Louis Johnson

[JigsawKickYourHum]

T_T

[stiandministry]

No strings were harmed in this video

[BassByTheBay]

Man, it's great to see one of the forefathers doin' his thing. Some musicians get nicknames that seem stupid, frankly, but if anyone ever deserved the nickname "Thunder Thumbs", it's Louis. Thanks for posting this!

[albeilmate]

he bought hands directly from god

[Theused610]

god damn

he is the black

god of bass

[rubdocs]

OMFG!! *.*

[Fifi14s]

wow



[kentparkhurst]

i bet mark king watched this movie so many times

[chocotacojewboy]

his thumb wraps around the fucking neck of the bass, his damn thumb is like 3 times the size of mine oh well

[PH4NT0M71]

he is terminator

[nooberto96]

Un mostro

[jluzin]

They called him "thunder thumbs".

You know what I love about this clip? The audio actually a bit out of sync. But you'd frankly never notice since he looks like he's playing a frustrated game of patty cake with his guitar.

I'm a bassist, and this man is one of the reasons I started. Anyone can put 10 grand in a civic and run it around the track, but what would it be like to be one of the first?

[sanjay43135220]

i found god on youtube !

[lunalechien]

the secret is muted notes to sound more funky

by the way that's an unplugged sabre musicman bass

designed by leo fender himself !

musicman doesn't make bass like does anymore

[ShangoDC]

This is the greatest slapper to have every done it. The great Louis Johnson of the Brother's Johnson

[afrosensuous]

That's Quincy Jones' & Michael Jackson's bass player. Y'all ain't knowing?

[83arutha]

Who tries the first =) ?

[BassGuitarGuy128]

Damn this guy has reached "Nirvana" on bass. Hehe

[JeremyForest]

Oh my goodness! This is a beast! One of the baddest bass guitars!

[chocotacojewboy]

My thumbs are a 1/3 his size and I can still rock that shit.

[SuperK9111]

JESUS

[jluzin]

One of the ones who got me into it.

[MCAMVP]

too much energy to channel into the poor instrument lol

[xturban]

@MCAMVP Stingrays are built to handle hands like his :)

[YouWantChipsWithThat]

Wow he plays and looks awesome :) what a guy!

[PMDJabkmm]

IVE GOT BLISTERS ON MY FINGERS!!!

[dinoantimental]

PERFETC AND UNIC STYLE

[cyxapuku17]

Что за пять мудаков, которым ЭТО могло не понравится? :D

[paradeproductions]

RAAAAAAA AA!!!!......What a beast !.. YEAH !

[10Steele01]

assolutamente in top 5 tra i miei bassisti preferiti.

un mostro.

[awfulguitarplucker]

è un mostro..ma è anche che il suono di quello stingray è potentissimo per via di quel humbucker da paura al ponte

[LokiNTB]

He seems to play very recklessly on his right hand; its a wonder he can play this cleanly like that ha ha

[anascimento]

Amazing! Is a monster!

[GothicLuke1988]

Santo Dio...anzi...CRISTO D'UN DIO PALLA DI LARDO!!! ( Full metal jacket :) Pioniere d'oro, ottimo video!

Stay goth !! Ahahahah!

[awfulguitarplucker]

MA CHE CAZZO E' QUESTO!! dio spettacolo che belva!

[omegaheich]

Beh ognuno è assolutamente libero di pensarla a suo modo..... però ragazzi questo tizio qua insieme a larry graham si è inventato la tecnica pop&slap, è ovvio che victor wooten o marcus miller(o tanti altri che qui non menziono) gli danno una pista, 30 anni dopo!

[r0gerwaters]

vabe sono d'accordo lui è come un hendrix per la chitarra..c'è da dire ke molti bassisti slapop si sono ispirati a lui..per me è un grande maestro...

[r0gerwaters]

GUARDATE CHE è FACILE SERVE SOLO VELOCITA LA TECNICA QUI NON CONTA

è COSTRETTO A USARE ANCHE IL POLLICE..SONO D'ACCORDO CON Sotropor VEDE QUELLO CHE SUONA...LA MANO DESTRA è TUTTO QUI...MA DEL RESTO NELLO SLAP IN GENERALE..

[manson2b]

Okay..j'ai plus qu'à allé me jeter..

[KillerQueen900]

invece è vero

[Smoothbassistthatsme]

word

[passjay]

so blazin"

[noastroz]

win

[Davematt325]

This is just sick

[QBkilla66dasecond]

CRAZY!!!!!!!

[CARRIONROSEOFSHARYN]

I love this dude.

[GHBackup]

dude his hand wtf nice

[MissFunkentelechy]

FIRE!

[XxXxXxXNOELXxXxXxX]

è un pazzo!!! una cosa sovraumana!!!!

