Solid. That’s a great adjective to describe what John Paul Jones brought to the table when he joined Jimmy Page to form Led Zeppelin back in the late 60s. He’s not a flashy player but certainly brings his own style and flair to the classic songs from the canon- just listen to his bass breaks in “Good Times, Bad Times”, the steady hand during “Dazed And Confused”, funky fills during “The Lemon Song”, and grooves during “Ramble On”. JPJ’s musicianship is on further display via his mandolin work on much of Zep’s acoustic material as well as featuring his keyboard flourishes on many of that band’s hits. Also, dig his work with Josh Homme and Dave Grohl as a member of Them Crooked Vultures!
2. Steve Harris
Steve Harris’ galloping and aggressive style puts him on a different plane than the rest of the bassists on this list, simply because he often plays ahead of the beat and is at the forefront of many Iron Maiden songs. Just listen to his playing in “The Trooper”, “The Number Of The Beast”, or “Run To The Hills”- throughout each song he is often pushing the rhythm, especially when playing live. Or dig the bass intros to classics like “The Clairvoyant” or spacy “Blood On The World’s Hands” for some cool histrionics. And note, this is all done with his fingers and not a pick! His songwriting skills and bass technique are one of the reasons why Iron Maiden continues to be one of the most loved heavy metal bands worldwide.
Les Claypool sucks! Over the past few years I’ve become more of a Primus fan having picked up a large majority of their releases and becoming quite in awe of the talents within. Definitely a lot of oddities and off kilter stuff but that’s part of the charm of this band as there are really no others like them. And Claypool’s talents are off the charts! Popping bass lines, strummed chords, tapping, and whammy bar freakouts are all part and parcel of his style. Listen to “Jerry Was A Race Car Driver”, “Tommy The Cat”, “Wynonna’s Big Brown Beaver”, “Tragedy’s A Comin'” for just a taste of the good stuff.
4. Geezer Butler
Black Sabbath… need I say more? Yeah, you got those classic Tony Iommi riffs and those wailing Ozzy/roaring Dio vocals but are you catching those fantastic bass lines too? In many instances Geezer Butler may be mimicking the main riff but he has many moments where he branches out with his own strong bits, whether it be the simple yet solid anchor in “Heaven And Hell”, the psychedelic solo freakout before early classic “N.I.B.”, or the groovy intro to “Fairies Wear Boots”. For my money, my favorite Geezer moments were when Ronnie James Dio fronted the band (“Wishing Well” or “Voodoo” anyone?) but all eras of his work with Sabbath are highly recommended.
Yeah, I know… why no Top 25 like singers and guitarists? Well, I could do a top 25 but really the core ten I have here are very solid and I feel like I’d be stretching the list too thin. I coulda made it 15 but 10 is nice and concise and likely up for debate. All that said, the rhythm section rarely gets love from a lot of people but I’ve always been a fan. These ten are HUGE players and deserve a ton of respect.
Oh, honorable mention for my bass playing son as he’s technically #1 🙂
10. John McVie
Talk about a rhythm section being unsung heroes… The “Mac” in Fleetwood Mac is one John McVie (Fleetwood being drummer Mick, of course) and one of the more lyrical bassists around. Just listen to that steady yet throbbing bass pulse in “Dreams”, that counter play against the riff in “Rhiannon”, or the solid thump through something like “The Chain”. The Mac started off as a blues band and quickly moved into more songwriter territory, but McVie’s style was always some stellar cool on each album.
9. Flea
The Red Hot Chili Pepper deserves a high place on this list not only due to his sheer downright funkiness but also his overall musicianship, likely due to his early love for jazz music. RHCP certainly made a name for themselves in their early days with their punk/funk/metal mix, all with solid thump from Flea. His popping bass on their cover of “Higher Ground”, sublime cool of “Under The Bridge”, funky workout on “Transcending”, and his smooth stylings on more recent items makes him a top 10 man.
8. Cliff Burton
Man, a big “what if?” here… Cliff Burton’s tragic death in 1986 is still difficult to stomach almost 30 years later. His impact to not only Metallica but thrash metal in general was immense. Burton’s attitude and playing on Metallica’s first three albums is just ridiculously good in power and aggressiveness via songs like “Master Of Puppets”, “Creeping Death”, “For Whom The Bell Tolls”… need I say more? Hell yeah I do. His bass piece on “(Anesthesia) Pulling Teeth” and moody segue midway through “Orion” deserve a major heaping of praise.
7. Chris Squire
Prog stalwart Chris Squire’s work with Yes earns him a top ten spot here, considering his approach to playing the bass was pushing the instrument to the forefront and not just content with holding down the bottom end. That early punch of his Rickenbacker was always loud and rumbly as it fought to be heard among the other top notch players in the band. You know the songs- “Roundabout”, “Long Distance Runaround”, “Tempus Fugit”, “Starship Trooper” and the harmonically rich and melodic “The Fish”. Unfortunately, Squire’s passing this past year is a huge loss to the music world.
