Why do People Like James Jamerson’s Sound?

[How1]

Is it all about the actual sound or more to do with the legacy/genius side of it and people assuming if they have the right setup they can play like him?! I love James Jamerson’s stuff and play plenty of it, but I’m genuinely curious as to why people are so in love with *that* sound particularly. He’s no doubt brilliant but I think to some degree he had an easy ride - it’s not like he’s fighting three guitars and a string section.

[MacDaddy]

Because for a certain generation, the sound of a bass guitar in the music of their youth was generally a dull thud. For some reason they aspire to this in later life.

[Aidan63]

It's that era specific and studio specific and engineered specific of that bass with old strings played with thumb and fingers DI into the desk, maybe originally recorded along with something like a B15 mic'd up and the two mixed and bounced down together on tape; a tubey, harmonically rich, compression thing which is generally more appealing than transistor or digitally recorded stuff to many people; there's a pedal/DI box available that tries to replicate it based on what was used originally

[Paolo85]

I picked up a bass for the first time after many many years in December 2021. At the time, I was mostly listening to old jazz, some fusion but only a tiny bit really. I much preferred the sound of a doublebass to that of an electric bass. As I did not want to play the metal of my youth nor jazz as it looked like a lot of work, I started googling for electric bass players that I could like. Luckily I bumped into Jamerson and that amazing generation of soul musicians. I immediately fell in love with the sound of old flats, neck pickups and mute. It did not sound to me like a bad copy of a double bass. Close but different. I was coming from jazz and so did Jamerson (him for real as a player, me just in my bedroom with headphones on), so I guess it makes sense that he wanted that sound and I like it.

True, they had it easy in many ways,  their sound would not come out in a hard rock band. But nor would Ray Brown's doublebass. I am not sure this means his sound is not cool

 

EDIT: let me add that three guitars can be two to three too many

Edited April 14, 2023 by Paolo85

[Rich]

Listen closely to the sublime, glorious bassline of For Once In My Life, and then tell me again that he had an easy ride  

 

 

[Happy Jack]

We all spend our playing careers trying to replicate "the sound in our head".

 

For anyone listening to pop music through the 60s, that sound is most likely to be a Fender Precision strung with flats, and quite possibly being played by James Jamerson (not that any of us had a clue who he was until many years later).

 

[How1]

15 minutes ago, Rich said:

Listen closely to the sublime, glorious bassline of For Once In My Life, and then tell me again that he had an easy ride  

 

 

That kind of illustrates my point about the space he had to play in. There’s not much else going on that’s affecting how audible the bass is or how he might have to adjust his tone or playing whatsoever. He’s quite obviously the star of the show and is practically playing lead. Don’t get me wrong, his playing is brilliant and I’m not saying otherwise. 
 

Classic tune though 👍

Edited April 14, 2023 by How1

[How1]

13 minutes ago, Happy Jack said:

We all spend our playing careers trying to replicate "the sound in our head".

 

For anyone listening to pop music through the 60s, that sound is most likely to be a Fender Precision strung with flats, and quite possibly being played by James Jamerson (not that any of us had a clue who he was until many years later).

 

True. I guess for people of a certain age it’s THE sound of bass. But there’s a good chance if he played that same stuff now he’d have used totally different gear and still been as popular.

[TheGreek]

Easy on the ear, catchy riffs and great tones.

 

I'd love to have written half of his riffs.

[BigRedX]

I think it's more to do with the songs rather than the bass sound itself. 

 

Yes, the bass works with the arrangements and the production of those songs, but only really in that context. So by all means if you're playing that kind of music then it's a bass sound to emulate. If you are playing something else don't be surprised if it doesn't work as well.

 

That's why I've always found the idea of chasing someone else's sound baffling. Unless you are playing covers or in a tribute band it's much better to listen to what the other musicians are doing and find something of your own that works in that context. We're musicians we should be listening not blindly (deafly?) following.

[acidbass]

It's a fairly uninspiring tone by itself but in the context of the material it is just perfect.  A common theme with P basses actually!

[jrixn1]

1 hour ago, How1 said:

it’s not like he’s fighting three guitars and a string section.

 

45 minutes ago, Paolo85 said:

let me add that three guitars can be two to three too many

 

I'm not sure if I've missed How1's point - but some Motown tracks e.g. Ain't No Mountain High Enough had three guitars (Willis, Messina, and White) and a string section.  There was a lot of instrumentation but Motown was arranged and produced really well.

Isolated guitars

Isolated strings

[snorkie635]

30 minutes ago, TheGreek said:

Easy on the ear, catchy riffs and great tones.

 

I'd love to have written half of his riffs.

