station:

[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3e7EF7rRA9M

Hiram was killin' on guitar there, too. Good stuff.

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This is interesting to me......I always imagined it would be difficult to carry vocals AND a bass line. But lately I have begun playing a bit more bass AND some vocals......I would rate myself passable at the first, sucking at the second, but for some reason I seem to be able to both at once......Sometimes. What is all the more interesting is these folks who can do BOTH so well.

Macca and such have nothing to fear from these quarters......

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This is interesting to me......I always imagined it would be difficult to carry vocals AND a bass line. But lately I have begun playing a bit more bass AND some vocals......I would rate myself passable at the first, sucking at the second, but for some reason I seem to be able to both at once......Sometimes. What is all the more interesting is these folks who can do BOTH so well.

Macca and such have nothing to fear from these quarters......

In a 3 piece basic rock band, I find the bass easier to play when singing, but adding another guitarist takes a huge load off and you can pepper around or just stick to the main chords.

The bass has been severely dumb down that pass few decades. As with other types of music, the bass used to play scales or modes, like John Paul Jones, but at some point it became an extension of the bass drum. No way I could sing and play bass to a Rush, Led Zep or The Who song. But I can very easily to a lot of American metal, rock and country. Steve Harris from Maiden is the exception these days.

Have never seen a 3 piece Rush tribute band, which says a lot about Geddy Lee.

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