YOUR CHOICES
OF TOP BASS PLAYERS
If your choice is not in the above top bassist's lists
please
email me
and I will give them a well deserved mention here.
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Pete
Quaife

English
bassist and founding member of the British rock band The Kinks; he founded
a group known as The Ravens in 1963 with brothers Ray and Dave Davies.
Around late 1963, they changed their name to The Kinks, and hired Mick
Avory as a drummer. The group scored several major international hits
throughout the 1960s such as "Sunny Afternoon" and "Waterloo
Sunset", and their early singles, including "You Really Got
Me" and "All Day and All of the Night", have been cited
as an early influence on the hard rock and heavy metal genres. After
leaving The Kinks, Pete founded a new band, the country/rock outfit,
Mapleoak, the group gigged heavily in Denmark and in the UK during most
of 1969 and early 1970, after which in 1980, Pete retired from the music
world and relocated to Belleville, Ontario, Canada to work as a graphic
artist. In 2005, Pete
was inducted into the UK Music Hall of Fame with Kinks, marking the
final reunion of the four original band members
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Max
Bennett

American jazz bassist and session musician, his
first professional gig was with Herbie Fields in 1949, following this
he played with Georgie Auld, Terry Gibbs, and Charlie Ventura. After
serving in the Korean War 195153, he played with Stan Kenton before
moving to Los Angeles. There he played regularly at the Lighthouse Cafe
with his own ensemble, and played behind such vocalists as Peggy Lee,
Ella Fitzgerald, Joni Mitchell and Joan Baez through the 1970s. He also
recorded with Charlie Mariano, Conte Candoli, Bob Cooper, Bill Holman,
Stan Levey, Lou Levy, Coleman Hawkins and Jack Montrose. Max recorded
under his own name from the late 1950s, and did extensive work as a
composer and studio musician in addition to jazz playing. He played
bass on many records by The Monkees and The Partridge Family, and was
one of the musicians Frank Zappa used for the Hot Rats project. He also
played on later Zappa albums such as Chunga's Revenge. His studio work
also included bass on the Lalo Schifrin soundtrack to the 1969 film
Bullitt. He continued with his own band, L.A. Express, his own group
Freeway, and most recent band, Private Reserve.
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Carl
Radle

American
bass player born in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and maybe best known for his association
with Eric Clapton, starting in 1969 with Delaney and Bonnie and Friends,
then Derek and the Dominos, and he took part in Joe Cocker's famous
Mad Dogs and Englishmen tour. He worked on all of Eric's solo projects
and was a member of Clapton's touring band from 1970 until 1979. Carl
also can be seen in the famous concert film, The Concert for Bangladesh.
During this time Carl had recorded albums with Dave Mason, J. J. Cale,
George Harrison, The Colours, Joe Cocker, Leon Russell, and Buddy Guy
among many others. He can also be seen in Martin Scorsese's ,
The Last Waltz, a final concert performance of The Band, in 1978.
Carl played on a number of gold and platinum singles and albums, and
was postumously inducted to the Oklahoma Music Hall of Fame in 2006
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Klaus
Voorman
German Grammy Award-winning artist, noted musician, and record producer.
In 1966, he became a member of the band Manfred Mann playing bass until
1969, appearing on all their hits from "Just Like a Woman"
to their final single "Ragamuffin Man"; he played bass and
flute on their 1968 international hit "Quinn the Eskimo (The Mighty
Quinn)". As a member of Yoko Ono and Lennon's Plastic Ono Band,
he played at the Live Peace in Toronto 1969 and three albums. He also
played on five Lennon albums including Walls and Bridges, and played
in George Harrison's assembled band in the 1971 The Concert for Bangladesh,
plus played on 5 of Harrisons albums, as well as playing on three of
Ringo's albums. After Harrison died, he played bass as part of the supporting
band on the song "All Things Must Pass", in the Concert for
George on 29 November 2002. As a session musician, he played on solo
projects by Lou Reed, Carly Simon, James Taylor, and Harry Nilsson amongst
others. On July 17th 2009 Klaus released his first solo album called
A Sideman's Journey, credited to "Voormann & Friends"
and featured Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, Yusuf Islam/Cat Stevens, Don
Preston, Dr. John, The Manfreds, Jim Keltner, Van Dyke Parks, Joe Walsh
and many others.
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Brian
Wilson

