Black Sabbath bassist Geezer Butler was interviewed by Guitar World, during which he revealed the five albums that greatly influenced him as a bassist. He named a Who album and admitted that he doesn’t have a fancy way of playing, unlike the band’s late bassist John Entwistle, who inspired him a lot.
The Who released their debut studio album entitled ‘My Generation’ on December 3, 1965. The band members started climbing the ladder of fame and achieved commercial success thanks to the album’s well-crafted sound and lyrics. Many music critics defined the album as one of the best rock albums by highlighting the band’s fusion of different genres such as rock, punk, and heavy metal even though they were newbies in the industry.
In addition to the critics and rock music lovers, Geezer Butler chose ‘My Generation’ as one of the top-five bass albums that changed his style, saying that the album’s basses are incredible, edgy, rough, and raw. The Sabbath icon drew attention to the other bassists who quoted Entwistle’s basses in their later works and revealed that he was inspired to create his own sound when he started playing with Black Sabbath.
During his interview, Butler also talked about his own bass playing, saying that it’s ‘basic and not too fancy’ and described himself as an average bassist even though he has inspired many young generation musicians. He said that some musicians have contacted him to share their gratefulness and admiration for the bassist, but Geezer said he can’t just sit down and say, ‘Oh yes, I’m great.’
Butler shared his ideas, saying:
“I used to love ‘My Generation.’ Every bass player quotes the bass solo in that song. It’s an incredible-sounding bass. Really raw, really rough. That’s the way my sound became when Sabbath started off. I like that raw, edgy sound rather than ultra-bassy. I wouldn’t even attempt to play this solo, haha!
My bass playing is basic and not too fancy: I’m an average bass player. A lot of people told me that I’ve influenced them the way that these five players influenced me, and I get a lot of emails telling me how good I’m supposed to be, but you can’t sit down and say ‘Oh yes, I’m great!”
However, Black Sabbath’s Geezer Butler knows that he can’t stop working and developing his skills to become a better musician, although he is already appreciated in the metal scene. Thus, it can be said that his humble personality and never-ending passion for music set a great example for young musicians.
