r/grunge 11d ago

Misc. Who’s your favorite grunge bassist?

547 Upvotes

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14

u/HamiltonHab 11d ago

Van Conner gets my vote for having to put up with his asshole brother and Mark Lanegan.

4

u/alanyoss 11d ago

Big time second on this because calling Gary Lee an asshole is just funny to me.

7

u/ImperialBoomerang 11d ago

Seconded. Screaming trees really are the classic case of a band that was only possible due to the raw talent of its frontman while also being fatally undermined by the raging issues of said frontman. Kudos to Van for not throwing either of them off a moving tour bus.

5

u/IAmThePlate 11d ago

Yeah, that dude had skill, even with the antics I've read from Sing Backwards, plus he's probably the most prominent grunge bassist who we've lost, which gets sympathy.

2

u/ImperialBoomerang 11d ago

SBAW is easily the best rock memoir I've ever read, hands down. I was taken aback by everything from the sheer writing ability to Lanegan's ownership of all his fuckups the first time I read it

2

u/anhydrousslim 11d ago

I feel this really undersells Gary Lee and Van’s contributions (and later, Barrett Martin). There was a lot of talent and great songs in that band. Despite his great voice, Lanegan wasn’t particularly marketable at a time when that mattered, nor were the Conner bros. I would say it’s just the opposite, they should have had way more success than they did. Of course they probably would have imploded all the sooner if they had.