BassPlayer 2017-03

are intonation issues, and the groove is barely present
(other than that, it’s great!). Jamerson was
already an accomplished musician, as witnessed
by his earlier tracks at the studio, and the performance
exhibits none of the traits that put him at
the top of last month’s Greatest 100 Bassists of
All Time. In a video interview with Tom Meros,
Strong recalls the day of the session and offers an
account that sounds like a Cinderella story. He says
the bass and guitar parts were performed by two
white kids that just got off the bus from Cass Tech
High School. They supposedly walked up to the
studio and asked if they could sit in. While seemingly
improbable, this is Barrett’s recollection, and
the bass performance certainly sounds bad enough
to be the work of an unknown kid off the street.
One wrinkle to the story is the crediting of a
certain Eugene Grew as the guitarist on the track.
The Times article states that “the guitarist on the
‘Money’ sessions was Eugene Grew, who recalls
taking musical direction from Mr. Strong. ‘We sat
there, practicing, and Barrett said, “Do this,” and,
“Do that,”’ Mr. Grew said in an interview here. ‘“It’s
a real simple figure, over and over.” Barrett showed
me what to play and then Berry came by.’” More
research turned up a 2012 post on a forum called
soulofdetroit.com, attributed to Eugene Grew
(written in all caps), that claims: “I was that white
guy playing the only guitar on ‘Money.’ I probably
was 21 years old or so. I lived a couple miles from
Hitsville. The trio I was with went to tryout for
Gordy. He took me aside and asked if I would be
interested in doing sessions. My first of many was
‘Money.’” The poster makes no mention of who the
bass player was, although he offered this: “I have
no recollection who else was on it. James Jamerson
had an upright bass, it could have been him.”
Considering the track is played on electric bass,
this line of thought has little basis, but chalk it up
as another unsolved piece of the “Money puzzle.”
I had the good fortune to get in touch with Janie
Bradford, the Tamla/Motown secretary credited as
co-writer, and asked about the session personnel.
Her response: “The story of the two white guys has
been circulating for many years, but no one that I
checked with from back in the day can confirm it,
nor had anyone heard mention of their names.”
The mystery continues.
While I’ve been harsh about the “Money” bass
playing, its rawness contributes to the overall live and
loose feel, and if you can appreciate the performance
as a work of art, it’s perfect. “Money” stands out as
the first major hit for the label, but it’s also unique
in its almost punk-like abandon. This performance
seems a more likely predecessor to Detroit-area acts
like Iggy & the Stooges, or the MC5, than the slick,
polished production machine that cranked out hits
by the Supremes, the Miracles, or Marvin Gaye. Let’s
take a look at some of the parts played by the mystery
man. The song is a 12-bar blues form in F, and
the piano intro riff covers the first four bars of the
form. The tonal center established by the unchanging
piano riff causes momentary confusion when
the bass comes in on the IV chord—it sounds like a
mistake, but once your ear recognizes that the bass
starts at bar 5, it makes sense. He plays through the
rest of the form using a classic tresillo rhythm using
the triad, as shown in Ex. 1—notice the chromatic
slide up to the 3rd when playing the V chord. The
following verses have stops on the downbeat for
the first four bars, then picking the line back up at
the IV chord as shown. Example 2 shows a slight
= 134
Bb7
F7
Ex. 1
6
0 3 0
0 3 0
0 1
1
0 3 0
1 3
1
1
C7 Bb7 F7 F7
0 3
3 6 7
5
7 1
0 3 0
1
0 3 0
1
3
0
3
3
Bb7
F7
Ex. 2
3 1
3 1
1 3 1
1 3
0
3
1
0 3 0
bassplayer.com / march2017 53