The Greatest Bassline Ever? Ep2. The Jackson 5
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James Jamerson had it, Sir Paul McCartney has been called king of it, and bass legends like Nathan East, Flea and Pino Palladino all have it at their fingertips. The gift of being able to create an irresistible bass line that makes the world want to hit ‘play’ again and again.
I Want You Back, the 1969 hit by the Jackson 5, was their first single for Motown Records, and in today’s video we’re taking a look at what makes the iconic opening riff one of the greatest of all time.
Did you know there’s been some debate on who actually played bass on this track?
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#Greatest #Bassline #Ep2 #Jackson
Originally posted by UCWTj3vCqkQIsrTGSm4kM34g at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hVjuRfv-voo
Amazing
Thank you very much!! I loved this video and your enthusiam about how Wilton Felder played his bass line for this song. Really impressive breakdown… As far as greatest bassline ever, I'll just offer my top five choices:
1. What's Going On- Jamerson
2. I Was Made to Love Her- JAMERSON(!)
3. I Want You Back- Wilton Felder
4. Inner City Blues- Bob Babbitt
5. If You Want Me To Stay- Rustee Allen/ Larry Graham/ SLY STONE(!)
Obviously, everyone will not agree on 2 and 5.
For 2: in my mind, Jamerson's understated funk swagger comes out on "I was made to love her"(1967); Carol Kaye just did not and does not have that. You can hear her pick play on a lot of her recordings; Jamerson's finger style is clearly evident in this recording, especially near the song's end.
For 5: with a lot of the turmoil surrounding this song's ultimate release in 1973, I believe the stories about Sly over-dubbing most of the songs after the fact and had a lot of undocumented changes to the final outputs for this song, the Bass in particular. One subtle point: during Sly's guest appearance on the Mike Douglas Show(late 1973-early 1974 timeframe), Sly comments to Mike ("..the Bass was good..") when Mike stated that his house band did not get to practice the song before Sly performed it. Just a speculative note to support my belief that Sly played bass on the actual recording released. Its one of the all time greatest bass lines ever, period.
Ian, do you have an episode on that addresses the controversies on either of both of these songs?
Gary Thain – Uriah Heep – Sweet Lorraine
A space oddity has a sick bassline
McCartney I want you/ she's so heavy.
Hey bassists – dont gloat over playing this unless you can sing the song the main vocal at the same time.
Try: I want you back, something, penny lane, heart of the country, abc, octopus' garden, another day, all my lovin' , I'm a loser, tell me why…
I crush these… better than macca actually. Singing and playin i want you back is the most challenging, the break is a monster. I've given up on getting that part right. If you record yourself live on multitrack, and playback just your vocal and its so good that no one believes you were playing the bass too, i would say that you are truly a great performing musician – and i would congratulate you heartily. Step up, and own that song – you CAN do it.
Doing the impossible is easy; just practice like it matters. Stand out from the crowd.
Tony Levin – Sledgehammer
Please teach us END OF OUR ROAD, Jamerson (Gladys Knight & The Pips)
Great lesson! Thanks!!!!!
Absolutely glorious! One of my all-time favorites and probably one of the best groovin bass lines ever made! So amny great bass lines in the motown era! Such a bouncy, groovin, varied, and melodic line! They drive the song so much while outlining the chords! Also, i love older music as you can hear every part and each instrument so clearly! Amazing stuff, man! ???????????????? classic!
Great break down of an iconic bass line. And man that tone you matched perfectly.
Awesome post love your channel, the great Louie Shelton played the incredible iconic guitar on I Want You Back. Look forward to your next post
The Charade D'angelo (Pino Palladino)
Another One Bites The Dust / Chic – Good Times
"I Want You Back" is the absolutely most irresistible and fun bass line to play and it's a joy to play over and over again, and I don't even like the Jackson 5 at all.
Vulfpeck…"dean town" the whole song is one huge bassline lol
“We Are Family” Sister Sledge, Bernie Edwards on base.
Michael Henderson playing live at 18! A must with good earphones. Link below!
https://youtu.be/v3I5Ruy95ko?si=INVxrAvaoqwo7YxC
Motown has a West Coast unit that played with the Jackson brothers!
That bassline is the soundtrack to eating the best fried chicken you ever had in your life. The whole thing is delicious and satisfying and you don't even care how greasy you get.
This bass lesson was the perfect mix of teaching, jamming, enthusiasm & a little theory!! An awesome way to spend 11:35 of my life. Now, I’m going to spend hours trying to move from 25% speed to full speed. At least I’ve got your breakdowns for when I get stuck. Many thanks ❤
People, learn da-da-da-da with its strong and weak beats instead of the insanely clumsly and cliche 1-e-an-a. The explanation of the bridge is a perfect example of how unweildy this method is.
Just da-da-da-da is all you need. It's really that simple.
Felder also did, DAMN!!! I was going to say Wilton Felder for Let's Get It On.
Ian, stunning lesson!
You said old flats on your 51 RI, but what are they,? The sound is freaking awesome!
Scott, thank you and your team for the good you are doing. It makes life on the planet better. With love from mother Russia ❤