He played on more number 1 hit records than any other bassist, or musician in the history of popular music. Jamerson gets my vote for baddest mother f of all time. To get some great and saddening insight into his life and work, to see how many bass players are in awe of him, and to try to keep up with some of his best bass lines including my personal favorite, the bass line to whats going on, check out this book. By contrast, many of jamersons basslines relied heavily on chromatic runs. The bassist on this tour was obliged to play them exactly as written. If it doesnt sound right and more importantly if it doesnt feel right its probably wrong. They do a more accurate job of showing how jamerson created some of his most famous bass lines than any free bass tab you can find on the internet. Verse 2 the first four bars of verse 2 show jamerson using very similar rhythmic and melodic movements to the first verse, only varying the line slightly. Igors chromatic exercise bass tab by james jamerson. James jamersons motown greatest bass lines appreciation. Throughout the entire classic motown catalog and some nonmotown sides, jamerson shaped a new inventive style of.
James jamerson s basslines were the foundation of the motown sound full of complex 16th note passages, dissonant passing tones and intense syncopations. He was inducted into the rock and roll hall of fame. James jamerson biography, albums, streaming links allmusic. Worlds prettiest bassline james jamerson, 1970 youtube. Pdf james jamerson standing in the shadows of motown pdf. As a session player jamersons career spanned 40 years, and though hes most associated with motown, he also did a lot of soul tracks and a few other genres.
He recorded a vast discography and contributed to the development of genres including rap, disco and funk. Licks and the allstar list of contributors show you how by sharing jamerson s story and getting into the. If you play bass, this bookcd has to be in your collection. Jamerson was the most funk filled bass player ever and he did it with no slap, one finger, and a p bass. Steve calls jamerson the jimi hendrix of bass players. Jul 17, 2010 heres another great isolated bass track showcasing james jamersons work with the four tops. If you dont already, rush out this instant and get a copy of the standing in the shadows of motown book which features notefor. My transcription of james jamerson s bass line on bernadette.
How to get the james jamerson bass sound october 12, 2016 by best bass gear max kays nephew jeremy kay makes an appearance in a reverb video seen below describing how to get that beloved motown bass tone played by bass great james jamerson. Its such a strange phenomenon that the bass had only been around as a massproduced instrument for a few years when james jamerson came along and cemented himself as one of the greatest of all. My transcription of james jamersons bass line on bernadette. Rockin blues bass solo practice material video, mp3.
Leo fenders 1951 brainchild had yet to find an identity a situation that ended with the first note jamerson played on. James jamerson was described by motown founder berry gordy as a genius on the bass it is eye opening and ear popping. From jazz bassist to popular music icon by joshua andrew zarbo, b. James jamerson whats going on marvin bass transcription. Aug 04, 2019 and of course jamerson and kayes work. Almost any student of electric bass will want to peruse this book. He was the uncredited bassist on most of the motown records hits in the 1960s and early 1970s motown did not list session musician credits on their releases until 1971, and is now regarded as one of the most influential bass players in modern music history. The godfather of soul spent 50 years as a singersongwriter, dancer, musician, record producer and band leader always at a frenetic pace. May 15, 20 martha reeves on her 1991 uk tour for which i played keyboards had james jamersons bass lines transcribed on many of her charts. Rockin blues bass solo practice material video, mp3, guitar pro file. Something very important to note in the video is that motown did not use amplifiers for studio recordings.
This is one of jamersons most famous lines that doesnt feature any of his much lauded chromaticism. He knew how to define harmony and how to drive it forward. Marvin gaye james jamerson god is love bass line musiciens. I have my opinions, and i think its easy to tell a carol kaye recording from a jamerson one, but thats already been discussed on tb. He says jamerson s bass line drove the motown sound. Aug 09, 2014 welcome to this collection of james jamerson transcriptions theres also some bonus motown transcriptions at the end of the book too including the bob babbitt line on band of gold and stevie wonders awesome keyboard bass line on isnt she lovely. This week ive been playing some of the bass lines of the great motown bassist james jamerson. Here is jamerson s line on the 1966 four tops hit, standing in the shadows of love. This book with online audio pack by blues expert dave rubin provides bassists with a stepbystep breakdown of the styles and techniques of motown, with an emphasis on the legendary james jamerson the bassman in demand. Aint no mountain high enough james jamerson bass transcription bass. A later section features dozens of transcriptions put together by dr. Throughout this course well be focusing on the key elements of jamerson s sound and analysing the ways that they are put to use here. A horn led instrumental track driven by another great jamerson line. Just an upright acoustic bass, and later his 1962 fender precision bass were all he used for most of his studio recordings.
