It’s not really reasonable to put an upright player against an electric player.

I don’t see why not.

Cause they’re two really different instruments.

I’m mostly just annoyed cause I have to pick between Larry Graham and Charles Mingus, or James Jamerson and William Parker

Yeah, those choices are killing me too. Also McVie vs. Bootsy. But play along!

c’mon dude, no chris squire, wtf?????

CTRL-F “WATT”

“PHRASE NOT FOUND”

SHIT SHIT SHIT

I meant to include Watt!

HOLD YOUR VOTES A MINUTE—

Chris Squire is a shocking omission!

(as is Alex James) :P

Okay, matchup #7 is now John Paul Jones vs. Mike Watt.

Sorry Pete, 2 good records and an overdose do not make a hall of famer!

REVISED:

Ron Carter vs. Bill Laswell

Bruce Thomas vs. Charlie Haden

Roy Estrada vs. Lemmy

James Jamerson vs. William Parker

Flea vs. Donald “Duck” Dunn

Tony Levin vs. Barry Guy

John Paul Jones vs. Mike Watt

Jack Casady vs. Peter Hook

Greg Cohen vs. Geddy Lee

Les Claypool vs. Holger Czukay

Larry Graham vs. Charles Mingus

John Entwistle vs. Jaco Pastorius

John McVie vs. Bootsy Collins

Norwood Fisher vs. Rockette Morton

Dave Holland vs. Willie Dixon

Paul McCartney vs. Robbie Shakespeare

Alex James and Chris Squire can fight it out to see who gets to kiss my ass!

In walks Jannik Top. Surveys the scene. Shakes some hands, and leaves.

i’m gonna have my own, with james, squire, colin moulding and mani fighting it out for the unofficial crown. :-D

i dont know about the deathmatch, but i vote for alex james to kiss i am curious’s ass.

Carter

Haden

Lemmy

Jamerson

Dunn

Levin

Watt

Hook

Cohen

Czukay

FUCK! NO FAIR. Mingus.

Entwistle

Bootsy

Morton

Holland

Robbie

Carter

Haden

Estrada

Jamerson

Dunn

Levin

Watt

Casady

Cohen

Czukay

Mingus

Entwistle

McVie

Morton

Holland

McCartney (this actually turned out to be the hardest choice for me)

that guy in Can’s pretty good. i guess this means goodbye les claypool, whoever you are.

omg he’s the one from PRIMUS! one of those bands i’ve always promised i’d listen to but never really got round to it...

No Cliff Burton, no credibilty.

you also have the wrong Dunn, Trevor of that name being an underrated maestro

Ron Carter

Charlie Haden

Roy Estrada

James Jamerson

Donald “Duck” Dunn

Tony Levin

John Paul Jones

Jack Casady

Geddy Lee

Les Claypool

Charles Mingus

John Entwistle

Bootsy Collins

Norwood Fisher

Willie Dixon

Paul McCartney

AND WHERE IS BRIAN GIBSON? You may knock his music, but he plays bass like no other...

Your favorite might not be in this list, but that’s tough because I beat you to making this thread.

Your favorite might not be in this list, but that’s tough because I beat you to making this thread.

Your favorite might not be in this list, but that’s tough because I beat you to making this thread.

Your favorite might not be in this list, but that’s tough because I beat you to making this thread.

Your favorite might not be in this list, but that’s tough because I beat you to making this thread.

Your favorite might not be in this list, but that’s tough because I beat you to making this thread.

Flea vs. Donald “Duck” Dunn

hahahahahahaha!

Your favorite might not be in this list, but that’s tough because I beat you to making this thread.

ooooh! :P

alex james

chris squire

mani

colin moulding

colin greenwood

jeff caxide

justin chancellor

steve queralt

ben shepherd

trevor dunn

brian gibson

juan alderete

= jagger’s alternative line-up!

into 4 groups then, the 2 winners progressing to the quarter-finals. groups chosen alphabetically by surname

GROUP A

juan alderete

jeff caxide

justin chancellor

GROUP B

trevor dunn

brian gibson

colin greenwood

GROUP C

alex james

mani

colin moulding

GROUP D

steve queralt

ben shepherd

chris squire

Group A: well, this was close. but, in the event, Chancellor and Caxide used their former Isis allegiance to gang up upon poor Mars Volta newbie Alderete, who quickly succumbed, himself only having appeared, however brilliantly, on one album. Turning upon each other, the surviving alt-metal bassmen ground each other into the turf with long-winded, near-ambient compositions, until Caxide reminded Chancellor that not only did he play in a band called ‘Tool’ but that he could never gain the spotlight with attention-hounds MJK and Danny Carey in that self-same band with him. Chancellor promptly gave up, sobbing.