American
Grammy
award winner, best known as the leader, founder and chief songwriter
of the group The Beach Boys in which he played bass and keyboards, also
providing part-time lead vocals and, more often, backing vocals, harmonizing
in falsetto with the group. With hits such as "Surfin' Safari",
"Surfin' USA", "Shut Down", "Little Deuce Coupe",
"Be True to Your School", "In My Room", "Fun,
Fun, Fun", "I Get Around", "Dance, Dance, Dance",
"Help Me Rhonda", "California Girls" and "Good
Vibrations" and their accompanying albums were internationally
popular, making The Beach Boys one of the biggest acts of their time.
Brian launched a career as a solo artist in 1988. His many awards and
honours include his 2005 Grammy Award for Best Rock Instrumental Performance
for Mrs. O'Leary's Cow and in November 2006, he was inducted into the
UK Music Hall of Fame by Pink Floyd guitarist David Gilmour, where Brian
performed "God Only Knows" and "Good Vibrations"
at the ceremony.
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Gary
Thain

New Zealander, rock
bassist, Gary
Thain was part of the rock trio The New Nadir, and with the drummer
Peter Dawkins, he travelled from New Zealand to London, where he jammed
with Jimi Hendrix before the trio split in 1969. He then
joined the Keef Hartley Band and in 1971, they toured with Uriah Heep;
after which in February 1972, they invited Gary to join them to replace
Mark Clarke. He played on four studio albums: Demons & Wizards,
The Magician's Birthday , Sweet Freedom and Wonderworld as well as their
live album entitled, Uriah Heep Live. During his last tour with Uriah
Heep, Gary suffered an electric shock at the Moody Coliseum in Dallas,
Texas on 15 September 1974, and was seriously injured. Due to his drug
addiction he was not able to perform properly, and left the band in
early 1975.
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Gerald
Veasley

Born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, jazz bass guitarist, Gerald Veasley
was introduced to gospel and R&B as a child and then as a teenager,
in the late '60s and 1970s,
he played in various R&B bands in West Philly. He was a huge fan,
Weather Report and Smokey Robinson and soon became inspired by Jaco
Pastorius, Anthony Jackson, and Stanley Clarke, and it wasn't long until
he switched to playing his new love .. jazz. At this time he found plenty
of work as a studio musician, supporting many prominent musicians. Then
in 1988 Weather Report's Joe Zawinul hired him as a sideman. During
this period he released his debut solo album "Look Ahead"
in 1992 and in 1995 he left Joe to concerntrate on his solo career.
He has gone on to release 7 more albums (to date) - ''Signs'', ''Soul
Control'', ''Love Letters'', ''On the Fast Track'', ''Velvet'', ''At
the Jazz Base!'' and his latest album released in 2008 ''Your Move'',
reached No.12 on the U.S. Billboard Top Contemporary Jazz Albums chart.
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Tim
Bogert

Well
known for his electric bass solos, New
Yorker Tim Bogert started as a child on piano, changing to claranet
and playing saxophone in his high school marching band. Still playing
sax, he formed the band called The Belltones. It wasn't till the band
elvolved into The Chessmen opening for the like of The Shirelles, The
Crest and The Earl, Tim picked up the electric bass. In 1965 he went
on tour with Rick Martin and the Showmen, where he met Mark Stein. He
and Mark formed a band The Pigeons which elvolved into Vanilla Fudge.
Tim's unique combination of melodic ingenuity, and gutsy roaring speed,
brought new dimensions to the role of the electric bass player back
in 1967. Following the breakup of Vanilla Fudge in 1970, Tim went on
with Carmine to form Cactus followed by the super group and
Beck, Bogert & Appice, featuring guitarist Jeff Beck and drummer
Carmine Appice.
Over the years
Tim has performed with
many world class players and bands including
Jake E. Lee, Rod Stewart, Billy Cobham, Steve Perry, Bobby and the Midnights,
Rick Derringer,
Vince Martell,
Ronnie Laws, Boxer and Ginger Baker. He played bass guitar on Bo Diddley's
The 20th Anniversary Of Rock 'n' Roll all-star album and was inducted
into the Hollywood Rock Walk of Fame in 1999.
He still plays and tours with the reunited Vanilla Fudge and Cactus
reunions.
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Mel
Schacher

