The Clash’s basslines are so great. Iconic, melodic, and driving the songs. I spent a few years in the album London Calling, just loving all that bass work. Good call.
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I’d have to say Flea , Jaco , Sting , Bootsie Collins , Donald Duck Dunn , and Willie Dixon:) .
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Anyone that can actually play, is my favourite bass player.
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Yeah! Epic Album!
The Guns of Brixton has another of the most infectious/sampled/redone bass lines ever, I’d say on same group as Good Times!
Love how they did fusion Ska/Reggae groove with low tempo Punk, sooooo cool!
Love both the original and some based on it! specially Cypress Hill’s (What’s Your Number) or Beats International’s (Dub Be Good To Me) takes!
Trivia: Simonon was not able to play it on the bass while lead singing, so it was usually Strummer who played it live (swapped rythm guitar/bass on stage).
Love Rock the Casbah line too!
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do not remeber that, thanks for sharing. Yeah singing and playing this line in the same time must be extremely difficult.
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OMG, there are so many good bass players out there. Just to name a few (haha) more (in no particular order):
Etienne M’bappe, Lincoln Goines, James Genus, Matthew Garrison, Frans Vollink, Jeff Berlin, Kai Eckhardt, Helmut Hattler, Jimmy Haslip, Adam Nitti, Jimmy Johnson, Chris Squire, Mark Egan, Marc Johnson, Darryl Jones, Gary Willis, Patrick O’Hearn, Tony Levin, Eddie Gomez, Chris Minh Doky, John Patitucci, Damian Erskine, Dave Holland, Eberhard Weber, Anthony Jackson, Janek Gwizdala, Jonas Hellborg, Steve Swallow, Gary Peacock, John Wetton, Mark King, Dave King, Lars Danielsson, Charlie Haden, Nils Henning Ørsted Pedersen (NHOP), Richard Bona, Anton Davidyants, Stanley Clarke, Tony Grey, Victor Bailey, Wolfgang Schmid, Hadrien Feraud, Henrik Linder, Abe Laboriel, Evan Marien, … (and most of those mentioned above are still alive and kicking).
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I love this list… because I recognize so few of the names! Time to do some research…
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I‘d like to add Carol Kaye‘s name to that list. I had know clue about her until very recently, yet I knew so many of her very memorable bass lines. She can be heard on around 10.000 recordings by legendary producers such as Quincy Jones or Phil Spector.
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OH, wow, I had no idea! Thanks for sharing!
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I had no idea. Just last week a friend and I were wondering who played bass for the Beach Boys.
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If you’re into the stories behind the great bands that created all those killer songs - there are some great books/documentaries out there!
For more on Carol Kaye, check out The Wrecking Crew:
There’s also Stax, Standing in The Shadows of Motown, and Muscle Shoals.
The stories of all the musicians behind these jams is so lovely.
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So much to explore - so little time 
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Thx Gio, I watched The Wrecking Crew documentary today, super interesting!
I also discovered this lengthy interview with Carol Kaye on Youtube. It features a lot of playing on both bass and guitar and she tells so many exciting things e.g. how she used Samba and Latin rhythms to push the envelope on rock‘n‘roll:
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Yes, Carol Kaye! Still gotta watch that full Session Legend thing. The Wrecking Crew doc is killer cool.
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A unsung legend she is.
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So, I’m new here and I can’t play bass (yet. I WILL learn) but I’ll throw a few names in the mix… Trevor Bolder, Berry Oakley and Boh. 
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Welcome aboard, @1972_wozza . . . 
We hope you enjoy your time with us, and see you around the Forums!
All best, Joe
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Thanks for the welcome, Joe, it’s very much appreciated
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Yes! Great bass playing on Spiders From Mars. 
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His playing was so melodic, I love it Trevor Bolder’s the reason I bought a bass guitar (although I’m still yet to learn to play it!) I was listening to Hunky Dory one day and suddenly realised how much I loved the bassline to Kooks. Other gems include John, I’m Only Dancing, Aladdin Sane, Cracked Actor and Lady Grinning Soul. For pure visceral intensity the bass on Moonage Daydream from the Ziggy Stardust OST is a must. It’s so powerful it literally bursts through the speakers!
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