Music
Bob Babbitt
1937–2012 · bassist
Pittsburgh-born Funk Brothers bassist (1966–1972) who shared sessions with James Jamerson and played on "War", "Band of Gold" and "Inner City Blues".
- Born
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania- Died
Nashville, Tennessee
aged 74- Birth name
- Robert Andrew Kreinar
- Detroit years
- 1960s–1972
- Field
- Music
01 / The Detroit story
The Detroit story
Babbitt was a working Detroit session bassist, playing on records such as Del Shannon's "Little Town Flirt", before joining Motown's studio band in 1966, where he traded sessions with James Jamerson. His bass lines carry Stevie Wonder's "Signed, Sealed, Delivered I'm Yours", Edwin Starr's "War", the Miracles' "The Tears of a Clown", Marvin Gaye's "Mercy Mercy Me" and "Inner City Blues", the Temptations' "Ball of Confusion" and "Just My Imagination", and Freda Payne's "Band of Gold" for the Detroit label Invictus. With other Detroit players he formed the band Scorpion (1968–1970), and he played on Dennis Coffey's 1971 hit "Scorpio". When Motown moved west in 1972 he went to New York and Philadelphia instead, recording "Midnight Train to Georgia" and "The Rubberband Man". He died of brain cancer in 2012.
Highlights
- Funk Brothers bassist 1966–1972
- Bass on "War", "Band of Gold" and "The Tears of a Clown"
- Played on Dennis Coffey's "Scorpio" (1971)
- Later played on "Midnight Train to Georgia" and "The Rubberband Man"
- No. 59 on Bass Player magazine's 100 greatest bass players
02 / Their Detroit places
Their Detroit places 1
Where they lived, worked, performed and liked to hang out. Closed and demolished places stay here too, because they are part of the city's history.
Recorded here · 1966–1972
Motown Museum
Played on Motown sessions in Studio A, the basement room the musicians nicknamed the "Snake Pit".