6. Geddy Lee
Music nerds everywhere rejoiced when Rush was finally elected into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame last year. How many of you out there (definitely me) have pulled out the air guitar/drum/bass when you hear a Rush song on the radio? Geddy Lee’s up front and forceful tone makes its voice well known in songs like “Tom Sawyer”, “The Spirit Of Radio”, “Freewill”, “2112”, and the more reggaefied but seriously in your face whomp of “Digital Man”. And that’s just the mid-period cuts! Here’s hoping there is more music up their collective sleeves.
Man, I know I’m getting older and I’m not the core audience but I just do not get country music these days. I should tweak that a little and say “country music that’s on the radio” because there is a lot of stuff that’s out there on the fringes that certainly deserves airplay moreso than the “bro country” and “country rap” that seems to permeate the airwaves. Like hair metal from the ’80s you’ll have some decent fluff here and there but you gotta dig deep to uncover some of the best in the genre. Just when you’re about ready to give up on that deep hole, you’ll uncover a gem the likes of Blackberry Smoke.
Hailing from Atlanta, Georgia, Blackberry Smoke are not new kids on the block- formed in 2000, lead singer/guitarist Charlie Starr and the gang have kept their core band together since their inception and have put out four studio albums, a handful of EPs and a live platter to their name. Each release is a slightly different from its predecessor, whether it be the high octane swagger of their debut disc Bad Luck Ain’t No Crime to the fantastic acoustic takes on New Honky Tonk Bootlegs to the southern rock\country hybrid of (my favorite) The Whippoorwill to their most recent Stonesy cum Black Crowes vibe of Holding All The Roses. And not only those bands, but take a heaping dose of Lynyrd Skynyrd and Georgia Satellites and mix it up with outlaw country and you’re in the vicinity of what these guys offer.
Buy I hear you say… do these guys have the songs? Oh yeah they do, and then some. You want to rock? Try “Up In Smoke” or “Let Me Help You (Find The Door)”. You want to sing along? “Everybody Knows She’s Mine” or “Lay It All On Me” for size. Maybe you want one of those bluegrass/country acoustic porch sittin’ songs so you can tap your foot and drink your iced tea\lemonade\cold beer? How about trying on “Ain’t Got The Blues” or “No Way Back To Eden” on for size. And that’s just for starters.
So yeah, in a just world Blackberry Smoke would be all over the radio and we would be subjected to much less nonsense than what we currently have today. And with the fine mix of country and rock they could easily be played on stations of both genres as the deftly migrate between both styles with ease. And that folks takes talent, which this band has in spades. Get one of their releases and you’ll find songs that you like, your friends like, your parents like, and even your grandparents like. Ya dig?
Shock of all shocks, former Yes men John Anderson and Rick Wakeman are replaced by the Buggles’ Trevor Horn and Geoff Downes for an album that’s still pretty good and leans a little new wave-y. “Run Through The Light” is fairly straight forward, featuring a lot of funky Downes keys and noisy guitarwork from Steve Howe. Horn reaches the high range of his predecessor with relative ease here. Shades of 90125? Pretty close.
“Sibella”, Richard Thompson Mock Tudor
Thompson is a guitarist that I’ve come to respect immensely over the years, mostly from his strong acoustic work but he does a great job on electric too. Kicking off with an almost tribal beat, Thompson kicks in with a strong vocal and great lyric as the band holds it all together rhythmically as the song builds to a strong chorus. Nothing overly fancy but solid and in the pocket.
“Silent Cries”, Fates Warning No Exit
Ray Adler’s debut with the band forges some new territory for Fates but still hangs on to the technical ecstasy from the old days of John Arch. Adler doesn’t bust out the vocal highs near as much as his predecessor but does offer a huskier midrange and oftentimes a more dramatic delivery overall. “Silent Cries”, like most of the tracks on No Exit, pretty much forge a new molten metal direction for the band that would be upped even further with the arrival of Mark Zonder and his skins mastery come next album.
“Manifest Destiny Pt 2”, Rival Sons Head Down
Bust out the fuzz, kick out the drums, wail some harmonica, and lets get all down and dirty- Rival Sons knock down the doors with a magically solid blues that hearkens back to the original masters but with a huge dose of Led Zeppelin and The Doors. What’s amazing on this song is how manic the music is but how relatively calm (and shamanaistic) lead singer Jay Buchanan is with the vocal. Smooth as silk vocally, rumblin’ train rhythmically.
