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Michael Anthony: My top 3 bass players of all time
Van Halen, Chickenfoot bassist reveals influences
Joe Bosso, Wed 4 Mar 2009, 2:20 pm UTC
3. Jack Bruce - Cream
"This is hard. As much as I love John Entwhistle, Jack Bruce and his work with Cream really got me into the three-man concept where you didn't need a rhythm guitar player; you didn't need a keyboard player; all you needed were three guys and a singer - and maybe one of them could be the singer!
"With Cream, they had this telepathy that was unbelievable, the communication. Jack Bruce really showed me that you could go anywhere with a bass part, and as long as you stayed in time, as long as you held down the groove, the door was wide open.
"Everything off the first record, Fresh Cream, blew me away. Their version of Spoonful - it's a masterpiece. Each member was a soloist, but they responded to one another; there was nothing disjointed about it. It wasn't just people going off."
"I remember when Fresh Cream came out, I was starting to jam with other guitar players at this point, and Jack's influence really paid off. Guitar players who I was playing with realized we could do it all by ourselves - we didn't need another guitar player. That probably helped prepare me for Van Halen. A bassist has to be the bedrock, just like a drummer, but that doesn't mean you can't tell a story in your own right - you just have to know when the time is right."
"If young bass players want to learn taste, restraint, but tricky ways to be musical, they should check out these guys. They might be surprised by what they find."
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