Winner: Jeff Caxide

Runner-up: Justin Chancellor

Group B: Greenwood immediately kicked for being the least talented member of his band except Ed O’Brien who nobody knows how talented he is because we don’t know who’s playing that particular riff. Greenwood protests, citing ‘Climbing Up The Walls’ and ‘Exit Music’ as claims to his own genius. Brian Gibson then blasts out one of Lighting Bolt’s more exacting numbers and Greenwood flees, closely followed by Dunn, who doesn’t even get this sort of shit from Mike Patton.

Winner: Brian Gibson

Runner-up: Trevor Dunn

Group C: Well, if it isn’t a jolly old game of British Bass Bulldog, with the three Limey tykes playing classic 80’s and 90’s pop-rock in a celebration of all things traditional and, well, jolly. Mani graciously declares his innings closed when it is pointed out how much of a failure all his bands are, and so the rubber is down to a jolly old tiff between James and Moulding, who sip tea and glower at one another over the Daily Express. All of a sudden, picks are drawn at ten paces, the two circle...and according to the Queensbury rules James immediately lands a foul blow when he boasts of his playing on ‘Song 2’. Sorry, Alex, but you can do a bit better than that. Moulding has no such crudeness to resort to, ergo the XTC man wins on points. Huzzah!

Winner: Colin Moulding

Runner-up: Alex James

Group D: Chris Squire looks at the other two and bursts out laughing. Fighting to remain in the tournament, Queralt and Shepherd square off, the supposed ‘weak links’. It’s all much of a muchness (and not exactly pretty to watch) until Shepherd reveals that he wrote ‘Head Down’, Soundgarden’s best song (in the opinion of the not-at-all biased arbiter). Goodbye Steve, but you weren’t exactly the reason Ride ever became big, were you?

Winner: Chris Squire

Runner-up: Ben Shepherd

QUARTER-FINALS

Group A winner vs. Group D r-up, and vice versa

Group B winner vs. Group C r-up, and vice versa

Jeff Caxide vs. Ben Shepherd: A short, sharp duel here. Shepherd makes a strong, punishing start but quickly Caxide’s versatility gains the upper hand and the grunger is sent tumbling back to 1994 where he belongs.

Winner: Caxide

Chris Squire vs. Justin Chancellor: HAHAHAHAHAHA

Winner: Squire

Brian Gibson vs. Alex James: Cool and calculating versus demonic, berserked and generally off his rocker. Gibson’s insane blasts of rocket-fuel riffage are withering, but James holds firm, absorbs the blows, and then chooses from his repertoire ‘Essex Dogs’, which I’m sure you’ll agree is somewhat of an improvement on ‘Song 2’. Gibson meanwhile is going so fast that he accidentally implodes.

Winner: Alex James

Colin Moulding vs. Trevor Dunn: Get off it, grandad. Andy was always the talented one. And Patton wasn’t (well, not as much as this dude, or Trey Spruance, but that’s a different story). ‘Drums And Wires’ = superb, ‘Disco Volante’ = WAHT, ‘Suspended Animation’ = WAAAAHT, WAHT = better than superb. Simple as.

Winner: Trevor Dunn

SEMI-FINALS

Winner 1 vs. Winner 4, Winner 2 vs. Winner 3

Jeff Caxide vs Trevor Dunn: After all that, I don’t really care much for either of these two bassists. Ah well, there’s always one shit semi-final. Caxide wins for that stretch of music on the new Isis album, 2:14–4:16 of ‘Over Root And Thorn’. Dude hasn’t got Dunn’s technical ability, but he has got some ear for a memorable turn of phrase.

Winner: Jeff Caxide

Chris Squire vs. Alex James: James tries, he really tries, he gives them ’1992’, he gives them ‘Chemical World’, he even gives them ‘Far Out’, which in retrospect might have been a mistake. Squire gazes insouciantly on, puts his veggie burger down, and proceeds to bang out the closing half-minute of ‘Sound Chaser’. Alex James runs off screaming. This, ladies and gents, was the good semi-final. Tch.

Winner: Chris Squire

FINAL

Jeff Caxide vs. Chris Squire: Jeff who?

Winner: Chris Squire.

There you have it, conclusive proof that Chris Squire’s omission from your list is a scandal, a crime, and a slur, because he’s clearly the most important bassist in the history of music. Word!

