Thomas Ravenscroft
English musician and editor
John Entwistle was an incredibly talented English musician, best known as the bass guitarist for the iconic rock band The Who. He was renowned for his musical abilities and is widely regarded as one of the greatest and most influential rock-and-roll bass guitarists of all time. Entwistle’s career spanned over four decades, and he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of The Who in 1990.
Table of Contents
About the John Entwistle
John Alec Entwistlewas an English musician, best known as the bass guitarist for the rock band the Who. Entwistle’s music career spanned over four decades. Nicknamed “The Ox” and “Thunderfingers”, he was the band’s only member with formal musical training and also provided backing and occasional lead vocals. Entwistle was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of the Who in 1990.
Renowned for his musical abilities, Entwistle is widely regarded as one of the greatest and most influential rock-and-roll bass guitarists of all time. His instrumental approach utilized pentatonic lead lines and a then-unusual treble-rich sound (“full treble, full volume”). He was voted as the greatest bass guitar player ever in a 2011 Rolling Stone readers’ poll and, in 2020, the same magazine ranked him number three in its list of the “50 Greatest Bassists of All Time”.
Frequently Asked Questions
John Entwistle was an English musician, best known as the bass guitarist for the rock band the Who. He was a highly influential and skilled musician, often referred to as ,The Ox, and ,Thunderfingers,.
John Entwistle was the bass guitarist for the rock band the Who. He was the only member of the band with formal musical training and also provided backing and occasional lead vocals.
John Entwistle’s music career spanned over four decades, from the 1960s to the early 2000s.
John Entwistle was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of the Who in 1990. He was also voted as the greatest bass guitar player ever in a 2011 Rolling Stone readers’ poll and ranked number three in their 2020 list of the ,50 Greatest Bassists of All Time,.
John Entwistle was renowned for his instrumental approach, which utilized pentatonic lead lines and a then-unusual treble-rich sound (,full treble, full volume,). This distinct style contributed to his reputation as one of the greatest and most influential rock-and-roll bass guitarists of all time.
20 Quotes by John Entwistle
- 1.
We have nine hungry Rottweilers on the farm.
John EntwistleEnglish musician; bassist for The Who (1944-2002)
- 2.
I don’t mind doing the Who tours when they come along but I want to get out there and play.
John EntwistleEnglish musician; bassist for The Who (1944-2002)
- 3.
I ain’t heard anyone play like I do in my band and I am very happy about that.
John EntwistleEnglish musician; bassist for The Who (1944-2002)
- 4.
With bass, especially bottom end, the vibration has to happen on stage otherwise the feel is wrong. This is why you can’t scale the equipment down too far.
John EntwistleEnglish musician; bassist for The Who (1944-2002)
- 5.
I am writing a book and that takes third place of importance.
John EntwistleEnglish musician; bassist for The Who (1944-2002)
- 6.
So by the time I taught myself the bass guitar at the age of 14, my hands were already pretty nimble.
John EntwistleEnglish musician; bassist for The Who (1944-2002)
- 7.
I set myself up to be a bass guitarist and bass players get a lot more work than people like me.
John EntwistleEnglish musician; bassist for The Who (1944-2002)
- 8.
We’ll open for anyone, we are just looking to play.
John EntwistleEnglish musician; bassist for The Who (1944-2002)
- 9.
I love playing for people.
John EntwistleEnglish musician; bassist for The Who (1944-2002)
- 10.
I have got an anthology album out. The American version has got the same mixes but the European version, I remixed them in the studio and added a couple of things that I have always wanted to add.
John EntwistleEnglish musician; bassist for The Who (1944-2002)
- 11.
That was the producer who produced a couple of my solo albums. He produced my second, third and fourth solo albums. It was his project and I just joined him on it. I sang on one and played bass on another one.
John EntwistleEnglish musician; bassist for The Who (1944-2002)
- 12.
The first eight songs we were using someone else’s monitors and it is hard to follow the changes when you are jamming if you can’t hear those who you are jamming with.
John EntwistleEnglish musician; bassist for The Who (1944-2002)
- 13.
What I feel I am doing now is giving to the people exactly what they paid for but never actually heard before.
John EntwistleEnglish musician; bassist for The Who (1944-2002)
- 14.
We were gradually playing larger venues and in the early days PA systems were kind of non-existent. So to play loud, we had to use louder equipment. The PA systems back then didn’t mic the instruments – only the vocals.
John EntwistleEnglish musician; bassist for The Who (1944-2002)
- 15.
I deep sea fish a lot.
John EntwistleEnglish musician; bassist for The Who (1944-2002)
- 16.
This band makes sure that we have whole sections of stuff that are free form so that they don’t know what we are doing next, that is the fun part of playing. You are playing something that you haven’t ever played before.
John EntwistleEnglish musician; bassist for The Who (1944-2002)
- 17.
I don’t wish my career on anyone.
John EntwistleEnglish musician; bassist for The Who (1944-2002)
- 18.
I supply the music for Vampires, which is a new series that’s coming out.
John EntwistleEnglish musician; bassist for The Who (1944-2002)
- 19.
I mean, Eighteen years old is the age of consent in Europe and you can go anywhere and do anything you like. In America, it is dumb. At eighteen you should be able to do anything that you like, except get married.
John EntwistleEnglish musician; bassist for The Who (1944-2002)
- 20.
I got a couple on per album but my problem was that I wanted to sing the songs and not let Roger sing them.
John EntwistleEnglish musician; bassist for The Who (1944-2002)