[Thatguy301]

This is what I call tasteful slapping. A lot of the more modern players could learn a lot from Mr. Johnson.

[bassplayerbjorn]

I'm getting a bass clinic from this guy next week!!! yahooo!

[Stuartbassmaster]

Really?? Man I am so jealous! What's the name of your school?

Good Luck!

[fleaargento]

el funk

[DrexxKind]

this is guy has skill

[SOYUNPINCHEBOY]

this is where flea learned how to slap

[HorstHorstmann202]

this is da real funk, man!!

[CheapBass]

il funk

[111CG111]

.. ma non è umana una cosa del genere!

[KongoXIIV]

Shit I love his tone!!!

(and hate how many times I have to re-input the code to post comments)

He must have a shit loada overdrive gain and fret buzz for that tone!

[fann706]

who have the full video of this.....ive got it b4 but lost it........anione plz......???

[lilfisticuffs]

WOOOO THAT SHIT IS FUCKING AMAZING!!!

id kill to have a bassist like that in my band ! a good bassist is so hard to find now a days...its a highly underestimated instrument

[SoulWalker23]

Louis Johnson is one hell of a bass player, i've learned alot about slap from him, Keep on funkin!

[PaletaPerfection]

ese es el sueño de mi amigoo ^^

[tero1712]

oo look at those fingeers!!

[Feanic]

louis is the reason i play bass!!!!!

[santalover14]

shit i dont know wat to say haha

[williscool1234]

this is hands down the best slap bass playing ive ever seen

[yadman02]

how many fingers does this guy have?

[hkhkhkhkkhkhkhkhkkh]

on a good day? 600

[yibu77]

i agree with you abuse i think victor is just popular not that good compared to some other guys and jordie white would be on my list of great basist

[abuseforapie]

Im tired of people putting victor wotten on their top lists

He's a great bssist but theres a ton of other bassists who can kick his ass, he's just well known.

It seems if you make a list of your fav bassists you have to put him on your list.

the best bassists in my opinion are

john entwistle

louis johnson

jeordie white

[drunkindonuts07]

Agreed Abuse, I feel like the only people who put Wooten on top are bass nerds obsessed with tapping out notes or kids not fortunate enough to grow up with good funk or rock bass. My personal faves happen to be Bootsy, Larry Graham, JPJ, Entwistle, and Prince for his pre-Purple Rain bass lines, no particular order or ranking either.

[osk4themoney]

wooten is pretty good dude but i wouldnt put him as the best

[irotinmyskin]

wooten is boring....

[KongoXIIV]

I'll admit, although I play his songs and dig his music...he does get samey.

These dudes have more power and attitude...Wooten seems to have lost his over time...well, when he found God actually...

[jeanforthewin]

wooten is good and can groove his ass off but he just doesnt have the same soul as larry graham or louis for me

[KongoXIIV]

I agree.

He seems to have taken the "I'm allowed to do it but not you" approach in recent years.

I thought he was cool and laid back but...In one of his seminars he was saying "Bassists shouldn't play too many notes" and "Bassists should never do lead, only rhythm"...

Right okay Victor, you hypocryte.

When YOU groove on less notes maybe I'll listen.

[charlesneedham]

Oh. My. God.

[firebyrd22]

Ha! Probably one of the three best slap bassists I'ever heard in my life (Alain Caron and Stanley Clarke) and he plays my favorite bass! Not the best bass but I've always felt something special with the Music Man Stingray.

[Augbirne]

what about Victor Wooten? D'ya know him? I believe you don't since he's not on your top3-List ;-)

[firebyrd22]

I know him. He's actually one of my bigger influences. And he said in one of his bass lessons on here that one of his biggest influences was Stanley Clarke. I love Wooten. Just I think Alain and Stanley (and now Louis) are better. :)

[moester101]

*jaw drops on floor*

[BlakeMitchell1]

woah, some not shit generic slap and pop

this guy is it.

[musicmannjake]

omf i wish i could fuckinng play this

[ryojp94]

fucking awesomee,

[voncoolio]

Now imagine a half time drum beat where the snare drum hits on three and drum hits on the one on top of that slap line. The greatest funk machine ever forged in all the universe.

[Funkalotames]

WOW!! thats entertaining

[GregEagledrummer]

God damn, he destroys that bass!

[Xamarato]

dude, fucking sweet man!

[pro275]

just realised he made a mistake at 1:42, ive been playing the bass ever since ive heard him play and been bleeding my fingers off trying to master his licks,lol its paid off big time, he is the man at the bass!!!

[TheLambOfG0D]

Its actually not a mistake, the video just skipped. It happens before that at 0:51 and a few other times. I don't think thunder thumb is capable of making mistakes haha.