Ron Carter

Charlie Haden

Roy Estrada

James Jamerson

Donald “Duck” Dunn

Tony Levin

Mike Watt

Peter Hook

Greg Cohen

Les Claypool

Larry Graham

Jaco Pastorius

Bootsy Collins

Rockette Morton

Willie Dixon

Paul McCartney

These are all impossible! So I’m purposefully going with a lot of dark horses because I know winners are gonna be chosen due to folks afraid of being Mr. Corny Finger-Poppin’ Fuxxor.

I’ll vote for Jaco over Entwhistle just like I’d vote for Aesop Rock over Paul Wall! So bring it!

Carter

Haden

Lemmy

Jamerson

Dunn

Levin

Jones

Hook

Cohen

Czukay

Mingus

Entwistle

Collins

Fisher

Dixon

Shakespeare

In a few of these I voted for the only name I knew. Because ignorance is power, or something. Fortunately, in most of those cases I ended up voting for someone I really like anyway.

Oh wait, I see the revision now. Jones vs. Watt = Watt. Sorry.

so is victor wooten too good to be on the list? is his supremecy not being questioned here?

Ron Carter in a walk

Charlie Haden

Lemmy

James Jamerson (I think William Parker would agree)

Duck (so far from close that it fails to be funny)

Guy

Watt

Casady (these last two were the hardest ones)

Cohen

Czukay (anyone who says otherwise is probably also hypnotized by shiny objects)

Graham (but only when you concentrate on the bass playing alone, and even then it’s close)

Entwistle (an opinion that will get you killed among most bass geeks, despite its obvious truth)

Collins

Rockette Morton

Holland

Shakespeare (even though McCartney co-invented reggae bass with Dunn and Jamerson)

I believe in the supremacy of Victor Wooten like I believe that the Easter Bunny’s going to bring me Alexandra Maria Lara for Christmas.

Ron Carter

Charlie Haden

Lemmy

James Jamerson

Donald “Duck” Dunn

Tony Levin

John Paul Jones

Peter Hook

Geddy Lee

Holger Czukay

Charles Mingus

John Entwistle

Bootsy Collins

Rockette Morton

Dave Holland

Paul McCartney

My apology to funkmeisters Watt, Graham, Fisher

This is why we need polls on nu-ILM.

MARTIN HANNETT

TRY JOHN COOPER CLARKE’S “SLEEPWALK” IF YOU DON’T BELIEVE IT!

No Wobble?

bassLINE deathmatch!

“If You Want Me to Stay” to win.

I THINK YOU GUYS ARE SERIOUSLY UNDERESTIMATING THE ARTISTRY OF FLEA!!

Carter

Haden

Estrada

Jamerson

Dunn

Levin

Watt

Casady

Cohen

Claypool

Mingus

Pastorius

Collins

Fisher

Holland

Shakespeare

Anyone who picks Entwistle over Wacko Jaco makes me cry :*(

alex james
chris squire
mani
colin moulding
colin greenwood
jeff caxide
justin chancellor
steve queralt
ben shepherd
trevor dunn
brian gibson
juan alderete

= jagger’s alternative line-up!

into 4 groups then, the 2 winners progressing to the quarter-finals. groups chosen alphabetically by surname

GROUP A
juan alderete
jeff caxide
justin chancellor

GROUP B
trevor dunn
brian gibson
colin greenwood

GROUP C
alex james
mani
colin moulding

GROUP D
steve queralt
ben shepherd
chris squire

Group A: well, this was close. but, in the event, Chancellor and Caxide used their former Isis allegiance to gang up upon poor Mars Volta newbie Alderete, who quickly succumbed, himself only having appeared, however brilliantly, on one album. Turning upon each other, the surviving alt-metal bassmen ground each other into the turf with long-winded, near-ambient compositions, until Caxide reminded Chancellor that not only did he play in a band called ‘Tool’ but that he could never gain the spotlight with attention-hounds MJK and Danny Carey in that self-same band with him. Chancellor promptly gave up, sobbing.

Winner: Jeff Caxide

Runner-up: Justin Chancellor

Group B: Greenwood immediately kicked for being the least talented member of his band except Ed O’Brien who nobody knows how talented he is because we don’t know who’s playing that particular riff. Greenwood protests, citing ‘Climbing Up The Walls’ and ‘Exit Music’ as claims to his own genius. Brian Gibson then blasts out one of Lighting Bolt’s more exacting numbers and Greenwood flees, closely followed by Dunn, who doesn’t even get this sort of shit from Mike Patton.

