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Motown 101

fivestringgecko

fivestringgecko

Mar 28, 2007
7,805
5,881
Colorado
#1
I'm sure some of you have seen DWBass' epic Funk 101 and Funk 102 threads, which are totally AWESOME (you need to check them out if you're into Funk even a little).

I'm still relatively new to Motown, and those threads have inspired me to start this one in the hopes that my fellow TB'ers can help me expand my Motown horizons. Maybe this thread will inspire others as well!

Like the Funk threads, post a link to the song and the name of the bassist.

I'll start things off with a few of my top favs so far:

Stevie Wonder - I Was Made To Love Her
Bassist: James Jamerson
(maybe just a little cliche, but it's THE Motown song for me! :bassist:)

Marvin Gaye - What's Going On
Bassist: James Jamerson

Funk 101
Bassist: James Jamerson

The Four Tops - Reach Out (I'll Be There)
Bassist: James Jamerson

5sg.
 
#2
... *crickets* ....

No one has any Motown love? Here's a few more I guess!

I knew James Jamerson would come up a lot for Motown tracks of course, but I'm kind of struggling to find any other bassists for this genre. I'm starting to wonder if he was the only bass player back then! :p

Anyone?

The Temptations - Ain't Too Proud To Beg
Bassist: James Jamerson

Jackson 5 - I'll Be There
Bassist: Jermaine Jackson/Wilton Felder?
(couldn't find actual credits)

The Supremes - (Love Is Like A) Heatwave
Bassist: Jamerson

Invalid Link Removed
Bassist: Jamerson

5sg.
 
#3
fivestringgecko said:
I knew James Jamerson would come up a lot for Motown tracks of course, but I'm kind of struggling to find any other bassists for this genre. I'm starting to wonder if he was the only bass player back then! :p
Click to expand...

Up until at least 1968 or so? Yeah, Jamerson was Motown bass... :hmm:

The main reason you're struggling is because of the way in which you're conceptualizing this. Your mental model doesn't fit the reality.

During the heyday of Motown, there was very little, if any, consciousness of Motown the sub-genre (of R&B), apart from Motown the label. It was all just "Motown".

And as I've just implied, at least during the early to mid years, the sound of James Jamerson in many ways was the sound of Motown - the sub-genre and the label...

MM
 
#4
fivestringgecko said:
I'll start things off with a few of my top favs so far:

Stevie Wonder - I Was Made To Love Her
Bassist: Nathan Watts
(maybe just a little cliche, but it's THE Motown song for me! :bassist:)
Click to expand...

This is also Jamerson (sorry, CK).

Bob Babbitt is another name you should know.
Check out The Dennis Coffey Detroit Guitar Band..."Scorpio", "Taurus", etc.
I believe Babbitt is also on "Inner City Blues", "Tears Of A Clown", & "Signed, Sealed, Delivered".
 
#15
Jamerson was known to have specific styles, personalities, and attitudes for the various Motown artists. He'd play one way on The Four Tops stuff, different for Jr Walker, The Temptations, Marvin, etc. He even used a lot of upright on the Martha & The Vandellas materia like "Heat Wave".
 
#16
renobassman said:
Yes, I was saying that Motown is NOT equal to Stax. ;)
Click to expand...

OK, Sorry, I am not to hip on the sign language.

After thinking about it more I should have said,

Motown = R&B Pop
Stax = Soul and blues

A lot of great blues came out of Stax too.

01.jpg
 
#18
hdracer said:
What?????
How can anyone confuse Motown & Stax???????????
Click to expand...

I agree.
I almost choked when I read mambo's post.
About as bad as saying Chicago Blues = St. Louis Blues.
;)

...maybe mambo meant that Dunn's R&B style is more "basic" (101) than Jamerson's R&B style (201).
No doubt there.
Dunn, more or less, stuck to a definitive rhythmic figure whereas Jamerson would take a certain figure/rhythm & improvise/create other figures/rhythms that took on a melodic life of their own.
 
#19
As a bassist, I've known about Jamerson for a while of course, but never really explored what the extent of his work actually is. I really appreciate the input from everyone so far and I hope we can keep this thread going. Either I'm not looking in the right place or I just don't see much on Motown around Talkbass, so maybe the thread title is appropriate after all? ;)

To get into it a little deeper (or maybe go "one level up?")... If Jamerson was Motown and Motown is a subdivision of R&B, can you guys recommend some notable bassists/groups that Jamerson/Motown took inspiration from? You know, stuff that has a similar vibe? The improvisational feel that JimK mentioned is what I'm really coming to love about Jamerson's work... are there any other players like him?

Again, I really appreciate the feedback so far and I'm already learning. Feel free to keep the video links coming too! :bassist:

5sg.
 
#20
Jamerson and virtually all The Funk Brothers came from jazz (and some blues) backgrounds. You can hear in their tracks a lot of the jazz influence. Jamerson himself was a Ray Brown disciple.That's what was so unique about them and how they came up with that "Motown Sound". None of them were really influenced by any of the early rockers.
 

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