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James Jamerson - Fender Bass?


Linus27
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[quote name='Bilbo' post='1200439' date='Apr 15 2011, 11:09 AM']Let's face it. Anyone who buys a signature model of any description is seriously missing the point anyway and asking to be exploited :)[/quote]


True. Although I still might buy the Babbitt signature when it finally appears.

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Only if it g'tees to make me as at least as 100th as good as Babbit and comes with a spare sponge :)

Lots of love here for the Funk Bros........those gone and still with us.

Standing in the Shadows should be required reading / viewing for all new bass players regardless of genre played. In fact when I win the Euro Lottery I am going to get lots of copies of the dvd and make sure every music shop in the UK gives one with every bass sold to a new bassist.

So there !!!
S

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I watched it for the first time last night and wow, what an amazing DVD. The things that struck me was what a great bunch of musicians and all so supportive and friendly. No ego's or premadonna's. Just a bunch of guys who loved music. Also Jamerson came across to me as a very old fashioned, stubborn guy who had no idea how truely talented he was. Plus, why oh why did Motown just up and go to LA? Very strange decision.

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[quote name='Linus27' post='1201908' date='Apr 16 2011, 04:08 PM']....Also Jamerson came across to me as a very old fashioned, stubborn guy who had no idea how truely talented he was. Plus, why oh why did Motown just up and go to LA? Very strange decision....[/quote]
Jamerson wasn’t stupid, so with that number of people telling him his bass lines were great he must have known his worth to Motown. I think he knew his bass lines were selling the records and I think that’s why he got so frustrated towards the end when the arrangers were just giving the musicians the dots and that accelerated his self destruction.

The Funk Brothers had 15 years to evolve and they grew around JJ. In LA he was just another guy, and one that didn't do as he was told! He faced competition for the first time in 15 years and couldn't meet the challenge or change to survive.

Berry Gordy wanted to get into the film business which is why he relocated to LA. I don't know why he felt he had to trash Motown in order to do it! Not a good business decision.

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[quote name='chris_b' post='1201920' date='Apr 16 2011, 04:26 PM']Jamerson wasn’t stupid, so with that number of people telling him his bass lines were great he must have known his worth to Motown. I think he knew his bass lines were selling the records and I think that’s why he got so frustrated towards the end when the arrangers were just giving the musicians the dots and that accelerated his self destruction.

The Funk Brothers had 15 years to evolve and they grew around JJ. In LA he was just another guy, and one that didn't do as he was told! He faced competition for the first time in 15 years and couldn't meet the challenge or change to survive.

Berry Gordy wanted to get into the film business which is why he relocated to LA. I don't know why he felt he had to trash Motown in order to do it! Not a good business decision.[/quote]

Cool, thanks for the info. Is there any good books about Jamerson or the Funk Brothers?

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[quote name='Linus27' post='1201997' date='Apr 16 2011, 06:10 PM']Cool, thanks for the info. Is there any good books about Jamerson or the Funk Brothers?[/quote]

[url="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Standing-Shadows-Motown-Legendary-Jamerson/dp/0881888826"]Standing in the Shadows of Motown - Life & Music of James Jamerson[/url]

[url="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Bass-Masters-Way-They-Play/dp/0879308699/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1302984405&sr=1-1"]R&B Bass Masters[/url]

Edited by nick
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[quote name='Linus27' post='1201997' date='Apr 16 2011, 06:10 PM']Cool, thanks for the info. Is there any good books about Jamerson or the Funk Brothers?[/quote]
[i][url="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Motown-View-Bottom-Jack-Ashford/dp/1904408206/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1302984509&sr=8-1"]Motown: The View from the Bottom[/url][/i] by Jack Ashford (vibraphone and tambourine)

Edited by EssentialTension
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  • 4 weeks later...

The only two Jamerson basses the family has (or had) was the upright and the '65 Bass V. Yes that goofy 5-string thing.
And Pistol Allen had one of the B-15's, but who knows where it's at now since Pistol has died.
But I remember the family advertising the upright as available back around '03. But don't know if it actually ever sold.

I remember checking out the JJ sig models in Bass Centre LA. Even though it said Custom shop, it was assembled from nothing more than off the shelf MIA 62RI parts with a special neck plate. But it was still a nice bass!

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[quote name='Linus27' post='1200940' date='Apr 15 2011, 04:44 PM']Was that not one of Jaco's basses?[/quote]

Yep! Rob Trujillo of Metallica found Jacos orginal bass of doom in a pawn shop.

Apprently he is a huge jaco fan, and jaco got him into distortion

I've got the article here at home somewhere!

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