Bassists Who Never Were

Posted by Benjamin on June 4, 2010 Filed under: bassguitar, video tagged: borisborisboris

A bit of Friday fun! So, we here a lot about famous bassists… You know the names! But what about the famous non-bassists? Which famous people out there are actually closet bassists? Can we out a few of them?!?

Someone forwarded me this video, which is a mash up of audio from London’s world-famous Mayor, Boris Johnson. It is now on the front page of Youtube’s UK music chart (All proceeds to Macmillan Cancer Care). Boris Johnson vs 2 Anonymous DJs contains, towards the end, the startling revolution that Boris was actually, well nearly, a bassist!

“A guy who was in a band, said listen, I think you have the makings of a bass guitarist. And he gave me a bass guitar and I spent a long time mastering Smoke on the Water, but nothing else. But it was a disaster”

So close! Any other famous bassists who never were?

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24 Responses to “Bassists Who Never Were”

Scott "Bass Scales" Olewiler, on June 7th, 2010 at 7:41 PM Said:

What about Governor Mike Huckabee, he’s a bassist who never was famous, or is that not the same thing? I guess not.
Benjamin, on June 7th, 2010 at 8:47 PM Said:

LOL… I’ll have to go look him up
bassguitarblog (Bass Guitar Blog), on June 7th, 2010 at 8:48 PM Said:

You must know some more non-famous famous bassists: http://bassguitarblog.com/2010/06/bassists-who-never-were/
Andy Long, on June 7th, 2010 at 9:06 PM Said:

How about Keanu Reeves and his band Dogstar?
Flemming Dørken, on June 7th, 2010 at 9:14 PM Said:

There’s also Malcolm Jamal-Warner from the Cosby Show and Gary Sinise aka. Lieutenant Dan from Forest Gump
Keanu Reeves too.
But based on the reply above, I may be misunderstanding the concept of ‘bassists that never were’ as well…
Evert Albers, on June 8th, 2010 at 7:55 AM Said:

The yield with bass players will never be as good as with e.g. sax or guitar players.

Bass players are not the type of people who want to be up-front, thus less likely to become famous.

I know lots of excellent designers and copywriters playing bass, though.
Sonicfrog, on June 11th, 2010 at 4:22 PM Said:

Ben:

This is probably a bit off topic, (OK, it’s totally off topic) but I wrote a post about nervousness and being on stage – Pink Champaign On The Ceiling, Pink Champaign On Ice. I wonder if you have any stories to share? I’ll link them to my post if you want.

Thanks in advance.

Mike aka Sonicfrog.
Lisa | Guitar Madness, on June 21st, 2010 at 6:44 AM Said:

OMG, there are so many closet bassists!
Darenn Rosse, on June 29th, 2010 at 6:42 PM Said:

Bassist, keep the harmony!

I found the nice information from this article and the video.
Vintagegibson, on June 30th, 2010 at 11:43 AM Said:

Haha.Nice post.I saw someone mentioned Keanu?
Trevor R, on July 8th, 2010 at 10:53 PM Said:

And who could forget Tom the Cat on doghouse bass?

http://scottthong.files.wordpress.com/2006/11/solidserenadeyoutube2.JPG?w=450&h=330
Zach, on July 19th, 2010 at 11:41 AM Said:

True, most bassists don’t get/like the lime light. But there are excellent bassists like Billy Sheehan from Mr. Big(the band doesnt exist now I guess) who knows how to grab the center stage.
Steven, on July 20th, 2010 at 7:58 AM Said:

Mark Strong (British actor in Stardust, Sherlock Holmes and RocknRolla) is another one. Used to play bass in a punk band in school, apparently. He wanted a career in music but ended up going into acting instead.
Ross, on July 29th, 2010 at 7:22 PM Said:

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nexusvision on youtube, on July 31st, 2010 at 9:00 PM Said:

I know some great ones who have somehow avoided the spotlight I’ll list them, we might know who they are….but the general public no.

1. Jerry Barnes- Chic

2. Nate Phillips – Pleasure

3. Gary Grainger – Scofield and Pockets(70s)

4. Buddy Hankerson – Slave

5. Aaron Mills – Cameo

6. Thomas Rissell (DKMarlowe on youtube) Playbassnow.com – Teacher

7, Anthony Wellington – Victor Wooten – Teacher
Benjamin, on August 2nd, 2010 at 8:17 AM Said:

Ross, that link didn’t work.

@nexusvision – Nice list, I shall go and check them out – I know of Thomas Rissell – he’s pretty prolific with his youtube videos!
Olli, on August 23rd, 2010 at 9:03 PM Said:

Hey. Great blog! Love this article. I got a bass blog too at http://thefatbass.wordpress.com. Check it out if you’re interested.
Chris_A, on December 10th, 2010 at 7:30 PM Said:

Hulk Hogan!
Sonicfrog, on December 15th, 2010 at 1:00 AM Said:

Hey Ben… You still around? Been awful quite. Are you becoming a bassist who never was?

(joking aside, hope everything is OK)

Mike aka Sonicfrog.
Benjamin, on December 21st, 2010 at 11:16 PM Said:

Still alive I WILL start blogging again so… I promise!
Benjamin, on December 21st, 2010 at 11:16 PM Said:

Seriously? Tell me more!?
Sonicfrog, on December 22nd, 2010 at 1:06 AM Said:

Ben, I’m getting ready to do a charity gig for Valley Children’s Hospital here in Fresno. I wrote a quick post for it. Wonder if you’ve done any charity gig’s you’d like to share?

Here’s my post.

Mike aka Sonicfrog.
Dexter, on June 16th, 2011 at 9:26 AM Said:

I once heard Lenny Kaye, guitarist in the Patti Smith Group, describe himself as the world’s best bass player.
Benjamin, on May 8th, 2012 at 10:25 PM Said:

Haha! Well, there you go!