Motown Bass Solo Michael Benjamin (Darling Dear)

[evchild]

WOW!!!

[91FroSt91]

Absolutely beautiful .. Great job you've done there ... You've truly inspired me just now :D

[Philburpalooza]

very nicely done Mikey....

[bycage]

Damn good!! How long u been playing when u tecorded this?

[BAD20Y]

very nice indeed man, not easy to play

[acmeseed]

You are sick! This is great.

[drg92asturias]

@gunthervinson it's not the colour of your skin, it's all about your childhood, your education. If you grow up listening to all kinds of music, and dancing and singin, then you'll probably have a great groove, no matter if you are asian, european or whatever. And I've seen black people who can't groove at all. So tha'ts it

[retromotown]

Hmmm.... James Jamerson was playing with ONE finger - first finger.

[boodang062451]

Not bad at all! Not bad at all! I stil can't figure Jamerson out as a bass player myself! One thing his son said on Standing in the Shadows of MoTown is something about the way James put everything into every note. There's a couple of guys who do that -- Jerry Jemmott, Chuck Rainey, and they remain kings of bass. We could all take a lesson from the son of James Jamerson on that.

[usageee]

Little more on the backbeat, sounds great!

[HaLiSp]

DARLING DEAR!!!!!!!!! YEAHHH

[calicoolboy]

sounds pretty good...you are missing part of the sound...try raising the action and hitting a littler harder with the pointer. missing that underlying power.

[iplaytehbasspipes]

or using flatwounds

[rickespejo]

not this shit again common, boring

[hahabass]

I just started to learn this line and although I've heard your version before, about two years ago (and liked it) i've only just noticed it is slightly rushed in parts. Or, is it just me?

[agiIsMyLiFe]

Hey, do really have to have a five stringer?

[NowSunrise]

Thanx MB ...Very fine play.....

[Chrissy20081989]

dis sound so good

[henry14000]

Are you using three fingers?

Is he using three fingers ppl???

lol

[ramsay777]

Two fingers biy

[pjmeluso]

sick man

[kmahiri]

James jamerson only used the one finger and got this sound out of the bass wonders of the world

Awesome job dude

[rockthebass601]

And funny thing is, people often said his bass was completely unplayable. The action was far too high and the truss rod needed adjustment. I guess he got ragged on a bit about that. Well, needless to say, its obviously the player, not the bass, because look who has some of the most famous bass lines in the history of music..

[vanillapurin77]

awesome!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[ZGAZBass28]

it is indeed harder to play with JJ's open strings technique, especially when you have to play 2 open strings back to back like in the D part of this song...although this cover is dead on!

[woodsofresh]

man i love it , im a singer not a player , you are excellent

[Phaseonegraph]

Nicely executed!!!!!!

Carol Kaye and James Jamerson (my two faves) have some fantabulous bass lines. However, I don't think She will ever get the credit she deserves. Yes, I know she did not play on this one just sayin'.

[speedoflite1]

sounds good

[sullyrock]

the claw! very nice

[cannibalcorpses]

Hehe I got to say its fun to see at least someone out there not using the "lazy" open strings which Jamerson prefer.

[emericanchaos]

this guy' is on a five string. he might be more comfortable in fifth position.

[funkeebassman]

it's actually harder to play with open strings!

[RespIendency]

is that a peavey cirrus i spy?

i just picked mine up in tiger stripes last month, she's great!

[BassToYoFace]

thats not really a solo its just a very innovative basspiece made by the great james jamerson.. i think thats his best piece.. good job though

[soulmad]

makes me listen to the song in a whole new different light, great stuff

[Nerv86]

sounds like a lot to memorize... or is it kind of repetitive?

[jeanforthewin]

if you want to do your own version of it then i guess you could repeat the same basic phrases but jamerson actually doesnt play any two bars the same in the verse section

[BassGeekJack]

really good, but you should turn down the treble

[antillmusic]

Good job! gotta like the groove. cheers, antill

[residentevil6996]

what strings do you use?

[Nazgrim]

Anyone got a tab or sheet music for this? I can't find any tab, or sheet music for james jamerson..

[bernange]

Get : Standing in the shadows of Motown - The life and music of legendary bassist Jammes Jamerson by Dr Licks (Hal & Leonard publishing) in a good music store. You'll get what you're looking for.

[thisiscliche]

Do the CD's with it contain backing tracks or just full tracks?

cheers

[bernange]

Actually,these are backing tracks of good quality, played by famous bass players (Gerald Veasley on Darling Dear for instance). It's the one you can hear on this video. Cheers

[thisiscliche]

I mean are there the tracks minus the bass?

coz this is being played over you cant really tell if theres bass on the track before hand.

cheers for getting back to me

[bernange]

The bass part is recorded on one channel only . So you can withdraw it by turning the balance on the other channel. Am I clear ?(sorry for my poor english, I'm french). Cheers

[thisiscliche]

ah right :)

cheers, just needed to know because I want to use motown as a theme for my practical in music.

thanks its a big help

[bernange]

This is a very good choice. You can improve a lot your bass playing by studying James Jamerson play (choice of notes, rhythm, groove). Although, these records were made more than 40 years ago, this music is still fresh.

