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The 6 bassists that Rush’s Geddy Lee listed as favorites
Although the bass guitar is a fundamental part of Rock and Roll music, the bassists tend to be overshadowed by the singers, drummers and guitarists. Geddy Lee is primarily known as the frontman of Rush, but he also is the band’s keyboardist and, of course, bass player.
Certainly one of the most underrated bass guitarists in Rock music, he was influenced by various artists from different music genres. Over the decades he talked about many of those players and had the chance to see many of his heroes playing and even paid tribute to them.
The 6 bassists that Rush’s Geddy Lee listed as favorites
John Entwistle
The first Geddy mentioned to Global Bass Online was John Entwsitle, who is one of Geddy’s biggest influences as a bass player. He had the chance to see The Who playing live when he was young and really inspired by their music.
Geddy told Rolling Stone that Entwistle was one of his first Rock Gods. “He was one of the first gods to me. Gods of rock. (Laughs) Ever since I first heard ‘My Generation,’ it’s like, ‘Who is that?’ That was a name you needed to know. And I still rank him as the greatest rock bassist of all time, in one sense. First of all, he was ferocious. He had a sound that dared to encroach upon the domain of the guitar player. So he had a very loud, very aggressive tone.”
“And to hear that on pop radio. I mean, ‘My Generation’ didn’t get as much play over here as it did in the U.K. But it was a pop hit with a bass solo in it, no less. So I was drawn to, first of all, his tone, secondly, his audacity and thirdly, his dexterity. I mean, he had incredible dexterity. Just moved across the strings in such a fluid manner with such ease, and yet, sounded so tremendously ferocious at the same time.”
Geddy Lee continued:
“We all tried (early on) to play ‘My Generation’ and failed miserably. But you do your crappy version of it. I would say (Who songs) were harder to do than, say, a cover of ‘Road Runner,’ by Junior Walker and the Allstars, where you can transform that into sort of a rock bass [line] without too much trouble. But yeah, the Who were much tougher,” Geddy Lee said.
Although he had the chance to see The Who playing, it was only after Keith Moon had already passed away and the drummer was Kenney Jones. The Rush frontman is a bass collector and a couple of years ago bought a bass guitar previously owned by Entwistle.
Jack Bruce
Geddy Lee said Entwistle was one of his first Rock Gods but when he was asked by BBC to choose who was his Rock God, the one he picked was Cream‘s bassist and singer Jack Bruce. He had the chance to see the power trio which was also formed by Ginger Baker and Eric Clapton playing live when he was a teenager. He told BBC in 2019 (Transcribed by Rock and Roll Garage) that the show was a life changing moment for him.
“I was a very young, aspiring musician in Toronto, Canada. Jack Bruce’s bass parts that slipped behind Eric Clapton’s soloing always really grabbed my ear. I remember in 1969, seeing an advertisement for Cream coming to Toronto at the prestigious Massey Hall, which was our Opera house.”
“I went to Massey Hall, bought my single ticket and came back for that show. It was one of the strangest and greatest experiences of my life. Because I got a balcony seat. So I was overlooking the stage and I was so close to them. I remember being so enamored with them and watching Jack Bruce. So it was one of the greatest, most memorable shows I’ve ever seen. Then I went of course, to follow Jack Bruce’s solo career (after that),” Geddy Lee said.
Over the decades Geddy praised Cream a lot, revealing that some of his favorite songs by them are: “White Room” and their versions for “Spoonful” and “Crossroads”. He had the chance to pay tribute to the band in 2004, on Rush’s cover’s album “Feedback”. The Canadian group covered their version of “Crossroads”, originally written by Robert Johnson in 1936.
Chris Squire
Geddy Lee was also extremely influenced by Progressive Rock groups and his favorite one certainly is Yes. He revealed that they were the only band he waited in line all night to get tickets to see them. As a bass player, of course, the late Chris Squire was a big influence to him.
In 2019 he was asked by Amazon Music to list songs that inspired his bass playing consciously or subconsciously. In an interview with the streaming service, he explained why Squire was so good. “Well, he was pyrotechnical. He played with incredible dexterity, he did use a pic, I forgive him. He got a sound that was an evolution of the twangy bass sound that John Entwistle played with and a lot of the early 60’s bass players played with adding more top end to the sound, trying fill up more of the sound spectrum.”
“When Yes came out and particularly the song I chose here “No Opportunity”, when you listen to that song, you listen to the job the bass is doing. It’s so powerful, it adds so much power to the song. He sort of invented a different way of playing bass for Progressive Rock music.”
Geddy Lee continued:
“The complexity of his melodies is astounding and the fact that a song, like for example ‘Roundabout’, that’s a hit single driven the bass part. He was just a pioneer, really. A giant in terms of me as a young bass player,” Geddy Lee said.
