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Who influenced you to pick up and start playing Bass.


thebigyin

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I didn't start playing Bass until I was in my 40s was originally a Frontman/Singer but fancied learning an instrument so opted to play Bass after hearing James Jamerson I was hooked on his busy but melodic playing and phrasing spent hours trying to emulate his style over the years although I will never be as good I have now developed a style that I feel captures him in my own way, without doubt my Bass hero amongst a few others of that era and genre, but Jamerson will always be the one who made me think I want to learn Bass.

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Whoever played bass on Seasons in The Sun, though I didn’t realise it at the time, then punk in general. A few obvious contenders being Sid Vicious (yes he wasn’t a great bassist but played for the best punk band and looked great), and JJ Burnell & Bruce Foxton who made the bass almost a lead instrument.

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3 minutes ago, Lozz196 said:

Whoever played bass on Seasons in The Sun, though I didn’t realise it at the time, then punk in general. A few obvious contenders being Sid Vicious (yes he wasn’t a great bassist but played for the best punk band and looked great), and JJ Burnell & Bruce Foxton who made the bass almost a lead instrument.

You not a Clash fan Lozz?

 

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Mrs Bassfinger.  As aforementioned elsewhere, I started as a guitarist but an I jury has left me with no feeling in two fingers and only partial feeling in my thumb.  I was struggling with finger picking, and Mrs B suggested that a bass guitar might suit better due to having a 3rd less real estate to cover with my tight hand.  She was right.

However, now that I am a bassist I take my inspiration from Jeffrey Hammond-Hammond.  He also was not a bassist, or even a musician, but when asked to join Jethro Tull he rose to the occasion and effectively bluffed his way through 5 albums and several world tours.

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As a 10-11 year old listening to my older brothers early Elton John LP’s, Dee Murray‘s playing made me want to play bass, then Kenny Passarelli (I still hear him in my playing today) got me into fretless.

Percy Jones influenced my technique and love of fretless a little further, although I wasn’t particularly into jazz rock. 

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Bass was pushed on me. When i was 15, my best mate changed from bass to guitar when their guitarist left, so he had a bass guitar and a void to fill. I played piano and a wee bit of guitar so he gave me the bass and told me to learn how to play it. I had no interest in it prior, so really my mate was pretty much the only influence! Still best mates with him 22 years later. Should buy him a pint.

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JJ Burnel from The Stranglers for me - got me enthused about playing bass when I was a 15 year old. 

Then, when I was 17, seeing an amazing bass player with Jools Holland (just after he had left Squeeze). Supporting The Police at Ingliston Exhibition Centre, Edinburgh, on New Year's Eve, 1981. The bass player blew my mind - so fluid, muscular, and inventive. I thought, "now, THAT is how I want to play"!! The bass player was Pino Palladino! (incidentally, I still remember the bass he played - red Fender P-Bass, no scratchplate, small curved chrome control plate, and a Jazz pickup in the bridge position). 

Edited by kevin_lindsay
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Glenn Hughes, particularly on "Made In Europe". That said, it was about 20 years after that LP came out that I actually got my first bass and started playing, and I've never learnt how to play with a pick so can hardly call him a direct influence on my particular playing style. 

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