Top 105 Best Bass Songs in Musical History

This might be a strange list of great bass playing to some. But to me, they are some of the best bass songs in musical history. But, I do tend to come at it from a different angle than some others.

I am not one of these people who like to hear some bass ‘soloist’ rattling away for ten minutes, slapping and screaming and sliding all on his own.

All About the Bass

To me, rightly or wrongly, depending on your viewpoint, that isn’t what bass playing is all about. In my list, you will hear some bass players playing fast. But, it is within the context of the songs. It adds to the music and, of course, the rhythm; it isn’t a ‘look at me aren’t I good’ trip.

There are some supreme jazz talents where that ego doesn’t apply, and the speed and creative effects work. Indian bassist Mohini Dey is one of them.

Jazz and everything else influenced, she is quite sensational to listen to. But always in context with the other great musicians, she surrounds herself with.

Try Taking It Away

The bass guitar can be almost overlooked at times. It is often in the background and is not the instrument with the highest profile. Most bass players are quite happy with that. 

But try taking it away and see what happens. You’ve got a potential disaster on your hands. Or a ‘train wreck’ as the absence of the bass was once described to me.

Life without the low-end…

We can live without the drums in some cases, and keyboards can be left out. Even those ‘over-the-top’ guitar players with three hundred effects pedals aren’t missed. We can probably do without a lot of them anyway. A rock band can survive without them all. But take the bass out. I don’t think so.

There have been songs where the bass has joined the party late. “All Right Now” by Free comes to mind. Andy wasn’t on the verses, played simply and straight in the chorus, but then we got to Paul’s solo. A masterclass of what the bass can do to a song. 

A Crucial Role

That is exactly what it has, a crucial role. The bass sits or should sit with the drummer and help to provide the rhythm and keep the tempo. They are the link that is required between drums and everyone else. Rhythm with notes.

The bass may play countermelodies that make a song instantly recognizable. They may add harmonic value to a chorus or verse or even a guitar solo. 

Sometimes, the bass will play a fill that makes a song stand out. Occasionally, it will play a solo in the middle of the song. But, it is usually brief and in context.

The Defining Role

And then, sometimes, the bass will have the defining role. It may start it, it may just be playing the riff or the most recognizable part. But, it is usually played straight, with no fancy licks. Solid as a rock bass playing. Johnny Deacon was excellent at that.

So, let’s bring the bass player out of the shadows and recognize his enormous contribution to a range of musical styles. And speaking of John Deacon, let’s start with him.

Top 105 Best Bass Songs in Musical History

1

Another One Bites The Dust by Queen

Bass by John Deacon

A song with an instantly recognizable bass line that was actually the song. John had this idea lying around for a long time before they finally got around to recording it. It might not be as well known or as respected as some of their other tracks, but it became their biggest seller.

Most were surprised that it was so popular in a variety of genres, one of which was the disco/funk scene. It took its share of criticism in that it was accused of “backmasking.” 

That is the process of supposedly hiding subliminal messages. Some allege you can only hear them when they are played backward. This claim was from a group of Christian evangelists clearly with too much time on their hands.

John’s Involvement

John’s contribution to the track extended to more than just the writing. He played bass, of course, but also guitar and piano, and added handclaps. There were no synthesizers used, even though it sounds like they were used in parts.

Once all the sounds were created using guitars, piano, and drums, they were processed through a harmonizer to create a swirling ‘Leslie’ Type effect.

On Vocals

Originally, the song was sung by Freddie, and the first live performances had Freddie with Paul Taylor singing the chorus. In the end, they didn’t require a lead vocal on the chorus as the audience sang it for them. A great example of how a simple bass pattern can carry and even make a song.

2

What Is and What Should Never Be (Remaster) by Led Zeppelin

Bass By John Paul Jones

If ever there was a musician in a band who was rather underrated, it is John Paul Jones. But certainly not underrated by those who understood and appreciated his contribution. He played just about every instrument placed in front of him. And, you could argue, he contributed far more than other members of the band musically. 

