James Jamerson - Bass Guitar Mag March/April 2009

[rickboy88]

I did a search just now and didn't see a mention of this.

I was in a Barnes and Noble bookstore recently buying my monthly copy of Mojo Music Magazine, and noticed that they now carry "Bass Guitar Magazine," which is also printed in England. I remember subscribing to it for a year after they ran the nice Rickenbacker feature, but it was quite pricey to get it over to me in Colorado.

The new March/April 2009 issue has a nice feature on Motown bassist James Jamerson starting on page 28. The sad thing is the fact that he was very much an unknown figure to most people by the time of his death. It was also sad that the "Motown 25" organizers completely left out the musicians who played on those classic Motown hits. James ended up getting a ticket to the taping and sat in the balcony almost as an outsider. I think the article relates that he was only interviewed twice prior to his death.

His now famous Fender P-bass apparently disappeared near the time when he died. Talk about a bass with some history. Apparently two prior Fenders were stolen by 1963, but he used his final bass bought in 1963 for the classic years of Motown and beyond. His strings were Labella heavy flat wounds (.52, .73, .95, .110). Like many 60's electric bass players, he didn't like to change the strings often.

I need to get Marvin Gaye's "What's Goin On" now. I heard that another fellow played one some of those tracks though, as Jamerson was having personal problems at the time. "Ain't No Mountain High Enough" is one of my favorite Jamerson bass lines, but they incorrectly credit it to Diana Ross. If memory serves, it was Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell. Here's the youtube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xz-UvQYAmbg

[whojamfan]

Jamerson has to be one of the most unrecognised, under appreciated(by Motown), and unrewarded musicians in history. What a crime, he had more impact on the world of electric bassplaying than arguably any other figure in the instruments history. He sure played on more hits than all others put together.

[chrisdski]

There is a good video out called "Standing in the Shadows of Motown" regarding all the session musicians known as the Funk Brothers who played on all those classic motown hits. Well worth the watch

http://www.standingintheshadowsofmotown.com/

[whojamfan]

Great video, I own that one.

[wints]

Jamerson's legacy is simply up there with the best bass work from the last half century. No one to touch him today...

"What's Going On" is always on my playlist, and his work on what is simply one of the greatest contemporary songs ever written, never ceases to amaze me...

[lennon211]

Jamerson is one of my top 3 bass heroes. He's a lot of the inspiration in my purchasing the '62 Precision Bass now residing in my collection, complete with the covers installed and the flatwound strings. His basslines were always phenomenal and inspirational to his contemporaries.

[mgauction]

Jamerson is one of my top 3 bass heroes. He's a lot of the inspiration in my purchasing the '62 Precision Bass now residing in my collection, complete with the covers installed and the flatwound strings. His basslines were always phenomenal and inspirational to his contemporaries.

+1

[cassius987]

Jamerson has to be one of the most unrecognised...

Maybe it's just because I'm a bass player and he gets shoved down my throat quite a bit, but I never had this impression. I guess it's true though that he is not a household name, and I totally acknowledge the wake of his influence.

[peewee]

Jamerson is one of my top 3 bass heroes. He's a lot of the inspiration in my purchasing the '62 Precision Bass now residing in my collection, complete with the covers installed and the flatwound strings. His basslines were always phenomenal and inspirational to his contemporaries.

That's the ticket! Rosewood board P-Bass w/ flats - the covers are a must for the cool factor. Now you've gotta score a good Portaflex B-15 and you're completely there! I've tried to use those heavy gauge LaBella Deep Talkin' Bass strings like he did and it's amazing that he had the stamina and hand strength to make them work. A man's man for sure!

[rickboy88]

He apparently only used his right forefinger as well, as if he was still playing a double bass. You can see this in some of the footage of him playing.

[jingle_jangle]

Influence?

Listen to the bass line for Stevie Wonder's "I Was Made to Love Her"...incredible. He doesn't repeat a single figure except the hook...his original P-Bass was stolen, I believe sometime around his move to LA.

He called that finger "The Claw", and his technique was closer to standup than to what bass guitar plunking was at the time, IMO. How else to get THAT sound out of THOSE strings with a single finger? Unbelievable!!!

[lennon211]

Apparently the action on his P-bass was also so high as to make it nigh unplayable to just about everyone else.

[lennon211]

Jamerson is one of my top 3 bass heroes. He's a lot of the inspiration in my purchasing the '62 Precision Bass now residing in my collection, complete with the covers installed and the flatwound strings. His basslines were always phenomenal and inspirational to his contemporaries.

That's the ticket! Rosewood board P-Bass w/ flats - the covers are a must for the cool factor. Now you've gotta score a good Portaflex B-15 and you're completely there! I've tried to use those heavy gauge LaBella Deep Talkin' Bass strings like he did and it's amazing that he had the stamina and hand strength to make them work. A man's man for sure!

Mine is a 3 tone sunburst too. I've installed the covers on both of my RI Fender basses, much to the chagrin of my tech who delays having to drill. I played it at church the other day when our school was having mass and it absolutely thumped. I was playing through my '59 Bassman RI.

[chrisdski]

Now you gotta get a piece of foam under the strings right before the bridge, then you're all set.

[lennon211]

Now you gotta get a piece of foam under the strings right before the bridge, then you're all set.

Hmmmm...we shall see what develops.