At The Station

I dunno.  Listening to White Room by Cream, I just think that Jack Bruce was the most underrated singer in rock.

Bottom's Up

Gibson has this 10 Greatest Bass Riffs of the Rock Era list.

Just a little disturbed about the "rock era" bit. Anyway, here's the list:

Beatles, Come Together
Pink Floyd, Money
Primus, Tommy The Cat
The Who, The Real Me
Queen, Under Pressure
Led Zeppelin, Lemon Song
RCHP, Give It Away
Lou Reed, Walk On The Wild Side
Sly & etc., Thank You
Cream, Sunshine of Your Love

Well, grateful Under Pressure made it with that classic two note hook. Doubly grateful that Fleetwood Mac's Dreams didn't make it with that two note mind-numbing ... well, not my favourite Fleetwood Mac v02 song.

The usual suspects appear on the list. McCartney, Flea, Bruce, Waters and Entwistle all deserve to be there, and the songs chosen fit the constraints of the list title.

Except for The Lemon Song. The Gibson writer doesn't mention the main riff of the song, which I bet was written by Page and not Jones. But he gushes over Jone's bluesy semi-soloing. Fine, but now we're not exactly talking about riffs, are we?

Wouldn't Dazed and Confused have been a better choice? The bass riff is the song's signature, and the song was Zep's signature live piece. And who cares if Page or Jones wrote it. That bass hook rivals, Sunshine of Your Love and Come Together any day.

Anyway, fun list. It shows that the bass may be part of the rhythm section, but it can still carry a tune - and define the song.

Speaking of which, and where is War's Low Rider?

Bottom Dwelling Singers

Actually, it’s the 10 Greatest-Ever Singing Bass Players, according to Gibson. And the list is:
1. Paul McCartney
2. Jack Bruce
3. Geddy Lee
4. Roger Waters
5. Lemmy Kilmister
6. Sting
7. Benjamin Orr
8. Troy Sanders
9. Kim Gordon
10. Phil Linott

Not many surprises here, unless you think Sting should be higher or Rick Danko should be on the list.

Some weird online commentary on the list, though. Seems some folks think John Entwistle and Noel Redding should be included, but really, who remembers that they sang at all?

Overall, I'd have to say Gibson got the list right. McCartney and Bruce were/are two of the best singers in rock history, and both are amazing bass players. To play what they could play and sing at the same time is simply astonishing.

From Geddy Lee down, though, it's really a question of taste. Successful, competent bass players who had roles as singers, though not all are universally admired for their singing. I knew more than a few people who don't listen to Rush because of Geddy's voice, for example. Then again, I know many who think he's awesome. Taste.

No strong opinions about whether Phil Linott from Thin Lizzy belongs on the list, but I will say this: the hairdo doesn't age very well.

Bottom's Up

Well, it turns out there's another list, the Gibson Top 10 Bassists Of All Time. I like this one better. Here it is:

1) Paul McCartney. Yes. That's more like it.
2) James Jamerson. Someone was listening.
3) John Entwistle. A better placement.
4) Cliff Burton.
5) Geddy Lee. About the same as the Rolling Stone list.
6) Jaco Pastorius. Ditto. Guess I better go find out about this guy.
7) Les Claypool. Double ditto.
8) Flea. Hmmm. Rolling Stone had him better placed near the top.
9) Chris Squire. Not a big Yes fan, but he probably belongs on the list.
10) John Paul Jones. Well, 10 is better than 6.

Only major quarrel is no Jack Bruce. But overall, a much better list, at least from the standpoint of this Gibson ES-335 player.

Top Bottoms

Got your attention?

Actually it's another list: the Rolling Stone Top 10 Bassists Of All Time.

Here's the list:
1) John Enwistle. Not surprising. Not a bad choice.
2) Flea. Cool.
3) Paul McCartney. #1, people. #1. Fancy bass work, while singing, while winking at the girls.
4) Geddy Lee. I've always been lukewarm towards Rush, but they all deserve respect for sure.
5) Les Claypool. Couldn't say.
6) John Paul Jones. Really, I think any bass player would have done. Don't you?
7) Jaco Pastorius. Couldn't say.
8) Jack Bruce. #2. Soloing while singing, & etc.. I know: I've said it before.
9) Cliff Burton. Couldn't say. Guess I don't know my bassmen.
10) Victor Wooten. Really, I don't seem to know them!

Except to say ... where is James Jamerson? Where is Bob Babbitt? Where is Donald Duck Dunn? Motown and Memphis built their sounds on these guys, and everyone borrowed from those. These are shocking omissions.

Someone should get to the bottom of this.