Mar 28, 2017 james jamerson bass line play by naoto tada. Aug 02, 2004 james jamerson was a genius, and hes a constant source of inspiration for this bass player. For those like myself who dont have the james jamerson. His lines were simple yet effective, but always stood out.
He asked about chord symbols in the transcriptions on thebasscase. Finally, a bit of recognition for the bass player everyone needs to know. Any bass player wishing to progress on his instrument can learn from jamerson indeed the list of bass players who credit jamerson as a primary influence include john entwistle, paul mccartney, john paul jones, pino palladino and billy sheehan. Learn this really useful motown bass pattern bass line. As youll hear, this wasnt really all that isolated, with drums and sax clearly in the mix. Jamerson while correcting errors, creating a selective, centralized and updated source list for the literature on jamerson while expanding the amount of musical analysis of his specific bass lines and, with the analysis, solidifying the direct connection between jamersons jazz experience and his eventual evolved music persona. Now jamerson s work has become widely appreciated thanks to allan slutskys groundbreaking book. Ive only provided the first run through the form, but you can see here how jamerson uses the open strings to tackle shifting from one position to the next and his use of. James lee jamerson january 29, 1936 august 2, 1983 was an american bass player. Great stories from many premier players and their take on james jamersons lines. James jamerson the dude that never changed his strings. Theres also some bonus motown transcriptions at the end of the book too including the bob babbitt line on band of gold and stevie wonders awesome keyboard bass line on isnt she lovely. Mp4 highquality video backing track without solo to play along to mp3 25. Reconstructing the history of motown session musicians.
My transcription of james jamerson s bass line on stevie wonders for once in my life. For once in my life stevie wonder 1968 jamerson analysed. James jamerson standing in the shadows of motown pdf audio. Great bass lines for 34 songs that defined an era this collection of bass transcriptionstabs presents the bass lines of 34 iconic hits from the classic rock era. James jamerson standing in the shadows of motown pdf. All that was needed was a vu meter in the studio so that the musician would know when the level was correct. The boss james brown transcribed by ian dodge paterson, 2011.
For those like myself who dont have the james jamerson biography, heres a pdf in both tab and music notation of his chromatic exercise. Jun 07, 20 there is a video floating around the internet of marvin gaye performing whats going onwhats happening brother live with none other than james jamerson backing him. Legendary bassist james jamerson 1989 is the seminal source on james jamerson s. Jamerson was a master of building and releasing tension in his bass lines. Hij werd een veelgevraagd bassist bij lokale opnamestudios. Marley war sheet music for bass tablature bass guitar pdf. Thanks to rick suchow, for sharing these awesome recordings. On this song you can get a sens of james improvisational skills and unshakable sens of groove and time. The c at the end of bar two acts as a dominant approach to the f in the next bar, another example of walking bass theory in jamerson s lines.
For tracks with very repetitive bass lines, the chart contains each section rather than the full score with repeats these are marked sections. A large part of jamerson s genius was his note choice. James jamerson might be the most influential bassist youve never heard of. This amongst other details was part of her meticulous drive to recreate the a motown sound as accurately as possible on live gigs. The rock and roll hall of fame inducted jamerson in the year 2000. James jamerson from jazz bassist to popular music icon.
If you planned to sweeten the tracks, you had to either do a different mix when you recorded the original tracks or make an 8 track to 8 track transfer and put the perc and tdanscriptions together etc. I1959, on the day james jamerson first walked into berry gordy jr. Here are bass lines for 14 beloved hits from marvin gaye, the supremes, the temptations, stevie wonder and many others. May 19, 2016 my transcription of james jamersons bass line on stevie wonders for once in my life. Top 20 amazing bass lines of all time with tab sheet. Bassist james jamerson was the embodiment of the motown spirit and groove the invisible entity whose playing inspired thousands and made it impossible for anyone to sit still while listening to a motown record. Years before james jamerson who, as one man puts it, was the schoenberg of simple chord changes, there. Jamersons legendary hook technique is arguably the most important part of his sound. Stevie wonders shoobedoobedoodaday is one of james jamerson essential motown bass track that every bass player should listen to.
Motowns preferred electric bassist on the west coast was carol kaye figure 2. Jamerson s influence permeates so much of modern music that it would be nearly impossible to list it all, yet his bass rig was very minimalist. Martha reeves on her 1991 uk tour for which i played keyboards had james jamerson s bass lines transcribed on many of her charts. The real james jamerson amp discussion in amps and cabs bg started by. Licks slutsky publisher hal leonard, not much has been written about the bass playing wonder. About the only track credited to jamerson, youll have to search around to find it on one of the myriad of motown compilation albums but its worth the trawl.
