100 Greatest Rock Bass Players

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Bass players don't always get the same recognition as a lead guitar player, lead singer or drummer. There have been many great bass players in rock history. I have scoured through several lists of great bassists; and find that the list below includes all the best of them. You can disagree with the order as do I; however many lists have Paul McCartney, Flea and Getty Lee as the top 3 bass players. My number 1 pick would be John Paul Jones of Led Zeppelin (See photo below). Please comment on your top 3 Rock Bass Players.



1. James Jamerson (Funk Brothers, session man)
2. John Entwistle (The Who)
3. Larry Graham (Sly & The Family Stone)
4. Chris Squire (Yes)
5. Jack Bruce (Cream)
6. Tony Levin (King Crimson, session man)
7. Geddy Lee (Rush)
8. Paul McCartney (The Beatles)
9. Louis Johnson (Brothers Johnson, session man)
10. Anthony Jackson (session man)
11. Flea (Red Hot Chili Peppers)
12. Marcus Miller (session man)
13. Les Claypool (Primus)
14. Chuck Rainey (session man)
15. Billy Sheehan (Niacin, Mr. Big, Steve Vai)
16. Geezer Butler (Black Sabbath)
17. Will Lee (session man)
18. Michael Manring (Attention Deficit, session man)
19. Nathan East (Eric Clapton, session man)
20. Rocco Prestia (Tower Of Power)
21. John Paul Jones (Led Zeppelin)
22. Abe Laboriel (session man)
23. Stuart Hamm (Joe Satriani)
24. Donald "Duck" Dunn (The MGs)
25. Dave LaRue (Dixie Dregs)
26. Bob Babbitt (Funk Brothers, session man)
27. Phil Lesh (Grateful Dead)
28. Steve Harris (Iron Maiden)
29. Jack Casady (Jefferson Airplane, Hot Tuna)
30. Cliff Lee Burton (Metallica)
31. John Myung (Dream Theater)
32. John Deacon (Queen)
33. Willie Weeks (session man)
34. Carol Kaye (session woman)
35. Aston "Family Man" Barrett (Bob Marley & The Wailers)
36. Verdine White (Earth, Wind & Fire)
37. David Hungate (Toto, session man)
38. Robert "Kool" Bell (Kool & The Gang)
39. Joe Osborne (session man)
40. Phil Chen (Rod Stewart, session man)
41. Oteil Burbridge (Allman Brothers Band)
42. Freddie Washington (session man)
43. Nathan Watts (session man)
44. Louis Satterfield (Earth Wind & Fire, session man)
45. Andy West (Dixie Dregs)
46. Bootsy Collins (Funkadelic)
47. John Wetton (King Crimson)
48. Greg Lake (ELP)
49. Tim Bogert (Vanilla Fudge)
50. Mark King (Level 42)
51. Mike Watt (Minutemen)
52. Bernard Odum (James Brown, session man)
53. George Porter Jr. (Meters, session man)
54. Mike Gordon (Phish)
55. Bernard Edwards (Chic)
56. Ryan Martinie (Mudvayne)
57. Willie Dixon (session man)
58. Andy Fraser (Free)
59. Trey Gunn (King Crimson)
60. Dave Schools (Widespread Panic)
61. Berry Oakley (Allman Brothers Band)
62. Jerry Jemmott (session man)
63. Roger Glover (Deep Purple)
64. Bill Black (Elvis Presley)
65. "Sweet" Charles Sherrell (James Brown, session man)
66. Phil Lynott (Thin Lizzy)
67. Billy Cox (Band Of Gypsys)
68. Bruce Thomas (Elvis Costello & The Attractions)
69. Gary "Mani" Mounfield (Stone Roses)
70. Felix Pappalardi (Mountain)
71. Mike Rutherford (Genesis)
72. David Ellefson (Megadeth)
73. Matt Freeman (Rancid)
74. Ronnie Baker (MFSB)
75. John Alderete (Racer X, Mars Volta)
76. Robert Trujillo (Suicidal Tendencies)
77. Duff McKagen (Guns N Roses)
78. Marshall Lytle (Bill Haley & The Comets)
79. Bill Gould (Faith No More)
80. Ray Pohlman (session man)
81. Me'Shell NdegéOcello (session woman, solo)
82. Doug Pinnick (King's X)
83. Tommy Cogbill (session man)
84. Glen Cornick (Jethro Tull)
85. Pino Palladino (session man)
86. Randy Coven (Steve Vai)
87. Tim Commerford (Rage Against The Machine)
88. Doug Wimbish (Living Color)
89. Thomas Miller (Symphony X)
90. Mick Karn (session man)
91. Jeff Ament (Pearl Jam)
92. Ron Wood (Jeff Beck Group)
93. Michael Lepond (Symphony X)
94. Dave Hope (Kansas)
95. Bill Wyman (Rolling Stones)
96. Leo Lyons (Ten Years After)
97. Timothy B Schmit (Eagles)
98. Rex Brown (Pantera)
99. Bobby Sheehan (Blues Traveler)
100. Tom Hamilton (Aerosmith)