Bassist/lead bassist Mel Schacher was born in Flint, Michigan. At the
age of 7 he was learning to play his Dad's banjo, by 12 he was learning
guitar and playing in local groups by his early teens. At 16 he started
out on his professional career with Question Mark and the Mysterians,
touring America
supporting their hit "96 Tears".
In 1968, Mel, with friends Don Brewer and Mark Farner founded the
rock band Grand Funk Railroad aka Grand Funk, where his "lead bass"
style helped create the Grand Funk unique sound and his strong approach
to music has inspired countless musicians to blend rock-solid support
punctuated with fluid riffs.
In 1970 they sold more albums than any other American band. The 70's
also saw them continually in the charts with hits including "We're
An American Band", "The Loco-Motion", "Shinin' On",
"Some Kind of Wonderful", and "Bad Time". When the
band split he co-founded the band "Flint" producing a self
titled album with Frank Zappa guesting on 2 tracks, "Better You
Than Me" and "You'll Never Be The Same". Mel rejoined
Grand Funk Railroad during their reunion tour in 1996. He still plays
and tours with the band today.
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Leland
"Lee" Bruce Sklar

Born in Wisconsin, but raised in Southern
California, Leland
Sklar's long career started when his college friend, James Taylor asked
him to play bass for him. As James' fame grew, this led to other bands
and artists wanting Lee's bass lines. Over the years, as a session musician,
he has contributed to thousands of albums recording with The Section,
Air Supply, Glen Campbell, Eric Carmen, Donovan, America, Hoyt Axton,
Kim Carnes, Clint Black, Suzy Bogguss, David Cassidy, Ray Charles, Roberta
Flack, Carole Bayer Sager, Roger McGuinn, Joe Cocker, Rita Coolidge,
Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, Robbie Williams, Neil Diamond, Phil
Collins, The Doors, Vince Gill, Amy Grant, Engelbert Humperdinck, Arlo
Guthrie, Merle Haggard, Carole King, Richard Marx, The Manhattan Transfer,
Yumi Matsutoya, Amy Grant, Ricky Martin, Lisa Loeb, Steve Lukather,
Lyle Lovett, Kris Kristofferson, Reba McEntire, Enrique Iglesias, Julio
Iglesias, Bernadette Peters, Bonnie Raitt, Linda Ronstadt, LeAnn Rimes,
Shawn Phillips, Johnny Rivers, Miyuki Nakajima, Randy Newman, Aaron
Neville, Dolly Parton, Bette Midler, Jimmy Webb, The Spencer Davis Group,
Rick Springfield, Rod Stewart, Warren Zevon, The Weather Girls, Tanya
Tucker, Terence Trent d'Arby, Barbra Streisand, George Strait, Donna
Summer, Michael W. Smith, Neil Sedaka, Ricky Skaggs and this is mentioning
only a few. He has also recorded sound tracks to films and television
shows, to date Annabelle's Wish, Black Dog, Catwalk, The
Prince of Egypt, Conspiracy
Theory, Coyote Ugly, Doctor Detroit, Dr. T & the Women, For Love
of the Game, Legally Blonde, Message in a Bottle, Metropolis, Phantom
of the Paradise, The Postman, Sleepwalkers, Love Maximum. Lee, nicknamed
"Father Time" has also toured with Toto beginning in 2007
until the band broke up in 2008. He was filling in for Mike Porcaro,
who was recovering from a hand injury.
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Lee
Rocker

Bassist Lee Rocker began taking classical
cello lessons at eight years old, but influenced by rock n roll he took
up electric bass, before hearing the blues of Carl Perkins and Muddy
Water when he took to the acoustic bass. He jammed with his school friends
Jimmy McDonnell aka Slim Jim Phantom and Brian Setzer, who in 1979 became
The Stray Cats, who went on to revive rockabilly music around the world.
Lee's powerful, original songs, virtuoso musicianship, and vibrant vocals,
brought depth and substance to a neglected style of music to a new generation
who loved it. From 1984 has worked with Earl Slick, Carl Perkins, Dave
Edmunds, Ringo Starr, Eric Clapton, George Harrison, Jeff Beck, Willie
Nelson and others. In more recent years Lee has founded his band Black
Cat Bone; '02, he toured the U.S. with ex-Elvis Presley guitarist Scotty
Moore; '03 The Stray Cats reunited for an 18-city tour of Europe, and
2007 saw another successful rocking Stray Cat world tour. Orange County
Weekly quote: there has never been a rock n roll bass
player more fun
to watch in concert than Lee Rocker.
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Jance Garfat