Bonham indeed had an enormous, legendary drum sound. It is also true that Jimmy Page could “play a bit.” But John Paul Jones did so much more than just play his bass.

What To Choose?

The hard part is choosing one track that demonstrates what he did. It was too hard, so I chose two, and the other one will come a bit later.

On this track…

The verse opens with some typically creative bass work underneath Plant’s vocals. Busy, but in some ways understated. It just weaves its patterns until we get to the next phase. 

It gets typically heavy, but he doesn’t just pound the strings as some might. He’s hitting hard, but there are plenty of notes and counter-rhythms working with Bonham’s blistering drums. 

Into the final phase, Page is driving the riff, and Bonham is making holes in things. But underneath, the bass is playing the riff with Page but just bubbling around the outside as well. A masterclass and a song that certainly made me evaluate what I was doing with the instrument.

3

All My Loving (Remastered) by The Beatles

Bass by Paul McCartney

“Are you sure?” I hear you say. Most definitely, I answer. While I am not McCartney’s biggest fan, you cannot help but recognize his role within the greatest band there has ever been. His bass playing is sometimes very ordinary, other times exceptional. This is one of his special offerings and the first of a couple we shall look at.

It is a plain and simple love song he wrote for his then-girlfriend Jane Asher. But, the bass line helps create a very special feel, which makes it one of the best bass songs.

The Bass Gives The Song Its Energy

I have heard the track without the bass, and it is a different song. With the bass, it comes alive. Its stylization and occasional harmony notes give it a ‘walking-jazz bass’ feel. Most of the notes are consecutive and scale-like in how he constructs his bass lines. 

But, that is what is necessary for this song. It works perfectly with a couple of jangling guitars that, without it, just hang in the air. It is the sort of bassline you might expect a musician of some years standing to construct. Not someone of 22 years of age with, at this stage, limited experience.

Despite the genre gap with today’s music, it is a song new bass players should listen to and understand what he is playing and, more importantly, why.

4

My Generation by The Who

Bass by John Entwhistle

I couldn’t write this list of the best bass songs without including old ‘Thunderfingers.’ John was an enigma to some. He didn’t like being called a bass player. “I am a bass guitarist,” he would say. Certainly, his style was unconventional, to say the least.

John and Keith would play “all over the place” at times. It was only Pete Townshend keeping it all within limits with his chord playing that stopped it from descending into total chaos. Nevertheless, at times it still did.

He Was a Soloist

That is the only way to describe him. He soloed his way through most songs. There was a joke that Pete wrote “Magic Bus” to shut him up. That song had only a straight ‘C’ from start to finish.

Whether his individuality and style are good or bad is open to conjecture. But it worked with The Who. It couldn’t have been done with anybody else. And when Keith left us, no one could take his place, and John was left a bit high and dry in Who performances. 

The reincarnation of the Who with Zack Starkey still allowed John freedoms, but maybe not as much as he had before.

To my knowledge…

This was the first rock song to include a bass guitar solo. It was arranged and created and wasn’t just an improvised thing that changed dramatically every time he played it. He knew what he was doing and played it in almost the same way every time.

An influential bass solo at the time and one that is still talked about today.

5

Dear Prudence (Remastered 2009) by The Beatles

Bass by Paul McCartney

 “Dear Prudence” was one of several songs that were demoed at George Harrison’s house in Esher for the White Album. This was in May 1968, when upheavals in the band were beginning to show their ugly side.

It includes a bass line that was added when the track was finally recorded at Trident Studios in London. McCartney was elsewhere on the day the demo of “Dear Prudence” was laid down. Therefore, another improvised bass line was added at the time. The basis of that bass line was what was used in the studio by Paul.

A bit of divine intervention?

Considering the fraught atmosphere, it was a miracle it turned out so well on the final cut. Ringo had walked out, threatening to quit in an argument over the “Back in the USSR” track, and Paul had to play drums. 