“Deny The Cross”, Overkill Taking Over
Early Overkill was always such a clattery mess (and I mean that in a good way); heavy doses of Sabbath mixed with Motorhead with production values that sound like marbles rattling around in an oversize tin can. This is straight ahead thrash and a great example of why Overkill should be seen as one of the early proponents of that burgeoning scene (you know, with Metallica, Slayer, etc etc). Bobby “Blitz” Ellsworth insane vocal yelps threaten to derail the momentum but his sheer charismatic delivery is part of the charm of this awesome New York band. Gustafson for the win on guitar!
“Goin’ So Good” ZZ Top Mescalaro
ZZ Top is always good for throwing an odd curveball into the mix on each album- “Goin’ So Good” is that example on Mescalaro, all mellow R&B vocal from Billy Gibbons but with some sweet steel guitar backup to countrify the take. But fear not, the Rev’s lead guitar on this cut shines ever so strong; that tone, taste, and tenacity when it comes lead time drops jaws come the fadeout. Would have loved to hear this with old school production values.
“Type”, Living Colour Time’s Up
Boom bash boom bash… go Will Calhoun! Living Colour shoulda been stars. Great players all around and a fab singer in one Corey Glover, but it’s really Vernon Reid’s guitar work that sets this band on a different level from others. Yeah, the dude can sound incredibly noisy and out of tune but that’s part of what made this band totally unique. “Type” is all heft and solid hook, Reid being fairly tame with the guitar melody allowing Glover room One Way to shine all over the place. Solid cut.
“One Way To Rock”, Sammy Hagar Standing Hampton
Might be one of my all time favorite riffs, so simple in execution but jumps right out at you and grabs you by the throat immediately. Sam often gets a bum rap lyrically but this is fairly tame with its sole objective to get you off your ass because “it’s time to rock”! You go to a rock show and you want to go crazy sometimes and singing along to this one meets that purpose. This is rock and roll, not a science exhibition! If ya gotta have science though, check out Van Halen’s Live Without A Net performance of this song to gauge maximum intensity.
“Shot From My Gun”, Britny Fox Bite Down Hard
Ahh, the 80’s… hair, pouty lips, bad lyrics, and occasionally stupid videos. Britny Fox certainly had the hair and questionable lyrics but man, the songs were fairly stompin’ and crunchy with some cool singalong passages. Bite Down Hard featured new singer Tommy Paris, unfortunately the disc dying a slow death as the major labels shifted gears and hopped on the grunge bandwagon. “Shot From My Gun” is nothing more than a sleazy bashing good time; not near as good as their hit “Girlschool” (but maybe that had something to do with THAT VIDEO).
“Full Time Lover”, Fabulous Thunderbirds Essential
Ah yeah… the T-birds were an Austin, Texas institution and known mostly in blues circles as a fantastic interpreter of blues classics with some fine originals in their mix as well. “Full Time Lover” is an excellent cover found on their debut release and it’s hard to pick out just who is the star on this song: Kim Wilson’s convincing lead vocal or Jimmie Vaughan’s spot on tasty guitar work. No need to pick out a winner, just sit back and listen to some sweet, sweet blues.
Tough choice for pick of the week but I must give the edge to “One Way To Rock” over “Full Time Lover”. Two totally different songs that fit different moods, depending on what you are looking for.
Over the last decade or two, the great Ian “Lemmy” Kilmister would change up a lyric of his classic song “Ace Of Spades” to the one above to poke a bit of fun at his “indestructableness”. The man certainly lived the rock star life to the hilt since his early days in Hawkwind and through the many years with the great Motorhead- many nights of boozing, chasing women, staying up late, taking speed, and propped up at the end of the bar at the Rainbow in LA in front of a video poker game that many viewed him like Keith Richards: Lemmy will be around FOREVER. He’s an institution! He’s an icon! He’s… he’s… he’s… a Godfather of heavy metal!
Sadly, these past couple of years have been difficult and oftentimes painful to watch as Lemmy has had a number of health scares. Diabetes, hypertension, and a defibrillator slowed down a bit of his drug and alcohol intake but not completely, nor did it slow down the Motorhead touring and recording machine (these guys have put out a couple of very good albums over the past couple of years!). Sure, he’d miss the occasional lyric here and there or was sometimes too exhausted to continue a show, but the fans expressed their love and undying support by cheering the man on in their effort to remind him that they had his back and were wholeheartedly behind his stubborn determination to go out on his terms.
And on December 28th, 2015, he did. Maybe not exactly the way he had in mind (a newly found aggressive cancer was the cause of death), but he was bound and determined to look death in the eye and not let it give him a reason to pack it in and retire. Lem’s final concert was in Berlin on 12/11, the last show of the year before a break for his 70th birthday (on Christmas Eve) and for the holidays. Unfortunately, a visit to the doctor on the 26th revealed tumors in his brain and neck and he was given as much two to six months to live. Two days later he was gone.
So, in remembrance of Mr. Ian “Lemmy” Kilmister, turn this one up LOUD, grab your favorite drink, and bang your head, sing, or air guitar/drum along and remember…
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