Boris
919
Awesome topic, and I had to contribute
Jun 06, 2021,09:47 AM
For drummers, I'd have to mention Jeff Porcaro of Toto, Ginger Baker of Cream, Jason Bonham of Led Zep, Stewart Copeland of The Police and Mike Bordin of Faith No More.
But my real love is the bass guitar, and I there are too many great players I idolize to mention them all. So I'll try to keep it short.
In my view, the most influential bassist ever was James Jamerson, who was part of Motown's in-house band. I think Jamerson played on something like 25 number one US hits from Marvin Gaye, The Supremes, The Temptations, Stevie Wonder, Smokey Robinson, John Lee Hooker, etc. You named it, and Jamerson played it. He's really the first guy to develop melodic lines for the bass, in addition to provide a rythmic base.
Here's one of his best work, on Marvin Gaye's "What's going on" (note: the guy covering the bass line is Bruno Tauzin, who is my bass teacher and totally awesome).
What's going on
Another great one:
Ain't no mountain high enough
In rock music, it's very difficult for me to get past John Paul Jones of Led Zeppelin.
Every time someone asks me what a bass does in a song, I play them Immigrant Song, as the first 20 seconds don't have any bass, before it kicks in like Thor's hammer.
Immigrant Song
In pop / disco, I love Rutger Gunnarsson and Mike Watson, who were the bass players heard on most of ABBA's tracks. Absolutely mind blowing lines.
The winner takes it all
More recently, I have been extremely impressed by the work of Nick Campbell, who plays in a number of different sets, including Pomplamoose. I am literally obsessed with their cover of Daft Punk's Instant Crush. I have no idea how he gets this sound out of his bass, but it's awesome.
Instant Crush
Now, for the watches:
I have been wearing my 2021 Speedmaster most days recently in the sweltering heat of Hong Kong (hottest May on record), which I like a lot on this olive drab tropic style rubber.