“I wrote that bassline when I was 16. I saw this dude slapping the hell out of a bass at a music store – the tumblers clicked in my head. I took a bus home, picked up my bass, and I was doing it!” Fishbone’s Norwood Fisher names his 10 best bassli

In a perfect world, bassist Norwood Fisher and Fishbone would be superstars, a shining example of what can happen when smart lyrics, pop songwriting, stellar musicianship, a once-in-a-lifetime frontman, and a ridiculously badass rhythm section come together in a spicy, pan-genre gumbo. 

Fishbone’s bass-tastic 1991 masterwork, The Reality of My Surroundings, should’ve been the breakthrough that propelled them into the mainstream. Fisher’s hyperactive thumb and inventive basslines should’ve made him a multi-platinum success like his peers Flea and Les Claypool. In fact, it’s become all too common to think of Fishbone as the band that should’ve, but didn’t.

*Read 5 free articles per month without a subscription