"Bewildering technique that went way beyond any standard root/5th ideas": Listen to John Entwistle’s isolated bass on My Generation

Bassist John Entwistle of the rock and roll band "The Who" performs onstage in February 1975.

John Entwistle, affectionately nicknamed ‘The Ox’ for his stoic onstage profile, revolutionised the role of the bass guitar. In the face of Keith Moon’s drumming antics, Roger Daltrey’s whirling microphone and Pete Townshend’s windmill rhythm guitar, his signature bass style was one of the musical cornerstones that made The Who such an influential force.

Recorded at Leeds University in 1970, the isolated rhythm track below is of The Who’s must-listen hit, My Generation. Despite the original Live at Leeds album featuring just six songs, Entwistle’s short answering phrases in his solo section were enough to inspire a whole generation of bass players.