Suzi Quatro’s ultimate guitar hero: “I was weaned on it”
People talk about who their guitar heroes are all the time, and you’ll often overhear people arguing over who the greatest drummers and vocalists of all time are, too, but it’s rare that the discussion over who the best bassist is extends beyond conversations between two or more fellow bassists.
Forever brushed to the side, general discussions about the merits of the four-stringers of the world usually don’t go beyond supposing that Paul McCartney, John Entwistle and John Paul Jones are the trio that make the podium, and there’s little else to argue over.
Except that’s blatantly untrue, and there are so many other bassists who deserve a mention before the aforementioned candidates. That’s not saying that these three don’t deserve a top-three finish, but it’s not a cut-and-dried fact. A good bassline underpins every great guitar lick – hell, sometimes the bassline is even better than what’s going on in the melody. Your attention might be drawn automatically to what’s in the foreground, but there’s no denying that when a bassline hits the right spot, it can complete a song.
Some bassists even take their craft as far as trying to be the lead instrument in a band, and will focus on providing a more melodic than rhythmic line that is easier for listeners to latch onto. Players like Rush’s Geddy Lee and Primus’ Les Claypool take this to the extreme, offering a style of bass playing so virtuosic that it becomes unignorable to the listener. Not all bass playing needs to be this way, but if people would care to pay attention to the fact that they’re often hard at work while you’re listening to something else, then they might not need to show off like this.
Another example of an excellent bassist is Suzi Quatro, and while she was also a songwriter and vocalist, people tend to downplay her abilities on the four-string. Heavily influenced by the rock and roll she grew up listening to, she didn’t pick up the bass guitar until she was 14 years old, and formed The Pleasure Seekers alongside her sister, Patti. It soon transpired that she had an affinity for the instrument and began looking up to other bassists as her idols.
So, when asked to pick out her guitar hero in a feature for Classic Rock Magazine, she refused to play by the traditional rules and picked out her bass-playing idol. With her all-time favourite being a legend of soul, and someone who appeared on over 20 US number one hits, her choice is one that’s hard to argue with.
Speaking about her bass hero, James Jamerson, she claimed: “I’m from Detroit, so how could Motown not be a part of my life? I was weaned on it. It’s huge and in my DNA forever.”
Having appeared on countless hits for the likes of Stevie Wonder, The Supremes, Marvin Gaye and The Four Tops, Jamerson’s understated melodic and harmonic playing was a staple of the Motown sound, and his influence on many other bassists outside of the pop, soul and R&B spheres is palpable.
While he may have only ever been a session player, the fact that he was versatile enough to perform alongside so many different artists and make his contributions sound flawless every time allows him to stand out as one of the greatest bassists of all time. So, next time you’re asked who the best bassist is, feel free to slip a mention of Jamerson into the conversation and see where it takes you.
