Who played bass on the Jackson 5 Albums?

I have to admit I'm listening to Christmas Caroles on the radio as I'm working today :shock: OK I'm taking a break right now :mrgreen: - but one of the tunes was the J5 and the bass was rockin! I thought it had a great groove!

Googled some of their other tunes and thought the bass playing was great - at least to my ears!

Did the all the brothers play their own instruments on the records; was it a mix of studio musicians and the Jacksons or all hired guns?

What do you guys think?

KC

Don't know if the Bros played on any recordings.
I definitely know Wilton Felder played on several Jackson 5 tunes such as my fav's "The Love You Save" and "I want You Back".

From Wikipedia "The Jackson 5 later said that Motown wouldn't allow them to record their own compositions or play instruments in their studio recordings. The group's studio recordings were first handled by Motown's famed in-house studio band The Funk Brothers during their brief recording tenure at Hitsville and later instrumentation was played by many of the members of The Wrecking Crew, which formed Motown's Hitsville West studio band."

You may have been listening to the great James Jamerson.

ND-iW51idC0

I think that on Heartbreak Hotel which was renamed This Place Hotel to appease the Elvis estate, Tito played the guitar solo which made it a "Jacksons" song rather then a Michael Jackson song on a Jackson's album

Guitar player here(who dabbles in bass, and poorly) Just wanted to say it was nice to see James Jamerson get mentioned. I'm originally from the Detroit area, and to me, he doesn't get nearly the credit he deserves..




And there's nothing wrong with digging on Xmas music!

Guitar player here(who dabbles in bass, and poorly) Just wanted to say it was nice to see James Jamerson get mentioned. I'm originally from the Detroit area, and to me, he doesn't get nearly the credit he deserves..




And there's nothing wrong with digging on Xmas music!


I don't see how you can claim that Jamerson doesn't get nearly the credit he deserves. He's in the RRHOF and he's very well known among bassists.

However, AFAIK he didn't play on any of the Jackson 5's big hits. Wilton Felder and Ron Brown played on most of them.

Not many people I know know who he is. So, it's entirely possible he gets all the credit he deserves, and I was just unaware of it.


Maybe what I should have said was "I'm originally from the Detroit area, and to me, not enough non-bass players know who this guy is, and they should."

And that's an opinion, not a claim.

Jamerson deserves all the credit he is due (and more!) but it was Wilton Felder (later of The Crusaders) who played on "ABC" and "I Want You Back".

Here's his isolated bassline to "I Want you Back"
z91l_lPz1oc

Eric

I was learning "I Want You Back" yesterday! Amazing to hear the real track isolated. It's one of my favourite pop basslines (and tracks). Thanks for posting :)

I was learning "I Want You Back" yesterday! Amazing to hear the real track isolated. It's one of my favourite pop basslines (and tracks). Thanks for posting :)

No problem! It's a revelation to hear it by itself - a wonderful example of a bassline that's melodic, harmonic, rhythmically in the pocket, essential to the tune and totally serving the song.

There are isolated Jamerson tracks ("What's Going On") to be found on YouTube too - great stuff!

Eric

"... not enough non-bass players know who this guy is, and they should."

I would say this is true for most of the great bass players. Most non-bassists have no clue who they are.

I think you agree that Germany is not the home of Soul and Motown ... :wink: :lol:
But James Jamerson is even known here and has many fans!

I have to admit that I didn't know Wilton Felder before ... :oops:

Sorry 4 of topic ... :oops:
But even Carol Kaye is known around the world!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WMznvEgOPhU

I saw "Bonanza" as a small kid in Germany.
I was amazed when I reheard the Bonanza bass line some month ago.
She plays the "Country song" with a "wrong" / non-typically bass line!
This gives the intro song a specific,
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mjdRgBAY278

How did she say? "If you hear someone with balls - that's me ..." :lol:

Jamerson deserves all the credit he is due (and more!) but it was Wilton Felder (later of The Crusaders) who played on "ABC" and "I Want You Back".

Here's his isolated bassline to "I Want you Back"
z91l_lPz1oc

Eric

Great post man! One of my fave lines! The guy is a monster as is JJ! Great movie take is "Living in the Shadow of Motown" All about the formation and life of the Funk Brothers band.

Cadfael: Great link to the Carol Kaye Utube!

kc

A friend and I were discussing just the other day about the difference in tone between the Jackson 5's L.A. recorded bass, which has an edgier sounding attack, and the classic Motown Jamerson sound of fat, rolled-off treble with beautiful B-15 distortion.

Re: "I want you back" -

sounds like that is even played with a pick!!!!

There's hope for us after all!!!!!

Re: "I want you back" -

sounds like that is even played with a pick!!!!

There's hope for us after all!!!!!I'm not getting that... just sounds like aggressive finger picking in certain spots to me. I don't hear the telltale click of a pick. But there's no reason to be ashamed of using a pick - sometimes it just fits the song...

Eric, thanks for that bass line vid. I've been paying more attention to bass lines since my son started playing a few years go, and IMO "I Want You Back" is the greatest bass line ever written bar none.

I have to go show Drew the video now...

Either James Jamerson or Bob Babbit. Both were Motown bass players in the Funk Bros
studio band. Early stuff would have been Jamerson.

Either James Jamerson or Bob Babbit. Both were Motown bass players in the Funk Bros
studio band. Early stuff would have been Jamerson.

Did you not read any of the previous posts in this discussion? :mad:

The Jackson 5 tracks were all done in L.A., NOT by the Funk Brothers in Detroit. Jamerson played on a some later album tracks, not on any of their hit singles. Babbitt had nothing to do with the Jackson 5 recordings.