Music
James Jamerson
1936–1983 · bassist (Funk Brothers session musician)
Motown's great uncredited bassist, a Funk Brother who played on nearly every Hitsville hit of the 1960s and is buried in Detroit's Woodlawn Cemetery.
- Born
Edisto Island, South Carolina- Died
Los Angeles, California
aged 47- Birth name
- James Lee Jamerson
- Detroit years
- 1954–1973
- Field
- Music
01 / The Detroit story
The Detroit story
Born on Edisto Island, South Carolina, Jamerson moved with his mother to Detroit in 1954 and took up the upright bass at Northwestern High School. He turned down a music scholarship to Wayne State University and instead played the city's blues and jazz clubs, absorbing the styles of Ray Brown, Percy Heath and Detroit's own Paul Chambers. From 1959 he found steady work at Berry Gordy's Hitsville U.S.A., becoming a core member of the session band that called itself the Funk Brothers. By day they recorded in the cramped basement Studio A, which Jamerson dubbed "the Snakepit"; by night they jammed in clubs such as Millie's Chit Chat Lounge. He is reported to have played on nearly every Motown recording from 1963 to 1968, first on upright and then on electric bass, and his melodic, syncopated lines became central to the Motown sound. Marvin Gaye hunted for him bar to bar to play on "What's Going On," the first Motown album to credit him. He followed Motown to Los Angeles, died there in 1983 and was buried at Woodlawn Cemetery in Detroit.
Highlights
- Played on 23 Hot 100 No. 1 hits and 56 R&B No. 1 hits
- Core member of Motown's Funk Brothers session band from 1959
- First credited on a Motown album with Marvin Gaye's What's Going On (1971)
- Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (2000); ranked the greatest bassist by Rolling Stone (2020)
02 / Their Detroit places
Their Detroit places 4
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 · 1959–1972
Motown Museum
Motown's studio, where he recorded in the basement Studio A he nicknamed "the Snakepit." Since 1985 the Motown Museum.
Studied here · 1954
Northwestern High School
His high school, where he started on the upright bass; he graduated in 1954. The school now operates as Detroit Collegiate Preparatory Academy at Northwestern.
Favorite haunt · 1960s
Chit Chat Club
Closed
Jazz lounge on 12th Street where the Funk Brothers jammed after their daytime Motown sessions.
Buried here · 1983–
Woodlawn Cemetery
Historic cemetery on Woodward Avenue where he was buried after his death in Los Angeles.