Winner: Brian Gibson

Runner-up: Trevor Dunn

Group C: Well, if it isn’t a jolly old game of British Bass Bulldog, with the three Limey tykes playing classic 80’s and 90’s pop-rock in a celebration of all things traditional and, well, jolly. Mani graciously declares his innings closed when it is pointed out how much of a failure all his bands are, and so the rubber is down to a jolly old tiff between James and Moulding, who sip tea and glower at one another over the Daily Express. All of a sudden, picks are drawn at ten paces, the two circle...and according to the Queensbury rules James immediately lands a foul blow when he boasts of his playing on ‘Song 2’. Sorry, Alex, but you can do a bit better than that. Moulding has no such crudeness to resort to, ergo the XTC man wins on points. Huzzah!

Winner: Colin Moulding

Runner-up: Alex James

Group D: Chris Squire looks at the other two and bursts out laughing. Fighting to remain in the tournament, Queralt and Shepherd square off, the supposed ‘weak links’. It’s all much of a muchness (and not exactly pretty to watch) until Shepherd reveals that he wrote ‘Head Down’, Soundgarden’s best song (in the opinion of the not-at-all biased arbiter). Goodbye Steve, but you weren’t exactly the reason Ride ever became big, were you?

Winner: Chris Squire

Runner-up: Ben Shepherd

QUARTER-FINALS

Group A winner vs. Group D r-up, and vice versa
Group B winner vs. Group C r-up, and vice versa

Jeff Caxide vs. Ben Shepherd: A short, sharp duel here. Shepherd makes a strong, punishing start but quickly Caxide’s versatility gains the upper hand and the grunger is sent tumbling back to 1994 where he belongs.

Winner: Caxide

Chris Squire vs. Justin Chancellor: HAHAHAHAHAHA

Winner: Squire

Brian Gibson vs. Alex James: Cool and calculating versus demonic, berserked and generally off his rocker. Gibson’s insane blasts of rocket-fuel riffage are withering, but James holds firm, absorbs the blows, and then chooses from his repertoire ‘Essex Dogs’, which I’m sure you’ll agree is somewhat of an improvement on ‘Song 2’. Gibson meanwhile is going so fast that he accidentally implodes.

Winner: Alex James

Colin Moulding vs. Trevor Dunn: Get off it, grandad. Andy was always the talented one. And Patton wasn’t (well, not as much as this dude, or Trey Spruance, but that’s a different story). ‘Drums And Wires’ = superb, ‘Disco Volante’ = WAHT, ‘Suspended Animation’ = WAAAAHT, WAHT = better than superb. Simple as.

Winner: Trevor Dunn

SEMI-FINALS

Winner 1 vs. Winner 4, Winner 2 vs. Winner 3

Jeff Caxide vs Trevor Dunn: After all that, I don’t really care much for either of these two bassists. Ah well, there’s always one shit semi-final. Caxide wins for that stretch of music on the new Isis album, 2:14–4:16 of ‘Over Root And Thorn’. Dude hasn’t got Dunn’s technical ability, but he has got some ear for a memorable turn of phrase.

Winner: Jeff Caxide

Chris Squire vs. Alex James: James tries, he really tries, he gives them ’1992’, he gives them ‘Chemical World’, he even gives them ‘Far Out’, which in retrospect might have been a mistake. Squire gazes insouciantly on, puts his veggie burger down, and proceeds to bang out the closing half-minute of ‘Sound Chaser’. Alex James runs off screaming. This, ladies and gents, was the good semi-final. Tch.

Winner: Chris Squire

FINAL

Jeff Caxide vs. Chris Squire: Jeff who?

Winner: Chris Squire.

There you have it, conclusive proof that Chris Squire’s omission from your list is a scandal, a crime, and a slur, because he’s clearly the most important bassist in the history of music. Word!

Louis, you acted all that out with action figures, didn’t you? You can tell me.

I kind of regret forgetting about Wobble.

xpost: possibly :-/

Who the fuck is Alex James?

the one going WEEOO-WEEOO as Coxon goes RAAAWR and Albarn is busy WOOHOO-ing.

Hmm, cunt from Blur.

The bass on “Heart of the sunrise” alone guarantees Squire’s immortality for me.

Carter

Haden

Estrada

Jamerson

Dunn

Levin

Jones

Casady

Cohen

Czukay

Mingus

Pastorius

Collins

Morton

Dixon

Shakespeare

I had to look Greg Cohen up! All the others were pretty easy, although I’m bummed about Watt.

Watt was included! See the revised ballot about 10 posts down from the top.

As an aside, perhaps it’s just that I did a cartoon dog deathmatch so recently, but I keep reading this thread title as

ILM DEATHMATCH #1: BASSETS

Laswell

Heden

Estrada

Jamerson

Flea

Levin

Watt

Casady

Cohen

Claypool

Mingus

Pastorius

Morton

Dixon

Shakespeare

colin otm

I’m bummed about Watt

Watt was included!