He had the chance to pay tribute to Chris when he played the bass with Yes during their Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction in 2017. It was Geddy and Alex Lifeson the ones who inducted them. Since Chris had passed away two years before at the age of 67, the group asked Geddy to play with them during the ceremony.
John Paul Jones
“The unsung hero” of Led Zeppelin, that’s how Geddy Lee defined John Paul Jones, who like him, also is a keyboardist and bass player. He was lucky enough to have seen them playing live when he was still a teenager. Geddy had the chance to meet John properly a couple of years ago and interview him for his “Big Beautiful Book of Bass”.
“Zeppelin were a huge influence on my band. Our original drummer, John Rutsey – he happened to be at the very first gig in Toronto, at a place called the Rock Pile. He came home raving about that band. So the day that first album dropped, we were lined up the store to get it. I remember running home to my house and putting it on.”
“The three of us just sat around my record in the room, listening to the first Zeppelin record. (We were) just blown away by the tone of the band, first of all. They were really, for us, the first heavy band. We could hear all those blues riffs and all the sound that they had. Also how they sort of had grown out of the blues-rock movement of England. Yet they brought, through Jimmy Page‘s guitar, all these more ethereal moments.”
Geddy Lee continued:
“But the thing that held the whole thing down was John Paul Jones’ bass playing. So if you listen to ‘How Many More Times,’ I mean, no matter how wild that song gets at times, there’s John Paul Jones just holding it all down in such a fluid way. He’s one of those guys that did not have a twangy sound. But nonetheless, his bass was always loud and proud, and such an integral part and such interesting melodies. As they progressed as a band, his musical impact was clear. It was such a huge musical impact in the final result of what Led Zeppelin sounded like.
“I mean, if you listen to what’s going on – a song like ‘What Is and What Should Never Be,’ where would that song be without the bass part? So it is unbelievable. It’s such a well-written and fluid and dextrous bass part, that it just finishes it off. Not only do I have so much respect for him as a player, but he’s such a lovely man. Such a generous guy. He was so generous with his time. We had such a great time visiting together and hanging out for an afternoon, talking about his past and basses. Really considerate dude. Really, I just can’t say enough good things about him,” Geddy Lee told Rolling Stone.
Rush curiously was called the “Canadian Led Zeppelin” after the release of their debut album which was quite heavy. People also used to compare Geddy’s vocals with Robert Plant.
Les Claypool
Another bass player that he likes and is a good friend of is Les Claypool, the frontman of Primus. The American band, which like Rush, is also a power trio, was formed in El Sobrante, California back in 1984. Their debut album “Frizzle Fry” was released six years later, in 1990. One year later, they put out the praised “Sailing the Seas of Cheese” (1991) which helped them to become Rush’s opening act in 1992.
Geddy recalled in an interview with Rolling Stone how he had the chance to get to know them. “I didn’t really know much about them until just before they started touring with us. Somebody had sent me their records and we listened to them, and [asked] about them coming out on tour with us. I loved how wacky they were. It wasn’t until we toured together that I really got to know his playing. (I) saw how creative and adventurous a player he was. Very, very, very different from anything I’ve seen.”
Geddy Lee continued:
“There’s no one like him (Les Claypool). Nobody plays like Les. He was a big Rush fan. So he’d be always talking about Rush songs, and, ‘How did [you] play this?’ ‘How did [you] play that?’ I was equally interested in how he was playing. (Also) how he got that rhythmic style,” Geddy Lee said.
Curiously, during the same interview Geddy revealed that Les’ bass playing influenced him. According to him, in the 90s he felt like he needed to evolve his technique.
“He (Les) actually influenced me as a player to try to push the boundaries of my rhythmic abilities. I would say that tour I did with Primus was transformational for me.”
From 2021 to 2022, Primus launched a tour called “A Tribute To Kings” and they performed the Rush album “A Farewell to Kings” in its entirety. Geddy gave them his blessing and said it was an impressive performance and a real tribute.
Jeff Berlin
The final bassist mentioned by Geddy Lee was Jeff Berlin, who first gained notoriety as a member of Bruford, group led by the drummer Bill Bruford (Yes, King Crimson and more). Berlin has a prolific solo career but also worked with many artists as a session musician. Some of them are Allan Holdsworth, Herbie Mann and Richie Kotzen.
Geddy had the chance to meet Jeff Berlin when he was in the United Kingdom and the band Bruford was playing in a club. Although he was a huge fan of Jeff’s playing, Geddy said that watching him live was even better and “knocked” him out.
“He used all his fingers, and he could play like a Spanish guitarist on a flamenco guitar. He could turn that bass into so many different things. His playing really affected me,” he told Rolling Stone.
