Plead Your Case

[Blayze]

[size=1]Bassists are, in my opinion, a much over-looked quantity in music. They are often forgotten, but are always there, providing a thumping rhythm line in combination with the drummer.

Overlooked for merely having four strings instead of six is unfortunate, and I am here to put right this degredation. Being a bassist myself, I understand how frustrating it is for a key member of the band to be overlooked and forgotten, so this thread is for bassists everywhere.

Some of the greatest musicians of all time have, in my opinion, been bassists. From Jack Bruce of [i]Cream, [/i]the lead singer and master blues bassist, to the greatest bass player of all time, Jaco Pastorius of [i]Weather Report, [/i]there have been countless great bassists.

However, there are some who are well-known to all, and for these few I am grateful. Flea of the [i]Red Hot Chili Peppers, [/i]John Entwistle of [i]The Who.[/i] These two are among the lucky few who stand out as well as their respective guitarists.

Then there are those solo bassists, of whom many people think they are pretentious, arrogant musicians, but it is my belief that anyone should be allowed to solo, whether it is the singer, guitarist, drummer or, in fact, the bassist. Billy Sheehan, Stu Hamm and John Paul Jones, we salute you.

So remember, next time you are listening, or watching a band, do not forget the bassist in a haze of guitar-loving passion. Think of these misunderstood musicians who have put their lives into their work, only to be lost in the sands of time...

---

Now it is your turn. I have pleaded my case for bassists to be brought further into the limelight, now you plead your case. Whether you play guitar, drums, trumpet, saxophone, mandolin, banjo, french horn or keyboard, I want you to tell us why your people should be remembered.

And it doesn't even have to be about a single instrument. You could be pleading your case for why more people should listen to country and western, jazz, folk or funk. I just want to hear the voice of the people.

Also, you can reply to this thread simply to give your thoughts on someone else's plea. You can agree, disagree, or simply argue a point. This thread is to hear the voice of musicians.

Enjoy.
[/size]

[2010DigitalBoy]

I think bassists get plenty of attention if they're actually good. For example, Flea, from Red Hot Chili Peppers. He is a highly renowned bassist and deserving cuz he does a lot of RHCPs music. Take a look at Primus, Geddy Lee (Rush), Mike Durnt (Green Day), all famous bassist because they do a lot of the music.

In most bands, while the bass and the drum provide the foundation of the music, the guitar is what people are really paying attention to. Bassists are only really noticed when they overshadow the guitar.

Drummers I think are ignored even more. Other than Neil Pert (Rush), drummers aren't really noticed as being great. I mean... we've got Guitarist magazine and Bass magazine, but there is no drummer magazine...

[Guest Heero yuy]

[QUOTE=Blayze][size=1]Bassists are, in my opinion, a much over-looked quantity in music. They are often forgotten, but are always there, providing a thumping rhythm line in combination with the drummer.

Overlooked for merely having four strings instead of six is unfortunate, and I am here to put right this degredation. Being a bassist myself, I understand how frustrating it is for a key member of the band to be overlooked and forgotten, so this thread is for bassists everywhere.

Some of the greatest musicians of all time have, in my opinion, been bassists. From Jack Bruce of [i]Cream, [/i]the lead singer and master blues bassist, to the greatest bass player of all time, Jaco Pastorius of [i]Weather Report, [/i]there have been countless great bassists.

However, there are some who are well-known to all, and for these few I am grateful. Flea of the [i]Red Hot Chili Peppers, [/i]John Entwistle of [i]The Who.[/i] These two are among the lucky few who stand out as well as their respective guitarists.

Then there are those solo bassists, of whom many people think they are pretentious, arrogant musicians, but it is my belief that anyone should be allowed to solo, whether it is the singer, guitarist, drummer or, in fact, the bassist. Billy Sheehan, Stu Hamm and John Paul Jones, we salute you.

So remember, next time you are listening, or watching a band, do not forget the bassist in a haze of guitar-loving passion. Think of these misunderstood musicians who have put their lives into their work, only to be lost in the sands of time...

---

Now it is your turn. I have pleaded my case for bassists to be brought further into the limelight, now you plead your case. Whether you play guitar, drums, trumpet, saxophone, mandolin, banjo, french horn or keyboard, I want you to tell us why your people should be remembered.

And it doesn't even have to be about a single instrument. You could be pleading your case for why more people should listen to country and western, jazz, folk or funk. I just want to hear the voice of the people.

Also, you can reply to this thread simply to give your thoughts on someone else's plea. You can agree, disagree, or simply argue a point. This thread is to hear the voice of musicians.

Enjoy.
[/size][/QUOTE]

I agree, I've been playing bass for 4 years now. And most of the bands I played in has overlooked the background of the bass sound to something less than exceptional. Specially in the genre (screamo, emo, metalcore, and hardcore) of music I'm into, and play...people are just satisfied with root notes over and over again. I don't understand, why people can't understand the "grooves" the bass can give and bring the "background" to the foreground. Overall, it makes the music more active and less sterhile and repeative. Don't forget Geddy Lee of Rush, great bassist and singer.

This is off topic, sorry, but I'm looking into a new bass...and had my eye on a fender deluxe active jazz bass from mexico. What do you think of the fender line? I ask this, cause it seems you're very into music and let alone, bass.

[Albert Flasher]

[COLOR=Sienna]I'd like to pleade my case for the band RUSH :D

As some of you probably know, RUSH is far and away my favourite band. I like them for many reasons. Not least amongst those reasons, they are incredible talented. They also work very well as a unit. There aren't many bands out there, IMO, who can match the sheer talent of RUSH.

Geddy Lee, one of the best bass players of all time and a love-him-or-hate-him singer, Alex Lifeson, very underrated and skilled guitarist who produced one of the best guitar solos ever on La Villa Strangiato, and the Professor himself, Neil Peart, the greatest drummer to ever live, each member of the band was sheer talent.

However, despite all this talent, they never quite made the jump to 'mainstream' and stayed, essentially, a cult band pretty much everywhere, except for Canada and, interestingly, Brazil.

I believe there are several reasons for this. For one, many of their songs were very, very long, often exceeding 9 minutes - few radios were willing to play songs that long on a regular basis. Another thing is that they were Canadian. During the time of their height, Canadian bands were almost never played on American radios, because they were, well, from Canada. It's a shame but it's also true. The only exceptions I can think of are Bryan Adams (And that's only because he was essentially a Brit) and Neil Young (All his songs were about friggin Alabama). I think the final nail in the coffin is that they were what I like to call Nerd Rock (Also known as Math Rock or Sci-fi Rock) and, rather than sing about drugs and women and money, they sang about black holes and trees and how parts of your brain work and things like that.

So really, all I'm trying to say is... try and listen to RUSH. Please. They never got credit for what they did and I find that a shame. [/COLOR]