The bass was added at the end. George’s new Fender Telecaster was laid over as an extra guitar track.

An Interesting Bass Performance

From a bass viewpoint, it is an interesting track. It is unlike anything Paul had played before. As I mentioned, the basis of the song was put down at George’s house in his absence. He overdubbed the bass at Trident.

When you hear the song today, the bass line is one of the stand-out performances and lifts the track. Slides, single note beats, and declines are all included. 

As I said, some of it is a complete diversion from what you might expect from Paul’s playing. Nevertheless, a great track enhanced by a creative bass.

6

Ramble On (Remaster) by Led Zeppelin

Bass by John Paul Jones

As promised, back to John Paul Jones for another demonstration of how much the bass can affect a song in the right hands. When Led Zeppelin II came out, their future as one of the world’s biggest bands was assured. 

Before they became legends…

A few musician friends of mine and I would go out. We would go to the back room of a large pub on a Sunday evening in Southall, West London. It was known for the quality of the bands. Zeppelin played it a few times about the time of the release of the first album.

To a young impressionable bass player John Paul Jones seemed like he was playing another instrument at times. He didn’t do the conventional things. This song is a typical example. He loved to create his harmonic patterns behind Plant’s gentler vocals. He did it on the first Zeppelin track we looked at. And he does it again here, but in a much more melodic way.

When The Time Comes

But, when it’s time to let rip, then he does so. The great speedy bass pattern behind Plant’s chorus dovetails perfectly with Bonham’s great drumming. Both of them hit the accents perfectly. If young bass players want to learn to play properly, then listen to this.

7

Badge from The Very Best of Cream by Cream

Bass by Jack Bruce

Never having been a fan of either the guitarist or the drummer, I tended not to listen to Cream more than I had to. However, I did make an exception when Jack Bruce was taking a major role. He certainly did on this song. That’s why it’s on my list of the best bass songs.

They are remembered as much for their addiction problems as they are for their music. And that, at times on stage, could be wild and over-improvised. However, “Badge” was one of the simpler, easier to listen to songs.

Curtain calls…

It was one of the band’s last singles before they broke up and did reasonably well in the UK chart. But, what is more important is Bruce’s great bass riff. 

It is a haunting piece that dominates the song, and in my eyes, makes it worth listening to. It sounds quite easy but listen closely. There is a bit more to this than you first hear, and it reveals Jack’s training as a jazz player.

8

The Chain (2004 Remaster) by Fleetwood Mac

Bass by John McVie

For me, one of the great tracks from what is a great album. Is there a better-known bass riff than this? Possibly just one, which I shall include later. 

Rumours was released in 1977 and was a worldwide hit album. Made amidst the fallout of internal troubles, it stands as a testimony to how good they were. It seems incredible that it was that long ago. This is an interesting song because it is one of the few that has writing credits for all the band’s members.

A little bit of this, a little bit of that…

It is a mishmash of previous written and unreleased music from the band and the members as individuals. They were all strung together to make what I happen to think is a very atmospheric track. But it is the ending, isn’t it? That is what we all listen for.

On the album, it is a great finish to the song. On stage, it is often a monster of a finish to the concert. Not particularly hard to play the notes. But it’s not easy to make it sound like he does. A great bass line and another that a song is remembered for the influence of the bass in music.

9

All Right Now by Free

Bass by Andy Fraser

I have already mentioned the song once, so just a brief comment. One of the great rock songs of the late 60s and early 70s, it catapulted Free to worldwide attention. As I said earlier, the bass is missing from the verses and played in a laid-back way in the chorus. 

But it takes control when the break comes for Paul Kossoff’s solo. Paul plays well, but the listener is constantly drawn to Andy’s repetitive bass riff. A good example of the impact a bass guitar can have is when it suddenly appears. Also, how the bass can transform a song with creative playing.