US
bassist Jance Garfat started his career with different bands around
Union City, New Jersey before joining the pop-country rock band Dr.
Hook and the Medicine Show in 1972 as their full-time bassist. Jance
added a fuller depth and a solid bottom line to their sound. At the
height of their success Dr Hook were top of the charts in 42 countries.
They were known more for there singles rather than an album band and
Jance can be heard on all the bands tracks from 1972 to 1985, such as
'A Little Bit More', 'Only Sixteen', 'If I Said You Had A Beautiful
Body', 'Sexy Eyes', 'Cover Of The Rolling Stone', 'More Like The Movies',
'Ballad Of Lucy Jordan', 'When Your In Love with a Beautiful Woman'
and dozens more. This great band amassed 60 gold and platinum singles
and albums.
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Mike
Dirnt

Born
Michael Ryan Pritchard, Mike Dirnt at the age of 14 formed the band
Sweet Children, with friend Billie Joe Armstrong. Two years later in
1989 with the addition of John Kiffmeyer aka Al Sobrante they formed
Green Day, gathering
a big fanbase on the punk rock scene in Berkeley, California. In 1994
thier break-through and third album "Dookie" sold over 10
million copies, Mike's basslines on "Longview" showed the
world what
an awesome bassist
he is. The band has sold over 60 million records worldwide, won three
Grammy Awards; Best Alternative Album for Dookie, Best Rock Album for
American Idiot, and Record of the Year for "Boulevard of Broken
Dreams.". Mike has also played with bands Squirtgun, the Screeching
Weasel, the Network, and Crummy Musicians, and currently plays with
The Frustrators as well as Green Day. Mike is working on a new Green
Day studio album set to be released sometime in 2008.
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Bill
Dickinson
SORRY
NO
PHOTO
Studio musician and session player, Bill
Dickinson is a well known and very respected electic bass guitarist
in Los Angeles, where back in the late 60's and 70's he used to play
every Tuesday night with his friend and then fellow session guitarist
Lee Mack "Captain Fingers" Ritenour at The Baked Potato. As
well as playing the Californian scene Bill has a busy life playing sessions
in the shadows of the L.A. studios recording with the
likes of Seals & Croft, Willie
Bobo,
Righteous Brothers,
John Pisano, Michael Franks, Dave Grusin to mention a few.
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Tommy
Shannon
Tommy
Shannon joined his first band The Avengers at the age of 13, but got
his big break later when he met Johnny Winter in The Fog at Dallas and
they formed a project known as The Progressive Blues Experiment, Edgar
Winter joined them onstage wat Woodstock. In 1970 Tommy moved to
San Francisco forming the band Krakerjack. 1977 sees him in Houston
with Allen Hayes opening for bands Bachman-Turner Overdrive and KISS.
Next he met up with Stevie Ray Vaughan in The Fog at Dallas and joined
Stevies band Double Trouble. Since SRV's sad, untimely death Tommy has
played, recorded and-or toured with The Mighty Zor, the Arc Angels,
Storyville, Susan Tedeschi, Jimmie
Vaughan, Kenny
Wayne Shepherd, Eric Clapton, The Rolling Stones, Little Richard, Hubert
Sumlin, Mike McCready, Johnny Lang, Buddy Guy, Eric Johnson, David Grissom,
Mato Nanji and Jeff Beck.
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Clifford
Burton
Clifford Burton was born in Castro Valley, California,
to hippy parents. He studied classical piano at six, bass guitar at
14, spending four to six hours a day perfecting his bass guitar skills,
and took a music course at Napa Valley Junior College. He formed Trauma,
it was while with this band
Ron McGovney heard Clifford perform his solo, "(Anesthesia) Pulling
Teeth", asking him to join Metallica. He joined Metallica only
after they relocated to the San Francisco, California Bay Area. Clifford
had a major say in Metallica's music, look, and direction, his early
influence and driving bassline, was the essential ingredient in creating
the unique musical style for which Metallica would later become famous.
he exposed early Metallica to a variety of music styles from The Misfits,
Pink Floyd, The Velvet Underground, and Thin Lizzy, to classical pianist
Glenn Gould. Clifford's first appeared with Metallica at The Stone,
in San Francisco, CA on March 5th, 1983. His final performance was in
Stockholm, Sweden on September 26, 1986, only hours before the tragic
road accident. R.I.P.
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Dave
Bronze

