chris_b Posted January 1, 2020 Posted January 1, 2020 A Pointer sisters track from the 70's, featuring a fantastic bass part from James Jamerson. I guess this is from his LA period. This is nothing like his Motown tone, but sounds equally good IMO. Impeccable playing a fat punchy tone. I can't see why those producers didn't like him. Enjoy. 9 1 Quote
Hellzero Posted January 1, 2020 Posted January 1, 2020 Sounds just like as if he had put new strings on the Funk Machine... 1 Quote
Burns-bass Posted January 1, 2020 Posted January 1, 2020 1 hour ago, Hellzero said: Sounds just like as if he had put new strings on the Funk Machine... May have been stolen by then... Quote
Hellzero Posted January 1, 2020 Posted January 1, 2020 3 minutes ago, Burns-bass said: May have been stolen by then... No, it's been stolen a few days before he died. Quote
Dan Dare Posted January 1, 2020 Posted January 1, 2020 Fabulous playing. Those producers didn't like him because he was prone to be erratic and to over-indulge in the old electric soup. Tragic waste. Brilliance only carries you so far. If people can't rely on you, they look elsewhere. Quote
ambient Posted January 1, 2020 Posted January 1, 2020 2 hours ago, Hellzero said: Sounds just like as if he had put new strings on the Funk Machine... I think I read somewhere that he was pressured by the producers he was working for into changing his strings. His ‘sound’, the old string, dull sound had fallen out of favour. Quote
stewblack Posted January 1, 2020 Posted January 1, 2020 2 hours ago, Dan Dare said: Fabulous playing. Those producers didn't like him because he was prone to be erratic and to over-indulge in the old electric soup. Tragic waste. Brilliance only carries you so far. If people can't rely on you, they look elsewhere. This is the desperately sad truth. 1 Quote
ambient Posted January 1, 2020 Posted January 1, 2020 56 minutes ago, stewblack said: This is the desperately sad truth. According to the Standing in the shadows book, he was really well respected. They used to hire a standby bassist, but still booked him. If he wasn’t able to do the session himself, then the standby was there. He was still booked though, at least that’s what I read. Quote
Frank Blank Posted January 1, 2020 Posted January 1, 2020 3 hours ago, Dan Dare said: ...and to over-indulge in the old electric soup. What is ‘the old electric soup?’ Quote
ambient Posted January 1, 2020 Posted January 1, 2020 2 minutes ago, Frank Blank said: What is ‘the old electric soup?’ No idea, I don’t think it’s one that Heinz do. 3 Quote
Maude Posted January 1, 2020 Posted January 1, 2020 7 minutes ago, ambient said: No idea, I don’t think it’s one that Heinz do. No it's a Hertz one, 57 cycles per second apparently. 😁 1 Quote
stewblack Posted January 2, 2020 Posted January 2, 2020 7 hours ago, ambient said: According to the Standing in the shadows book, he was really well respected. They used to hire a standby bassist, but still booked him. If he wasn’t able to do the session himself, then the standby was there. He was still booked though, at least that’s what I read. I meant the sad truth about his alcohol problem. Quote
Davebassics Posted January 2, 2020 Posted January 2, 2020 I just finished reading standing in the shadows of motown. Really fascinating book with great insight into what Jamerson left as his legacy. It's really sparked something in me over christmas to practice and learn which is always good. On a controversial note: I have had to move through the denial phase regarding my opinions on his playing. I think a lot of what he did was over played or under played. There is also a lot he hit the nail on the head with. But tracks like "for once in my life" I feel would have benefit from some restraint and tracks like "Baby love" could have had more groove. "You can't buy love" I thought his playing was class, spot on. Very commercial examples but I think they demonstrate my point. I have a Jamerson playlist on Spotify with 1305 songs on it. Still got so much more to discover! Quote
scalpy Posted January 2, 2020 Posted January 2, 2020 8 hours ago, Maude said: No it's a Hertz one, 57 cycles per second apparently. 😁 He should have tried 56. Lots of people say you can’t hear the difference but I can definitely feel it, I watched two YouTube videos on it and have consequently formed my whole belief system around it. 1 2 Quote
MacDaddy Posted January 2, 2020 Posted January 2, 2020 Imagine how good he could have been if he'd picked with 2 fingers. *runs and hides* 3 Quote
