He was a phenomenal bassist who could trade riffs with Tony Iommi and a writer of rare elegance who had the vision to write about themes that were hitherto unexplored. He was also responsible for the dark, doom-heavy direction they started to take. I would like to flip the axiom, “If there ain’t Black Sabbath, there ain’t heavy metal” to “If there ain’t Geezer, there ain’t Black Sabbath.” Such was his influence in the band. Geezer Butler - Black Sabbathįor most of the Ozzy years of Black Sabbath, Geezer Butler was their primary songwriter. Sample his wizardry in songs like ‘Jailbreak’, ‘The Boys Are Back In Town’, ‘Cowboy Song’, ‘Bad Reputation’ and the beautiful, mind-blowing rendition of ‘Whiskey In The Jar’, a traditional Irish ballad. Phil Lynott just didn’t write most of their songs he was also the band’s primary composer. Later bands like Metallica, Testament and Alice In Chains drew a lot of inspiration from Thin Lizzy’s music and Lynott’s lyrics.
Though not hugely popular as a band in their playing days, Lynott’s writing and influence steadily grew over time.
And the credit duly goes to Phil Lynott, their talismanic band-leader, bassist and primary songwriter. Among them, Thin Lizzy sits right on top of the pantheon. Ireland has produced many awe-inspiring groups. In addition to being the band’s bassist, Roger Waters’s lyrical flourishes are seen across their most brilliant records in the ’70s: Meddle, Dark Side Of The Moon, Wish You Were Here, Animals and The Wall. Which encompassed a new, psychedelic soundscape and prog-influenced song structures and poignant lyrics that embraced themes such as isolation, death, madness, war and politics. Roger Waters took over the reins after Syd Barrett’s departure, and was instrumental in creating the new Pink Floyd sound. With songwriting credits split with John Lennon in most of their material, Paul’s contribution to songs like ‘Blackbird,’ ‘The Long And Winding Road,’ ‘Hey Jude,’ ‘Let It Be’ and ‘Yesterday,’ and later, in the material he created for Wings, stand testimony to his masterful, troubadorial skills. He wrote some of the most beautiful words that have been put to music, sang like a dream, and of course, played the bass like a boss. We are talking about one of the finest songwriters in rock music. A few also turned out to be band-leaders who pushed the rest of the bandmates to seek newer musical frontiers. Here are some of the finest bassist-lyricists in the music that I listen to. We are talking about bassists whose dexterity on the strings matched their mastery of the written word. On stage, they are simply seen as talented individuals, quietly supporting the rest of the band without the flashy theatrics.Īlthough what I have stated is the norm in the world of rock and metal, there are always glorious exceptions-a set of stellar ones who went beyond their call of duty. The role of the bassists, though, seems to pale in comparison to the other three from an audience’s perspective. And the vocalists work on the audience with their charisma, in addition to projecting themselves as band-leaders. The drummers sit behind like monsters on a mission, whipping those skins.
The lead guitarists depend on their histrionics, as much as their genius, to sway the attention of the crowd towards them. Courtesy: Photo by Laura Nyhuis on Unsplash
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