Is Wilton Felder one of the best bassists of the 70s

[jamersongoated]

Hi all,

 

Posing a highly opinionated question but hoping to get a collective answer at the end of it.

 

Would you consider Wilton Felder one of the greatest bassists of the 70s.

 

I know I want you back is the best bass line of all time however some of his other  work either for Motown, RCA, ABC etc have also been hugely influential lines. 

[EdLib-3]

His playing on Jimmy Smith's Root Down live album is pretty damn great too. I would say for me Joseph 'Lucky' Scott from Curtis Mayfield's band and George Murray from Bowie's classic 70s era would just edge Wilton for two of my picks for greatest bassists of the 70s. That is if we're talking less well known, less acclaimed players of that decade. So, not the guys who would regularly top Bass Player magazine polls for best bassists - Geddy, Jaco, Anthony Jackson, John Paul Jones and the like.

[Burns-bass]

Utterly pointless to try and grade art and artists. Just sit back and enjoy.

[EdLib-3]

On 04/11/2025 at 21:20, Burns-bass said:

Utterly pointless to try and grade art and artists. Just sit back and enjoy.

I'm not grading anything. I'm talking about players whose playing connects to me most on a personal level, related to topic of the thread. As with any form of art and music, everyone has their favourites and it can make for an interesting discussion.

Edited Wednesday at 22:47 by EdLib-3

[Bagman]

“Root Down” is very good 

[chris_b]

I first heard Wilton Felder in 1973, on the Crusaders album 2nd Crusade. I bought it the next day. . . .

 

ps Click on the 1/9 on the right hand side of the screen to play the rest of the album.

 

 

[DF Shortscale]

5 minutes ago, chris_b said:

I first heard Wilton Felder in 1973, on the Crusaders album 2nd Crusade. I bought it the next day. . . .

 

ps Click on the 1/9 on the right hand side of the screen to play the rest of the album.

 

 

This album has some beautiful bass playing on it, pretty much all the way through. One of my all time favourites.

[Mrbigstuff]

5 hours ago, jamersongoated said:

Hi all,

 

Posing a highly opinionated question but hoping to get a collective answer at the end of it.

 

Would you consider Wilton Felder one of the greatest bassists of the 70s.

 

I know I want you back is the best bass line of all time however some of his other  work either for Motown, RCA, ABC etc have also been hugely influential lines. 

He played on some great records in the 60s/ early 70s, like Chris B I particularly enjoy The Jazz Crusaders music. But Jaco pushed bass playing further than anyone has and that started in the 70s.

[jamersongoated]

3 hours ago, EdLib-3 said:

His playing on Jimmy Smith's Root Down live album is pretty damn great too. I would say for me Joseph 'Lucky' Scott from Curtis Mayfield's band and George Murray from Bowie's classic 70s era would just edge Wilton for two of my picks for greatest bassists of the 70s. That is if we're talking less well known, less acclaimed players of that decade. So, not the guys who would regularly top Bass Player magazine polls for best bassists - Geddy, Jaco, Anthony Jackson, John Paul Jones and the like.

There is a lot that Felder hasn’t been credited for unless you dig deeper. Some of his work fitting around a complex arrangement such as on The Hues Corporation Love Corporation or Take a Melody. I think Hungate also gets missed out far too often as one of the greatest too.

[Leonard Smalls]

8 hours ago, Mrbigstuff said:

But Jaco pushed bass playing further than anyone has and that started in the 70s.

As did Stanley Clarke...

Bootsy started in the 60s, as did Larry Graham...

[Mrbigstuff]

16 minutes ago, Leonard Smalls said:

As did Stanley Clarke...

Bootsy started in the 60s, as did Larry Graham...

I thought about bootsy and Stanley before posting. Both incredible and I have music from both, but neither put the bass front and centre quite as strikingly as Jaco (although bootsy’s image might give a different narrative). While he wasn’t the first virtuoso, Jaco was the Hendrix of the bass world in the mid to late 70s. 

[iainbass]

The brilliant Wilton Felder played on one big hit, the Jacksons  IWYB and a stonking groove it is to, but he was primarily a highly sought after saxophonist. For my money there's a whole tranch of little known post Jamerson players from that period worthy of consideration including Scott Edwards, Philly souls Ronnie Baker and Henry Davis who played on Love Hangover.. etc. All top flight studio guys who very few people have even heard of.

[EdLib-3]

22 hours ago, chris_b said:

I first heard Wilton Felder in 1973, on the Crusaders album 2nd Crusade. I bought it the next day. . . .

 

ps Click on the 1/9 on the right hand side of the screen to play the rest of the album.

 

 

Wow! This awesome!!! Thanks for sharing!! 