No, I meant I was bummed that I had to pick JPJ in that particular deathmatch.

Carter

Haden

Lemmy

Jamerson

Flea

Levin

John Paul Jones

Casady

Cohen

Claypool

Mingus

Pastorius

Collins

Fisher

Holland

McCartney

Bump — 30 hours or so left in round 1. I’ll tally it up and post round 2 matchups around 10 p.m. tomorrow night. (US Central time)

John Justen, you didn’t vote in McVie vs. Bootsy — intentional?

Currently: five ties and three more at 6–4.

Huh. Looks like you’re right...

Bootsy.

wooten may be a cheeseball, and his brother a raving lunatic, but he’s still badass.

Charlie Haden

Lemmy

John Paul Jones

Peter Hook

Geddy Lee

Holger Czukay

Charles Mingus

Jaco Pastorius

Bootsy Collins

Paul McCartney

Omitting the ones I basically am ignorant about.

not one of you picked larry G over mingus? Sure, Mingus is one of the great composers in music history—but we’re talking instrumentalists here — and Larry graham is the prototype for funk bassists.

Les Claypool vs. Holger Czukay

I want this to be a BAND. With Stewart Copeland playing drums.

Ron Carter

Charlie Haden

Lemmy

James Jamerson

Flea

Tony Levin

John Paul Jones

Peter Hook

Greg Cohen

Les Claypool

Larry Graham

John Entwistle

Bootsy Collins

Norwood Fisher

Willie Dixon

Robbie Shakespeare

i am really shocked by the omission of Nile Rodgers.

strike that, i meant bernard edwards

Dude, Mingus’ solos bring the motherfuckin’ pain!

I love Graham Central Station but “Haitian Fight Song”? Chills.

i am really shocked by the omission of Nile Rodgers.

— the table is the table (meltingglacier...) (webmail), December 18th, 2006 7:07 PM. (trees) (later) (link)

strike that, i meant bernard edwards

— the table is the table (meltingglacier...) (webmail), December 18th, 2006 7:08 PM. (trees) (later) (link)

See, I thought “I should include that Chic guy,” and then I thought “if I can’t even remember dude’s name, fuck ‘im.“ Thanks for the confirmation.

If this was a for real people dying DEATHMATCH Mingus would’ve beat all the other fools by himself, one-handed.

While telling a story about how bad he kicked all their asses.

OTMFM

And smoking a cigar with the other hand. (xpost!)

With multiple Mexican hookers!

Ties go to the first one to reach their total, by the way.

Ron Carter

Bruce Thomas

Lemmy

James Jamerson

Donald “Duck” Dunn

Tony Levin

Mike Watt

Jack Casady

Greg Cohen

Holger Czukay

Charles Mingus

Jaco Pastorius

Bootsy Collins

Rockette Morton

Willie Dixon

Robbie Shakespeare

I hated eliminating Peter Hook and Larry Graham. I predict that there will be a crime and Rockette Morton will lose this thread.

Yow, your ballot broke two ties the opposite way that they were going to go if nobody else had voted.

ONE MORE HOUR AND I’LL ANNOUNCE ROUND TWO.

my bassfight was better, sigh

;-)

Ron Carter def. Bill Laswell 11–1

Charlie Haden annihilates Bruce Thomas 13–0

Lemmy in a squeaker over Roy Estrada, 7–6

James Jamerson crushes Wm. Parker 12–0

“Duck” Dunn def. Flea 9–3

Tony Levin def. Barry Guy 12–0

John Paul Jones in squeaker over Mike Watt 7–6 SHOCKA

Jack Casady def. Peter Hook 7–6

Greg Cohen def. Geddy Lee 9–3

Holger Czukay def. Les Claypool 7–6

Charles Mingus and his psychotherapist def. Larry Graham 11–2

Jaco Pastorius def. John Entwistle 7–6

THE NAME IS BOOTSY, BABY! def. John McVie 12–1

Rockette Morton def. Norwood Fisher 7–5

Willie Dixon def. Dave Holland 7–5

Robbie Shakespeare def. Paul McCartney 7–6

ROUND TWO:

Ron Carter vs. Charlie Haden

Lemmy vs. James Jamerson

Donald “Duck” Dunn vs. Tony Levin

John Paul Jones vs. Jack Casady

Greg Cohen vs. Holger Czukay

Charles Mingus vs. Jaco Pastorius

Bootsy Collins vs. Rockette Morton

Willie Dixon vs. Robbie Shakespeare

VOTE NOW

PS, now that we’re in the middle of the workweek, one day per round from here on.

