Died On This Date (August 2, 1983) James Jamerson / Bassist On Many Early Motown Hits; The Funk Brothers
themusicsover James Jamerson
January 29, 1936 – August 2, 1983
Born in South Carolina, James Jamerson moved to Detroit where learned to play the bass in high school. He soon started playing in the local jazz and blues clubs and by the early ’60s, he was working at Berry Gordy’s studio. He, along with some of popular music’s greatest musicians were called the Funk Brothers and they can be heard on nearly every Motown record throughout the ’60s. Jamerson played on literally hundreds of Motown songs including such hits as “My Girl” (the Temptations), “You Can’t Hurry Love (the Supremes), “I Heard It Through The Grapevine” (Gladys Knight), and “What’s Goin’ On” (Marvin Gaye). It has been said that Jamerson played on more #1 pop hits than the Beatles, who own that actual record. Many of the world’s greatest bass players have pointed to Jamerson as their main influence. That list includes John Entwistle, John Paul Jones, Paul McCartney, and Jack Bruce. Jamerson and Motown parted company in 1973 after which, he found work playing on such disco hits as “Boogie Fever” and “Don’t Rock The Boat.” A longtime drinker, James Jamerson died of cirrhosis of the liver, heart failure and pneumonia at the age of 47.
Born to poverty in Arkansas, Billy Lee Riley moved to Memphis after a stint in the army during the ’50s. Having learned to play the guitar from the local black farm workers, Riley set out to make a name for himself in music. He was soon recording for 
Although he had been a professional musician since 1959, David Martin is best remembered as the founding bassist for Sam the Sham & the Pharaohs. Formed in 1963 with Sam “The Sham” Samudio, the group scored a monstrous hit with “Wooly Bully,” co-written by Martin. Although America teens were firmly entrenched in the British Invasion at the time, the song raced to #2 on the pop charts and sold over 3 million copies. And even though the song never hit the #1 position, it was named the #1 single of that year based on its tremendous sales. No other single has ever done that. To this day, no honest music collection of the era is complete without that song. Martin left the group not long after the release of “Wooly Bully” due to a conflict with management. He soon retired from music and opened his own video and television repair shop which he ran until he passed away on August 2, 1987.