[inkursore]

Bravo!

[dcavm]

nice

[berherbi]

thanks mate, its a pleasure ... I ve had enouhg of all this slapin and poppin shit... thanks you re doing the real stuff!!!!

great

[tedkay]

Jamerson did all this plucking with one finger ,WOW!.He was and is the king of melodic

Bass lines, very creative, inovative, and has more bass lines than anyone in the History of music.

[Micolapitorskoy]

Damn!!

That was funky!

[drdrtfehytf]

That's awesome, you don't hear too many people playing music like that these days!

[mrmojorisin546]

how did u get that background track that yer playing with?

[C33Four]

It comes with the music he's reading from. Standing In the Shadows of Motown.

[Shield1751]

Fucking awesome! abviously a LOT OF PRACTICE..!

[T6451]

May I please borrow your hands. My left hand is retarded. It won't do what I need it to do!LOL Thanks awesome!

[dollydagger1]

brilliant

[C3ntrum5ilver]

great work dude. sounds right on. do you know what the chord progression is for this song?

[AAMLfan]

Funky bassline...And Michael Jackson was fantastic on this song. Such an underrated piece..

Awesome job!

[sitzpolster]

fantastic

[mhbass]

MikeyB...In Da House. This is one of them vids you always come back to, over and over, because you laid it down. Smooth bro!

[zydecoplayer]

Why it don't play can u re do it thanks a million

[tymanic]

i got the same pevey as u :P

[boatbob1]

this is excellent. It is interesting to see the guitar

played. All the notes are spread across a matrix,and it requires a very special style of thinking to accomplish this. There is a lot going on here.

[Brilliantbeing]

Very nice.

Try re-doing this with flatwounds. And listen some more to the Jackson 5 version, not the eighties version made for the Jamerson tribute cd. The song is surreal. A masterpiece to be sure.

Good job.

[dmiles79]

i wonder how i can get that version of darlin dear. if anyone finds out, please let me know

[lolly20001]

What is it about "Darling Dear" that base players love to try and imitate that sound? I personally think it's a haunting piece of music, made more haunting by Jamerson doing a duet with a 12 year boy.

[Chicago10281]

There's Just No Other Sound Like It!

[turbanwarriorz]

Do you play bass? Have you seen the sheet music to it?

It is a piece of great difficulty, and IMO I'd rather challenge myself trying to play this than something with less groove/excitement like a Bach suite or Portrait of Tracy...

(Oh, and btw, Mr. Hill, your playing was fantastic - two thumbs up!)

[Tercariol]

Why compare Bach, Patitucci and Motown?

That doesn't make any sense.They are completely different!!!

When we make choices like that, we close musical doors to things that could add to our own playing.

[turbanwarriorz]

I didn't say one was better than the other. I said that I'd prefer to challenge myself learning some motown tunes than some Bach pieces.

I didn't say anything about Patitucci either.

[Tercariol]

Oh...all right?

I really didn't catch that from what you wrote. I apologise.

In that case, I have to say that Motown tunes are a good challenge. James Jamerson is the man!

Personally, I think that Bach is awesome for developing chops onthe bass - plus his stuff is really melodic.

[spaceonthebass]

dude, that was great!! :)

[boatbob1]

excellent job

[zheik]

1) You've got great taste in music.

2) You're playing is awesome!

[cmsinla]

That would sound better if you had flat wound strings and a girlfriend with a huge ass to inspire you. It works for me.

[zonnet550]

Hee Mickey,

Great playing, this is a big favo out of my younger days, any change that you sent me that MP3 as it is without vocals, if I'm correct.

Thanks in advance..

Ronald, Etten Leur, The Netherlands

[koshizzle97]

nice job man im learning this song now out of the motown book

[andym87]

good but jamerson wouldnt have been to play it all in one position, he didnt have the luxury of 6 strings.

[tomashekt]

he has 5 strings i think ?

[andym87]

haha yes i think i need counting lessons

[fryBASS]

hehe, dont worry, I use to confuse 5,6+ strings all the time, but now i'm getting use to it more.

[blindbass2]

its not really worth tabbing this. I've got "Standing in the shadows of Motown" book and its score is quite amazing. this guy had to work alot on this song - just like im doing.

great job bro, keep it up.

[Chicago10281]

Sounds Like The Original Jackson 5 1970 Recording Released On Motown Records as Motown 1177

[Red3vil17]

now i wanna c it with 1 finger like jamerson lol

but really id love to c it

[ladystomp42]

this boy got skills...great job; keep doing what you're doing baby!

[basist123]

Great job, man.

Pleas tab

[groove30]

Great Job!! Jamerson was the man.

[schindlerial]

Excellent rendition. Jamerson was one of the greatest!

