Here are a couple of his greatest parts including Marvin Gaye's What's Goin' On, and The Four Tops' Bernadette.
1) On What's Goin' On, listen to how Jamerson builds the intensity of the track as it goes on. You can just feel him pushing the track as his line gets more and more complex and he digs in harder.
2) Jamerson's bass has a distorted edge to it. He supposedly went direct while recording and used an Ampeg B-15 when playing live, but the tone on this song sure sounds like a B-15 to me.
3) Bernadette may be Jamerson's masterpiece. He's playing a fairly busy part yet it's always in the pocket and always seems effortless.
) Bernadette is also a really good example of how a Motown track is put together when you hear all the instruments fall in with the bass.
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1 comment:
I heard Jamerson was supposedly on a bender and they had to go find him and drag him back from some bar. He was so completely hammered when he recorded "What's Goin' On" that he had to lay down on the floor.
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