Bassplayer Singers

Rhythm N. Bliss · February 06, 2008, 04:48:18 PM

The greatest Bassist/Singer/Songwriter imho is Jack Bruce. He plays a mean harmonica tooo

....& cello, which was his first instrument as a schoolboy.

The riff from Sunshine of Your Love was the first thing I played on my first bass, as it was for millions of others. Some of Jack's lyrics were pretty tripped out...but that's the 60's for ya.

C R E A M
was the first SUPERGROUP & Jack had 2 of the best in the biz to bounce his ideas off of...
...a real POWER TRIO who were STRONG like a triangle.

When I met Jack 30 years later, in '98. I told him CREAM was my first concert in L.A. in '68 & he said "That was a good show!" He told me they were in negotiations to get back together & was excited about a reunion. Altho' he was tryin' to be UP, gettin' ready to go onstage with Ringo Starr & the All Stars, I could sense a cloud over him. Just found out his son Jonas died in '98 from respiratory illness...so sad. Sad too that Jack almost didn't survive past 2002. He had to get a liver transplant & luckily it was successful. The reunion was the major event of 2005 & people paid huge amounts for tickets!!! I'm So Glad it finally happened & we've got a great DVD now!

Other notable Singer/Songwriter/Bassist gentlemen are Sir Paul McCartney, Sting,

....Phil Kennemore, Phil Lynott, Glenn Hughes, Geddy Lee, Lemmy, Peter Steele, Marco Mendoza, and....

...drum roll....

...& some hot bass licks.....

Felix Pappalardi

He produced Cream & played various instruments on their albums & co-wrote some o' their songs & was the leader of MOUNTAIN

Great bio here:
www.rockforever.com/singers/west/guitarplayer1.html

MOUNTAIN
WAS AN AWESOME BAND, & FELIX WAS WORKIN' WITH SOME O' THE BEST IN THE BIZ TOO.
Unfortunately, it's not a happy ending like with CREAM. In '83 Felix was shot & killed by his wife, Gail Collins, who also co-wrote songs with him & Jack Bruce. She only did 4 years in prison, because the jury believed her story that it was an accident. The truth appears to be that she had found out about an affair ol' Felix was having with a young blond...
Alas...no MOUNTAIN dvd that I know of...We can only hope that something will be brought out from the archives.

Jack Bruce plays a Gibson violin-shaped bass now...

Felix was THE MAN! I've now got a bass like his--a 1953 Gibson EB!
The year I was born & the year Gibson electric basses were born!!
This f***er is the Stradivarius of basses! She'll be fully lefty SOON...I SWEAR!

I'm buying everything by FP....recently got Nantucket Sleighride, & a LIVE Mountain bootleg with horrible sound quality.
I just found out about another studio album by Mountain I gotta get.

Rhythm N. Bliss · February 06, 2008, 04:53:23 PM

Greg Ridley~ Humble Pie
He was great & had a good voice too!!

http://www.photofeatures.com/humblepie/index.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greg_Ridley

I Don't Need No Doctor:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=LZMmV6xXYFw

Unfortunately, Greg's another Rock casualty. Died in November 2003 of pneumonia at only 56.
GR RIP
Steve Marriot RIP 1991
One of the great bands I missed seeing.

gweimer · February 06, 2008, 05:28:40 PM

If I could sing like anyone, it would be James Dewar:

Let's not forget Doug Pinnick:

hieronymous · February 06, 2008, 09:13:06 PM

Nice shot of dUg with the 12er. Actually, lots of nice shots in this thread! Glenn Hughes was always one of my favorites. And of course, Geddy Lee, Jack Bruce, and Paul McCartney.

Rhythm N. Bliss · February 07, 2008, 01:08:13 AM

Quote from: gweimer on February 06, 2008, 05:28:40 PM
If I could sing like anyone, it would be James Dewar:

Let's not forget Doug Pinnick:

Great shots of great bassist/singers!!

James Dewar RIP~ I'm gonna buy everything I can of him on cds!!!!!
Damn~ I'm sad that I missed seein' him with Trower back in the day.
Missed Felix with MOUNTAIN too, dammit!! More to get of him still....

I was really disappointed with King's X Greatest Hits tho'.
Just got it recently...I'll give it another spin tonight....

Rhythm N. Bliss · February 07, 2008, 05:24:39 AM

Quote from: hieronymous on February 06, 2008, 09:13:06 PM
Nice shot of dUg with the 12er. Actually, lots of nice shots in this thread! Glenn Hughes was always one of my favorites. And of course, Geddy Lee, Jack Bruce, and Paul McCartney.

Glenn Hughes was TERRIFIC at the Whisky last June with Chad Smith on drums!!
Soul Mover is a great song~ I might have to buy that cd.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=sXz6ASogp7w

He still looks pretty good...mighty glad I saw him!
He looked a lot better 30 or so years ago....like most of us:

Barklessdog · February 07, 2008, 05:26:54 AM

John Wetton & Greg Lake are my favorites

gweimer · February 07, 2008, 06:07:19 AM

Get Soul Mover. It's a great CD all over. Glenn has Chad Smith and Dave Navarro working with him on that one.

Max Soren · February 07, 2008, 10:12:11 AM

What a great topic this is. Jack Bruce is both a great bassist and singer. In fact, he is probably my favorite bassist. I find it very strange that some people complain about his singing, though. This just makes no sense to me at all. His singing was perfect for Cream's music, that's for sure.

gweimer · February 07, 2008, 10:46:55 AM

Quote from: Barklessdog on February 07, 2008, 05:26:54 AM
John Wetton & Greg Lake are my favorites

I love John Wetton. I always felt that Lake tended to fall just slightly flat, but I listened to a 1969 show from King Crimson off of Wolfgang's Vault recently, and he was really good.

Barklessdog · February 07, 2008, 04:12:50 PM

QuoteLet's not forget Doug Pinnick:

His bass playing has huge balls. I really like Kings X, unless they start getting preachy

leftybass · February 08, 2008, 01:54:49 PM

McCartney

John Lodge

Rick Danko

Nick Lowe

Roger Waters

Max Soren · February 08, 2008, 02:47:29 PM

In my opinion, McCartney hasn't done all that much as a solo artist, but his singing as a Beatle was truly phenomenal.

gweimer · February 08, 2008, 03:02:59 PM

Quote from: Max Soren on February 08, 2008, 02:47:29 PM
In my opinion, McCartney hasn't done all that much as a solo artist, but his singing as a Beatle was truly phenomenal.

If only to dispute this, I suggest you pick up his release - Run, Devil, Run - and see how much he can still sing with the best of them. Working with David Gilmour and Ian Paice, this is a nice little collection of old rock and skiffle. His version of "All Shook Up" is just plain smoking, and there's one spot where he opens the pipes. He can still belt it out.

Max Soren · February 08, 2008, 03:32:29 PM

Well, maybe I should modify this a little by saying that I prefer the songs he composed when he was a Beatle. He has always continued to sing well, even after the break up of the Beatles. During most of my life, I was a John Lennon fan. But I have come to the conclusion that Paul McCartney's contribution to the Beatles may have been even greater. Nevertheless, the magic of the McCartney solo songs just isn't on the same level as the Beatles songs. But the same can be said for solo songs by Lennon and Harrison, as far as I'm concerned.