The bass player never gets any respect. Guitars have six strings and a distortion pedal. The bass only has four strings and rarely does it get a distortion pedal. Guitars sound cool to everyone. The bass only sounds cool to music nerds. You can write a song on an acoustic guitar for your girlfriend and play it for her in a park surrounded by flowers while the sun sets. If you're a bass player you can write a cool riff in your basement but it won't impress your girlfriend (if you're one of the lucky few bass players to have a girlfriend). Instead she'll probably yell "knock it off!"
My first guitar was a bass. While learning how to play it I was told "it's at the bottom of the band". Well, that didn't sound promising. But songs need that low end and I would provide it in my Guns N Roses cover band.
"I want a solo."
"No."
"But Flea and Cliff Burton had bass solos."
"We're a Guns N Roses cover band."
There are some bass players that got all the respect (and girls). Paul McCartney comes to mind. The man wrote Hey Jude, Eleanor Rigby, Helter Skelter. What girl can resist Helter Skelter? Her heart must be made of stone if she can. Paul's bass playing stands out on every Beatles track. Sting also got all the respect (and girls) in the Police. He and Paul McCartney also sang. So maybe, if you play bass, you better sing too! But then I think of Sgt. Floyd Pepper, the bass player for the Muppet house band Dr. Teeth and the Electric Mayhem. He got some respect, and dished out a bit of disrespect at the same time. So basically you have to either sing or be a muppet to get the respect (and girls). Bass won't cut it alone.
Still, learning bass helped when I eventually switched to guitar. I understood music and rhythm a bit more. I still couldn't sing, or join a band that attracted a large female fan base, but that was back in the days of boy bands. I blame boy bands. And that's really what I'm trying to say here. Boy bands suck, the bass is cool, and there should be more bass solos in pop music today (and muppets).
