I've been developing a theory about bass players. See, I've been to a couple of concerts lately and have started to notice the odd dynamic that generally exists in bands, and especially how the bass players fit in that dynamic.
So let's talk about this. It's usually the frontman with the charisma and the looks (Brandon Flowers, Kurt Cobain). And the style man. Sometimes then the lead/rhythm guitarist has that sexy, smoldering, mysterious vibe (Jimmy Page). Then occasionally you have a drummer that has it going on (drummer from Maroon 5--look him up). It's almost never the bassist that is the draw.
There are exceptions to this that I can think of off the top of my head. Sid Vicious for one--although he wasn't really a solid musician, he had the cool name that gave him some allure. Then there is Pete Wentz, who in my opinion could be really good given some time and a better context. Flea, obviously. But he's competing with Anthony Kedis so that's not really fair to him.
So I believe that there are two reasons that bassists are like they are:
1. When little kids dream of being in rock band--they never dream of being a bassist. That's like someone who wants to be the VP instead of the president. Namely, that never happens. Everyone always to be the star; no one dreams of being taking second place.
When kids decide to take up an instrument they'll always go for the regular guitar first, or drums, or vocals. This creates an opening in the band. So who takes this spot? I'll tell you who does--it's the kids that don't have the charisma to front a band themselves but still want to share in the limelight.
2. This could actually just be an addendum to the previous reason. There are some kids that have bass experience. Orchestra kids. They learn the upright and then decide that they want to be one of the cool kids and learn the bass guitar. They're still an orchestra geek at heart and that doesn't change just because now they're in a band. They don't have coolness conferred upon them.
I'm going to do some field research on this sometime this week at guitar center. I'll come back when I know more.
