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Thanks Marv. James Jamerson was Motown.Any track that he didn`t play on lacked swing and magic.The LA. recordings with the exception of Frank Wilson`s solos and some Brenda Holloway tracks were wooden in comparison often with drummers who liked to do a tour of their kit at every opportunity. He is the reason I love Motown so much.The first thing I listen to in any new track is the bass line.
James is the greatest greatest bass player ever!
You are most welcome Roger. James Jamerson is my unsung hero!Quote:
Originally Posted by Roger Polhill
I have long believed and touted Jamerson as singularly the greatest bass guitarist in pop/rock music history. That said... Tracks like Signed, Sealed, Delivered,...Mercy Mercy Me...Tears Of A Clown, Inner City Blues, Ball Of Confusion, and many other Bob Babbitt tracks certainly had their own brand of bottom end "magic"...Quote:
Originally Posted by Roger Polhill
Forgive me Stu, Bob was great but the sound changed around when Bob joined and I much prefer the pre 1968 sound.
Whenever I hear someone talking about Motown's greatest hits, I immediately say, are you referring to the James Jamerson story. Agree he is Motown, and yes Bob Babbitt was great, just listen to If I Were your Woman or the solo from Scorpio and you got to give him his dues.
But no one compares to the master.
A good thing about James` playing is that he seldom repeated himself and therefore the alternate tracks give themselves away.
Certainly Babbitt himself gave Jamerson all the props as a mentor and role model on bass. Actually, Jamerson did have certain go to patterns and syncopations. There were songs where he didn't repeat the same pattern throughout...Darling Dear [[Jackson 5) was one of them, but Jamerson rarely strayed from 1st position, thus many of his approaches on songs were quite similar. When you speak of pre-68 Motown tracks, coincidentally that predates the unfortunate passing of Benny Benjamin. Jamerson and Benny certainly created some of the patented rhythm foundations from the period of which you speak, and yes...they played off each other and locked together in ways rarely accomplished in pop music. Chuck Rainey and Bernard Purdy also clicked in that fashion....Obviously, some producers, like Norman Whitfield found Babbitt a bit easier to work with, thus Jamerson was not used on much of the Temptations Dennis Edwards era material, but truly, James was the master, however, there was also much magic happening on the Babbitt tracks as well.
Jamerson I agree was the king of bass in Motown's Hitsville era and I loved Babbitt too as most of us here did but I disagree with the notion that there was no creative bass after
the move to LA. Wilton Felder's bass playing on the J5's I Want You Back is still to me the
best bass accompaniment on a pop song ever since...
A few to check out for great bass lines: Stevie & Clarence "Little Water Boy", Jr. Walker`s "Mutiny",Dennis Edward`s "Turn To Stone" and Velvelettes "My Foolish Heart"
The last time I saw Bob Babbitt, it was 2005 when he and the
Funk Brothers were backing Mary Wilson up at an outdoor concert on the East Ed of Long Island. During a break in the show, I announced to a crowd of people that the gentlemen sitting on that stage have played on more hit records than perhaps any other musicians in the history of recording!
Thinking about Tears Of A Clown, was the original Make It Happen version recorded with James' bass and then the US single/LP version overlaid with Bob's bass? Perhaps this situation is unique!Quote:
Originally Posted by StuBass1
I thought that it was Tony Newton rover.
"The LA. recordings with the exception of Frank Wilson`s solos and some Brenda Holloway tracks were wooden in comparison"
I know I'm kinda late here. But was Holloway's "When I'm Gone" overdubbed over an original Mary Wells track that had Jamerson on bass?
Yes; Brenda Holloway's "When I'm Gone" had string overdubs [[along with Brenda's vocals replacing Mary's on the song) but the rest of the song [[including J.J.'s bass) was left intact.Quote:
Originally Posted by garyr
Thanks to Marv2 for sharing this clip. One of the best things about Stevie Wonder is that while he's come so far as an artist, he never forgot what he learned from The Funk Bros. [[especially James Jamerson) back in the "Motown Snakepit".
Thanks Eddie. I always thought Brenda's "When I'm Gone" had that unmistakable Jamerson sound on bass.