These lists are usually pretty lame. Several years back, I participated quite a bit on the rankings on the digitaldreamdoor.com website. Its a vast site with ranking about almost everything connected with music and a lot of fun to spend some time on its pages. I was quite influential on the bass pages. When I got there...John Entwistle [[ a great player in his own right) was ranked #1 on the bass page and Jamerson #6. In the ensuing year or two, we debated the topic using actual criteria [[which is usually missing on these hastily put together "popularity" lists)... The criteria was based on several factors...Influence, innovation, versatility, technical ability, and originality... We had serious discussions, debates, and dialogue. Ultimately, I got Jamerson put on the top [[#1) spot, and through a few revisions...remains there...however, in these discussions, one often has to open their mind to new ideas and musical styles to be fair minded and objective and listen to a lot of stuff one wouldn't ordinarily listen to. In the end, Jamerson came out on top in the areas of influence, innovation, and originality. There were certainly players who had greater technical skill and versatility...but Jamersons creativity, influence, and innovation carried the day. McCarthy is MASSIVELY influential, true utilizing much of the syncopated style he learned from Jamerson, but so many players claim Macca as their biggest influence. We looked at all of this quite seriously and as I mentioned...people were compelled to open their minds to various genres of "rock" bass guitar playing. Attached is the final rankings that were tweaked quite a bit over the years...
https://digitaldreamdoor.com/pages/best_bassguitar.html
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