Dave Bronze was born in Billericay,
Essex, England. He joined the Robin Trower band in 1983, making 4 albums
over the next 4 years. Also
in
the 80's, he played and recorded in No Stiletto Shoes band with Gary
Brooker and Art of Noise. In 1990 he formed "Be Sharpe" with
Jerry Stevenson on keyboards and guitar &
drummer, Bob Jenkins. Between 1990 and 1994 Dave
was a member of the Dr Feelgood Band and the Procol Harum band, touring
and recording with both bands. Dave joined the Eric Clapton Band in
1994 which he toured with throughout the '90's and into the 2000's;
as well as recording, touring and playing with Jeff
Beck, Robin
Trower, Eric Clapton, Dr. Feelgood, Sting, Duane Eddy, Tina
Turner, George Harrison, Leo
Sayer, Procol
Harum, The Hamsters, Chris Farlowe, Gary Brooker, Be Sharp, Phil Collins,
Stuart Copeland, Bo Diddly, Roger Daltry, David Gilmore, Mike Rutherford,
Steve Windwood, Paul Carrack, Belinda Carlisle, Brian Ferry, Mickey
Jupp,
Ray Davis ..... to name but a few! Dave was also voted British Blues
Connections 2000 Bass Player Of The Year.
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Lemmy
Kilmister

Ian
"Lemmy" Kilmister, bass playing frontman of the seminal punk-metal
crossover band, Motörhead, hails from Stoke-on-Trent, UK, but raised
in Anglesey, Wales. In the 60's he roadied for Jimi Hendrix & The
Nice and played in several bands including Sam Gopal, The Rockin' Vickers
and Opal Butterfly. 1971 sees him in the space rock UK Underground band
Hawkwind, 1973's"Silver
Machine", reached No.3. In 1975 he went on to form a new band The
Bastard, soon renamed Motörhead, which he still fronts today. Lemmy
has appearance in number of films and television productions, and as
well as his career with Motorhead he has recorded with The Damned, The
Young & Moody Band, Robert Calvert, Albert Jarvinen Band, Nina Hagen,
Fast Eddie Clarke, Shonen Knife, Myth Dreams of World, The Ramones,
Jetboy, Probot, The Head Cat, Ugly Kid Joe, Skew Siskin and still makes
guest appearances with Hawkwind.
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Jay Bentley
Jay Bentley was born in Kansas in 1964.
He was a founder member of the legendary punk rock group 'Bad Religion'
in 1980 while still at El Camino High School. He
left BR for a few of years and played in number of bands, including
Epitaph and TSOL, but returned to 'Bad Religion' in the late 80's, which
is his most proud and well-known collaboration, with the punk masters.This
has established him as one of Punk Rock's finest bass players, Jay Bentley
has never failed to impress with his slick skills for over 26 years.
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Michael
Henderson
Michael
Henderson played bass with the Fantastic Four, Detroit Emeralds, Billy
Preston, and other Motown acts from the age of 13. He later toured extensively
with Stevie Wonder & Aretha Franklin before joining Miles Davis
for 7 years. Sessioned with all the jazz greats, his latest projects
being Children on the Corner and Bass Player's Ball.
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Jerome
Rimson
Bass virtuoso originally
from Detroit City, playing soul, jazz and rock with full solid
enthusiasm and empathy. His amazing career stretchs over 4 decades from
the
Detroit Emeralds to Freddie Mercury to Mark Knofner to Van Morrison,
with dozens more in between. World
respected bass sessionist.
FULLER
BIOGRAPHY
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Norman
Watt-Roy

Norman
Watt-Roy one of the most accomplished bass players in the UK, who
helped
Ian Dury
& the Blockheads come to fame . Norman has also
contributed his talents to recording artists as diverse as
the Clash and Frankie goes to Holly-wood.
FULLER
BIOGRAPHY
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