10

Roundabout (2008 Remaster) by Yes

Bass by Chris Squire

Were Yes the first progressive Rock Band? Possibly. If you listen to Rush in later years, you can hear so much of Yes in what they did. And Geddy Lee’s bass playing may well have been influenced by Chris Squire from Yes.

One of my personal favorites players, mainly because I found his bass work quite scary. I used to wonder how on earth he could play like that. I went to see them a few times and was none the wiser. He could be a force of nature, but also a sensitive, classically-influenced bassman.

Not At All Fragile

This track came from the album Fragile, but it is hardly that. If many people had to pick a song that typified the early Progressive Rock scene, this would be a contender. This is stuff we had never heard before. Intertwining all of the rock, jazz, and classical influences that the band had within them.

Chris played a Rickenbacker 1999, which was the cheaper ‘mono-only’ version of the iconic 4001 on this track. But he wired it up to be stereo and used two amps. One amp could never have dealt with it.

Fast and Furious

That it certainly is, but always in context with what else was going on. It opens with Steve Howe at his classical sensitive best and turned upside down by Chris’s Rickenbacker. Growling like an angry dog that is going to rip your head off. What a sound and what a bass line. 

It is a virtuoso performance that, at times defies the laws of physics. One of the great bass players demonstrating what he could do.

11

Come Together (Remastered 2009) by The Beatles

Bass by Paul McCartney

What bass line is possibly more recognizable than Fleetwood Mac’s “The Chain”? “Here Come Old Flat Top.” The words that along with one of the most distinctive bass lines on any song, announce the arrival of this classic. 

A realization…

Considering I don’t think Mr. McCartney was that great a bass player, perhaps I should rethink. This, after all, is the third of his I have included here. He created things on the bass that no one else did and, at the time, probably could. This is a great example. And another song where the bass is everything. 

McCartney always had this ability to create particularly melodic bass contributions. This one, though, makes it, in my opinion, the best bass line of them all.

Simple Songs

The Beatles mainly wrote simple songs. It was often the additions that made them exceptional. This song is made exceptional by the bass. And, of course, the way it changes adds another level to the song.

We have that bass line, but then in the middle and at the end, he transforms the feeling of the song. He does this by going to a straight four under John’s solo in the middle and again under George’s outgoing solo. 

This is no accident. This is the mark of a very good bass player, playing with the music and creating his lines for the benefit of the song. Mention must be made of Ringo’s creative drumming that adds that bit extra.

Diverting For A Moment

An interesting side story for this song is that it was originally going to be written to support Timothy Leary’s bid to become Governor of California. “Come Together” was the election slogan. That all fell apart when Leary was imprisoned for cannabis, and the track found its way onto Abbey Road.

Even after all that, it’s still one of the most recognizable bass riffs ever and a classic in my book.

