James Jamerson

American rhythm-and-blues bassist

• Born: January 29, 1936
• Birthplace: Charleston, North Carolina
• Died: August 2, 1983
• Place of death: Los Angeles, California

A longtime member of the Motown house band known as the Funk Brothers, Jamerson was the primary bass player on the majority of Motown’s hit records of the 1960’s and 1970’s. He was noted for making unusual melodic note choices and combining syncopated rhythmic lines.

Member of The Funk Brothers

The Life

James Lee Jamerson was born in Charleston, South Carolina, to James Jamerson, Sr., who worked at the local shipyards, and Elizabeth, a homemaker. His parents divorced when he was young, so Jamerson spent the majority of his time with his aunt and grandmother, who encouraged his early interest in gospel, jazz, and blues music.

At the age of ten, Jamerson was severely injured in a bicycle accident, which kept him wheelchair bound. When he recovered, his mother sent for him, and he relocated with her to Detroit in 1954. There he met Annie Wells, and, though still in their teens, they were married. Jamerson entered Northwestern High School, joined the school orchestra, and chose the acoustic bass as his instrument. Influenced by jazz greats Ray Brown and Paul Chambers, Jamerson was offered the opportunity to study jazz bass at the collegiate level, but he decided to pursue a career as a professional musician. Local sessions and gigs with Jackie Wilson led to his recruitment by Motown founder Berry Gordy to become a member of the Funk Brothers, the legendary Motown house band for which Jamerson recorded on acoustic and electric bass.

After nearly fifteen years with the Funk Brothers in Detroit, Jamerson followed Motown Records to Los Angeles, where he made additional recordings as a freelance bassist. His long-standing struggles with alcoholism caused gradual deterioration of his health, and Jamerson died on August 2, 1983, in Los Angeles.

The Music

Jamerson began constructing influential bass tracks as soon as Motown began producing records in 1959. He appeared on hundreds of popular Motown recordings as the primary bass player in the Funk Brothers, the Motown backing band comprising roughly one hundred musicians who performed on all Motown recordings. Although other prominent, talented bassists worked with Funk Brothers and appeared on Motown tracks (notably Bob Babbitt and Eddie Watkins), the bass player on nearly all of the number-one Motown songs was Jamerson.

The construction and implementation of the Funk Brothers sound allowed Jamerson to turn out distinctive, historic bass grooves. While the general role of the bass player in jazz music is to provide a stable rhythmic pulse, there is always room for each player of a jazz rhythm section to improvise and share rhythmic and harmonic duties. In the Funk Brothers’ formula, however, the drums, guitar, piano, and percussion had fixed, specific rhythmic roles essential to the interlocking Motown grooves. The Funk Brothers’ bass player, however, had some musical independence. Jamerson’s bass lines, from the earliest Motown grooves, syncopate (or play against) the other rhythm-section players, providing a feeling of musical momentum through the freely moving and shifting bass lines. In Jamerson’s skillful hands, this technique was not purely rhythmic in effect. He made interesting melodic note choices, while moving up and down the bass, to provide colorful accents to the chord changes, vocal melodies, and horn lines. In many respects, Jamerson’s bass lines were the glue that held the Funk Brothers together and ultimately created the Motown sound.

The Early Motown Recordings. The list of Jamerson’s most influential tracks parallels the history of Motown hits. He played on the Miracles’ “Shop Around” (1960), which was the first Motown track to reach number one on the rhythm-and-blues charts, and the Marvelettes’ “Please Mr. Postman” (1961), which was Motown’s first number-one record on the pop charts. Two tracks that reached number one on the rhythm-and-blues charts quickly followed: “Do You Love Me?” (the Contours, 1962) and “(Love Is Like a) Heat Wave” (Martha and the Vandellas, 1963). In 1965 Jamerson recorded one of his most famous and most recognizable grooves, returning to the acoustic bass on Mary Wells’s “My Guy,” which reached number one on the pop charts.

The Classic Motown Performances. By the mid-1960’s, Motown had hit its stride and released an unprecedented series of number-one hits, nearly all of which featured Jamerson with his instantly recognizable bass performances. He performed on tracks by Diana Ross and the Supremes (“Stop in the Name of Love,” “You Can’t Hurry Love,” “Where Did Our Love Go?”), Stevie Wonder (“Uptight,” “For Once in My Life,” “My Cherie Amour,” “Fingertips, Part 2”), Marvin Gaye (”I Heard It Through the Grapevine,” “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough,” “How Sweet It Is,” “What’s Going On?”), Smokey Robinson and the Miracles (“Ooh Baby Baby,” “You’ve Really Got a Hold on Me,” “I Second That Emotion,” “Tracks of My Tears”), the Temptations (“My Girl,” “The Way You Do the Things You Do,” “Ain’t Too Proud to Beg,” “Beauty Is Only Skin Deep”), and the Four Tops (“Standing in the Shadows of Love,” “I Can’t Help Myself,” “Reach out I’ll Be There,” “Baby I Need Your Loving”). A few other famous tracks include the famous bass line on the Jackson 5’s “I Want You Back,” Jr. Walker and the All-Stars’ “Shotgun,” and the famous non-Motown Jackie Wilson track, “Higher and Higher.”

Musical Legacy

The Motown sound was a major influence on the enormously popular hip-hop, rap, neo-soul, and contemporary rhythm-and-blues styles that emerged in the 1980’s and 1990’s. Jamerson played a vital role in establishing that Motown sound. Additionally, Jamerson influenced bass players and songwriters in the rock-and-roll genre; Paul McCartney cited Jamerson as a major influence. Jamerson’s melodic, thoughtful, supportive, and syncopated bass lines influenced bass players who performed popular music after 1960. Jamerson was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1990.

Principal Recordings

songs (bass): “Dancing in the Street,” 1964 (by Martha and the Vandellas); “Going to a Go-Go,” 1965 (by the Miracles); “My Girl,” 1965 (by the Temptations); “Shotgun,” 1965 (by Jr. Walker and the All Stars); “Reach out I’ll Be There,” 1966 (by the Four Tops); “You Can’t Hurry Love,” 1966 (by the Supremes); “I Heard It Through the Grapevine,” 1967 (by Gladys Knight and the Pips); “For Once in My Life,” 1968 (by Stevie Wonder); “I Heard It Through the Grapevine,” 1968 (by Marvin Gaye); “Rock the Boat,” 1974 (by Hues Corporation); “Boogie Fever,” 1976 (by the Sylvers); “You Don’t Have to Be a Star (To Be in My Show),” 1976 (by Marilyn McCoo and Billy Davis, Jr.).

Bibliography

Early, Gerald Lyn. Motown and American Culture. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 2004. A cultural study of the popularization of African American music through Motown. Brief references to Jamerson.

Posner, Gerald. L. Motown: Music, Money, Sex, and Power. New York: Random House, 2002. A cultural history of Motown.

Rubin, Dave. Motown Bass. Milwaukee, Wis.: Hal Leonard, 2000. An instructional book with recording that highlights Jamerson’s work and musical style. Includes full transcriptions of many Jamerson bass tracks.

Slutsky, Allan. Standing in the Shadows of Motown: The Life and Music of Legendary Bassist James Jamerson. Milwaukee, Wis.: Hal Leonard, 1989. A thorough biography of Jamerson, with popular bass players discussing their reverence for Jamerson’s work. Includes discography.