Favorite Bass Player?

I figure guitar player's been done at least once, but this one's a little more challenging: Who's your favorite BASS player, and why?

I'd have to say either Roger Waters of Pink Floyd or Steve Harris of Iron Maiden.

Roger Waters is a favorite for me probably more for his songwriting ability than raw talent as a bass player, but he did write some pretty cool bass lines. "Money" is one of the most recognizable bass lines in rock. "The Happiest Days of Our Lives/Another Brick in the Wall Part 2" is a cool, if somewhat simplistic, bassline as well. And he shows admirable restraint, given the extremely laid back tome of the songs, on "Comfortably Numb" and "Breathe". I'm a bass player myself, and it's hard for me to not throw in some fills and stuff when playing these, but if you do they just don't sound right.

Steve Harris I like for the energy in his basslines. I know the gallop gets old after awhile, but if your pulse doesn't quicken at least a little when you hear "The Trooper", they'd better pull the sheet up over you. When I took music theory & composition in college, all the stuff I wrote tended to sound like a (much less talented version of) Steve Harris; lot of sixteenth notes, a few gallops, some fast triplet arpeggios, a slow break building back up to the fast paced main line, stuff like that.

Being a bass player, there's plenty more I like, but I'm curious what anyone else has to say before I throw anything else out there. Any thoughts?

I once got invited toa party by a guy I worked w/ who played drums in a bar band. There were a lot of musicians there, and we were all encouraged to bring our instruments. I was, for a while, the only bass player there, and had a lot of fun jamming with the rest of the guys to "Comfortably Numb" and "Born to be Wild". Then some guy showed up w/ a really, REALLY cool and expensive looking bass, and started RIPPING on Primus tunes. I felt thoroughly outclassed. Primus rocks. . . or do they suck?

That stuff on the guy from Morphine is most intriguing, Phil. I may have to check that out, just to see what it sounds like. And to those of you who think this may sound silly, keep in mind that no one was playing fretless electric basses until after Jaco Pastorious made one by knocking out the frets on his P-Bass and filling them in w/ epoxy, sanding them smooth to create a unique & now often utilized sound.

It's probably not hip to like Billy Sheehan, because so many think all he is is some technically brilliant riffs, but that he's not really a BASS player. I beg to differ, in that he plays some damn good bass lines just holding down the bottom line. His workon Tony mcAlpine's 'Edge of Insanity" album is some of his best, I think. I was pissed beyond description that he'd left the David Lee Roth Band to form (ugh!) Mr. Big, and didn't apear on the "Skyscraper" tour, since I saw Dave on that one.

The love for Geddy Lee and John Entwhistle is also seconded. Geezer Butler is great, too ("Paranoid" gets my blood up same as "The Trooper"). I also love Graham Mabe, who played w/ Joe Jackson. Listen to the live version of "I'm the Man" and you'll se why.

And of course, as my sig implies, I love Lemmy from Motorhead, too. Like Waters, this may have more to do w/ his singing and songwriting (say what you will about his. . . unique . . . voice, but it fits Motorhead's music to a T). His use of chords and distortion make his bass sound at times almost like a low-tuned rhythm guitar. No one else does this, to my knowledge.

Also, T-Bone Wolk from the old Saturday Night Live Band always kept it in the pocket really well.

Surprised no one's mentioned McCartney yet. "Silly Love Songs" was once described in Bass Player Magazine as "an insipid song witha great bassline." I'm inclined to agree. Not being a Beatles fan, though, I don't know much about what he did w/ them. Can anyone suggest some Beatles songs that showcase his melodic style?

Did you mean Michael Anthony from Van Halen? If so, I think I'm with you for the most part, but you gotta give the man his due; the bassline to "Hang 'em High" on Diver Down rocks. His was the voice singing back up for Dave on all those tracks, as well, adding greatly to some of their tunes.