I mentioned Tony Levin in my original post next to Pino Paladino, Chuck Rainey, and Donald “Duck” Dunn.
The four of them have been incredibly prolific. Massive lists of all the tracks and albums they’ve played on. But for total recordings, they still fall short of Kaye, Sklar, and Ron Carter.
(I suspect you’re responding to my post above yours which was directed at people discussing how Paul McCartney is underrated, but the topic is NOT underrated bassists.)
Yeah. I would actually argue Levin as the subjectively “Greatest” bassist (prolific, iconic, versatile, experimental, virtuosic, and influential), but that’s a different subject.
I first saw him live in '79 or '80 at B’ginnings in Schaumburg, IL. That’s the same club I first saw Rush at around New Year’s '74-'75, when they were touring Fly By Night. I was able to stand in front of Geddy and Tony all night. Wonderful experiences, both. It was such a great club. I saw so many acts there, early in their careers, before they turned into arena behemoths.
this is a very interesting topic! when someone ask me " Most Prolific " the first ones that come to mind are Kaye, sklar, and jamerson are my top 3, I’m not sure if Kaye wrote a lot of the bass lines she recorded. I think sklar would have had and interesting time playing with JT because he covers the bass lines when he plays so double that or do something different, and jamerson is in a league of his own. I do think they all had the same thought to make sure there playing adds to the tune not subtract
Carol Kaye definitely wrote or otherwise improvised all her bass lines. She often turned mediocre stuff on charts she was given into platinum that became the hook of a hit song. Yes, she legit created her bass lines.
We were fortunate in Chicago to get many of the early Rush shows. They played a lot in the upper Midwest, developing their chops. I even got to see one of the rare shows on the “Down the tubes” tour (what Rush called it among themselves at the time) on the Caress Of Steel tour. Underrated album, IMO.
Will Lee. Once known as ‘the busiest bass in the biz’. Tons and tons of (very diverse) sessions and then playing on the Letterman show every night.
Marcus Miller is right up there too. He can be all Bass in Yo’ Face or just lay back and be supportive.
And as other have said, PapaBear: Tony Levin
Will Lee is definitely a prolific session and live gig player. He regularly sings backup, too, which sets him apart from the vast majority of other pro bassists.
If the criteria of being prolific is measured in terms of sheer number of artists someone’s played with, times played live, and/or on times played on broadcast TV, nobody can touch Will. He’s a massively talented, versatile and in-demand player.
Indeed. Which is why he is top of my list; not just for sheer numbers but also the diversity of projects. Wake up, hit the studio and play on a Barry Manilow track, then run to another gig to sing, “I’ve got the fever for the flavour of a Pringles”, get a last minute tape to learn the new [insert any band that appeared on Late Night for several decades] song, go tape Late night (which is SO much more than what you see on TV; they jam before Dave comes out, all the commercial breaks are tunes, etc.
Then probably have a gig at night Maybe several.
And: still at it.
