James Jamerson Archive

[Fran­çais] Voi­ci une sélec­tion non-offi­cielle de pho­to­gra­phies de James Jamer­son trou­vées sur Inter­net. Je ne suis en aucun cas pro­prié­taire des droits de ces pho­tos. Mon idée est sim­ple­ment de les par­ta­ger avec les afi­cio­na­dos du bas­siste, pour lui rendre un hom­mage. Hor­mis la série de cli­chés réa­li­sée pour le maga­zine Gui­tar Player quatre années avant son décès, il existe assez peu de pho­to­gra­phies de Jamer­son ren­dues publiques. Celles repro­duites dans l’ou­vrage Stan­ding in the Sha­dows of Motown sont elles-mêmes de qua­li­té faible. Si vous par­ve­nez à mieux iden­ti­fier ou dater des images (lieu, contexte, artiste, année), vous pou­vez m’é­crire à : jeanguenin_[at]_gmx.fr.

[English] Here is a very per­so­nal and unof­fi­cial selec­tion of James Jamer­son pic­tures found on the web. I do not own any right on these pic­tures. My idea is sim­ply to share for the pas­sio­nate bass player fans and pay my tri­bute to the bass mas­ter. Apart the pho­tos publi­shed in the 1979 Gui­tar Player’s inter­view, there is only and undoub­ted­ly a tiny amount of pic­tures avai­lable for the public. Even those publi­shed in Stan­ding in the Sha­dows of Motown were ave­rage qua­li­ty. If you can help me with pro­vi­ding fur­ther infor­ma­tion (loca­tion, context, artist, year), feel free to e‑mail me : jeanguenin_[at]_gmx.fr.

James et Annie Jamerson
James et Annie Jamerson

 

James Jamerson en concert (avec Marvin Gaye ?)
James Jamer­son en concert (avec Mar­vin Gaye ?)

 

James Jamerson at a Martha Reeves show
James Jamer­son at a Mar­tha Reeves show

 

with James Jamerson playing his first '57 black refinished Fender Precision Bass (with the original maple neck).
with James Jamer­son playing his first ’57 black refi­ni­shed Fen­der Pre­ci­sion Bass (with the ori­gi­nal maple neck).

 

Looks like a member of the audience took this photo. Classic Fender P & Ampeg B15
Looks like a mem­ber of the audience took this pho­to. Clas­sic Fen­der P & Ampeg B15

 

Jamerson wearing a "black panther style" hat. Probably in the late 60 or the beginning of the 70s.
Jamer­son wea­ring a “black pan­ther style” hat. Pro­ba­bly in the late 60 or the begin­ning of the 70s.

 

With Earl Van Dyke
With Earl Van Dyke

 

Bass was bought by Jamerson after his fellow Horace Ruth lend him one of his own. James Jamerson was at first reluctant to move to the electric fretted bass.
Bass was bought by Jamer­son after his fel­low Horace Ruth lend him one of his own. James Jamer­son was at first reluc­tant to move to the elec­tric fret­ted bass.

 

This was probably around 1962 because this bass is reported missing in 1963 and caused James to buy his trusty 62 sunburst Fender Precision. Image seems to be a video capture. Jamerson later declined touring and focused on studio recording.
This was pro­ba­bly around 1962 because this bass is repor­ted mis­sing in 1963 and cau­sed James to buy his trus­ty 62 sun­burst Fen­der Pre­ci­sion. Image seems to be a video cap­ture. Jamer­son later decli­ned tou­ring and focu­sed on stu­dio recording.

 

jamerson_hat
Here’s a quite fas­ci­na­ting pic­ture of a young loo­king Jamer­son in the begin­ning of the 60s, wea­ring a hat, a thin tie and a jacket. Notice the por­trait of Pre­sident John Fitz­ge­rald Ken­ne­dy : that must be cir­ca 1962 – 63.

 

Busy recor­ding, James Jamer­son (seems to be a middle 1970s photo)

 

James Jamer­son, a ses­sion at Motown, 1967

And now, here is a video excerpt down in the “Sna­ke­pit” while The Temp­ta­tions are recor­ding Sor­ry is A Sor­ry Word. Notice the short cut at 1’44 where the band conduc­tor asks the band to start again, you can see James Jamer­son playing in the back­ground. This is for the moment the only of the four exis­ting videos sho­wing James Jamer­son live, the other to being What’s Going On with Mar­vin Gaye in 1972, with the Cru­sa­ders in 1974 (Mid­night Spe­cial dedi­ca­ted to the Poin­ter Sis­ters), and Power of Love with Mar­tha and The Van­del­las in 1975 (post Motown era) at a Don Kir­sch­ner show, star­ring Den­ny Cof­fey, Joe Sample, Wah Wah Wat­son… See hereaf­ter end enjoy the spi­rit of this live music !

Enre­gis­trer