I'll Give You All That I Got - Lyrics

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The band was rehearsing in the Warehouse for a few hours. (To learn more about the Warehouse, read the blog entries from July, 2008.) This was the first time we played the song with keyboard accompaniment. I definitely wanted to capture it on tape. Three quarters of the way through the song, someone points out to Deniz that he made a mistake on the last verse he sang. I remember waving everyone on to continue to play the song. Deniz then repeated the verse correctly and the song was played through to the end, which made the song almost seven minutes long. After the song ended, you hear Deniz saying he messed up, in his own humorous way.

The lyrics to the song was written 21 years ago, and has since been lost. Because of the poor quality of the recording, it took me several hours to recreate the lyrics below. The mood created by the guitar made these lyrics fit perfectly to the song. Lawrence's guitar solo in the middle of the song was the Mystix signature. Everyone sang background on the chorus. You can really escape in this song if you just listen to the music and follow with the lyrics.

I'll Give You All That I Got
I woke up from a dream last night
Saw your lonely face
If only you can see my light
I long for your sweet embrace

Day after day I think of you
Standing by my side
I’m on my way what will I do
I remember all that you’ve done

I won’t forget you
Oh but I’ve tried
I won’t forget you
You always be mine

I saw the way you started here
With your heart that’s on the rise
Then we sat and made more tears
All I see is your scary eyes

Call you on the telephone
I’ll always feel for you
With all the chances to be my own
And I know all that is true

I won’t forget you
Oh but I’ve tried
I won’t forget you
You always be mine
Always be mine
Always be mine

Always be mine

Always

I woke up from a dream last night
And saw your lonely face
If only you can see my light
I long for your sweet embrace

Day after day I feel for you
Standing by my side
I’m on my way what will I do
I remember all that you find

I woke up from a dream last night
And saw your lonely face
If only you can see my light
I long for your sweet embrace

Time after time I think of you
Standing by my side
I’m on my way what will I do
I remember all that you’ve done

I won’t forget you
Oh but I tried
I won’t forget you
You always be mine

I won’t forget you
Oh but I’ve tried
I won’t forget you
You always be mine

I won’t forget you
Oh but I’ve tried
I won’t forget you
You always be mine

I won’t forget you
Oh but I’ve tried
I won’t forget you
You always be mine

I won’t forget you
Oh but I’ve tried
I won’t forget you
You always be mine

I won’t forget you
Oh but I’ve tried
I won’t forget you
You always be mine

I won’t forget you
Oh but I’ve tried
I won’t forget you
You always be mine

The Music

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The years are 1987 through 1988. Hard Rock, Heavy Metal and Glam "Hair" Bands were in high gear. Some of the more popular groups of the time were Bon Jovi, White Snake, Def Lepard and Guns'N Roses just to name a few. In Miami, Florida a group of guys with regular day jobs between the ages of 18-24 got together to create music and fun experiences enjoying life as friends. More details to come later.

The music on this blog are the songs created from those friendships. There were no high tech electronics nor digital recording studios to work from. The old fashion drum set, electric guitar, bass guitar, keyboard and raw vocals were all that we had. The lead singer on all of the songs is Deniz Kose in his first years performing. The quality of the recordings available on this blog to play and/or download are not very high. Most of the songs are with the group Mystix recorded with a cheap cassette recorder in the studio during rehearsal. All the songs lyrics and music are original and written collaboratively by the members of the band. There are 6 of the 22 original songs which were actually professionally recorded in the studio. Those 6 songs were transferred from old reel-to-reel tape to cassette, and then captured as an MP3. The six recordings had different musicians with Deniz Kose as the lead singer. Two of the six songs' lyrics were authored by Kenny Leibow. Unfortunately Mystix did not have suffiicient funds nor was together long enough to record their hook catching sound in a professional studio. I went through hundreds of hours of tapes to find the recordings with the most complete songs performed in live practice sessions. Also included are the six professionally recorded studio songs by Deniz Kose.

Song Lyrics and more information about the band members and their experiences coming soon. Please enjoy listening to the music online, link to, or download the songs to your MP3 Player i.e. IPod and vote on the songs that you like. With many thanks, Kenny Leibow