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Geddy Lee Or John Paul Jones?


RUSHHEAD666
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Geddy Lee V. John Paul Jones!   

49 members have voted

  1. 1. Who Is The Best Bassist/Keyboardist/Bass Pedalist?

    • John Paul Jones
      10
    • Geddy Lee! He Can Sing Too! (Although The Masses Say He Can't!)
      39


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Finally cracked the seal on my "Celebration Day Zep Blu-Ray and I am totally blown away so far.

 

I always knew that John Paul Jones was an incredible bassist but man he can play those damn keys and bass pedals too!

 

I saw John in Them Crooked Vultures and he blew me away!

 

Anyway who is a better keyboard player/bassist/bass pedalist?

 

 

Of course many of you are Geddy Biased and that's understandable on on Rush Forum.

 

Perhaps I should join a Zeppelin Forum and ask the same question but you know I won't.

 

Geddy is a f u c k i n g genius, but John Paul Jones came first. I can't believe how young John looks! Even in 2012!

 

The irony for me is that I always thought that Jimmy Page, Robert Plant and John Bonham stole the show, I mean the "Limelight."

 

JPJ is the most underrated bass player in the world! JMO

 

 

As much as I love Geddy Lee, I have to give a vote to John Paul Jones.

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Damn it! Why must you ask such questions? Now I have to provide answers, in opinion form, of course.

 

As amazing as Geddy is, as much as I love his voice and playing, I have to vote for JPJ. He was in a band of such immense talent (as is Rush) that his contribution is often overlooked. JPJ may be the finest musician to ever play in the genre. :unsure: No Quarter.

 

Why must you ask such questions and force me to choose against Geddy! ;)

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Jonesy is the better keyboard player, but as an overall bassist, gotta go with Ged. But man, JPJ is my second favorite bassist behind Geddy.

 

I watched Celebration Day on Christmas and I sat there for two hours with my eyes open wide and my jaw on the floor.

 

Such a shame they've (*cough* Robert *cough*) declined to tour one last time, but that's a whole other can of worms.

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I'd pick Geddy, easily, and his added singing ability has nothing to do with my choice. Instrumentally alone, he's better. Maybe Jones is the slightly better keyboardist, but Geddy's bass-playing ability is WAY better than JPJ.
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JPJ is a great on many instruments. Dude has a triple neck mandolin/mandola/octave mandolin for Pete's sake and plays the living hell out of it. Slide bass. Bass. Keys. Pedals. He's just a different beast than Geddy. The Lemon Song is the greasiest, nastiest bass work ever. And with a name like John Paul Jones he could, like, be a ship captain too.
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Okay, I just can't my big mouth shut on this one...

 

As a multi-instrumentalist, I'd give the nod to Jonesy, but not by much. The guy can play anything.

 

But, over-all, Geddy kills everyone. Remember, back in the 70s, long before sequencing and any "cheating" was part of the live gig, Geddy used to play bass (and very complex bass, in fact), keyboards, Taurus pedals, and he'd sing LEAD VOCAL too. And, he did this ALL AT THE SAME TIME. I remember seeing the AFT Kings tour in '77 and asking my friend, "How in the hell does he do all that at the same time without going mental?" And, he was only 24 then... Oh, I forgot to mention that played a fair amount of guitar then too, by way of the double-neck Rickenbacker bass/guitar.

 

I think Geddy could own JPJ on just bass playing alone, but when you factor in all of the things he did AT THE SAME TIME, it'd be hard not to vote for the "skinny kid from Willowdale with the high voice."

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I'd pick Geddy, easily, and his added singing ability has nothing to do with my choice. Instrumentally alone, he's better. Maybe Jones is the slightly better keyboardist, but Geddy's bass-playing ability is WAY better than JPJ.

Slightly?
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Okay, I just can't my big mouth shut on this one...

 

As a multi-instrumentalist, I'd give the nod to Jonesy, but not by much. The guy can play anything.

