h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

RIP Chris Squire, the bass player of rock band Yes. Chris did things with a bass guitar that nobody else did! He was only 67 but was defeated by leukemia. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FHFox6wyXfw

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FHFox6wyXfw

Very sad news. I'd just posted a link to 'On the Silent Wings of Freedom' on another thread.

Difficult to think of another bass player as influential. I like Geezer Butler, but you sometimes have to listen very carefully to appreciate it.

I know there are bass viols, flutes, tubas, saxophones, etc. I didn't know there were bass guitars as well.

If I could manage to live forty or fifty more years, I would get the chance to see what dominant popular musical style comes *after* rock music. Maybe it will emphasize some instrument other than the guitar. At least I'm hoping it will. I sued to have a neighbor who got so tired of guitar music that she refused to listen to it at all. I thought she was going too far, as Segovia was a brilliant and moving player. Most instruments, no matter how humble, get picked up by someone extremely adept sooner or later.

Did you ever hear of Paul McCartney? He played bass guitar for the Beatles. Another famous bass guitarist is Sting. Most bass players, though, are the forgotten musician in the background.

I once saw Primus open for Rush. That's two bass lead power trios.

"Did you ever hear of Paul McCartney? He played bass guitar for the Beatles." [Gnomon]

He had and still has an embarrassment of talents: arguably the best voice of the Fab Four, a restless musical intelligence, a fine talent for writing lyrics, artistic talent, and poetic ability. That he would also be a fine bass guitarist is icing on the cake. But, no, even though I knew of his other talents, I didn't know about the bass guitar. So shoot me!

From the 'Beatles homage section' of my old personal space intro:

[quote]Turning 14 in 1962, I undertook to educate myself by listening to the bass line of whatever I heard on the radio. I am therefore a lifelong Beatles fan. When I heard "Please Please Me" I couldn't believe the Beatles were (a) only four (b) English (c) white and (d) their own backing band. They knew how to saturate recording tape like no others. And at that time no other guitar band wrote their own songs.

I could go on . . . so I will. They were very hard to categorise; they started out with non-standard chords ("She Loves You", which also had a refreshingly dirty guitar riff) but didn't get hooked on that; they had a unique liveliness to their backing vocals; they imitated other bands (for instance The Byrds in "If I Needed Someone") and improved on them all; and with the exception of George's, their lyrics were never vapid. (Well OK, "The Fool on the Hill" was. And "Looking Through a Glass Onion." And "Octopus's Garden". But nothing so vapid as for instance late Paul Simon.) I'll stop now, except to say that Paul McCartney revolutionised electric bass-playing. From a thankless treadmill, he transformed it into a nimble, witty and eloquent force, neatly avoiding the tempting morph into jazz bass-playing. Fair play to you, Paul.[/quote]

I would count his part in 'A Little Help From My Friends' as the tastiest bass line in all pop music. So there. He wrote it for Ringo (wouldn't you know?) with the exception of the lines 'What do I see when I turn out the light? I can't tell you but I know it's mine' (supplied by John--wouldn't you know?) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vf7MrwldawY

Thank you all for teaching me so much. I like the Beatles a lot. Now I have more good reasons for doing so .