John Entwistle or Flea?
 

See now I'm really not sure, coz tbh I can't really hear anything special in Flea's bass playing (I'm not saying I could play it better but you know). But Joh Entwistle seems to be a bit more electric (just listen to Boris The SPider!!)

P.S. If you have to ask who John Entwistle is don't bother voting!! :D

john enthwistle.

Flea to me is more adventerous, I don't know that the ox would have done Pea. And frankly, if you can't hear anything special about Flea's bass playing you shouldn't have made the thread since then (to you) entwhistle would be better. I think Flea is amazing and he has some of the coolest Bass riffs I've ever heard (suck my kiss, give it away)

mmm fair point, although I was just making the poll to see the opinions of others - simply because Flea is always hailed as the greatest...

Greatest what? Claypool owns him on skill.

I prefer the way Flea plays - more riff based than most bass players would bother with, however Entwistle is a ledge, no doubt about that one.

mmm, see this is another one of those spur of the moment type polls, just see the names and pick.... BANG!!!

Gotta say entwistle, but Flea can hold his own.

Everyone keep in mind that Flea played the bass on De-Loused in the Comatorium with The Mars Volta. I'm obviously gonna vote for him.

^convincing, but my vote still goes to Entwistle, though Flea's got the energy.

Entwistle is good, and i respect what he's done, but idk, he's a bit too stale for me. my vote goes to Flea, he seems like he has more fun with it.

still, they're both far from being the greatest bassists.

Though I'm partial to Entwhistle and the music of the Who, I don't think it's a stretch to suggest that Flea is held in higher or at least as high of regard within the music community. Big3 mentioned Les Claypool four years ago, that's another name at the top of my list of modern bass players.

He's not even trying......

Flea is still my favourite bassist ever and I think people sometimes forget how versatile he is - I've compiled some videos to demonstrate this. Aside from this, he has also played straight punk/hardcore, successfully auditioned for Public Image Ltd (but declined) and played with the Mars Volta - I can't find any videos though. He probably has countless other contributions which aren't well known.

Yeah man, even if you don't like RHCP, you gotta give Flea credit.

Making an Alanis Morissette song sound cool is no easy task.

So? He has his own style, just like Flea and every other bassist. IMO they're both great. The difference between them is personality. Entwistle was not an extroverted person and therefore not a flashy bass player. They both hold their own.

If we're talking about who the greater bass player is, well that's easly Entwistle.

I mean listen to My Generation, that kickass bass solo, that was freaking 1965, nobody was playing bass like that back then.

And yet, it was after this and other early Who records that you started to hear guys like Paul McCartney and Jack Bruce play their basses louder and more freely, elevating the bass to an instrument that could take the lead or make the main riff of a song.

Entwistle broke the shackles for rock bassists in the same way that Hendrix broke the shackles for rock guitarists.

Jamerson is greater than him, but nobody else is. At least not in the rock world.

anyone who plays in a diaper or a sock has mental problems, even if he is talented.
entwhistle did nothing special, he is only famous through association. claypool owns them both.
i'll never understand why people call mcartney a great bassist. you can't name one thing he ever did with a bass that couldn't be repeated by a 1st year bassist. great song writer, ok, i'll buy that. great bassist? ummm...no.

Or a wicked sense of fun. ;)

I can name very few rock bassists who can construct basslines as perfectly as McCartney... and he grooves so hard. These things make him a great bassist. The fact that he doesn't vomit his chops all over Beatles songs doesn't detract from his standing - it adds to it. I think a lot of people don't realise just how good he is until they play bass. Examples:


i can't find the cover version i've posted before, but this kid does a pretty good job


some guy covering Something

That went over your head didnt it? :wave: I voted for Entwistle

i have a funny feeling that if it weren't for the ox there wouldn't be a flea.

they both push the envelope but in flea's case that envelope had already been pushed open quite a bit by guys exactly like entwistle. they're both gateway musicians that offer insights to fans to find new and better musicians. anyone calling claypool the top of the pile really needs to check out squarepusher.

as for the sock thing being indicative of a mental disorder.... read up on the man a bit first. it's representative of the fact that they have absolutely nothing to hide with their music. he feels spiritually naked when playing, there's no facade to overcome, simply expression and the band chooses to reflect that in the choice of their stage wear (or lack of).

as for maccartney sucking at the bass. try singing one of his tunes while playing the bass.

So you don't like his music based on what he wears on stage?

Funkadelic did the diaper thing too, what a bunch of hacks.

Hahaha. No. :laughing:

Have you heard Live at Leeds? Yeah, you can barely tell the guy is there most of the time. :rolleyes:

There wouldn't be a Claypool without Entwistle.

Seriously, just shut up before you embarrass yourself any further. You obviously know little or nothing about this subject.

Skill isn't goddamn everything. That being said McCartney was not lacking in skill. He did a lot of basslines that were at least for the time, incredibly intricate. It's difficult to sing and play bass at the same time and considering how talented Paul was on both counts that shouldn't be written off.

McCartney was a very influencial and innovative bassist, if you listened to the late 60s Beatles you can tell that they had a lot more bass dominated songs than guitar dominated songs. He and Entwistle were the most important in elevating the role of bass to being more than just a connect the dots instrument, they were the first non R&B bassists in rock music to have whole songs structured around a bass riff or melody.

You know who did the first bass solo on a mainstream recording? Yep. Entwistle on My Generation.

But I guess that wasn't enough wanking for your taste.

Sting

please make your own thread for this.

I speak from experience when I saw Boo Boo's going to go ape **** and hate you for 1.5 years because you like Sting.

Thats if he takes the bait :D

...its boo boo. His diet is "bait."

In all seriousness though, I tell you who was a good bassist, Ronnie Lane

Who?

look him up?


not trying to be a d*ck, i'd actually like to know who that person is, too

Entwhistle, he was the best of his time. Tough to choose though 2 great players who put out a lot of great work and influenced a lot of people.

Love it.

Oops my bad! I misunderstood your post lol. And of course I voted for Entwistle :bowdown:

Uh, I like Sting. :)

I think he's an incredibly good bassist.

Of course I remember that stupid argument we had where I compared him to Michael Anthony.

And yeah, I think that was stupid, and I was wrong, Sting is better, happy now?

I was making a point. :)

Besides:

touche

not sure what that point was but since two of you asked... squarepusher is tom jenkinson's alter-ego. he's often cited as one of the pioneers in the so called 'intelligent dance music' genre along with aphex twin. the main distinction in jenkinson's case is his ability to actually play an instrument proficiently as well as manipulating electronic devices to his musical will (that's not to say there isn't a bunch of glitchy DnB to be found on his albums)

here are some choice clips.

YouTube - Squarepusher - The Culture Show Bass Solo - live on 'the culture show', low visual quality but whatever.

YouTube - Squarepusher - My Sound - 'my sound' from the 'music is a rotted one note' album, fantastic track.

YouTube - Squarepusher - Delta-V live @ melkweg 28/11/2008 - again horrible visual quality but you get the gitst. track is called 'delta-v' from his last album 'just a souvenir'.

while he's not technically a 'rock' bassist, if you don't think that last clip rocks even just a little then you're either dead or far too narrow minded to bother ever conversing with again hahaha.

I voted Entwistle but think Flea is great as well, just a totally different sort of bass player. Les Claypool and Robert Trujillo top my bassists league with an honorable mention to Mark King of Level 42, a great "slap" bassist.

Voted for John Entwistle and for me along with Geddy Lee and John Paul Jones they are 3 of the best bassists ever.

am I ever really happy?

I voted for Flea,
who's for John Entwistle btw?