That would be 'ffs'. 😁

[How1]

6 minutes ago, jrixn1 said:

 

 

I'm not sure if I've missed How1's point - but some Motown tracks e.g. Ain't No Mountain High Enough had three guitars (Willis, Messina, and White) and a string section.  There was a lot of instrumentation but Motown was arranged and produced really well.

Isolated guitars

Isolated strings

True. I’m not saying he never had that, just that *in general* he had a lot of freedom, sometimes to the point of probably things being arranged around him.

Edited April 14, 2023 by How1

[MartinB]

That thick, punchy bass tone just sounds great and works really well for some genres and songs. It's all over 60's and early 70's soul and funk; it's not just a Jamerson thing. I wasn't even born when this was this sound was in fashion, so it's definitely not about age, nostalgia, or analogue vs digital.

[Burns-bass]

Of course, not everyone likes Jamerson (I do). Some people find his work to be a little too busy. You can compare him to Bob Babbit I guess who was a bit more straight ahead (or Carol Kaye if you're going down the wormhole).

 

In terms of the tone, the flats on a P thing is the quintessential 60s sound. I have all my basses strung with flats. Partly that's because I play DB and I prefer it, but also because it just sounds right.

 

You can see how his melodic way of playing influenced all sorts of bands, including the Macca. It's the way the bass carries its own melody and propels the song along. http://rockandrollgarage.com/the-bassist-that-paul-mccartney-said-it-was-his-biggest-influence/

 

I guess like all music, you take from it what you want...

 

[How1]

41 minutes ago, MartinB said:

That thick, punchy bass tone just sounds great and works really well for some genres and songs. It's all over 60's and early 70's soul and funk; it's not just a Jamerson thing. I wasn't even born when this was this sound was in fashion, so it's definitely not about age, nostalgia, or analogue vs digital.

I agree with pretty much all of that. I love soul/R&B and the bass of the 60s& 70s era. For me though there are other players and sounds that I like just as much as JJ’s - David Hood and Duck Dunn being two obvious examples, Nathan Watts, George Porter…I guess it comes down to who is the most well known as to who gets emulated the most? Or the most unique?

Edited April 14, 2023 by How1

[Ricky 4000]

1 hour ago, How1 said:

True. I guess for people of a certain age it’s THE sound of bass. But there’s a good chance if he played that same stuff now he’d have used totally different gear and still been as popular.

 

Sadly he couldn't get work later in life due to not being able to change his sound. 😔

[How1]

1 minute ago, Ricky 4000 said:

 

Sadly he couldn't get work later in life due to not being able to change his sound. 😔

Really? I assumed it was because he was constantly sh*tfaced and couldn’t play properly anymore.

[chris_b]

Jamerson, Babbitt, Duck Dunn and Nathan East. The sound of a bass.

 

You can sound different but you won't sound better.

[Ricky 4000]

3 minutes ago, How1 said:

Really? I assumed it was because he was constantly sh*tfaced and couldn’t play properly anymore.

 

That's how he ended up, in a very sad state, but perhaps he hit the rocks because he couldn't fit in with the requirements for a 'modern' session player... 🤷

[How1]

1 minute ago, Ricky 4000 said:

 

That's how he ended up, in a very sad state, but perhaps he hit the rocks because he couldn't fit in with the requirements for a 'modern' session player... 🤷

Yeah, maybe so. It’s a shame either way.

[Steve Browning]

 

Fair amount of competition for sonic space among that lot!!

[ossyrocks]

I’ve played guitar in bands for decades, laterally my own three piece with me singing and playing lead. I’ve played with lots of bass players during this time, all of whom were quite different in approach and tone. There was one bassist who I really enjoyed playing with, and he had that thick thumping tone which I felt most complemented the tunes we used to do. Others were more modern players, one even a slap virtuoso, and I liked their tone less. At the time, I didn’t think much about it, but when I picked up bass, it was a P bass with flats that first grabbed me. I like jazz, blues, soul and funk, and for me there’s no better tone for it. I do have a Jazz bass now too, but even that has flats on it. 
I guess the best tone is subjective and is different for everyone, but that tone is what I find most inspiring and rewarding and it encourages me to keep picking up the bass.

 

Rob

[yorks5stringer]

3 hours ago, How1 said:

Is it all about the actual sound or more to do with the legacy/genius side of it and people assuming if they have the right setup they can play like him?! I love James Jamerson’s stuff and play plenty of it, but I’m genuinely curious as to why people are so in love with *that* sound particularly. He’s no doubt brilliant but I think to some degree he had an easy ride - it’s not like he’s fighting three guitars and a string section.

He also usually played drunk and lying on his back, so give him some kudos....