Thread: Music Favourite Bass Line

Good old Tom. This is sooo cool.

Originally Posted by Saitch

Good old Tom. This is sooo cool.

Speaking of Tom Waits, here he is featuring in one of Primus' classics.
Primus - Tommy The Cat - YouTube

Infectious Grooves - Punk It Up - YouTube

It's only for the music now.

Hello All,

I have just been reminded about how fluid, uncomplicated yet sophisticated the bass is on this song... Then again look at the artist singing - synonymous with smooth... Accessed 13th April 2023 from, Sade - Why can't we live Together ? - Montreux Jazz Festival ( 1984 ) - YouTube

Kind regards
Lionel

Heard this today and thought of this thread.

I've just looked at the first five pages of this thread. I may have missed something, but it appears that there hasn't been a single mention of John Entwistle yet. Gosh.

Alright, for me it's not just a "bass line" but a combination of the right tone, in a song where the bass makes it all come together, might not be the most technical or flashy playing, not everyone is Claypool, but a song where the bass is prominent, and done just right.

So here is my top five, and like Rick Beato says in the top five they are all interchangeable...

Billy Gould, Faith No More, Evidence



It's a tight, modern, compressed tone, locked in with the kick, but the most prominent sound in the song, the only thing that really moves up & down. Not overly complicated but it's just hot, one of my favourites.

Victor Damiani, CAKE, The Distance



The tone is FAT, and it's a slick groove, right in the pocket, moves around to keep the song driving along without being too wild. Probably one of the most overlooked bass tracks from the 90's.

Lenny Kravitz, It Ain't Over Till It's Over



Despite what you see in the music video, Lenny actually played all the instruments on this track; drums, guitar, piano, and the bass. And the bass, man this is such a cool groove, you can just picture him smiling as he played it, just nailed it.

Tony Levin, Peter Gabriel, Sledgehammer



I don't know if there's anything I can say about this that hasn't already been said. For me this is one of the iconic bass performances of all time.

Nick Seymour, Crowded House, Don't Dream It's Over



What gets me about this one is the space he leaves; like play nothing on this beat, empty, it'd be so tempting to fill the gaps but he leaves them. The tone with a pick is also kinda jarring, but somehow suits it perfectly. And again the bass very prominent, in your face which is also kind of jarring with the pick tone and empty spaces. This is a classy performance for me.

Honorable mention!

Joe Chemay, Shania Twain, You've Got a Way (international)



Well think it's Joe Chemay. The fretless bass on this track was kind of lost in the mainstream mix releases, but somehow back in the day 97 or 98 I think, I had the "international" release of this CD and the bass on this track, was just, wow.
This international version of the song is very different, less over-reaching production, a bit simpler than the version you'd normally hear on the radio. But this fretless playing is just slick, nailed it.

Don't forget to like and subscribe, and put your top five down in the comments LOL