[dozhan]

Good old Thunder Thumbs - Good to see that he keeps perfect time with no click track!

[2xnkote]

you see alot of amazing bass players on youtube, but you will never see anyone who hammers his bass as hard as louis johnson. The guy is an animal.

[tibkillerpro]

love him

[tibkillerpro]

love him

[PhuckHue]

one of the greatest bassists ever in human history. definitely the greatest slapper after Graham. just listen to those polyrhytms and accents combined with the open string pulls, unbelievable

[ShangoDC]

I really love Graham for how great he is and for introducing the slap-thump style, but Louis took to the next level. Even today,just for pure and straight thumping I think he is probably still the best at it including Vic and Marcus.

[bneja301994]

O Q LA KAGO PA SER SEKO

[GUILLYMILLER]

Me pusieron un comentario diciendome que me parezco mucho tocando a este bajista y me parecio curioso porque nunca le he escuchao y tenemos en verdad algo en común.

[GUILLYMILLER]

Me pusieron un comentario diciendome que me parezco mucho tocando a este bajista y me parecio curioso porque nunca le he escuchao y tenemos en verdad algo en común.

[xwgs351]

Truly one of the best bassists of all time,

i wont name the other two top basists but no one can make this instrument sound so PHAT!!

[superman21980]

its no Jaco I know that for sure, he sucks

[garylssk]

now thats funky.

[Bananaguard]

someone has tabs? xD

[JamieBouzi]

ummm doubt it

[IronAndSteelAndCoal]

check around youtube for differant louis johnson licks and it gets though a couple of parts, its just a case of working the rest out

[KonradD6]

ya, this first of all ... i d like to see u playing and there is a lot of groove in this demo , sure it's not the groove most people expect 'cause the stereotyped groove must be slow but that ... that has groove and is quick and hard to play in technic . This is Great , the only thing i can say it's wrong it's he plays loadsly better than me and that make me sick ^^

[losinmymind911]

u son of a bitch, lets see u play like that!

[hardcoreness92]

for a black guy hes got no groove

[Theflum]

What the hell are you taking about, you could cut the groove from that solo with an industrial chainsaw!

[bassist101maty]

fuckin hell that must be so tough on the fingers and and ure thumb and wrists, wow he is good!!!! y didnt anyone tell me bout this guy before, omg, wot have i been missing.

[ARodYankFan]

You're not alone. Someone just mentioned him while I was watching Victor Wooten. This guy's a beast.

[keine12]

Fuck guys like flea,this guy is without doubt the best bass player!!!

[keine12]

Fuck guys like flea,this guy is without doubt the best bass player!!!

[nikeymonster]

Io questo video lo posseggo gelosamente....E il grande Loius è e sara' il mio mito per sempre! E un maestro per gente come flea e tanti altri! Grandissimo!

[TheSkiappetons]

Io mi sarei sgrugnato le mani dopo due secondi... è un mostro!

[MikeonBass2]

He is the greatest contemporary Bass player alive today. He is the idol of so many of the top Bass Players in the world. He is Thunderthumbs. He is Louis Johnson.

[frogeenator]

omg is he haveing a seger thats amazing

[Stevierayvaughn1]

GRRRRRRr8 Perfecttttttttt

[peruarturo]

parece que su mano esta endemoniada

[kucheto]

BEST BASS PLAYER!

[michaelhutchinson]

BRILLIANT

[kyuteh]

This is too funky for human exposure, requesting a funky quarantine!

[edgee001]

ampf! damn your my idol in the whole world!

[KageFenrir]

is this avaible on a dvd or something? anybody know (if there is) the titel of it?

[DrummerEagle]

I love the riff at 34 its crazy

[firefloyd]

molto groove'n'funk! i love this sound!

Louis sei un genio!

peccato per il suono un po' grezzo...

[DirkFix]

i think its just something he did for his video.

[nainparachutiste]

That is real FUNK BLAST, seriously louis johnson is violent with a bass

[aestheticpikachu]

stop comparing musicians they all own! we know.

[che21chango07]

Cuantos te copiaron louis,tendrias que cobrar derechos de autor maestro...

[Howl625]

love it thunder thumb =)

[bassplaya1549]

the riff at 0:34 is pretty intense...

[funtimehappyyes]

bow down to the master (bass players know)

[Bonnaroo10klmf]

as influential as louis johnson was to slap bass, this was pretty sloppy and didnt sound too good

[Klewt]

What are you talking about dude? it's raw and heavy, but dude, can you not hear the awesome rhythm in that? And in response to another person down below, do you think that because something is fast and complicated it automatically becomes wanking??? sure, there are wankers but this fine gentleman, Mr. Louis Johnson, is NOT one of them. Slap bass is about groove dude, and this dude grooves like hell.

