What is your favourite James Jamerson bass line??

juanete · #1 05-13-2006, 04:25 PM

too many GREAT bass lines

, but which one is your favourite??

juanete · #2 05-13-2006, 04:28 PM

rontalsaurus · #3 05-13-2006, 04:59 PM

Hard to say.
I love the line from "What's Goin' On?", it's definitely the one that's foremost in my mind, but that's partly because I like the song and the story behind Jamerson playing that line. I haven't done enough careful listening to his repetoire to decide objectively what my favorite is. I do have Standing In The Shadows, though...I should ****ing learn it already!

bassman blue · #4 05-13-2006, 05:03 PM

Bernadette... although apparently Carol Kaye has taken credit for it, so I'm not sure who's it really is.

rontalsaurus · #5 05-13-2006, 05:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bassman blue

Bernadette... although apparently Carol Kaye has taken credit for it, so I'm not sure who's it really is.

Carol Kaye took credit for it? What!?!?

MikeD1687 · #6 05-13-2006, 05:15 PM

Who plays on Stevie Wonder's "I was made to love her?"

If it's Jamerson, that's my favorite.

Wayner · #7 05-13-2006, 05:34 PM

trying to find a favorite jamerson bassline is like watching the miss america pageant trying to figure out which one's the prettiest....

what's going on and what's happening brother are the ones he's really playing his butt off on, but if you put a gun to a head and made me pick one, it would be "I Was Made to Love Her" (stevie wonder)

it's really a shame so few people play like him anymore.

Wayner · #8 05-13-2006, 05:41 PM

It's definitely Jamerson playing. As far as whether Jamerson or Carol Kaye wrote the line, I cannot say. Something tells me that Carol may have partaken in an earlier version of the song or wrote a slightly different line that Jamerson tweaked.

I don't know the whole story, all I know is it's a monster line :-D

Quote:

Originally Posted by MikeD1687

Who plays on Stevie Wonder's "I was made to love her?"

If it's Jamerson, that's my favorite.

tappingtrance · #9 05-13-2006, 05:43 PM

"I was made to Love her" is jamerson

My fav is Grapevine - Gladys Knight version

Loel · #10 05-13-2006, 05:52 PM

Wow!
it's hard to pick a favorite
here's a couple dance tunes we do!

>sugar pie honey bunch

>the same old song

there's so many i don't know where to start!

cheers

Bobbo 77' · #11 05-13-2006, 05:56 PM

Hola,
Since I have to state, Mr. Jamerson has been my Bass mentor for the last 28yrs. It's really hard to pick.... BUT, It has to be,
"I'm gonna make you love me", Temps & Supremes!

Bobbo 77'

MysticMichael · #12 05-13-2006, 06:17 PM

I simply cannot pick just one favorite - it's impossible. Here are my top three:

* You Keep Me Hanging On - The Supremes
* I Was Made To Love Her - Stevie Wonder
* Bernadette - The Four Tops

Even now, some 40 years after I first heard these as a kid, I still get chills up my spine as I contemplate the sheer bodaciousness of the groove...

Find a way to internalize what it is that makes these lines groove so well...and thou shalt never again lack for soul...

MM

jmarcus2 · #13 05-13-2006, 06:26 PM

* I Was Made To Love Her - Stevie Wonder

jgbass · #14 05-13-2006, 08:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Wayner

It's definitely Jamerson playing. As far as whether Jamerson or Carol Kaye wrote the line, I cannot say. Something tells me that Carol may have partaken in an earlier version of the song or wrote a slightly different line that Jamerson tweaked.

I don't know the whole story, all I know is it's a monster line :-D

I certainly hope this thread doesn't turn into a who played on what kind of thread., and I have nothing more to say here beyond this post. I certainly don't know the whole story either.

Anyone delving into the history of Motown Records would learn that it was sometimes a practice for more than one bass player to record the same tune. A book called The Motown Music Machine by Harold Keith Taylor I saw and read briefly at Borders makes reference to the fact of and names unrecognized studio musicians who played on Motown hits, especially when Motown did some recordings in LA.

Having studied Carol Kaye's recordings and her teaching materials, having studied with her in person for awhile, knowing she is absolutely a person of integrity who tells the truth as it is, and with an impressive list of 10,000 + recordings, and a credit list like this http://www.carolkaye.com/www/library/index.htm I think it is important to consider that she played on at least some of these tunes. Don't know if they were the ones that hit the market, whether they were written out or invented by the bass player lines, but just would like to give a little credit here. I have my opinions, and I think its easy to tell a Carol Kaye recording from a Jamerson one, but that's already been discussed on TB.

Regardless, we have some great, enduring bass lines here that will inspire people for many, many years and I will always enjoy listening to these Motown tunes.

ryco · #15 05-13-2006, 08:39 PM

It's a tie between "Reflections" and "You Keep Me Hangin' On".

steveb98 · #16 05-13-2006, 08:58 PM

I vote for "What's Goin' On" their are great lines, but key is just he overall feel and classic Jamerson sense of time.

As for the Carol Kaye thing. I heard her take credit for a number of things, I don't believe she actaully did. I don't think she trying to scam anyone, just that was a very busy time in L.A. and the height of Carol's career. She did a lots of session, I believe she's just confused. You're talking a time when the first call players like Carol would finish a year with hundreds of W2's from sessions. You work that much sessions become a blur.

DEFUNKTED · #17 05-13-2006, 09:05 PM

"The performance credit that Carol has pursued with the greatest tenacity over the years is the bass part on Stevie Wonder's "I Was Made to Love Her". Hank Cosby who co-wrote, produced it, and who, in his own words, "was there every step of the way from the writing of the song to the day the 45's were shipped", vehemently denied any participation by Carol Kaye on this recording. Cosby added, "Fifty percent of the song was James Jamerson's bass line. No one played like that but Jamerson." Cosby also signed an affidavit similar to Brian Holland's attesting to Jamerson's performance. "

DEFUNKTED · #18 05-13-2006, 09:08 PM

"She has my humblest apologies for the few that I may have missed. But when you're talking about "Bernadette", "Reach Out", "Baby Love", "I Was Made to Love Her", "Ain't No Mountain High Enough", "Dancing In the Streets", "Can't Help Myself", Standing In The Shadows of Love", "You Keep Me Hangin' On", and dozens of others . . . Sorry Carol. That magical legacy belongs to someone else."

http://www.bassland.net/jamerson.html

**j-raj** · #19 05-13-2006, 10:30 PM

For Once in My Life - Stevie Wonder

Funky Doctor · #20 05-14-2006, 08:03 AM

If let's get it on was Jamerson, then that is my favourite Jamerson line. I still don't have confirmation that it was in fact Jamerson playing on that song, or even that album.