 

But, over-all, Geddy kills everyone. Remember, back in the 70s, long before sequencing and any "cheating" was part of the live gig, Geddy used to play bass (and very complex bass, in fact), keyboards, Taurus pedals, and he'd sing LEAD VOCAL too. And, he did this ALL AT THE SAME TIME. I remember seeing the AFT Kings tour in '77 and asking my friend, "How in the hell does he do all that at the same time without going mental?" And, he was only 24 then... Oh, I forgot to mention that played a fair amount of guitar then too, by way of the double-neck Rickenbacker bass/guitar.

 

I think Geddy could own JPJ on just bass playing alone, but when you factor in all of the things he did AT THE SAME TIME, it'd be hard not to vote for the "skinny kid from Willowdale with the high voice."

:goodone:
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. I only rank John Entwistle, Chris Squire, and maybe Paul McCartney ahead of Geddy as greatest bassists in rock history.

 

 

You obviously don't play bass! Or you're joking?

 

Not joking at all. But my opinion isn't just based on technical ability, although that's a primary factor. Of course I'm not suggesting that Paul McCartney is a faster, more proficient bass player than Geddy. I assume that is what you found absurd about my statement? I put Entwistle ahead of Geddy because you don't have Geddy without Entwistle, which Geddy himself has suggested. I put Squire right alongside Geddy, but maybe one step ahead because of Squire's iconic bass lines and superb sense of melody. I put McCartney up there because he wrote such memorable, melodic bass parts that influenced a generation. And one could argue that McCartney deserves to be in the discussion because, well, he was the bass player for The Beatles!

 

But that's just my perspective. And yes, I am a musician.

 

All that aside, I'm being swayed by Thunder Bay Rush's argument above.

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well JPJ's probably a better keyboard player (Geddy himself might be the first to agree) but you can't convince me that he's better on bass guitar.

 

I've never seen anyone play such complicated bass lines so effortlessly even while doing other things at the same time. (like singing Neil's wordy lyrics or having a conversation with the guitarist lol)

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. I only rank John Entwistle, Chris Squire, and maybe Paul McCartney ahead of Geddy as greatest bassists in rock history.

 

 

You obviously don't play bass! Or you're joking?

 

Not joking at all. But my opinion isn't just based on technical ability, although that's a primary factor. Of course I'm not suggesting that Paul McCartney is a faster, more proficient bass player than Geddy. I assume that is what you found absurd about my statement? I put Entwistle ahead of Geddy because you don't have Geddy without Entwistle, which Geddy himself has suggested. I put Squire right alongside Geddy, but maybe one step ahead because of Squire's iconic bass lines and superb sense of melody. I put McCartney up there because he wrote such memorable, melodic bass parts that influenced a generation. And one could argue that McCartney deserves to be in the discussion because, well, he was the bass player for The Beatles!

 

But that's just my perspective. And yes, I am a musician.

 

All that aside, I'm being swayed by Thunder Bay Rush's argument above.

 

yes, I agree McCartney deserves to be mentioned here but because he was in the Beatles? that's a bad reason in my book. I think Paul McCartney had very creative and memorable bass lines. very under-rated as a bass player. (I say under-rated because he was popular because he was in the Beatles, not because he was a good on bass..)

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This topic brings to mind for me a key difference I often think about between these two - what I will call their presence within the sound of the band. A somewhat unique thing about Geddy and Rush, and something I love, is how forward the bass often is in the mix, and how much the bass is often an integral part of a song. It's right there, up front, providing another layer right alongside the guitar, or sometimes even taking the lead instead of the guitar. With JPJ and Zeppelin, you may chalk it up to just being a different time, different methods of production, a difference of his personality, whatever, but the fact is that in so many songs JPJ is just completely buried in the mix, and I often have to struggle to try to hear what he's even playing. Now, with Zeppelin being what it is and with Jimmy Page on guitar, you can say that's inevitable, and you'd have a point. Even in Them Crooked Vultures, he does some great work, but you often have to hunt for it to even hear it. It may just be that he prefers to stay more in the background and follow the more traditional bass player role. I don't know. But to me, it's an important point.
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John Paul Jones is a tremendous musician and I have a lot of respect for him. Honestly Geddy and Paul comparisons are apples and oranges to me.
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