12

Good Times by Chic

13

Super Freak by Rick James

14

Brick House by Commodores

15

Under Pressure by Queen & David Bowie

16

Money by Pink Floyd

17

Another Brick in the Wall, Pt. 2 by Pink Floyd

18

Billie Jean by Michael Jackson

19

Stand By Me by Ben E. King

20

Sweet Child O’ Mine by Guns N’ Roses

21

Longview by Green Day

22

Higher Ground by Stevie Wonder

23

Anesthesia (Pulling Teeth) by Metallica

24

Jerry Was a Race Car Driver by Primus

25

Low Rider by War

26

The Lemon Song by Led Zeppelin

27

Black Dog by Led Zeppelin

28

Seven Nation Army by The White Stripes

29

I Want You Back by The Jackson 5

30

Tom Sawyer by Rush

31

Hysteria by Muse

32

Portrait of Tracy by Jaco Pastorius

33

Sir Duke by Stevie Wonder

34

Around the World by Daft Punk

35

Master Blaster (Jammin’) by Stevie Wonder

36

YYZ by Rush

37

Forget Me Nots by Patrice Rushen

38

Higher Love by Steve Winwood

39

Long Train Runnin’ by The Doobie Brothers

40

Teen Town by Weather Report

41

Reach Out (I’ll Be There) by The Four Tops

42

For Whom the Bell Tolls by Metallica

43

A-Punk by Vampire Weekend

44

Flash Light by Parliament

45

Roundabout by Yes

46

When Doves Cry by Prince

47

Green Onions by Booker T. & the M.G.’s

48

La Grange by ZZ Top

49

Love Rollercoaster by Ohio Players

50

Master of Puppets by Metallica

More 55 The Best Bass Songs

51. 51. Ace of Spades by Motörhead
    52. Higher and Higher by Jackie Wilson
    53. Seinfeld Theme by Jonathan Wolff
    54. The Message by Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five
    55. My Name Is Mud by Primus
    56. Stand by Me by Ben E. King
    57. Heart of the Sunrise by Yes
    58. Spoonman by Soundgarden
    59. Limelight by Rush
    60. So What by Miles Davis
    61. Time Is Running Out by Muse
    62. The Boys Are Back in Town by Thin Lizzy
    63. The Beautiful Ones by Prince
    64. Jamiroquai by Virtual Insanity
    65. Rapper’s Delight by The Sugarhill Gang
    66. What’s Going On by Marvin Gaye
    67. Santeria by Sublime
    68. Give Up the Funk (Tear the Roof off the Sucker) by Parliament
    69. No More Tears by Ozzy Osbourne
    70. Schizophrenia by Sonic Youth
    71. Are You Gonna Be My Girl by Jet
    72. Come As You Are by Nirvana
    73. Funk #49 by James Gang
    74. Brain Stew by Green Day
    75. In Bloom by Nirvana
    76. The Ocean by Led Zeppelin
    77. Sledgehammer by Peter Gabriel
    78. Aeroplane by Red Hot Chili Peppers
    79. Flashlight by Parliament
    80. Got to Be Real by Cheryl Lynn
    81. Maggot Brain by Funkadelic
    82. Another Brick in the Wall (Part II) by Pink Floyd
    83. The Pot by Tool
    84. The Chicken by Jaco Pastorius
    85. I Got You (I Feel Good) by James Brown
    86. Misunderstood by Dream Theater
    87. Bassically by John Entwistle
    88. The Low Spark of High-Heeled Boys by Traffic
    89. The Love You Save by The Jackson 5
    90. Got to Get You into My Life by The Beatles
    91. Thundercat by Them Changes
    92. Miss You by The Rolling Stones
    93. Don’t Stop ‘Til You Get Enough by Michael Jackson
    94. Uptown Funk by Mark Ronson ft. Bruno Mars
    95. Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin) by Sly & The Family Stone
    96. My Girl by The Temptations
    97. Bad Guy by Billie Eilish
    98. La Villa Strangiato by Rush
    99. Take the Power Back by Rage Against the Machine
    100. Smooth Criminal by Michael Jackson
    101. Cissy Strut by The Meters
    102. Just the Two of Us by Bill Withers and Grover Washington Jr.
    103. Golden Years by David Bowie
    104. Electric Avenue by Eddy Grant
    105. Green-Eyed Lady by Sugarloaf

Looking for the Best of the Best in Music?

We have you covered. Take a look at our comprehensive articles on Country Singers with Deep Voices, the Best Metal Drummers of All Time, the Best Rock Drummers of All Time, the Best Jazz Musicians of All Time, and Famous Saxophone Musicians You Should Know for more amazing music.

The Best Bass Songs

The songs on this list are not just good performances by bass players. They are songs where the bass player has made a significant difference to the music with their lines. And in some cases, actually made the song. And, please bear in mind there are plenty I have missed.

There is something unique about the bottom end of the frequency range. You not only hear it, you feel it. And that is often the difference in any genre of music. So sit back, turn up the volume and enjoy some great bass playing.

Until next time, it’s all bout the bass.