Haden

Jamerson

Dunn

Casady

Czukay

Mingus

Collins

Shakespeare

Ron Carter

James Jamerson

Donald “Duck” Dunn

John Paul Jones [FUCK that was hard]

Holger Czukay

MingusMingusMingus baby

Bootsy Collins

Robbie Shakespeare

Carter

Jamerson

Dunn

Jones

Cohen

Mingus

Collins

Shakespeare

Haden

Jamerson

Levin

Casady

Cohen

Mingus

Bootsy

Shakespeare

Cohen/Czukay was the killer for me. Cohen wins because I’ve seen him live with Masada a few times and he was the roaring power of the band one night, just amazing.

Haden

Jamerson

Dunn

Jones

Czukay

Mingus

Bootsy

Shakespeare

ROUND TWO:

Ron Carter

Lemmy

Donald “Duck” Dunn

John Paul Jones vs. Jack Casady AARGH..... Jones

Holger Czukay

Jaco Pastorius (that was hard, too)

Rockette Morton (so was that)

Robbie Shakespeare (that sure wasn’t)

fuck that, I’m changing my Jones vote to Casady. Most of my favorite JPJ moments involve keyboards.

Ron Carter

James Jamerson (sorry Lemmy)

“Duck” Dunn

John Paul Jones

Holger Czukay

Charlie Mingus

Bootsy Collins (sorry RM)

Willie Dixon

Don’t think I’ve ever really heard of anybody rating Willie Dixon’s instrumental abilities. But he gets the nod because I don’t know if I’ve ever even heard Robbie Shakespeare. (So I don’t like reggae, big frickin deal...)

On a semi-related note, who played bass for Al Green in the 70s?

Another funklord mia: Michael Henderson.

Verdine White!

On a semi-related note, who played bass for Al Green in the 70s?

Leroy Hodges.

Another funklord mia: Michael Henderson.

:-((( Definitely not a perfect ballot, but I had hit 32 names and didn’t want to pad it out to 64.

Yeah, I understand. I think maybe a triple crown of funk rock and jazz bassists would work, but it’s not like we’re deciding the fate of teh world here.

Stevie Wonder’s left hand!

Bernie Worrell’s left hand!

Ray Manzarek’s left hand!

If I’d included keyboard bassists, Hurting really would have popped a clog.

haden

lemmy

levin

casady

cohen

mingus

morton

dixon

Michael Henderson played for Al Green! Wow. He just about made Miles’ 70s sound.

Anyway...

Ron Carter

James Jamerson

Tony Levin

John Paul Jones

Greg Cohen

Charles Mingus

Bootsy Collins

Robbie Shakespeare

Haden — this is the ultimate battle of heart v. chops; heart wins this time.

Jamerson

Dunn

Casady (by millimeters)

Cohen

Mingus (but the folks eliminated in the first round had more right to be here)

Collins

Shakespeare (Willie Dixon was a great songwriter; that’s more than enough)

nklshs—

So far as I know, Henderson never played with Rev. Al. I was just naming other bass faves, and didn’t know who was holding down the low end in Green’s band. I trust crump knows his stuff on this topic.

Well, I did know it was some kinfolk of Teenie Hodges, but I had to google to get Leroy’s first name.

Carter

Jamerson

Dunn

Jones

Czukay

Mingus

Bootsy

Shakespeare

Actually I appreciate JPJ as a keyboardist more (“No Quarter”!) due to the fact that Zeppelin’s rhythm section was pretty much the Bonzo Show but “What Is and What Should Never Be” and “Dazed and Confused” are not bad songs to triumph over Watt with.

Haha, just bought a sealed LP copy of the Four Tops’ Nature Planned It and the credits on the back list everybody as normal, except for Jamerson, who is credited as “Bass (Personified)”.

Carter

Dunn

Mingus

Shakespeare

i can’t fucking believe jaco made it that far!!! yuck-o.

weather report uggggg

dude almost ruins hejira for me!

Jamerson

Dunn

Mingus

Bootsy

Carter

Jones

Mingus

Shakespeare

What Nate said.

also, i’m on the squire was robbed tip..

and jaco makes the list and not mike watt?? holy corndogs! esp. since fuckin’ guitar mag wank les claypool made the list?

i woulda put rick danko on the initial list too but that’s just me.

Ron Carter

John Paul Jones

Charles Mingus

Bootsy Collins

and jaco makes the list and not mike watt??

Mike Watt made the second draft but lost to John Paul “better with a Mellotron” Jones.