Chewbooker that transcribed bass line appears in the book Standing In The Shadows Of Motown, a Jamerson biography with some famous baslines made by this giant. Good Luck!

[chewbooker]

wow this is great! did you ear the song or did you somehow find tabs? Or of course you could've read it from a book. I usually just assume people use tabs because I can only read a little bit of music for bass. But great video! I'm currently trying to ear this song :D

[Brilliantbeing]

This would be a good audition song for anybody who wanted to join a soul music band. If you can't capture this feel, you're not in the band. Mikey captured it. Good Job, Mikey! I'd like to hear you do it without reading just so you can totally "channel" Jamerson. Many Baby Boomer musicians actually sing this bassline it's so enchanting. Also listen to Jamerson in the vamp of this song. He's laying back a taste and "replying" to the vocals. Again, Good job, Mikey. Live long and Prosper!

[ProjectSTi]

dude you rock cant stop listening to this its so catchy any chance of me getting the tabs to this? to play on my 4 string? im still quite noob thanks man

[marokokisetter]

Your playing darling dear with the Standing in the Shadows James Jamerson book, very cool. Recognized it from the backing track (80s sounding haha) I tried to sight read darling dear from the book a while ago, not easy. Good job.

[C33Four]

You did an excellent job. except I'm watching you play that B string, which Jamerson never had (only used a Fender Jazz, from what I know). Either your just being smart and using the 5,6, and 7th frets of B to make the 0,1, and 2nd frets of E. Or maybe you retuned your B to something else.

Better yet, maybe your adding your own bits to the song?

[kitties86]

jamerson used a p bass. if they had standard scale 5s and 6s in the 50s and 60s i bet there would have been a ton of people using them. why not? that bass sounds cool btw duder.

[faristeo]

sorry he used a p-bas 62

[Brilliantbeing]

No C33Four. Jamerson detuned when necessary, and occasionally he used a Fender Jazz 5 string. As for our friend Mikeybass777, he has not taken liberties at all with this piece: it is note for note verbatim. Some of the timings are just ever so slightly off, but if Mikey listens closely to the Jackson 5 version he'll have it nailed to perfection.

[burningrest]

i love jamersons use of chromatic runs sounds brilliant and noones done it as well as him since. well played mate

[jwcbronski]

Great playing. Do you read the part while you're playing? It looks like that.

[maddermofo]

You have the chops dude!!What make is that bass??I hope your big big into funk like me.I'd have the sound of funbk over sex any day

[rucinski5503]

awesome man just awesome

[goggsyjnr500]

pretty good, might be worthwile tryin it on a standard 4 string to get a real feel for how jamerson played and grooved on it.

[thatkoolkatal]

Mike, if you're reading this, I want you to play "I want you back" by the Jackson 5. Another fantastic bass line (played on the original track by Wilton Felder of The Crusaders).

[bootsycoll]

Great job dude..this tune is a BITCH to play properly

nice Cirrus btw...identical to mine, great basses.

[thatkoolkatal]

I can't stop watching this! Where is this cat Mike Hill? Mike, you should open up the James Jamerson school of bass studies! I'm serious

[omnicerna]

Great playing! What bass did you use on this ?

[thatkoolkatal]

Mike you're great! All of we Bass players must acknowledge our Godfather, James Jamerson. I assure you, he's up in heaven digging your performance. Not that, but you obviously have good taste...Darling Dear is one of my favorites. But if I had to play for someone one Jamerson performance...I was made to love her is hard to beat

[juneynupe]

Mike,

Very, very good. This is one of my favorite Jamerson performances - right up there with 'Bernadette', 'For Once In My Life', 'I Was Made To Love Her.' Good job!

[tenconfianza]

Bravo!!!! feels so good.

[discoAL]

i always wanted to learn that song Jamerson is the greatest.. Mike you was gettin it damn good job im' going to go practice right now man....

[superslammer]

I hope to see you play some of the other Motown hits soon too. I'd like to hear you play Midnight Train to Georgia and I heard it through the grapevine. Bernedette would be nice too but I know that is pretty easy seeing as how you've already mastered this song. Good job!

[pcread]

Excellent. One of my 3 fave Jamerson Motown tracks. Dr Licks' book Standin in the Shadows of Motown is a must for any bassist. Any plans to do How Long Has That Evening Train Been Gone?

[mothercowa]

what!! only 3 star???

[Tarkus7]

Jamerson, a good man to emulate. Well done!

[JhWlo]

Nice, dude has taste. This is one of my favourite Jamerson lines. Little Michael is off the hook on this one too. Never gets boring!

[mhbass]

excellent dude...you all funked out for real...good discipline in your playing, smooth feeling going on...I dig Jamerson to the utmost....here's a rendition I did of some Jamerson riffs from one of my favorite Jackson 5 songs entitled 'Nobody'....

[ventedge]

Ditto...very cool!

[heyja3]

Definetly cool... someone finally goes for good old classic stuff. =D props