ezbass Posted January 2, 2020 Posted January 2, 2020 4 minutes ago, MacDaddy said: Imagine how good he could have been if he'd picked with 2 fingers. *runs and hides* Or used a pick like Carol Kaye, who played all those bass lines anyway. 😂 1 Quote
DoubleOhStephan Posted January 2, 2020 Posted January 2, 2020 2 hours ago, Davebassics said: standing in the shadows of motown Cracking documentary too 1 Quote
chris_b Posted January 2, 2020 Author Posted January 2, 2020 4 hours ago, Davebassics said: I think a lot of what he did was over played or under played. When Jamerson played busy bass lines they were so musical that the song was always enhanced, no matter how far he pushed the limit. He invented busy bass playing, but only used it where appropriate. He had perfect timing and a full knowledge of musical theory, and used it well. That's why the whole Motown organisation was queueing up to use him on everything. A lot of players who came after thought that busy playing was just throwing in a lot of notes. They were wrong. I don't know how you define underplaying. Less is always more in my book. Baby Love, Dancing in the Street and My Girl are still perfect examples of restrained bass playing that just makes those songs. 5 Quote
Davebassics Posted January 2, 2020 Posted January 2, 2020 14 minutes ago, chris_b said: When Jamerson played busy bass lines they were so musical that the song was always enhanced, no matter how far he pushed the limit. He invented busy bass playing, but only used it where appropriate. He had perfect timing and a full knowledge of musical theory, and used it well. That's why the whole Motown organisation was queueing up to use him on everything. A lot of players who came after thought that busy playing was just throwing in a lot of notes. They were wrong. I don't know how you define underplaying. Less is always more in my book. Baby Love, Dancing in the Street and My Girl are still perfect examples of restrained bass playing that just makes those songs. I guess as a bassist, I listen to busy bass lines and it's easy to let just the bass line take my full attention that subtracts from the song. I suppose that's a criticism of myself rather than Jameson. Can't argue the man was a genius. There is a lot I am yet to understand. 1 Quote
Higgie Posted January 5, 2020 Posted January 5, 2020 On 02/01/2020 at 07:42, Davebassics said: I just finished reading standing in the shadows of motown. Really fascinating book with great insight into what Jamerson left as his legacy. It's really sparked something in me over christmas to practice and learn which is always good. On a controversial note: I have had to move through the denial phase regarding my opinions on his playing. I think a lot of what he did was over played or under played. There is also a lot he hit the nail on the head with. But tracks like "for once in my life" I feel would have benefit from some restraint and tracks like "Baby love" could have had more groove. "You can't buy love" I thought his playing was class, spot on. Very commercial examples but I think they demonstrate my point. I have a Jamerson playlist on Spotify with 1305 songs on it. Still got so much more to discover! Have to disagree with you on ‘For Once In My Life’ - to me it drives the whole song, and what he played is just flawless. A real masterpiece of bass playing! 4 Quote
Davebassics Posted January 5, 2020 Posted January 5, 2020 8 hours ago, Higgie said: Have to disagree with you on ‘For Once In My Life’ - to me it drives the whole song, and what he played is just flawless. A real masterpiece of bass playing! I'm going to invest some more time reading through the bass line analysis examples in standing in the shadows of motown. I sure have an appreciation for jamersons art and I am a little appalled with myself that it doesn't fall under my personal tastes. 1 Quote
Dan Dare Posted January 5, 2020 Posted January 5, 2020 On 01/01/2020 at 23:46, Frank Blank said: What is ‘the old electric soup?’ Neck oil, firewater, hooch. The electric soup is stolen from the long-running 'Dear Bill' column in Private Eye. Quote
4000 Posted January 5, 2020 Posted January 5, 2020 8 hours ago, Davebassics said: I'm going to invest some more time reading through the bass line analysis examples in standing in the shadows of motown. I sure have an appreciation for jamersons art and I am a little appalled with myself that it doesn't fall under my personal tastes. It doesn’t have to fall under your personal tastes. You can appreciate and acknowledge what someone does as a musician - or any kind of artist - without necessarily liking it. Quote
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