James Lee Jamerson (January 29, 1936 – August 2, 1983) was an American bass player. He was the uncredited bassist on most of Motown Records' hits in the 1960s and early 1970s (Motown did not list session musician credits on their releases until 1971), and he is now regarded as one of the most influential bass players in modern music history. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2000. (Wikipedia)
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Induction ceremony
He is reported to have played on some 95% of Motown recordings between 1962 and 1968. He eventually performed on nearly 30 No. 1 pop hits—surpassing the record commonly attributed to The Beatles. On the R&B charts, nearly 70 of his performances went to the top.
Marvin Gaye was desperate to have Jamerson play on "What's Going On", and went to several bars to find the bassist. When he did, he brought Jamerson to the studio, who then played the classic line while lying flat on his back…
Jamersons bass is prominent on “I Heard It Through The Grapevine”—Both Times!!! (Gladys Knight & The Pips as well as Marvin Gaye)…Check him out on Marvin Gaye’s take…
There are VOLUMES written about Mr. Jamerson (as there should be!). Google the man and be amazed...…
Motown insiders say that Thomas "Beans"Bowles was an unsung hero
behind the scenes during the early days of Berry Gordy's company
when Motown was lessan empire than an experiment.
It was Bowles who originated the idea of the Motortown Revue
which took Motown's young talent on the road, spurring record sales and jump-starting careers
In the early '60s, Gordy brought Bowles into his fledgling company in the artist management division, where he mentored dozens of the label's young stars including:
“Little" Stevie Wonder
The Supremes
Martha Reeves
The Temptations
The Marvelettes
Gladys Knight
Bowles chaperoned their tours
and taught them the ropes of show business and howto behave on the road.
In the 1960s, Bowles led a Detroit band called the Swinging Dashikis, which often backed up Motown acts.
He also served as chairman of the Graystone Jazz Museum
Graystone Jazz Museum, Detroit
in Detroit.
He wrote the melody for the smash hit that launched Wonder's career
"Fingertips Pt. 2"
His smooth flute or resonant baritone sax addedhis personality to Gaye's "What's Goin' On"
The Supremes' "Baby Love"
And The Vandellas' HEAT WAVE
Gladys Knight: “Beans was definitely the go-to person. Everybody always said, ‘Well maybe we had better call Beans.’”
Martha Reeves: “He was a master of all trades. Whatever was called for, Beans did. He was a fine musician, a wonderful gentleman.”
Stevie Wonder: “He was a friend, a teacher and also like a father. In 1963 he wrote ‘Fingertips’ and it was in that year that I was able to do the things with him that helped to change my life.”
Smokey Robinson: “We went down many roads together. His contribution to Motown is irreplaceable.”
Otis Williams: “Beans was a catalyst for our career. He was our first manager, as well as a teacher of how to be a professional and in other areas concerning life.”
On January 28, 2000, Saxophonist/Bandleader Thomas "Beans" Bowels died of prostate cancer at the age of 73...
Jan 27 1918: Blues guitarist Elmore James is born on a farm near Richland, Mississippi, USA.
In 1932, at the age of fourteen, Elmore James, also known as Joe Willie, began playing guitar for parties and dances in the Durant, Mississippi area.
By 1937 James had taken up with musicians Sonny Boy Williamson
and Robert Johnson.
James, would later echo Johnson's slide technique in his own recordings.
After Johnson's death, and up until 1939, James toured the South with Williamson working juke joints and theaters.
He assembled a band in 1939 after parting ways with Williamson.
During the late 1930s or early 1940s James began playing electric guitar. He became a master of using the distortion and sustain of this instrument to create a dense, textured sound that provided the blueprint for postwar Chicago blues.
James was inducted into the Navy in 1943. Back home, in 1945, he was sharing a room with Sonny Boy Williamson and working the local jukes.
James also began a professional partnership with his guitar-playing cousin
"Homesick" James Williamson,
They worked the blues clubs on Beale Street in Memphis.
BEALE STREET
In 1947, James backed up Sonny Boy on KFFA radio's King Biscuit Time program in Helena, Arkansas.
Helena Bank Building: Original home of King Biscuit Time
During his stint on KFFA, James fell under the spell of Robert Nighthawk, and began refining his style to reflect Nighthawk’s crying slide guitar.
Robert Nighthawk
While working clubs with Williamson in Jackson, Mississippi
James made his first record for Lillian McMurry's Trumpet Label. On August 5, 1951, at the Trumpet Studios, James cut the Robert Johnson chestnut "Dust My Broom" which reached number nine on the national R&B charts within several months of its release.
James established residency in Chicago in 1952 and formed his legendary band the Broomdusters.
While never attaining the fame of fellow Mississippi expatriates Muddy Waters and Howlin' Wolf, James became one of the city's most influential guitarists. He recorded for a variety of labels throughout the 1950s and early 1960s, leaving a legacy of slow blues, boogies, and full-fledged rave ups that dominate the musical vocabulary of Chicago blues.
Elmore James died May 24, 1963, in Chicago, Illinois, at the age of forty-five.
James Lee Jamerson (January 29, 1936 – August 2, 1983) was an American bass player. He was the uncredited bassist on most of Motown Records' hits in the 1960s and early 1970s (Motown did not list session musician credits on their releases until 1971), and he is now regarded as one of the most influential bass players in modern music history. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2000. (Wikipedia)