[jamersongoated]

On 05/11/2025 at 10:37, iainbass said:

The brilliant Wilton Felder played on one big hit, the Jacksons  IWYB and a stonking groove it is to, but he was primarily a highly sought after saxophonist. For my money there's a whole tranch of little known post Jamerson players from that period worthy of consideration including Scott Edwards, Philly souls Ronnie Baker and Henry Davis who played on Love Hangover.. etc. All top flight studio guys who very few people have even heard of.

Ron Brown is probably the pioneer of the LA post Jamerson sound. We would not have Felder without Ron Brown, Felder had mentioned in an interview with Jake Feinberg that he was given his big break by Ron Brown when he asked Felder to substitute for him on what I can only guess was the IWYB session.

[jamersongoated]

Just now, jamersongoated said:

Ron Brown is probably the pioneer of the LA post Jamerson sound. We would not have Felder without Ron Brown, Felder had mentioned in an interview with Jake Feinberg that he was given his big break by Ron Brown when he asked Felder to substitute for him on what I can only guess was the IWYB session.

Ron Brown has since disappeared… his daughter went on to talkbass 6 years ago saying that she had lost contact with him. Apparently he was last in the Texas area after moving away from La when the major session scene modernised in the mid 80s. He would be around 85.

[jamersongoated]

Plus we’ve all overlooked Motown/UMG’s Christmas payday song… Santa Claus is Coming to Town… the bass line is great on it and shows a lot of restraint while driving the groove.

[Bassman2019]

Honestly I would say Wilton Felder definitely deserves a spot among the greats of the 70s. “I Know I Want You Back alone” is iconic but his work across Motown, RCA, ABC and beyond really shows how versatile and influential he was. Some of those lines are just timeless and you can hear their impact in so much that followed.

[Piers_Williamson]

I shouldn't do this on this thread, but here are the Crusaders with Wilton Felder playing beautiful sax, and Ready Freddie holding down the bass line

 

 

[Terry M.]

On 05/11/2025 at 09:11, Mrbigstuff said:

While he wasn’t the first virtuoso, Jaco was the Hendrix of the bass world in the mid to late 70s. 

Based on the role of bass and there's no denying Jaco's talent,I'm not sure his style of playing as impressive as it was was what bass needed. Looking at what came before during and after I dare to suggest that James Jamerson's style of playing was more "useful" to bass and popular music in general. As controversial as that may sound. Just to clarify that I'm not a Jaco hater. Jamerson was an influence for Jaco and I can see why.

Edited 3 hours ago by Terry M.

[Mrbigstuff]

41 minutes ago, Terry M. said:

Based on the role of bass and there's no denying Jaco's talent,I'm not sure his style of playing as impressive as it was was what bass needed. Looking at what came before during and after I dare to suggest that James Jamerson's style of playing was more "useful" to bass and popular music in general. As controversial as that may sound. Just to clarify that I'm not a Jaco hater. Jamerson was an influence for Jaco and I can see why.

100% agree. But Jamerson was most prominent or at his peak in the 60s, whereas the this thread is regarding the 70s. 
As you alluded to, Jamerson’s playing reached a large audience as he was a recording musician for a label (a hired gun). Whereas Jaco was both a songwriter and a significant member in the not so popular jazz fusion genre.

[Terry M.]

21 minutes ago, Mrbigstuff said:

100% agree. But Jamerson was most prominent or at his peak in the 60s, whereas the this thread is regarding the 70s. 
As you alluded to, Jamerson’s playing reached a large audience as he was a recording musician for a label (a hired gun). Whereas Jaco was both a songwriter and a significant member in the not so popular jazz fusion genre.

Yeah that's fair 👍

[jamersongoated]

I have never grown to virtuoso bass. I appreciate Jaco and his work, however past him and Wooten I don't find it impressive.

 

I feel crafting a bass line around a melody and creating something that sticks through a mix and conveys the emotion of the song to be a lot more important. Which is why I hold Jamerson, Felder, East, Rainey, Louis Johnson, Benard Edwards, John Taylor etc in so high regard.

Edited 1 hour ago by jamersongoated

[Mrbigstuff]

1 hour ago, jamersongoated said:

I have never grown to virtuoso bass. I appreciate Jaco and his work, however past him and Wooten I don't find it impressive.

 

I feel crafting a bass line around a melody and creating something that sticks through a mix and conveys the emotion of the song to be a lot more important. Which is why I hold Jamerson, Felder, East, Rainey, Louis Johnson, Benard Edwards, John Taylor etc in so high regard.

Luckily there’s lots of music for us to enjoy whether we prefer genre A, B, C ect. Those that you listed are big inspirations of mine because I particularly enjoy the bass playing to those old R&B/ disco tunes. 
But once you learn more of Jaco’s repertoire, you understand he could do that as well as anybody and still write and arrange on a bass in a way that was unique.