Carter

Jones

Czukay

Collins

I am psyched that Holger is still in the running.

Ron Carter

John Paul Jones

Charles Mingus

Bootsy Collins

damn my man from Germany is gonna get creamed. Perhaps rightfully so.

Jamerson

Dunn

Mingus

Bootsy

Jamerson

Jones

Mingus

Collins

Jamerson

Dunn

Mingus

Shakespeare

Jamerson

Jones

Mingus

Shakespeare

Actually I appreciate JPJ as a keyboardist more (“No Quarter”!) “Trampled Under Foot”

NB I actually do find JPJ a phenomenal bassist, one of my absolute favs. But fucking ay, “Trampled Under Foot”, that clavi!

Jamerson (Are all you Carter people actually listening to him, or just giving him props for the records he’s on?)

Dunn

Mingus

Bootsy

As many of the bassists I cared about get eliminated, this gets easier.

Haden eliminated :*( Listen to his solo on Els Segadors you animals!

COULD SOMEONE EXPLAIN WHY MR. PLINKETY PLUNK PLONK BLINKETY BLONK BLUMP BLUMP BLOOOWMP LES CLAYPOOL EVER MADE THE LIST???? PLEASE? I MEAN SHIT IF YR GONNA PUT ON SHITTY GUITAR MAG CHOPS WHORES GO THE FULL ROUTE—HOW ABOUT BILLY SHEEHAN?? RANDY COVEN?? STU HAMM?? VICTOR WOOTEN??

SERIOUSLY OVER MIKE WATT? RICK DANKO?? NOEL REDDING? JOE LALLY??

I MEAN IF YOU WANTED A HYPERACTIVE 90S SLAPNPOPPER ON THE LIST AT LEAST FLEA CAN PLAY KINDA TENDER AND MELODIC WHEN HE WANTS TO!

tony levin fuckin suxx too, stick bass give me a break...

unless I misread the title of this thread as “ILM DEATHMATCH: SINGERS WHO SOUND LIKE RETARDED CATTLE AUCTIONEERS”, then apologies to mr. claypool

M@tt otm

Jamerson

Jones

Mingus

Collins

Hahaha Stanley Clarke woulda made a better Flea/Claypool substitute than both of ’em together! (And so would’ve Melvin Gibbs.)

word, yeah i forgot stanley! he’s mad old skool guitar mag cred.

is shrapnel records still going? i need some new tony macapline jointz

How could you forget Jeff Berlin?? (who’s basically as well remembered as Jaco would be if he hadn’t died, and prolly better anyway)

man, just look at tony levin! this is not cool:

Um, Claypool can play tender/melodic too (see: intro to “Cosmic Highway”, intro to “Fish On”) as well as non-plinkety plonkety groove stuff (“Over The Falls”).

I hate having to be Cpt-Save-A-Claypool, but seriously, he has earned his place, as a bassist and a songwriter.

Oh yeah, and wtf no Stanley Clarke on list!?!?!?! I can’t believe I didn’t notice.

Even in some of Primus’ most well-known music-video-havin’ pop songs he doesn’t barely plink one plonk (“Mr. Krinkle”, “Shake Hands With Beef”).

Yeah, Claypool might not be your style, but he’s hard to argue with, technique-wise (which I assume is really what we’re talking about here, right?)

(full disclosure: i really fucking hate primus and am prolly not being very open minded or fair)

buuuuuut....

i guess i don’t see technique as being any more important than, say, anything else about bass playing.

peter hook is on the list and his “chops” pale in comparison to lots of dudes on the list...i mean, i could probably run circles around willie dixon doing scales and shit but that doesn’t really mean shit.

and as far as technique, like billy sheehan for example easily has the chops of claypool (and even played bass w/a power drill which is funny!) and plays on “eat ’em and smile” by david lee roth which is better than primus to me at least.

If anything, hate Les Claypool for his movie.

If anything, hate Les Claypool for his movie.

haha! woah! am i weird for kinda wanting to see that?

i like primus better than weather report!

All I know is when I first heard “Jerry was a race car driver” at a tender age, I’d never heard anything like it emanate from a bass, and I quickly started trying to do what he was doing. And failed miserably.

And I, uncooly, still really like early primus...later stuff, ugh.

Jamerson

Dunn

Mingus

Collins

haha! woah! am i weird for kinda wanting to see that?

No way dude. Seth Green and Matt Stone as “taper”s!

(close circuit to j0hn just3n): you know who actually has the most chops i’ve ever seen on a bass player?

that dude from Yoleus!

but obv. local mpls bands don’t make these types of lists.

