John Alec Entwistle

[Basvarken]

When did you hear the last song on the radio that had a spectacular or at least a memorable bass line?

Red Hot Chili Peppers and Jamiroquai spring to mind...
Heck even White Stripes' Seven Nation Army, although the bass line wasn't played on a bass.

[Freuds_Cat]

Hell, there are many folks who absolutely love Michael Anthony's bass solos...now, I know none of you want me to post videos of that.

Argh!  dont go there. I try and be reasonable and see the otherside of things most of the time so that  I at least appear open minded in my opinions but MA just makes me cringe to listen to or worse, watch.

The only thing that I can take away from him is that if a player like him can get to play with a list of amazing musicians like he does then I shouldn't baulk at the opportunity to play with better and higher profile musicians either.

Facade destroyed 

[uwe]

Listen to the Chickenfoot album, he plays well on that and with more inventive lines than most hard rock bass players. I don't think Satriani would bother to be in one band with him if that weren't the case.

[Freuds_Cat]

Yep I agree I have listened to it. I like it because Satriani actually bothers to play rather than shred constantly, Chads drumming is what really makes the album for me and yes MA actually does do a reasonable job of pretending to be a bass player. Oh, and I have always been a fan of Sammy Hagars singing

[nofi]

he has had quite a career 'pretending'...

so he plays simple lines. that is not a bad thing and is often the preferred option. even in bass playing.

[Freuds_Cat]

Jamerson could play simple lines too. Its all about what notes get chosen to be played simply. Which makes me sound like Uwe critisising JAE which is what started me off. Oh the irony   Oh the dichotomy.  Screwed by Michael Anthony once again   

[Hornisse]

This guy does a very good tribute to a lot of the Jamerson songs.  I really like his take on this one.  Not an easy one to play by any means and it is even one of Anthony Jackson's favorites by Jamerson.

[birdie]

That guy has put some time in the shed! Foe some things, a P w/ flats is the shyte!

[uwe]

I remember the Van Halen debut for two things, EvH's solos and the sound of the backing vocals which sounded like no backing vocals had ever done before in my ears. I only learned years later that it was MA who provided these, multi-layered, and that his backing vocals have shaped the VH sound much as Brian May's multi-layered vocals shaped Queen (contrary to popular belief, Mercury wasn't much of a vocal overdubber at all, that was a Brian May recipe). And without those backing vocals, VH's early hits such "Dance the Night away" would have been unthinkable. DLR even had issues pitching when he sang by himself, harmonizing was beyond him (many lead vocalists are not good at it btw).

[Basvarken]

I remember the Van Halen debut for two things, EvH's solos and the sound of the backing vocals

Actually I think Eddie Van Halen is an amazing rhythm guitarist too.

[leftybass]

Same as the backing vocals from the Elton John Band contributed so much to those great EJ hits from the 70s.

[Garrett]

  harmonizing.........

[uwe]

Yup, the old EJ band was great, he never managed to recreate that sound.

And I agree, EvH is a stunning rhythm guitarist, for some reason many yank players with technical prowess are. Steve Morse is another one - he has singlehandedly changed the groove of the Deep Purple juggernaut - and Tommy Bolin comes to mind too. In contrast, neither Blackmore, Clapton or Beck are rhythm guitarists to write home about. Page is the one English exception that springs to mind, for all his sloppy lead work, he's a very daring, iventive and original rhythm player. Zep's typical sound has a lot to do with that forte of his. Richars, of course, is a great rhythm player, but that is his main job anyhow.

[lowend1]

Speaking of harmonies...
These guys came out of the NJ shore circuit as an acoustic trio, but eventually added a drummer for live shows. I always thought they should have gone way further than they did. I highly recommend their lone album if you're into great songs with killer harmonies.

[Highlander]

Townshend is a more than respectable rhythm player... imho