[RHCPfleaMS]

i love your comment, but I would like to say, you get impressed by the fact that he plays so well controlled at that speed, and that he can hold the groove really tight all the way, and in addition he has a really nice mute fill in at about 0:52 which actually ain't that hard to do, but he makes it sound så tight, when others do that it just sound like shit, but he makes it sound like so good!

[bassxchill]

meh, good stuff. nothing amazing.

[lucifer73]

Only bass player I've seen who can barre all four strings with his thumb!?!?! classic.

[Accavarium]

look for the one & only victor wooten.

[RHCPfleaMS]

victor wooten is good yes, but louis johnson took slap to a whole new level when he came in the business of bass!!!

[Geldonator]

fuck, it looksl ike its fast fowarded haha

[Hephster33]

Holy Shit this guy is a fucking beast at bass!

[funtimehappyyes]

Louis Johnson rules, if it weren't for him funk might have died, flea would not play bass, and although i love claypool this is a whole different thing going on. Brothers johnson rule.

[pedrohahn123]

super lol

[devilboy1080]

claypool is lame

he plays a semi technical riff that's like 10 sec long

and that's his whole song

[Edalrela]

He was the reason, back in the 80's, that I started to play the bass.

[riflesman]

dude i just ve gotta say

WHAT THE FUCK!???

X.X

[BLUEScrazy]

his hands are gigantic

[applesauc3]

shit i sed it switched around just ignore that comment

[bassist12345]

yes, i think this guy is better than claypool

[applesauc3]

does anyone think les claypool is better than this dude? or is it just me

[damuffinmanx]

two waaaaay different styles, you cant really compare the two.

[fraleyro]

doing stuff like this around people makes me smile, how most people look at a bass as shitty following instead of badass things like this bro

[Chidi64]

I cannot believe my eyes or ears. Truly stunning. How does he do it? He keeps a deep groove running all the way through, throwing in layers of syncopated rythms, all at mach 10. How is his thumb still attached to his body?

Many thanks for posting!!!!!

[polatarasan]

you're the best you're the one !!!

[omfgchiyang]

holy shit, he's fucking amazing

[DanaProctor]

I got 3 words for this cat, WATCH AND LEARN!!!.

[francisconsigny]

C'est le meilleur!!!!!!!!!

[BassIsBeautiful]

LocheeBhoy, have you ever tried playing an instrument? Obviously u havent and u dunno crap bout music. Playing an instrument requires lots of discipline and lots of hours a day. I admire anyone thats completely dedicated to his music as mr Johnson was. Now please stop commenting, you're a shame.

[Dunlop232]

Holy crap. Dude, he's one of the best I've ever seen.

[damuffinmanx]

dude. louis johnson is beating the crap out of that bass.

sick slap skills though, although all the slap riffs ive hear him play are pretty similar to this.

[happyknappy14]

oldschool slap bass at its best

[jacoboChil]

Cool, i can almost play it i got a part from the start to 0:07 LOL but i'm getting half of it monday, now this is a challenge LocheeBhoy, eat dick, maybe you'll like that. Or will you cry?

[nainenjaquette]

that is real FUNK BLAST!!!

[tomrobinson1]

only because you probably haven't the foggiest as to how to listen to a bass player. this gay is amazing!

[BOnEhEAdD]

Uhm...the slap style was actually developed 2 get maximum from one note (exactly stated philosophy of Larry Graham!). So if some1 manages 2 play the "occasional open E" sooo incredibly kooool, he has got the point ;-)

[9999tiles]

this is to "locheebhoy", those "non-musical clicks" you hear are him being a musical metronome, this guy is one of the best, its people like you that need their music layed out on a plate for them. how about you go home and get some taste before you start dissing people like this

moron

[gutfarmer]

yeah yeah yeah ...go go go Molly Ringpiece! clickidie clack. pop

[chemags87]

woow this bassist is amazing, his slaping sound very good and is so fast

[Burojon]

this is just amazing. slap that bass!

[yayareathizz]

Ive seen the brothers live twice and was amazed both times at his skills!!! How can i d/l this??!! I want to have it on my phone!!!

[controponta]

I saw this video a gazillion times..the best slap, the best of the best of the best the grooviest, the best.. no other words...

[WHMoyers3]

that was awsome

[tommyjijio]

o my gosh

cool no toooooooooooooooooooo cool ahhh sooooo cool

[controponta]

that's what is Slap is about! Damn it! Fucking banging and grooving and umpredictable rythm.

He is not the n.1 in techniques (like Victor Wooten) but he is much more groovier and still in the gotha!!

[Lenoar]

But this video was taken a long time before Marcus ^^

[crkempton]

sounds like he had a little marcus miller thrown in there