James Jamerson Jr. (born James L. Jamerson III; August 24, 1957 – March 23, 2016) was an American bass player and noted studio musician. During his over three-decades long career he recorded with

Bob Dylan Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan, born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Often regarded as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture during a career sp ...

Tavares Tavares may refer to: Places Brazil *Tavares, Paraíba *Tavares, Rio Grande do Sul *Rodovia Raposo Tavares, the longest highway in São Paulo *Tavares Bastos (favela), a favela in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil *Tavares River Jamaica *Tavares Garden ...

The Temptations The Temptations are an American vocal group from Detroit, Michigan, who released a series of successful singles and albums with Motown Records during the 1960s and 1970s. The group's work with producer Norman Whitfield, beginning with the Top ...

, and many more.

Life and career

Jamerson Jr. was born in

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at th ...

to legendary session bass player

James Jamerson James Lee Jamerson (January 29, 1936 – August 2, 1983) was an American bass player. He was the uncredited bassist on most of the Motown Records hits in the 1960s and early 1970s (Motown did not list session musician credits on their releases u ...

, a cornerstone member of Motown's famed house band, The Funk Brothers. In the early 1970s, Jamerson, Jr. became an in-demand session bassist. In the next three decades he played on the studio albums by

Janet Jackson Janet Damita Jo Jackson (born May 16, 1966) is an American singer, songwriter, actress, and dancer. She is noted for her innovative, socially conscious and sexually provocative records, as well as elaborate stage shows. Her sound and choreog ...

Smokey Robinson William "Smokey" Robinson Jr. (born February 19, 1940) is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, and former record executive director. He was the founder and front man of the Motown vocal group the Miracles, for which he was also chief ...

, and

Aretha Franklin Aretha Louise Franklin ( ; March 25, 1942 – August 16, 2018) was an American singer, songwriter and pianist. Referred to as the " Queen of Soul", she has twice been placed ninth in ''Rolling Stone''s "100 Greatest Artists of All Time". With ...

, to name a few. In the late 1970s, he formed a studio

disco Disco is a genre of dance music and a subculture that emerged in the 1970s from the United States' urban nightlife scene. Its sound is typified by four-on-the-floor beats, syncopated basslines, string sections, brass and horns, electric pia ...

group,

Chanson A (, , french: chanson française, link=no, ; ) is generally any lyric-driven French song, though it most often refers to the secular polyphonic French songs of late medieval and Renaissance music. The genre had origins in the monophonic s ...

, along with guitarist David Williams. Their only charted single, "Don't Hold Back" reached No. 21 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 in 1979 and No. 18 in Canada. Jamerson died in Detroit on March 23, 2016, at age 58. He had suffered for years with

ankylosing spondylitis Ankylosing spondylitis (AS) is a type of arthritis characterized by long-term inflammation of the joints of the spine typically where the spine joins the pelvis. Occasionally areas affected may include other joints such as the shoulders or hip ...

Selected discography

With

* '' Check It Out'' (1974) With

Sylvester Sylvester or Silvester is a name derived from the Latin adjective ''silvestris'' meaning "wooded" or "wild", which derives from the noun ''silva'' meaning "woodland". Classical Latin spells this with ''i''. In Classical Latin, ''y'' represented a ...

* ''

Step II ''Step II'' is the fourth studio album by American singer Sylvester, released in 1978 on the Fantasy label. Commercial performance The album peaked at No. 7 on the R&B albums chart. It also reached No. 28 on the ''Billboard'' 200. The album feat ...

'' (1978) With

High Inergy High Inergy was an American R&B and soul girl group who found fame on Motown Records in the late 1970s. They are best known for the hit song, " You Can't Turn Me Off (In the Middle of Turning Me On)". History High Inergy started in 1976 when the ...

* '' Shoulda Gone Dancin''' (1979) With The Crusaders with

B.B. King Riley B. King (September 16, 1925 – May 14, 2015), known professionally as B.B. King, was an American blues singer-songwriter, guitarist, and record producer. He introduced a sophisticated style of soloing based on fluid string bending, shi ...

and the

Royal Philharmonic Orchestra The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra (RPO) is a British symphony orchestra based in London, that performs and produces primarily classic works. The RPO was established by Thomas Beecham in 1946. In its early days, the orchestra secured profitable ...

* ''

Royal Jam ''Royal Jam'' is a live recording by the jazz-funk band The Crusaders (Houston group), The Crusaders with B.B. King, Josie James and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. It was recorded at London's Royal Festival Hall. Track listing All songs writ ...

'' (1981) With

* ''

'' (1982) With

DeBarge DeBarge was an American musical recording group composed of several members of the DeBarge family. In addition to various solo projects completed by members of the family, DeBarge was active between 1979 and 1989. The group originally consisted ...

* ''

In a Special Way ''In a Special Way'' is the third studio album by American R&B group DeBarge, released by Gordy Records on September 24, 1983. It was recorded at Kendun Records in Burbank and Westlake Audio in West Hollywood; written and produced by lead vocal ...

'' (1983) With

* '' Touch the Sky'' (1983) With

Teena Marie Mary Christine Brockert (March 5, 1956 – December 26, 2010), known professionally as Teena Marie, was an American singer-songwriter, musician, composer, arranger, and producer. She was known by her childhood nickname Tina before taking the sta ...

* '' Starchild'' (1984) With

* ''

Truly for You ''Truly for You'' is a 1984 in music, 1984 album by American R&B vocal group the Temptations. Released on October 15, 1984 by Motown Records' Gordy label, This is the first full Temptations album to feature Ali-Ollie Woodson (credited simply as ...

'' (1984) With

Philip Bailey Philip James Bailey (born May 8, 1951) is an American R&B, soul, gospel and funk singer, songwriter and percussionist, best known as an early member and one of the two lead singers (along with group founder Maurice White) of the band Earth, Wi ...

* ''

The Wonders of His Love ''The Wonders of His Love'' is the second studio album by Philip Bailey released in 1984 on Myrrh Records. This was his first gospel album peaking at No. 13 on the Billboard Top Christian Albums chart and No. 17 on the Billboard Top Gospel Albums ...

'' (1985) With

* ''

Knocked Out Loaded ''Knocked Out Loaded'' is the 24th studio album by American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan, released on July 14, 1986 by Columbia Records. The album was received poorly upon release, and is still considered by some critics to be one of Dylan's leas ...

'' (1986) With

* '' Aretha'' (1986) With Wayne Kramer * '' The Hard Stuff'' (1995)

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Jamerson, James Jr. (guitarist) 1957 births 2016 deaths 20th-century American bass guitarists 20th-century American male musicians 21st-century American bass guitarists 21st-century American male musicians African-American guitarists American session musicians Deaths from arthritis Musicians from Detroit American rhythm and blues bass guitarists American male bass guitarists 20th-century African-American musicians 21st-century African-American musicians