The transcribed bass lines for 14 hit motown songs as played by james. The samples are in pdf format and require adobe acrobat reader to be installed. Id hear the melody line from the lyrics and id build the bass line around that. This is one of jamerson s most famous lines that doesnt feature any of his much lauded chromaticism.
This bass transcription is paul chambers full bass line from miles davis famous 1957 album, round midnight. Were going to break down the first 8 bars of for once in my life by stevie wonder, which was recorded in 1968 with james jamerson on bass. Ive been reading transcriptions from a book called standing in the shadows of motown. I just posted my transcription of james jamersons bass line on bernadette on my blog. Thank you scott for your tirless passion for bass and bass. One time when stevie wonder was very young he was hanging with james and jamerson told him man if you cant play the blues in all 12 keys you aint shit stevie went and learned to play in all 12 keys and learned a lot about the role of the bass compositionally from james. Recorded in 1965 for motowns bustling tamla label, here jamerson makes the bass swing as much as the sax. The album begins with give me an inch, a title worked around the phrase give them an inch and theyll take a mile and the intro is pure 70s strings and flutes, but jamerson s excellent bass line and palmers vocal arrangement keep the song from delving into pure schmaltz.
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. How to get the james jamerson motown bass sound scotts bass. If youre a james jamerson nerd or if you just want to take your bass line creation to the next level, stick around because this is going to be super interesting for you. In the photo they removed the name of willie kent which was stuck on his bass.
How to sound like motowns james jamerson reverb news. This style of music was recorded mostly in detroit in the 1960s and used some of the greatest studio musicians of all time the funk brothers. Have you ever wondered what the best sight reading books for bass are, or how to practise sight reading. Pdf tabsall the files you need to practice the rockin blues bass solo in cin the youtube video included above. Mar 04, 2007 james jamerson is arguably the greatest bass player to ever live. Amazingly the majority of them were improvised from chord symbols.
Motown, bass, or james jamerson here you can download free james jamerson shared files found in our database. James jamerson already plays the bass on then thirteen years old little stevie wonders very first number one hit record, the live fingertips pt2 which features a very simple am d progression when the band is playing between wonders solos. May 29, 2018 james jamerson bass lines bass practice diary 6 29th may 2018. I have asked bob babbitt about this and he told me he believes the funk machine was stolen in detroit before james came to california. All songs on this playlist have james jamerson on bass. I just checked out that vulf video where theres a visualization of his bassline to aint no mountain high enough.
From the isolated bass recording on the standing in the shadows of motown cd. At least to get a sens of the mastery and control that jamerson had of the bass guitar. James jamerson fever in the funkhouse bass transcription. I used to think that the most funky bass lines were slap bass lines and then i heard jamerson. The life and music of legendary bassist james jamerson, a classic bookcd set by allan dr. James jamerson bass lines bass practice diary 6 johnny. James jamerson on bernadette february 29, 2016 dave speranza i came across an isolated bass recording of james jamerson on youtube recently, and decided that there couldnt be a better transcription project than that. James jamerson is the greatest bass player youve never heard of. Other than the loving tribute standing in the shadows of motown. For educational and personal use only not to be sold but please share.
Oct 12, 2016 max kays nephew jeremy kay makes an appearance in a reverb video seen below describing how to get that beloved motown bass tone played by bass great james jamerson. The lines were performed by such legendary names as paul mccartney, john paul jones, jack bruce, roger waters, geddy lee, cliff williams, john mcvie, walter becker, dusty hill, and many others. Licks and played by famous bass players on the included audio cds. Here are bass lines for 14 beloved hits from marvin gaye, the. James jamerson standing in the shadows of motown download. What hurted me is to see the front photo of great bluesman willie kent instead of great motown bass genius james jamerson. The motown session bassist james jamerson is widely regarded as one of the most influential and important bassists in modern music history. Welcome to this collection of james jamerson transcriptions. James jamerson was basically the first electric bass virtuoso, and these transcriptions of his lines provide a great reading workout. James jamerson from jazz bassist to popular music icon digital.
Legendary bassist james jamerson 1989 is the seminal source on james jamerson. Here are 18 of the most incredible heavy metal bass lines ever recorded, from iron maidens first five albums. I have found that playing jamerson with two fingers is actually less idiomatic than the onefinger approach. Dont forget to hit the download resources button above to get the pdf transcription and the audio files for this piece available to subscribers only. Peace frog blue sunday the doors 1970, bass ray neapolitan. If you find it useful why not give a small donation to a charity of your choice. Legendary motown bassist james jamerson singlehandedly revolutionized bass playing. If you dont already, rush out this instant and get a copy of the standing in the shadows of motown book which features notefornote transcriptions of lots of jjs parts and. This guy really is the grandfather of the electric bass guitar.
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