By drums (208.251.209.82 - 208.251.209.82) on Friday, March 29, 2002 - 01:48 pm:

Hello all!!!

I hope that I am not starting a controversy, but I am trying to find out if Jamerson or Babbitt played the bass on the Jackson 5 song "I Want you Back."

I am asking because I am a tremendous fan of the "non-plucking" style that is prevalent on most if not all of the Motown era recordings. But as we all know, there arent any credits!!

Can anyone on the forum tell me who played bass on this and other Jackson 5 recordings??

DM

By Conrad72 (63.97.240.1 - 63.97.240.1) on Friday, March 29, 2002 - 02:37 pm:

Hey DM,

Don't worry, I believe a controversy already exists for this tune with Ron Brown, Wilton Felder(?), and Bob Babbitt all taking claims (or not remembering) on that tune. I know the book "Standing in the Shadows of Mototwn" addresses this issue. Unfortunately, I don't have my copy with me to quote the written explanation. Bob Lee's site dedicated to James Jamerson sheds a lot of light on the Motown bassists http://bassland.net/jamerson.html . I'm sure Bob Babbitt or Bob Lee will have something to post after reading this.

I always loved the "Pinball Machine" feel of the bass on that tune, and every Motown tune, for that matter!

Conrad

By Steve Litos (209.100.86.4 - 209.100.86.4) on Friday, March 29, 2002 - 07:58 pm:

Hey DM,
There was a great article which I believe was in the magazine MOJO out of the UK. The article was about the creation & recording of that song. I
believe it was tied in with a Michael Jackson feature. The article said the song was the only one cut in an all day session in LA with all instruments cut "live" (excluding strings & vocals) with the exception of the 2 second piano intro which was dubbed later. I don't remember what the musician line-up was. Get the magazine - it came out over the past 4 months or so.
-Steve

By BOB BABBITT (152.163.197.51 - 152.163.197.51) on Friday, March 29, 2002 - 08:42 pm:

JACKSON 5........
EVEN THOUGH SESSIONS ON THE JACKSON 5 WERE RECORDED IN DETROIT AS WELL AS LOS ANGELES THE RECORD "I WANT YOU BACK" WAS FROM L.A. WITH
WILTON FELDER PLAYING THE BASS..........
BASS PLAYER MAGAZINE DID A SERIES OF ARTICLES IN 1998 CALLED "CLASSIC BASS LINES" ONE OF THE ARTICLES WAS ABOUT THE SONG "I WANT YOU BACK"
YOU CAN PROBABLY GO TO THIER SITE AND LOOK
IT UP.......I AM TOLD THAT THERE ARE NO RYTHYM CONTRACTS FROM DETROIT OR LOS ANGELES ON ANY OF THE JACKSON 5 SESSIONS......BUT IF THE SONGS WERE RE-CUT THE CONTRACTS WOULD NOT PROVE ANYTHING (SEE ARTICLE "WHO'S PLAYING BASS" ON BOB BABBITT ORGINAL THREAD).......BOB BABBITT

By Ritchie (62.254.0.6 - 62.254.0.6) on Friday, March 29, 2002 - 09:10 pm:

I know the (Jazz) Crusaders had a Motown-distributed Chisa album out in 1970. I wonder if the guys were actually associated with Motown at this point (1969) - or was this just a guest-shot from Felder?

By Dennis Coffey (152.163.201.68 - 152.163.201.68) on Friday, March 29, 2002 - 10:35 pm:

Hi folks. Freddie Parren told me they cut that song in LA. I know we also cut it in Detroit but the final was probably cut in LA. I did a lot of sessions for Motown in LA with Wilton Felder and some with Chuck Rainy on bass. Joe Sample from the Crusaders also played keyboards on some of the Motown sessions at Motown West. I was probably one of the few Detroit musicians who recorded four years in Detroit at Motown and three years in LA at Motown West. Babbit, ask Ed Green about some of those LA sessions. He and James Gadson played drums on a lot of Motown West LA sessions with me.

Dennis Coffey

By harryweinger (208.135.132.147 - 208.135.132.147) on Tuesday, April 23, 2002 - 08:15 pm:

Don Peake, who played guitar on that track, confirms it's Wilton Felder on bass, period.

By Son of Thunder (63.61.181.151 - 63.61.181.151) on Tuesday, April 23, 2002 - 09:04 pm:

"I Want You Back"-the drummer on this tune is definitely not an LA drummer(Greene or Gadson).It is a Detroit drummer(Uriel Jones or Pistol or both,as they used 2 drummers at times-2nd drummer known as the janitor).That bass sure sounds like Bob Babbitt.Would be good to speak to one of the Detroit drummers about this track.

By Eli (170.115.179.118 - 170.115.179.118) on Wednesday, April 24, 2002 - 06:09 pm:

Harry says it's Wilton Felder. I have heard that Many Many times as well. DONE DEAL!!!

By Caleb (63.61.181.115 - 63.61.181.115) on Wednesday, April 24, 2002 - 09:46 pm:

It's a tough call Eli.Many say it's Babbitt.Uriel and Pistol would be good sources to speak to on this subject as well as Andrew Smith but unfortunately he's no longer with us.Andrew was closely tied to these players and the records they were playing on out of Detroit.This issue of who played bass on this record will probably be debated for some time.

By LTLFTC (12.245.225.79 - 12.245.225.79) on Wednesday, April 24, 2002 - 11:56 pm:

On his March 29th post, Babbitt says "Wilton Felder plays on I Want You Back"

By harryweinger (12.110.192.128 - 12.110.192.128) on Thursday, April 25, 2002 - 06:44 pm:

Spoke with Don Peake, who played guitar on the session in Los Angeles. He has the contract - and, of course, was THERE. He'll be posting the correct info shortly. (It's not a Detroit drummer.)

HW