James Lee Jamerson (January 29, 1936 – August 2, 1983) was an American bassist. 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 greatest and most influential bass players in modern music history. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2000. As a session musician he played on twenty-three Billboard Hot 100 number-one hits, as well as fifty-six R&B number-one hits.
In its special issue "The 100 Greatest Bass Players" in 2017, Bass Player magazine ranked Jamerson number one and called him the most important and influential bass guitarist. In 2020, Rolling Stone magazine ranked Jamerson number one in its list of the 50 greatest bassists of all time.
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Let’s dig into one of the truly great James Jamerson bass lines, the Motown classic “How Sweet It Is” by Marvin Gaye. This lesson will string together descending arpeggios, the blues box pattern, and root-fifth movement.
Marvin Gaye’s “Let’s Get It On” turns 50 this year. Now, a new deluxe edition of the album has been packaged with an additional 33 bonus tracks, including 18 previously unreleased.
Edisto Island, South Carolina residents will be “Dancing in the Streets” after they rename a road for hometown hero James Jamerson.
Jaz Moss sent us his latest video, which is an incredibly well-done, detailed look at the work of James Jamerson. Jaz said it took three months of research to produce this retrospective on the Motown legend.
Today, we celebrate the birth of Martin Luther King, Jr. For today’s video, I chose Marvin Gaye’s version of “Abraham, Martin and John.” Gaye was backed by the Funk Brothers, including the always excellent work of James Jamerson.
