Building My Ultimate Rock Band - BASSIST: JAMES JAMERSON

Everybody loves the funk. By that definition alone, if I’m building the ultimate band that would dominate the Billboard charts with an iron fist, I need arguably the greatest bass player that ever lived. James Jamerson was a member of the FUnk Brothers, the legendary Motown crew that played on every significant top hit of the band’s Detroit era. The funk is the base of the groove, and from the Four Tops’ “Bernadette” above to hits by the Supremes, Temptations, Smokey and the Miracles and everyone else, he was there. Famously playing “What’s Going On” with his legendary one-finger hook while drunkenly laying prone on the floor, this band needs swagger, and a guy who can play something so utterly complicated with seemingly minimal effort is the kind of guy I need.