Struck Down For Playing A Jamerson Line!

[Jazzjames]

So as always with TB threads, I missed the boat and can’t invest the time to read 6 pages, so sorry if someone beat me to it:

-Maybe the band members should check out that version you painstakingly learned and work out what they need to play to make it groove.

-Maybe you are playing the correct notes, but your microtiming, placement or tone are making it feel strange? I mean, Jamerson parts are busy and it takes serious work and study to accurately replicate his style. Being able to read a transcription and playing it like him are two different things.

-Maybe you should have the confidence to change what you’re doing to make the music and your bandmates feel comfortable. That’s ultimately our goal as bassists. If there’s a specific line for a song, I learn it and learn it well, but it’s always nice to have a plan B…

 

[MTN.bass72]

They should learn it, you should not unlearn it.

My lawn, get off it!

THIS^^^^^
Nuff said... Jamerson's lines is what makes the song... if it's throwing your bandmate off, then he needs to step up his game

 

[GreyBeard]

At least you know he is listening to you. If he is playing and singing too, I'd do whatever he asked.

 

[bass12]

Sometimes what worked on the recording doesn't work as well in a different setting, even if everyone else is playing their parts correctly.

 

[ArenW]

This is about as easy as a Jamerson baseline gets. Your guys get need to get over it and hit the woodshed.

 

[Yellow Bang66]

My band is learning "What Becomes Of The Broken Hearted" so I learned James Jamerson's part note for note. At rehearsal today our guitarist/vocalist said the bass line was throwing him off, lol. It is a strange line with a lot of 5ths and 3rds being played over the root chords. Just wondering if I should simplify it a bit and/or if anyone here has covered it and what they ended up playing?

Uhhh... Yes there are picky Singers who rely heavily on the bass parts! their huge fragile egos can't help if the vocal line is diffcult! I had an experience with a "star" singer who made me stay quiet until the chorus, because thats what the old bass player used to do ( it was a tricky part to get down, but I had It DOWN!) He was just used to of having that part all to himself! I was the fairly new member, so I just did what he said. I thought I d get backed up by the band if I was out of line, literally. But Noo, thats just the way they Played it! Oh well. I did some self reflection & simplified that part Just in case it was me playing it wrong! But alas, I was scolded again, for not being quiet! No backup,None. but was told later, "You're right. its just the way we've been playing it." Just do what you need to do. GL

 

[Aidenn7]

I'm playing it right.. you're playing and sing in the wrong key.. goobers

 

[coy garcia]

At least you know he is listening to you. If he is playing and singing too, I'd do whatever he asked.

I agree. Whoever is singing the tune gets final word on Key, arrangement, parts etc... If the singer doesn't feel it he will never perform it well and that hurts everyone. Audience will know the vocals are off...instrument parts not so much.

 

[bigjames]

I have spent time learning specific bass lines note for note, but I have yet to find a playing environment where everyone else in the band does the same. Almost all of the tunes end up being modified and adjusted to fit the style / capabilities of the band. Whenever possible, I will ensure a signature lick or fill stays in, but IME a note for note application seldom works unless everyone in the band is committed to the same level and capable of doing the same thing AND wants to perform that type of accurate "cover" of the song.

Personally, I prefer adding our own personality to the cover...my favourite covers are usually those with some unique quality to them that honours the original while creating something a little bit new or different.

 

[prowla]

The singer should learn to sing their bit - it's a very strong vocal.
I like that bass line (and the song!) - I might learn it!

 

[Tim Skaggs]

My band is learning "What Becomes Of The Broken Hearted" so I learned James Jamerson's part note for note. At rehearsal today our guitarist/vocalist said the bass line was throwing him off, lol. It is a strange line with a lot of 5ths and 3rds being played over the root chords. Just wondering if I should simplify it a bit and/or if anyone here has covered it and what they ended up playing?

Tell him to practice along with the original so he will become a better guitarist and not continue as a guitarist that is thrown off by a bass line played by the best known Motown bassist ever and one of the best known recording bassists of all time. He’ll thank you someday.

 

[dave hope]

I never noticed until now what a lame basic track that is. It has no energy or a great pocket. It’s an odd duck of a song/arrangement, but I still like it. Lol

 

[PennyroyalWe]

Guitar/vocalist people always have a problem with songs they didn’t choose. Always.

It me.

 

[MegaSwing]

FWIW, my band used to play that song, and we’re basically a 3-piece with a lead vocalist, and occasionally a sax. We killed it every time. It can be done. But if the will or the skill isn’t there, it will never sound right. This isn’t ordinary music we’re talking about here. Those original players and arrangers either had real schooling, or, as in Jamerson’s case, were extraordinarily gifted. Sometimes both.

As I've opined earlier, what dance crowd even wants to hear this song? It’s almost funereal.

 

[Hankenstein]

You are not playing with the same guys Jamerson was. If he was playing with the guys in your band I PROMISE you he would have played it differently.

Glad you learned the part.

Now, play with the guys in your band.

 

[Richard Lindsey]

It's not a hard line, and it shouldn't be hard for the guitarist/vocalist to sing to if he listens to the song enough. (Most of us are assuming that the Jimmy Ruffin version is the one you want to reference, which seems like a logical assumption, since that was the version that was a hit. If you're referencing something else, or have some hip idea for your own original take on it, then that's another story.)

The somewhat unexpected note choices in the bass--all those 1st and 2nd inversions--are, for me personally, what makes the part interesting. By comparison, when you listen to the Paul Young version from the early '90s, you hear that that arrangement goes with the roots for the most part, and it just sounds so ... vanilla and bog-standard by comparison, to me anyway.

This isn't an argument for absolute note-for-note fidelity, BTW. It's a suggestion to go with the harmonic movement laid out in the original. For example, if the first chord is a major chord in 2nd inversion, then play the 5th in the bass in some fashion; don't hang on the root.

The idea that Jamerson didn't know what he was doing is laughable. Whether one likes the part or not, there's no way it was anything but a conscious choice, either on Jamerson's part or Paul Riser's or somebody else's who was on the session.

 

[ComeHomeShane]

@OP Tell your guitarist to be a musician and know their part well enough that simple bass line won't through them off...

 

[MegaSwing]

Joan Osborne’s version from ‘Standing in the Shadows of Motown’ doesn’t deviate much from the original, except for the dramatic breaks at the end. That’s what my group played, since we have a female vocalist.

 

[jnuts1]

I got fired from a band for being "too busy" when I was simply playing the original bass lines.

John

this is very common. nobody listens to the bass so they never know what the bassline is.

 

[jnuts1]

What's funny is my bandleader (the keys player) remarked about maybe the original bass player didn't know what he was doing when it was first recorded, lol. Obviously some people haven't heard of the Funk Brothers!

you should have quit right then