Yeah, that Yoleus dude is fucking scary.

Wow, M@tt, sorry I got everything so wrong. You should organize the next one and show me how it’s done.

Meanwhile...

James Jamerson def. Ron Carter 9–6

John Paul Jones def. “Duck” Dunn 8–7

Charles Mingus def. Holger Czukay 14–1

Bootsy Collins def. Robbie Shakespeare 11–4

THE SEMIFINALS:

James Jamerson vs. John Paul Jones

Charles Mingus vs. Bootsy Collins

VOTE NOW

Choosing between Jamerson and Mingus is going to be a real fucking drag.

Trevor Dunn wins fight.

Men cry as their girlfriends and mamas get knocked up by his sonic babymakin’ love.

James Jamerson

Charles Mingus

Jamerson

Mingus

Jamerson

Mingus

Jones

Mingus

Jamerson

Bootsy

Jamerson

Bootsy

Jamerson

Mingus

Wow, M@tt, sorry I got everything so wrong. You should organize the next one and show me how it’s done.

ha yeah i’m just being a dick, but remember in the end all this is just the talk of a spurned mike watt fanboy : )

I hear you, I was pissed when Watt lost IN THE FIRST ROUND.

But these little deathmatch experiments are fun — I would like it if somebody organized one for drummers or guitarists.

also, i couldn’t even do one of these cuz i don’t know enough abt jazz

Jamerson

Bootsy

Jamerson

Mingus

Matt—the beauty of a deathmatch is that it can be about anything, define it as narrowly or broadly as you like. As I said upthread, it might even be less apples-and-orangesy if you limit yourself to a genre when matching up instrumentalists.

A drummer deathmatch would be ridiculous amounts of fun. (I nominate Charlie Persip, Billy Cobham and Albert Bouchard.)

James Jamerson

Charles Mingus

One reason I did bassists is because I could reasonably limit it to 32. Drummers or guitarists, I think we’d have to go to 64 for sure.

Again—stick with a genre or subgenre and you can probably keep it managable. Then have a Clash of the Titans.

Jones

Mingus

James Jamerson def. John Paul Jones 9–2

Charles Mingus def. Bootsy Collins 8–3

THE FINALS:

JAMES JAMERSON

vs.

CHARLES MINGUS

Marvin Gaye in concert (“What’s Going On”/“What’s Happening Brother”) from 1973 with Jamerson on bass:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y9KC7uhMY9s

Mingus in concert (“Flowers for a Lady”), 1974:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gkTEfrmqxws

Goddamn, this is difficult. I’m gonna say Mingus.

I was just about to vote, but I think I’m going to sleep on it tonight. It is a tough one.

Jamerson

This has, however, all gone horribly wrong somehow. For me.

I was pulling for a Haden-Entwistle final (after a Haden-Watt semi), myself.

James Jamerson

Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus

James Jamerson

aka Igor

Mingus by the smallest of margins. It boiled down to which one I’d rather hear solo.

Mingus

No Carole Kaye, no credibility

No David J. for that matter

Jesus, I’m the ONLY ONE who voted for Bill fucking Laswell in the first round?

You are all bad people.

There are a dozen people I would have picked him over in that round, but Ron Carter wasn’t one of them.

I am a fairly huge Bill Laswell production fan, but he is seriously one of my LEAST favorite bassists ever.

He just doesn’t understand how to not use too fucking many effects.

nickalicious otm

MORE VOTING PLEASE

Mingus!!!

After seeing Laswell w/Painkiller, I was SOLD.

Of sourse, at that show the only effect he was using was a whammy pedal, and he only used that so he could switch between playing bass through an SVT and mega-ugly distorto guitar leads through a Marshall full stack. Good times, severe ear-injury potential.

fuck all y’all. love, janice

haha oh shit! Scott wins!

I’m Hazel Scott. I’d like you to meet the members of my trio- there’s Charlie Mingus on bass and Rudy Nichols on drums

I think I once saw another version of that w/ Max Roach.

40 MINUTES TIL A WINNER

Fewer and fewer voters in each of the last three rounds, but who cares —

YOUR WINNER:

Mingus def. Jamerson 7–3

Thanks to everyone who voted.

I’ll bet you fules didn’t know that “Boogie Stop Shuffle” was actually written by Carol Kaye.

I’da voted Jamerson, obviously. Y’all mistake icons for players sometimes.

I think that’s crap. In all five rounds I voted for the bass player who gave me more pleasure over the last 25 years. How do you know my mind or my experience, or anybody else’s who voted in this?

^^^

otm

So wait—Jamerson’s NOT an icon? When did that happen?